Horror Fiction Schools

M. R. James was one of the finest English-language ghostwriters ever published. These short stories are not only classics of their genre, but are outstanding examples of beautifully paced, understated terror and sociological horror, reaching to the dark expanse of the unconscious mind.

For 150 years, high above rocky Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat untouched, a beacon of excellence in an old ancestral castle. A boarding school for girls, it promises that the young women lucky enough to be admitted will emerge “resilient and ready to serve society.” Into its illustrious midst steps Rose Christie: a 26-year-old Classics teacher, Caldonbrae’s new head of the department, and the first hire for the school in over a decade.

A new Latin master. A strange sentence. A figure at the window. When boys at a quiet English school begin seeing things that shouldn't be there—and writing things they don't understand—a mystery begins to unfold, darker than any textbook could explain. In A School Story, M. R. James blends scholarly detail with creeping dread to deliver a haunting tale of the past refusing to stay buried. Quiet horror with a bite.

In 1972, deep in the Appalachian wilderness, a bus carrying Catholic schoolgirls and their nun chaperone, Sister Lucy, is lost and stranded in the foreboding woods of West Virginia. The travelers are cut off from civilization, isolated in hostile terrain. The forest harbors dark secrets, and they are not alone. A clan of cannibalistic mountain men, grotesquely disfigured by generations of inbreeding, lurk in the shadows. Driven to the brink of extinction by their own sterility, they hunt for outsiders to sustain their bloodline, focusing on the busload of women they believe can save them.

A mysterious substitute teacher. Students acting strangely. A forgotten school secret that could destroy everything. Wraithmoor High is no ordinary school. When Brynn and her friends notice their new substitute teacher, Mr. Enoch, has an unsettling knowledge of the school’s dark past, strange things begin to happen. Students start behaving as if they’re under a spell, and Brynn soon discovers that Mr. Enoch’s presence is tied to a sinister ritual left unfinished decades ago. Can Brynn and her friends stop him before the entire school falls under his power? Or has Mr.

George and Kate enter Whittaker Magnet School via the "Leave No High-Scoring Child Behind" program. They quickly learn that all Whittaker students do is practice taking tests. Higher scores bring more students, and more tax money! And as if Whittaker isn't strange enough, there may be a demon roaming the halls. Acclaimed author Edward Bloor's Story Time is a darkly hilarious spoof on modern education.

Devil’s Point, New York. Mettie Eastey loved coming from a long line of evildoers. But the senior year student is left reeling when she learns she doesn’t share her tiny Satanic town’s bloodline, destroying her relationship with her grandmother. And she can’t help thinking something’s a bit off when she chases off bullies… and the next day the taunting boys show up stone cold dead.

In 1998, a 16-year-old girl is found dead. She’s posed on a swing on her boarding school’s property, dressed all in white, with no known cause of death. Whispers and rumors swirl, with no answers. But there are a few who know what happened; there is one girl who will never forget. One year earlier: a new student, Violet, steps on the campus of Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. This is her fresh start, her chance to begin again in the wake of tragedy, leave her demons behind.

Something is wrong at Cheshunt. Nathanial feels it the moment he arrives. It is not the model neighborhood it appears to be; strange things happen, despite the curfew. And soon Nathanial learns that his presence is no accident. As the dark calls its own, so does the light draw its champions, and Nathanial finds he must confront phantoms from his own past in his battle to stop the Gathering and its creator.

In 1917, East Side Grade School in Eureka, Kansas, burned to the ground. In 1918, a carpenter died in a fall during construction of Mulberry School. It was said he haunted the school ever since. Teachers, students, and staff encountered apparitions after the school's dedication. One teacher knew the victim and welcomed any sign of his existence. Others, however, did not. She coped with the loss of her friend and managed to go on with unusual help from the universe.

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge.

When Frances Teller accepts a job teaching at the prestigious Thackeray School in Vermont, she learns that the ghosts that haunt the hallways have a direct connection to her dangerous past. Now, Frances must come to terms with the crime she committed as a student...before history repeats itself.

First published in 1911, A School Story is a classic paranormal tale written by M. R. James, an author considered to be the originator of the modern-age ghost story. In this particularly story, a Latin teacher is troubled by unusual phrases from the dead language that start to show up among the work he sets his students; something about the phrases remind him of a dark secret from his past.

When 13-year-old Eric Parrish comes across glowing mushrooms in the woods behind his house, he's sure there's a scientific explanation. But when they start encroaching on the town - covering the football field and popping up from beneath the floorboards - Eric knows something's seriously wrong. Not that much else is going right.... Then a runaway girl from a nearby boarding school warns Eric that the fungus could portend doom.

"The Game" is a futuristic VR game that works kind of like the dream machine thing in Inception. One person is the “host” for a game and the other players enter the host’s mind. But when Camille finally hosts a game for the first time, she sends her friends to Hell. Like, literally Hell. It only lasted for a few seconds. But it felt like eternity.

'Horror from the Deep': On holiday on Earth, Charlie finds himself on the trail of a very mysterious ghost. A giant three-eyed octopus is terrorising two ghosts living on a pirate shipwreck. Can Charlie and Lewis discover the true identity of the tentacled beast before they come to a sticky end? 'Revenge of the Stink Monster': It’s exam time at Spook School, and Charlie and Lewis must solve a baffling mystery on Earth - in just 24 hours.

When primary school teacher Miss Jenny Hart loses her job and long-term relationship in a matter of moments, a job offer comes out of the blue to save her. But not everything is as it seems at this school. Children have gone missing, the head is acting suspicious, and things go bump in the night. There is more to this job that she doesn't fully understand...that is, until it's too late.

Eleven-year-old Jane Grandison, tormented by her stutter, sits in the back seat of a car, letter in hand inviting her to live and study at the Sybil Joines Vocational School for Ghost Speakers & Hearing-Mouth Children. Founded in 1890 by Headmistress Sybil Joines, the school - at first glance - is a sanctuary for children seeking to cure their speech impediments. Inspired by her haunted and tragic childhood, the Headmistress has other ideas.

The year is 1988, and the old Crowford School building is about to be knocked down. Before that happens, however, three schoolchildren are determined to discover the truth about an old legend. Does the ghost of a murdered woman really haunt the old school? And if she does, what does she want from the living? Eleven-year-old Bradley Firth has a particular reason for wanting to prove that the ghost is real. His own mother is desperately ill, and Bradley wants to believe that she can come back to him if the worst happens.

Set in 1840’s Hawaii, the Ghost of Queen Liliuokalani forces modern-day lovers to time travel and view damaging residential school she attended with other high ranking children who became actual monarchs of Hawaii.