Here's a fine set of scary story recommendations from a mix of writers.
I can warmly second these titles:
- Algernon Blackwood, “The Man Whom the Trees Loved”
- Edgar Allan Poe’s “William Wilson”
- H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Outsider”
- Stephen King’s “Strawberry Spring”
- Conan Doyle’s “The Sign of Four”
- Kafka’s “A Country Doctor”
- Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Zahir"
- Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,”
- “My Kinsman, Major Molineux” by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Bottle Imp” (1891)
These, I haven't read. Any thoughts?
- Sara Gran, Come Closer
- John Wyndham, The Outward Urge
- Bridget Clerkin, “Twenty Questions,”
- Joan Aiken, “As Gay as Cheese"
- Walter de la Mare, “Seaton’s Aunt”
- Penelope Fitzgerald, “Desideratus”
Some nice thoughts from John Crowley:
"I see that the three define a flavor: dreadful endlessness, damnation. “A false alarm on the night bell once answered — it cannot be made good, not ever.” -John Crowley
(thanks to Jesse "mystery voice in the aether" Walker)
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