Best scary novels or short stories - Any Recommendations?

Well, 'Riders of the Purple Sage' by Zane Grey is a well - known Western novel. It's full of adventure, with cowboys, outlaws, and a strong female lead. In short stories, Jack London also wrote some great Western - themed ones. His stories often explore the harshness of the Western environment and the people in it.

Well, 'The Exorcist' by William Peter Blatty is a really scary novel. It's about a young girl who is possessed by a demon, and the attempts to exorcise the demon are truly terrifying. For short stories, 'Ligeia' by Edgar Allan Poe is excellent. The story of a man's love for a strange and powerful woman who seems to return from the dead is both eerie and captivating. Another good one is 'The Black Cat' also by Poe. It shows how guilt and a descent into madness can be very frightening.

A group of friends decided to camp in the woods. At night, they heard a loud growling. They were all terrified. One of them bravely got out of the tent with a flashlight. There, they saw a'strange beast'. It was actually a small dog with a very deep bark. The dog had wandered away from its owner's campsite nearby. The friends couldn't stop laughing at how scared they had been.

A young boy was home alone and heard the doorknob rattle. He was scared out of his wits thinking it was a burglar. But when he finally got the courage to peek, it was his own dog who had accidentally bumped into the door while chasing a ball. It's a simple yet effective short, funny, and scary story.

A really good scary short story is 'The Cask of Amontillado' by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrator lures his so - called friend into the catacombs to wall him up alive for some past insults. 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl is also quite scary. A woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then cleverly disposes of the evidence. And 'The Most Dangerous Game' by Richard Connell, where a man is hunted like an animal on a deserted island.

One of the best books of short scary stories is 'Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark' by Alvin Schwartz. It has a collection of truly spine - chilling tales that have been popular for generations.

A good short scary story usually has a quick build - up of tension. Take 'The Hitchhiker'. The protagonist keeps seeing the same hitchhiker over and over again on a long drive, and the sense of dread builds up rapidly as he realizes something is very wrong. Also, they tend to have an unexpected ending. In 'The Gift of the Magi', the couple's selfless love is the opposite of a scary ending, but in a short scary story, like 'The Most Dangerous Game', the ending where the hunted becomes the hunter is very unexpected.

The story of the 'Scary Shadow'. A little boy was in his room at night. He saw a huge, menacing shadow on the wall. He was so scared that he hid under the covers. But then his mother came in with a flashlight. It was just his teddy bear's shadow made huge by the angle of the lamp. The boy laughed and hugged his teddy.

They usually build up tension effectively. Take 'The Lottery' for instance. At first, it seems like an ordinary small - town event, but as the story progresses and the true nature of the lottery is revealed, the tension just keeps mounting until the shocking end. And there is often a sense of inevitability in these stories. The characters seem powerless to escape their fates, like in many classic horror short stories where the doom is slowly closing in on the protagonists.

Well, 'Night Shift' by Stephen King is a top contender for the best book of scary short stories. King is a master of horror, and this collection showcases his talent for creating terrifying scenarios. The stories range from the psychological horror of 'The Boogeyman' to the more supernatural horror in other tales. Each story has its own unique brand of fear, and King's ability to get into the minds of his characters and readers alike makes this book a must - read for horror fans.