The movie Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark hits theaters this weekend, but true fans still remember the original book series: Alvin Schwartz’s iconic short horror stories for kids. For many, they were a childhood staple: the stories, fueled by Stephen Gammell’s gruesome and often unforgettable illustrations, are still seared into our memories and arguably inspired a passion for all things creepy.
but how good were those original stories really? The series was published in the late 1980s and early 1990s and spans three books: Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, and Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling Tales, but only a handful of the 82 stories made the movie cut. judging by the trailer, it includes fan favorites like “harold” and “the red stain”, hands down two of the best in the collection.
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Still, there were plenty of rags. In honor of the film’s release, we reviewed all three books to determine which of the 82 short stories holds up in terms of fear and has remained relevant over the years. this was discouraging, given that each book ends with a “funny” section devoted to mediocre jokes. still, there were plenty of timeless themes of abuse and self-loathing that gave us the creeps, along with some old-fashioned scares. so here we go, maybe don’t read this list at night.
82. “the big toe”, scary stories to tell in the dark unpopular opinion: the beginning of the trilogy, which will appear in the film, is a total fiasco. Tasked with grabbing the reader’s attention after the book’s brief explanatory introduction, “strange and scary things,” this story is about a dirty boy who finds and removes a big toe to add to his family’s soup. the problem is that the owner of the toe appears looking for the appendage of it, but how? something like 85 percent of our foot control comes from the big toe, so I call that corpse that found the kid after dinner, before physical therapy, a shit.
81. “dead man’s brain”, scary stories to tell in the dark. some of the weak points of the series arise when the stories fit into a gimmick rather than a narrative. here, we are told that this is a game, in the same way that one of his most annoying acquaintances might trick him into having an endless night of monopoly or something similar. however, you’re probably familiar with this game, which involves using food as a substitute for a decaying corpse and relies on a dark room to disguise it as such. the eyeballs are grapes, which is checked. the ears are dried apricots, which is clever. and so it continues, each part of the body corresponding to another delicacy, that is, until reaching the hands. they’re rubber gloves, but instead of being filled with something like popcorn, they’re filled with mud or ice, like that’s not a big wtf because both of those things are kind of inconvenient and don’t have the same consistency as a hand. Also, reading this tutorial isn’t even meant to scare you, just inspire you.
80. “the viper”, scary stories to tell in the dark let’s dive into the fun sections of these books right away. I’m not saying there’s no place for humor in horror, and I appreciate that the books end a little lightly, kind of like avoiding nightmares by doing a comedy after letting a horror movie scare the shit out of you. kid, but most of these are either instantly forgettable or frustratingly stupid. Without giving away too much, let’s just say that all of this could have been avoided if the protagonist had checked the peephole before opening the door and letting in a totally well-intentioned, if slightly misplaced, window cleaner.
79. “the attic,” scary stories to tell in the dark attics have a long history of being scary. Often dark and dusty, the horrors of an attic can range from ritual sacrifice to adolescent incest. so it’s confusing that this story is somehow one of the least scary in the series. Though it hints at a gruesome death for man’s best friend, specifically Rupert’s dog Sam, in this story, in the end, the horror hinges on the narrator pausing after yelling “aaaaaaaaaaah” and waiting for someone to ask, ” Why did rupert yell? ?” the big end? he stepped on a nail.
78. “the slithery-dee”, scary stories to tell in the dark. The Slithery-Dee’s straightforward storyline combined with its comic strip-like presentation makes it almost memorable. Though the reader never sees the slippery dee in question, it’s safe to assume he’s an animal-eating sea monster, and a highly curious creature with a long tail and the posture of a human, who dares to stroll along the shoreline. This seems ripe for the treatment of obsessive resident fish-man Guillermo del Toro, however, and with a little cinematic wizardry, we could be looking at a top ten story that is the darkest version of the shape of water. Unfortunately, this would-be palate cleanser in what is sure to be a horrible movie won’t be up to the task.
