One common theme is the supernatural. Stories often feature ghosts, vampires, or otherworldly creatures like in 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' with the Headless Horseman. Another theme is madness, as seen in 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' where a man battles his inner evil that drives him to insanity.
Sure. 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe is a great one. It's about a narrator who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while he's actually going mad over an old man's vulture - like eye. Another is 'The Monkey's Paw' which has a family making wishes on a cursed paw with terrifying consequences.
Perhaps a story of a man who bought an old antique mirror. Every time he looked into it, he saw a figure that wasn't his reflection. The figure seemed to be getting closer and closer each time. One day, he woke up to find the figure standing at the foot of his bed.
One old scary story is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a narrator who is haunted by the eye of an old man he lives with and eventually kills him. Another is 'The Monkey's Paw' where a family gets a magical paw that grants wishes but with terrifying consequences. There's also 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' which features the Headless Horseman chasing Ichabod Crane.
The legend of the Nahual is also quite frightening. A Nahual is a person who can transform into an animal, often for malicious purposes. In some tales, they use their powers to cause harm to others, and it's hard to tell who might be a Nahual in disguise.
The element of the unknown. For example, in many of the stories, there are unexplained noises or figures. We don't know what they are or what they want, and that scares us.
One idea could be a story about a haunted mirror. A young girl moves into an old house and discovers a large, ornate mirror in the attic. Every time she looks into it, she sees a figure that gets closer and closer each day. Eventually, the figure steps out of the mirror.
A story about a cursed doll. A little girl finds an old, tattered doll in a thrift store. She takes it home, and strange things start to happen. Her toys start to move on their own, and she hears whispers at night. It's revealed that the doll was once owned by a witch, and now it's bringing bad luck to the girl's family.
In my opinion, the story about the mirror is quite interesting. A woman buys an old mirror at a flea market. When she looks into it, she sometimes sees a different reflection, a face that's not her own and it seems to be in a lot of pain. Another interesting one is about a phone call. A man keeps getting calls from an unknown number. When he answers, all he hears is heavy breathing and a strange whispering that sends chills down his spine. And the story about the abandoned asylum is also great. People who enter it report seeing shadowy figures and hearing screams that seem to come from the walls.