Sohmygodness - Be Curious

This is a compiled list of some of my favorite pieces of short horror fiction, ranging from classics to modern-day horror, and includes links to where the full story can be read for free. Please be aware that any of these stories may contain subject matter you find disturbing, offensive, or otherwise distressing. Exercise caution when reading. Image art is from Scarecrow: Year One.

PSYCHOLOGICAL: tense, dread-inducing horror that preys upon the human psyche and aims to frighten on a mental or emotional level. 

“The Frolic” by Thomas Ligotti, 1989

“Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, 1970

“89.1 FM” by Jimmy Juliano, 2015

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1892

“Death at 421 Stockholm Street“ by C.K. Walker, 2016

“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1973

“An Empty Prison” by Matt Dymerski, 2018

“A Suspicious Gift” by Algernon Blackwood, 1906

CURSED: stories concerning characters afflicted with a curse, either by procuring a plagued object or as punishment for their own nefarious actions.

“How Spoilers Bleed” by Clive Barker, 1991

“A Warning to the Curious” by M.R. James, 1925

“each thing i show you is a piece of my death” by Stephen J. Barringer and Gemma Files, 2010

“The Road Virus Heads North” by Stephen King, 1999

“Ring Once for Death” by Robert Arthur, 1954

“The Mary Hillenbrand Cassette“ by Jimmy Juliano, 2016

“The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs, 1902

MONSTERS: tales of ghouls, creeps, and everything in between.

“The Curse of Yig” by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, 1929 

“The Oddkids” by S.M. Piper, 2015

“Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” by Richard Matheson

“The Graveyard Rats” by Henry Kuttner, 1936

“Tall Man” by C.K. Walker, 2016 

“The Quest for Blank Claveringi“ by Patricia Highsmith, 1967

“The Showers” by Dylan Sindelar, 2012

CLASSICS: terrifying fiction written by innovators of literary horror. 

“The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

“The Interlopers” by Saki, 1919 

“The Statement of Randolph Carter“ by H.P. Lovecraft, 1920

“The Damned Thing” by Ambrose Pierce, 1893

“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving, 1820 

“August Heat” by W.F. Harvey, 1910

“The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, 1843

SUPERNATURAL: stories varying from spooky to sober, featuring lurking specters, wandering souls, and those haunted by ghosts and grief. 

“Nora’s Visitor” by Russell R. James, 2011

“The Pale Man” by Julius Long, 1934

“A Collapse of Horses” by Brian Evenson, 2013

“The Jigsaw Puzzle” by J.B. Stamper, 1977 

“The Mayor Will Make A Brief Statement and then Take Questions” by David Nickle, 2013

“The Night Wire” by H.F. Arnold, 1926 

“Postcards from Natalie” by Carrie Laben, 2016

UNSETTLING: fiction that explores particularly disturbing topics, such as mutilation, violence, and body horror. Not recommended for readers who may be offended or upset by graphic content.  

“Survivor Type” by Stephen King, 1982

“I’m On My Deathbed So I’m Coming Clean…” by M.J. Pack, 2018

“In the Hills, the Cities” by Clive Barker, 1984

“The New Fish” by T.W. Grim, 2013

“The Screwfly Solution” by Racoona Sheldon, 1977

“In the Darkness of the Fields” by Ho_Jun, 2015 

“The October Game” by Ray Bradbury, 1948

“I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison, 1967 

HAPPY READING, HORROR FANS!

They’re going on an adventure

(via)

I cried <3 thank you so much!

Just wanted to say that I love your writing. English isn't my mother tongue so I can't express properly how much your GO stories move me and make me feel at peace. Every time I see one of yours updates I wait until morning at breakfast to read it so I know the day will start in a lovely way. If possible I would like to request "mirror" as a prompt. Thank you so much for sharing your work

[You say the kindest and loveliest things and it means so much to me to know that my words can bring any pleasure, any happiness at all. Thank you so much. I wanted to do this one justice and I kept it for a special vignette. Thank you for sending it!

All these vignettes are related and this is crossposted as the newest chapter of No Kingdom To Come. However, you do not need to have read the others for this. For chronological purposes, this one comes after With Nothing On My Tongue (But Hallelujah) and before infinity times infinity (let there be light).]

If you want more Ineffable Husbands being ineffable, I am always taking prompts via tumblr ask! Thank you.]New Methods In Riverbed Excavation

London2019

I’m going to tell you a secret. Come close, listen. Nothing stays forever. We knock on the ground under our feet and stand back assured of it. We count on the seas, the shift of the stars, the rising and setting of the sun. But the ground shifts and the rocks move, worn away by wind. Forests burn up and stars die. And this, our star-sun too, hung already in its own grave and waiting for the white-dwarf-end. Sometimes the seas dry up. Lakes and ponds. Sometimes the rivers take off, leave only their empty beds behind. We can see there, the blanket of water now peeled back. See what was hidden. 

(Why am I telling you this? Pay attention.)

Crowley is in his bedroom, standing in front of a long mirror. His fists clenched, veins popped. Knuckles white. He stands very still (he would seem calm if you didn’t know what to look for, didn’t know the signs of a riptide). Unbuttons the top buttons of his shirt. Frowns and does them up again. Runs his fingers through his hair a little, fussing at it. Scowls at the hungry cheekbones, his sharp chin, his crow-claw fingers curled here. (He’s too familiar with this body after six-thousand years. Knows all the ins and outs of it. How fast the hair grows, where the freckles come in, which knuckles to crack. He’s known himself since before mirrors. Since crawling up to the Sarasvati after wandering for years after Eden. He’d pulled himself up to the edges and cupped water from the river for his hot face and hot hands. Had glanced into the clear water in his palms and saw only a mirror there, his own startled face looking back at him.)

Should I wear this shirt? Wait, what about the other one? Which do you like better? Doesn’t matter. Not really. Never matters. Get it the fuck together. 

Continua a leggere

Old Catradora art Noelle posted on her Twitter just now

Clock (Words by William Shakespeare, Read by Neil Gaiman, Music by FourPlay StringQuartet)

Released on World Shakespeare Day 2023, this is Clock, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 12, read by Neil Gaiman and set to a haunting musical backdrop by Australia’s FourPlay String Quartet. Taken from their debut album Signs of Life.

Read by Neil Gaiman Violin & vocals – Lara Goodridge Viola – Shenzo Gregorio Viola & vocals– Tim Hollo Cello & vocals – Peter Hollo