Best Favorite Scary Stories for Fall

September 18, 2021 matt Comments 2 comments

One of my favorite pastimes is reading and listening to classic spooky stories. There’s no better time for curling up with a spooky story than a cold, fall evening in front of the fire.

Here’s a collection of my all-time favorite scary stories by the best readers I could find:

The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood
The Tower by Marghanita Laski
The Red Room by H.G.Wells
A Haunted Island by Algernon Blackwood
The Haunted and the Haunters by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Christmas Eve on a Haunted Hulk by Frank Cowper
Five different haunted house stories by George Allen Upward. About estate agent Jack Hargreaves who specializes in dealing with haunted properties
Dark Mummery by Thorp McClusky
The House Among the Laurels by William Hope Hodgson
The Whistling Room and one of the 5 other stories about Carnacki the ghost finder by William Hope Hodgson
The Ash Tree by M R James
Number 13 by M R James
The Phantom Coach – Amelia B Edwards
Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad by M R James

Scary-comedy

This is a unique group – and old stories of this genre are very heavy on dry British/deadpan humor and often require a little bit of understanding of the times in 1800’s England. I highly recommend.

The Open Window by Saki. Besides this story check out all the other great humorous works by Saki – he’s a favorite of mine.
The Ghost of the Blue Chamber (pt1 and pt2) by Jerome K Jerome
My Adventure in Norfolk by A. J. Alan – The author tries out a possible vacation home only to have a unique encounter. Especially fun for the dry humor and malapropisms.

Plays/Dramatizations

The Ghost Train – An excellent and fun ghost story that turns out to be something completely different. Best version of this story I have encountered. (Avoid the 1941 movie version like the plague – it is terrible)
House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
The Thing on the Fourble Board – Radio Play

Good general scary classics channels on YouTube: