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Soon it will be halloween and many of us (well me mostly) get so caught up in the books we are reading that we can not take time to commit to a full on horror novel. So I suggest short stories. They will allow you to get the scare you need and can even leave you thirsting for more. So here are just a few of my favorite short stories that are sure to cause a good fright.
No list would be complete without the original master of horror Edgar Allan Poe. Of all of his stories his shorts are some of the best; and the ones I always come back to when I really want a good, mind blowing read. The first of these is The Tale Tell Heart; which was originally published in 1843. The story follows an unknown narrator who kills a man with the "vulture eye". During the story the man is clearly trying to convince us of his sanity. However, it becomes every clear that the man is deeply unstable. The best thing about the story is that its creepy. Every time I read it I imagine the victim in the story looking like Igor from the old black and white Frankstein movie. Another of Poe's stories that will give you a good mystery is The Murders in the Rue Morgue. I first read Rue Morgue my junior year of college in a lit class. What made the story so interesting is that it is considered the first modern detective story; it was published in 1841. The story follows Detective Dupin as he investigates the murder of Madame L'Espanaye and he daughter in the Rue Morgue. I will admit that the story gets a little predictable but; it is an amazing good read. I can't really give you to much information because it would contain lots and lots of spoilers. Another one of my favorites is The Cask Of Amontillado, which was first published in 1846. This one story really inspired me to write horror; I originally encountered it my senior year of high school. What creeps me out about this story is that the narrator, Montresor leads an unknown man into the catacombs under the disguise of a jester. Montresor is seeking revenge for an insult that was suffered at his hand by the victim. I really loved this story because it has a lesson to it. Which is never to get drunk and follow a jester into catacombs because your likely hood of coming out is extremely slim.
The beauty of reading Edgar Allan Poe today is that a majority of his major works; including these popular shorts are available for download free of charge. You can find these stories at http://www.poemuseum.org/works.php .
Another master of the short story is Stephen King; who we all know has written some crazy long novels (like Under the Dome; which is a whooping 1074 pages long). Well I suggest going to the library and picking up a copy of Everythings Eventual (it can be purchased on amazon for as little as 7.99$). This book holds one of the scariest stories I have ever read. Which is The Man in the Black Suit. In the story we encounter a kid that falls asleep in the woods while fishing. When he wakes he encounters the Man in the Black suit. The man is described as having claws and burning eyes and smelling of smoke and match heads. Gary believes that he has encountered the devil. What makes this story so creepy is that the kid is scared to death. He really believes that this is the devil and the fear that he encountered follows him into adulthood. I thought this story was scary because its also very realistic. The child is in what he believes to be a safe environment so he falls asleep. Only to find a stranger watching him. Who would not be scared of that? This story gave me nightmares for a few days and its less than 30 pages long. Another story from the same book is Autospy Room Four; the main character in this story is Howard Cottrell, while playing a routine round of golf he ends up being beaten by a snake. The poison actually lowers his heart rate and his breathing and he is assumed to be dead. He only slowly begins to wake up from his paralysed state right before he about to be cut into. If it would not be for a hilarious turn of events Howard would have had an autopsy performed on him while we was still alive. I can't really say the story was creepy but it was hilarious; its just to bad that I can't tell you way because that is a BIG SPOILER.
Of course the most Classic Ghost story of them all is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow; written by Washington Irving and published in 1820. In the past year The Legend of Sleepy Hollow has gotten a lot of attention due to the television show Sleepy Hollow (which Airs on fox). We are all pretty familiar with the story but what makes the story so interesting is that all the happenings in the small glen of Sleepy Hollow; seem to happen to regular old ordinary people. What I find most interesting now is that this story has become such a pop culture phenomenon; sometimes I really wonder what he would think about his story being retold (with some interesting additions) on 21st century television. You can find a copy of the story online at http://www.gutenberg.org/files/41/41-h/41-h.htm .
I really hope that my little list was helpful and that you take some time to track down a few of these stories and read them over the weeks to come.
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