Can you recommend some scary short bedtime stories?

One short scary bedtime story is 'The Red Room'. A young man decides to spend the night in a supposedly haunted red room in an old castle. As the night progresses, he starts to feel an unexplainable sense of dread. Strange noises echo through the room, and he sees fleeting shadows. In the end, his own fear seems to consume him, leaving the reader with a sense of unease.

Once upon a time, a girl heard a strange scratching at her window every night. One night, she peeked out. A pale hand with long nails was scraping the glass. She never looked again. Good night.

There's also 'The Haunted Toy Store'. In this story, a child wanders into an old, seemingly haunted toy store. The toys start moving on their own and making eerie noises. However, the toys are just trying to have fun and they end up creating a comical chaos as they chase each other around the store, scaring the child at first but then making him laugh.

Sure. There's 'The Black Cat' also by Poe. In this story, the narrator's perverse behavior towards his cat leads to a series of macabre events. 'The Lottery' by Shirley Jackson is quite disturbing. It takes place in a small town where an annual lottery is held, and the winner is stoned to death. Then there's 'Carmilla', a vampire story where a young girl is haunted by a female vampire.

A long scary bedtime story is 'The Call of Cthulhu' by H.P. Lovecraft. It involves a cult, an ancient and terrifying creature, and the psychological horror of the unknown. The very idea of Cthulhu, a being so powerful and alien that it drives people mad just to know of its existence, is very scary. There's also 'Carmilla', which is an early vampire story about a female vampire who preys on a young girl. It has a very eerie atmosphere.

One 'not so scary bedtime story' could be 'The Little Red Hen'. It's about a hen who asks for help to plant wheat but no one assists her until it's time to eat the bread made from the wheat. It has a simple moral and a gentle plot.

Sure. 'The Golem' is a well - known scary German story. It's about a creature made of clay that is brought to life. In some versions, it goes out of control and causes chaos. Also, there are stories related to the Grimm Brothers which have their share of spooky tales. For example, 'Hansel and Gretel' has elements of horror as the children are trapped by a witch in the forest.

Another good one is 'The Witch's Prank'. A witch decides to play pranks on a village. She turns the mayor's hat into a frog that croaks non - stop. The villagers are scared at first, but then they realize it's just a silly prank and start to laugh. It has elements of scariness as the witch has all these spooky powers, but the pranks she plays are quite funny.

One quick scary bedtime story is 'The Red Room'. A young man is so confident that he can stay in a supposedly haunted red room all night. As the night falls, he starts to hear strange noises, see shadowy figures, and feel an unexplainable cold. It makes you shiver as he realizes there are things that go bump in the night.

Here's another. 'The Sleepy Bunny'. A little bunny was very tired after a day of hopping around the meadow. It found a soft patch of grass under a big tree. As it lay down, it saw the fireflies twinkling like little stars. The gentle breeze was like a lullaby. The bunny closed its eyes and soon drifted off to sleep, dreaming of sweet carrots and warm sunshine.