103 Scariest Short Stories, Novels, CreepyPasta, NoSleep and Other Recommendations

For the best alternative to caffeine, it’s always been scary horror stories. More so when they’re actual real stories which actually happened, sometimes without knowing, just around the corner where you live or where you used to work, etc. For the maximum effect, it is highly recommended that you read these stories when it’s totally dark, especially at night and most definitely when you’re alone. If you’re more adventurous, go camping smack right in the middle of the jungle alone, wait till the sunlight leaves your world and start the adventure.

We’ve broken this compilation into 5 simple categories – Short Stories, Full Novels, CreepyPastas (horror-related legends or images that have been copied and pasted around the Internet), NoSleep (a subreddit for realistic horror stories) and other recommended sources. The first 3 categories will have links to their corresponding stories, but the remaining 2 are just simple lists as they’re not freely available. If you’re searching for additional resources on how to scare the crap out of yourself, do give this list a try.

Here’s the list:-

CreepyPasta

• 12 Minutes by RoboKy
• Candle Cove by Kris Straub
• Dionaea House by Eric Heisserer
• Humper Monkey’s Ghost Story by Humper-Monkey
• Penpal by 1000Vultures
• Psychosis by Matt Dymerski
• Skinwalkers by Kamen Rider Chrome
• Suicidal Squidward by unknown author
• Ted the Caver by Ted
• The Goatman by Anansi
• The Russian Sleep Experiments by unknown author
• The Smiling Man by blue_tidal

NoSleep

• Borrasca by The_Dalek_Emperor
• Correspondence (41 chapters ) by bloodstains
• I’m A Search and Rescue Officer (8 chapters) by searchandrescuewoods
• Needles (2 chapters) by Ink-Stains
• The Smiling Ones on Space Station Mir (4 chapters) by Dariuspilgrim
• The Spire In The Woods (10 chapters) by TheBoyInTheClock
• The Tall Dog by Elias_Witherow
• The Third Parent by Elias_Witherow

Others

• 4 Videos on Stephen King – The King of Horror
• Free Horror Ebooks
• Ghost Stories by M. R. James
• Horror and Weird Fiction by Thomas Ligotti
• Horror Mangas by Junji Ito
• Saya no Uta (Lovecraftian horror visual novel) by Nitroplus
• Tanis (Podcast) by Public Radio Alliance, Minnow Beats Whale and Pacific Northwest Stories
• The Black Tapes (Podcast) by Pacific Northwest Stories and Minnow Beats Whale
• The Croning, The Light is the Darkness & A Short Story Collections by Laird Barron

Short Stories

• 1408 (Everything’s Eventual: 14 short stories – 2002) by Stephen King
• A Very Tight Place (Just After Sunset – 2008) by Stephen King
• Autopsy Room Four (Everything’s Eventual – 1997) by Stephen King
• Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook by M.R. James
• Colour From Out of Space by H. P. Lovecraft
• Crouch End (Nightmares and Dreamscapes – 2006) by Stephen King
• I Have No Mouth and I must Scream by Harlan Ellison
• N. (Just After Sunset – 2008) by Stephen King
• Pigeons from Hell by Robert E. Howard
• Rats in the Walls by H. P. Lovecraft
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz
• Secret Life, With Cats (Ghostly) by Audrey Niffenegger
• Survivor Type (Skeleton Crew – 1982) by Stephen King
• The Boogeyman (Night Shift – 1978) by Stephen King
• The Horror from the Vault by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Hound by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Jaunt (Skeleton Crew – 1981) by Stephen King
• The King in Yellow and Other Horror Stories by Robert W. Chambers
• The Pear Shaped Man by George R. R. Martin
• The Road Virus Heads North (Everything’s Eventual – 1999) by Stephen King
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Wall Painting by Roger Johnson
• The Whimper of Whipped Dogs by Harlan Ellison
• The Whisperer in Darkness by H. P. Lovecraft
• The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
• There Will Come Soft Rains by Ray Bradbury

Novels

• 1984 by George Orwell
• A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
• A Stir of Echos by Richard Matheson
• An Unquiet Grave by P.J. Parrish
• Apt Pupil (Different Seasons) by Stephen King
• Bird Box by Josh Malerman
• Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• Book of the Dead by Greig Beck
• Communion by Whitley Streiber
• Dead Souls by J. Lincoln Fenn
• Desperation by Stephen King
• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Harvest Home by Thomas Tyron
• Hell’s Aquarium by Steve Alton
• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
• Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams
• IT by Stephen King
• Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
• Needfull Things by Stephen King
• Orange is for Anguish, Blue for Insanity by David Morrell
• Pet Sematary by Stephen King
• Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
• Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris
• Tale of the Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe
• The Amityville Horror by John G. Jones
• The Dark Half by Stephen King
• The Demonologist by Gerald Brittle
• The Descent by Jeff Long
• The Excorcist by William Peter Blatty
• The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Langoliers (Four After Midnight) by Stephen King
• The Library Policeman (Four After Midnight) by Stephen King
• The Mothman Prophecies by John A. Keel
• The Scream by John Skipp
• The Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Stand by Stephen King
• The Totem by David Morell
• The Troop by Nick Cutter
• The Watcher by Charles Maclean
• The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood
• The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
• Watchers by Dean Koontz
• What to Expect When you are Expecting by Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel
• Whisper of Death by Christopher Pike
• Wire in the Blood by Val Dermid