Horror Fiction Short Stories

A chilling anthology in tribute to the genius of Shirley Jackson. Shirley Jackson is a seminal writer of horror and mystery fiction, whose legacy resonates globally today. Chilling, human, poignant, and strange, her stories have inspired a generation of writers and listeners. This anthology, edited by legendary horror editor Ellen Datlow, brings together today’s leading horror writers to offer their own personal tribute to the work of Shirley Jackson.

Thomas Malone thought he'd seen it all during his 25 years in the Birmingham homicide division. But then they found the body of a woman suspended above the opening of the mineshaft known as the Vertical, blood dripping into the chasm below. At the bottom of that shaft, two clues - a typed manuscript and a business card, blank but for a name on the front and a single sentence on the back.

When her husband dies unexpectedly, Maggie Royal is struck with sinister visions that foretell danger for her and for her five-year-old daughter. Her mother and grandmother were said to have “the sight,” but it was never like this. With no one alive to turn to, Maggie must move quickly to uncover the meaning of her visions before her candle is snuffed out.

That long-ago summer, four friends came face-to-face with strange, dark events they couldn’t explain away. As they grew up and left town, they each tried to forget. Instead, the secrets lingering in the shadowy corners of their minds shaped their lives, haunting each of them in their own way. Now, in this chilling four-part serial by New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger, it’s time to stop running. It’s time to come home. Featuring: All My Darkest Impulses, Fog Descending, Circling the Drain, and Love the Way You Lie.

Fans of cosmic horror will have much to sup on in these eight tales. The supernatural intrudes upon a wedding; a pier becomes the site of tragedy; a collapsed building is only the start of the nightmare for those trapped in the ruins; a scientist makes the discovery of a lifetime, only to find out that what he’s unearthed has dire consequences not only for himself, but for all of mankind.

Climate fiction author Richard Friedman takes the listener on a journey from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to the edges of the universe with his collection of short stories. A narcissistic east coast billionaire receives a visit from three ghosts in a contemporary spin on a timeless classic. Judgment Day asks, is humanity worth saving? A family takes a tour through the Grand Museum of the Universe in The Docent and the crew of the space shuttle witnesses a nuclear holocaust in The World Burns Below.

Come Join Us by the Fire S2: Originals is the second installment of Nightfire's audio-first horror anthology, featuring a wide collection of short stories from emerging voices in the horror genre as well as longtime fan favorites. "Season 2: Originals" features nine all-new stories from authors...

Thirty-nine terrifying stories that will keep you up all night and make you want to call in sick to work. Enjoy stories of karma, fear, supernatural horror, deadly women, and retribution.The Better Off Dead Series delves into the farthest corners of your mind, where your deepest, darkest fears lurk. These masters of horror will haunt your dreams and stalk your nightmares, taking you to the edge of sanity before pushing you to the brink of madness!

A young librarian receives a request for an obscure Hebrew book from a sinister gentleman, unaware of its contents. Montague Rhodes James was a noted British mediaeval scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918) and of Eton College (1918–1936). He is best remembered for his ghost stories which are widely regarded as among the finest in English literature.

This fantastic work of fiction that is based on a found manuscipt at a renowned univerity, follows the Great Detective, Sherlock Holmes during a previously unrevealed part of his life...

A cemetery full of the restless dead. A town so wicked it has already burned twice, with the breath of the third fire looming. A rural, isolated bridge with a terrifying monster waiting for the completion of its summoning ritual. A lake that allows the drowned to return, though they have been changed by the claws of death. These are the shadowed, liminal spaces where the curses and monsters lurk, refusing to be forgotten.

This long-awaited third collection of short horror stories brings you a showcase of the best new and previously published tales that Blakey-Novis has to offer. With a wide variety of sub-genres, Short Horror Stories Volume 3 includes tales of possession and demons, unseen beasts lurking in the shadows, ghost stories, killers, and cannibals. Setting stories in the modern day, as well as hundreds of years into both the past and future, the listener is taken on a journey in which each story brings new and unexpected events.

Leash and Other Short Horror Stories is a horror anthology of 13 short, creepy, scary, and sometimes gruesome monster stories. These hair-raising stories will make your mind tingle and your paranoia kick into overdrive. This chilling set of frighteningly strange and weird stories are tales of the unexpected - of deceit and of unspeakable beings that hide in the recesses of the mind and the shadows of dark forests.

Renowned Jewish vocalist and writer Elizabeth Schwartz’s first book of fiction “The Sweet Fragrance of Life & Other Stories” is a meditation on historic European Jewish Culture seen through the lens of a woman’s point of view. As if Sholem Ale­ichem and Angela Carter had a child, The Sweet Fra­grance of Life & Oth­er Hor­ror Sto­ries explores Euro­pean Jew­ish his­to­ry, cul­ture, and real world events through a fem­i­nist, shtetl perspective. This is an eerie collection of new Jewish-themed horror stories from a world that was.

Representing the dark underbelly of Romanticism and beyond, these stories reach the shadowy corners of the human soul as seen through the writings of some of the most prominent authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries.

"Perfect deadpan marks the opening of Ali Simpson’s The Monster'" writes Susan Merrell of The Southampton Review in her introduction to this issue of Recommended Reading.

Peter Straub has spent forty years at the forefront of modern literary horror. This pair of stories represent his astonishing range and his ability to terrify, transport, and hold a reader hostage. Both stories crack the foundation of our reality and opens our eyes, taking us further and...

Clayton James Felding is a post adolescent teen. New to suburbia, he is concerned about societal deterioration, the implications upon society, and his psyche. Follow him into a home between worlds, and the nightmares in its shadow. Your understanding of reality will be tested…from the top of the stairs.

An addict searching for his next high instead comes upon a beautiful and mysterious woman who leads him from the darkness in his soul to the possibility of real hope. How can he hold on when he can’t even be sure she’s really human.

When Desdemona Harris gets a mysterious invitation to test a new dating app named Charm'd, she jumps at the chance. Soon after, strange things start happening, and Des begins to wonder - who is swiping left on her?