77. “The Bad News,” More Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark The fact that this story is called “the bad news” and is about baseball, but has absolutely nothing to do with the seminal sports comedy of 1976 bringing the bad news seems especially rude. Instead, we are introduced to Leon and Todd, two guys who played baseball growing up and have since graduated to watching baseball and talking about baseball as adults. both are very concerned about the prospects of baseball in heaven. I can’t imagine meeting these idiots at a party. Anyway, Todd kicks the bucket and the sky goes up. but only briefly, because of course there is baseball in heaven, which means todd has to travel back to earth for lion to know this. The bad news? lion is scheduled to launch tomorrow. It seems that this story is more satisfying than terrifying: Todd and Leon get exactly what they want, and the earth is saved from their uselessness.
76. “the brown suit”, more scary stories to tell in the dark “fine” is the only note I wrote while reading this story. maybe i’m numb, but the ending seemed more reminiscent of a macgyver episode, not a horror-inducing story. after two men prepare to be laid out at a funeral home, their respective wives decide that the color of each man’s suit is off. the undertaker is happy to make a switch, but instead of stripping two adult stiffs naked, he just switches their heads. Sure, life moves fast, but death moves faster. Who knows what else the undertaker had to do that day, but thanks to his ingenuity, he’ll make sure to do it.
75. “ba-room!”, more scary stories to tell in the dark
This is one of the few scary stories that have music. Readers are instructed that the story be read to the tune of “the Irish Wagtail,” which gives it a very “third-rate” vibe of the Titanic. the subjects, however, are not dancing. instead, they are dead. yes, both o’leary and o’reilly are dead in the same bed unaware of each other. Are we sure the bathroom isn’t just the sound of a relationship’s death rattle?
74. “thumpity-thump”, more scary stories to tell in the dark this story closes the second installment of the series leaving much to be desired. A poltergeist tale as old as time, it revolves around a family terrified by a chair banging around the house. finally, the chair takes a break and one of its legs seems to point towards something. so, the family decides to dig a hole in the ground where the chair leg has put its aim. in fact, they find a body, which has the potential to cause terror, but it is reburied so quickly that it is barely a blip in the story, which ends when the family leaves to return to their hometown, where the chairs “don’t go”. rarin’ and ragin’ ‘roun’, scaring people insane…” you get the idea… they prefer a stable place to sit. seems fair.
73. Strangers Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones This is less of a scary story and more of a superhero story. it opens with a man and a woman sitting on a train. The woman takes out a book and begins to read. Like clockwork, the man asks, “what are you reading?” because that’s what anyone who reads a book wants, to have it taken away for stupid talk. then she tells him it’s a ghost story. he, of course, begins to share his thoughts on the existence of spirits even though no one asked him to. his response is to disappear. he not only proves that ghosts are real, but he also quickly gets away from this guy. Scary story or dream come true?
72. “the pig”, scary stories 3: more stories to chill the bones, who here has been pursued by an ex? that song that reminds you of them, or that smell, or that very specific post-breakup instagram they posted of themselves daring to go on living after the dissolution of their relationship. Often after a breakup, your previous relationship can seem inescapable. Sometimes, though, it’s you who broke up and an ex who refuses to move on becomes the bane of your existence. In this story, the ex returns as a pig who can run as fast as a car and uses that ability to stalk an old flame. seems annoying, right? it gets worse. When the protagonist confronts the pig, albeit in an aggressive manner, the pig replies: “I just went out for a quick walk, having fun. How could you hit me after all we mean to each other? dammit. talk about lighting gas.
71. “Is something wrong?” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones Yes, something is wrong, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s scary. a quick entry appearing in the trilogy, this story directly follows “the pig” and has a similar vibe, as the protagonist can’t seem to escape from something horrible. He may not be an ex, but he has the same aggressive approach coupled with an insincere amount of politeness that we saw the pig portray earlier. after chasing the protagonist to the point where he thinks his lungs are going to burst, the creature simply taps him on the shoulder to ask if something is wrong. the nerve!
70. “It’s Him!” Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling Tales, this is a clear case of two assholes getting what they deserve: an eternity of suffering together. these two people are so mean that they have to live alone in the forest where they can’t bother anyone else. the wife is so mean that when she gets mad at her husband, she cuts off his head and buries him in the back. the husband is so bad that he comes back to haunt his murderous wife like he’s not a piece of shit that nobody likes either. Embodying the standard vows for better or worse, the story twists to reveal that death doesn’t part you if there’s no one else who can tolerate you.
