most scary horror short stories

Most scary horror short stories often have a sense of the unknown. They leave a lot to the imagination. For example, in 'The Tell - Tale Heart', the narrator's madness is not fully explained, and the reader is left to wonder what really drove him to such extremes. Another characteristic is a build - up of suspense. In 'The Monkey's Paw', the wishes are made one by one, and with each wish, the tension rises as the characters don't know what horror will befall them next.

One of the scariest horror short stories is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a man who is driven mad by an old man's 'vulture - like' eye and commits a heinous crime. Another is 'The Yellow Wallpaper' which shows the descent into madness of a woman trapped in a room. And 'The Monkey's Paw' is also very scary, as it deals with the consequences of making wishes that come true in a very dark and unexpected way.

Often, it's the element of surprise. In short horror stories, there's no time for long - drawn - out build - ups. So, the twist at the end can be really shocking. For example, in 'The Lottery', you don't expect the 'prize' to be death. Another factor is the ability to tap into our deepest fears, like the fear of the unknown in 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. We don't really know what the woman in the wallpaper represents, but it scares us.

A really scary short horror story is 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. The narrator, a woman, is confined to a room with yellow wallpaper for her 'nervous condition'. As she stares at the wallpaper, she begins to hallucinate and see a woman trapped behind it. It's a great example of psychological horror. Also, 'The Monkey's Paw' is terrifying. A family gets a magical monkey's paw that can grant wishes, but every wish comes with a horrible consequence, like their son coming back from the dead in a mutilated form.

In a small town, there was a cemetery that was said to be haunted. One night, a teenager dared to enter it. As he walked among the tombstones, he felt a cold hand touch his shoulder. He spun around but saw nothing. Then he heard a faint moan that seemed to come from all around him. Terrified, he ran out of the cemetery.

One story could be about a woman who wakes up in the middle of the night and sees a dark figure at the foot of her bed. She tries to scream but no sound comes out. When she finally manages to turn on the light, the figure is gone. But she can still feel an icy cold presence in the room.

There's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'. It may seem like a story about a woman's descent into madness, but it has a ghostly undertone. Trapped in a room with the hideous yellow wallpaper, she begins to see a figure trapped within it. The story builds tension through her isolation and the sense of a supernatural presence.

One of the scariest horror stories is 'The Tell - Tale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe. It's about a man who kills an old man because of his 'evil eye' and then is haunted by the sound of the old man's still - beating heart under the floorboards. Another is 'The Shining' by Stephen King. The story of a family in an isolated hotel with supernatural forces driving the father insane is truly terrifying. And then there's 'Dracula' by Bram Stoker. The idea of a vampire preying on the living and the dark, gothic atmosphere makes it a classic scary horror story.

One of the most influential scary horror stories is 'Dracula'. It has influenced countless vampire stories and movies. Its portrayal of the vampire as a seductive yet deadly creature has become a staple in horror. Another is 'Frankenstein'. It explored themes of creation and the consequences of playing God, which have been revisited in many horror works.

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.