Perhaps a story where you are trapped in a dream within a dream. Each layer has its own set of horrors, like rooms filled with grotesque images or people with distorted faces. You try to wake up but keep sinking deeper into this nightmare world, and every attempt to escape just leads you to more terrifying scenarios.
Dream scaries stories can happen because of unresolved emotions, hidden phobias, or even random neural firings in the brain during sleep. Sometimes, a traumatic event can trigger such dreams too.
One scaries story is 'The Haunted House'. There was an old, abandoned house on the outskirts of town. People said that at night, strange noises came from it. Lights would flicker in the empty rooms. Once, a curious boy went near it and he heard a blood - curdling scream from inside. He ran away as fast as he could and never went back again.
They might make a person have restless sleep as the scary stories can cause anxiety right before sleep. If someone reads these stories, they may keep thinking about the scary elements while trying to fall asleep.
Work - related stress is a common element. For example, the fear of an upcoming presentation or a pile of unfinished tasks waiting on Monday. Another common thing is social anxiety, like having to face a difficult person at work or in a social group the next day.
There's 'Lamb to the Slaughter' by Roald Dahl. In this story, a woman kills her husband with a frozen leg of lamb when he tells her he's leaving her. Then she calmly serves the lamb to the police officers who come to investigate. It's a story full of dark humor and horror. Another short horror story is 'The Most Dangerous Game' where a man is hunted like an animal on an island by a deranged hunter. It shows the horror of being the prey and the lengths a person will go to survive.
There was this guy who always dreaded Sunday evenings because he had a really mean coworker. On Sundays, he'd start thinking about having to deal with that person the next day. He'd recall all the times the coworker had been unkind and it made him so anxious that he couldn't enjoy his last day of the weekend. He was constantly worried about what new mean thing the coworker might do on Monday.
One short horror story is about a girl who moved into an old house. Every night, she heard strange scratching noises from the attic. One day, she finally mustered the courage to go up there. In the dim light, she saw a figure with long, bony fingers and glowing eyes. She ran out of the house and never went back.
The sense of helplessness is very scary. Just like in a dream where you can't run away from the threat no matter how hard you try.
The loss of control can be really scary. Even though you know it's a lucid dream, if you can't actually direct what's happening, like being unable to escape from a chasing monster. Another is the appearance of the unknown, such as strange, unidentifiable creatures or places that seem to defy logic. It creates a sense of unease.
The unknown is often the scariest. In many true scary dream stories, like seeing a shadowy figure that you can't make out clearly. It creates a sense of mystery and danger.