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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:

• Bitesized Audio Classics
• Washington Sawyer – Not the best narrator, but has a great collection
• ƬƛԼЄƧ ƠƑ ƬЄƦƦƠƦ
• Suspense and Escape – Old time radio programs
• Horror Babble
• Sherlock Holmes and other stories Magpie Audio

Books

Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories – Michael Cox, R.A. Gilbert

Playlists:

Honorable mentions/others:

• Number Ninety – B.M. Croker

Links:

• More spooky tales for fall and cold winter nights
• Christmas Ghost stories recommended by reddit