69. “T-h-u-p-p-p-p-p-p-p!” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones. So where does this alien story take us? Out of this world? absolutely not. After Sarah sees the alien screwing around in her room several times, her distant father replies, “You’re not upset about anything.” immediately, this could mean that he is already an alien or an idiot of a father. honestly, it’s probably both, but we never really find out because the alien in question rushes off to accomplish his mission. You might think he’s here to take over the world, but this alien is far less sinister and has come to earth to give humans…raspberries. no, not the fruit. that thing people do to babies to make them laugh.
68. “You May Be Next…” Scary Stories 3: More Relaxing Tales Honestly, this one could have a summer potential song. a little ditty about dying, ends with the line, “and that’s the end of a perfect day.” morbid? of course. catchy? definitely.
67. “the girl who stood on a grave”, scary stories to tell in the dark this story presents a theory that is especially easy to test. posits that if you stand in a grave after dark, the person buried below will grab you and pull you under. it’s unclear if “under” refers to under the grass or to the darkest hell imaginable. either way, it seems inconvenient to find this destination. It also seems unlikely, which is why the girl in this story takes a dollar bet to stand on a grave. she is instructed to stick a knife in the ground to prove that she was there. she plunges the knife into the floor of a tomb that she likes, but what she doesn’t realize is that she first lets it go through her skirt, which means she is thrown backwards and falls to the ground when she try to leave she presumably cries out for help all night, but her friends don’t bother looking for her until later, by which time she’s scared to death. this taps into the fear of fear itself, sure, but it also points out how stupidity can cost you your life.
66. “the walk”, scary stories to tell in the dark, here is a story that aptly portrays how fear of oneself can be greater than fear of the unknown. when a man walks down a dirt road, he meets the image of himself in the mirror. they make eye contact and instantly terrify each other. No matter how hard we try, we can’t escape ourselves, so it’s real that the two of them continue down the same path, becoming more and more afraid of themselves. and that is. this is apparently his eternity. creepy, huh?
65. “The Thing” Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Now that we’ve established that your present self can be scary, what about your future self? In this story, two men confront a skeleton dressed in black pants, a white shirt, and black suspenders. the men and the skeleton play a little game of cat and mouse, the skeleton follows the men as they flee, only to get bored and eventually leave them alone. years later, however, one of the men becomes ill and, as he deteriorates, he becomes more and more like the skeleton. seems silly given that we are all programmed to age. however, I guess if you’re an influencer, this might hit the spot.
64. “a man who lived in leeds”, scary stories to tell in the dark simple and direct, the opening of this story informs us that “some say this rhyme means nothing. others aren’t so sure.” That’s surprising given that it’s a clear warning about keeping an eye out for traitors. And the story isn’t speaking in metaphors. It literally advises that one be on the lookout for a killer with a knife, unless one wants to die while blood runs down his back.
63. “wait for martin to come”, scary stories to tell in the dark a man seeking shelter from the rain, which is a recurring theme throughout the series, finds him in an abandoned house. well abandoned except for a bunch of cats who keep insisting the man stay until he gets there martin. he doesn’t and instead runs out of there. it’s a mediocre story that doesn’t use the spooky potential that cats can offer.
62. “the white wolf”, scary stories to tell in the dark, this one could have broken into the top 50, if it wasn’t so predictable. Do you want to avoid a gruesome death? keep your promises. or not and end up like bill the butcher. After a stint with the butcher knife, Bill hangs up his mail shirt to hunt white wolves, which are overpopulating the region. he is so good at his job that he becomes obsolete, vowing never to kill a white wolf again. does he keep that promise, or does he try to fatten up a remaining wolf with a lamb only to be torn to pieces by the predator? As with many of these stories, which were written for children, there is a clear moral. in this case, it’s pretty relaxing: keep your promises or die a gruesome death, kids.
61. “Alligators” Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark Alligators are scary, and they’re actually having a moment right now as alligator fever spreads. From sniffing to the chance Chicago snapper, alligators are in sight. So how is this group of alligators classified? we’ll see. In this story, a woman is convinced that her husband is trying to turn himself and her two children into alligators. sure enough, her entire family disappears while three never-before-seen alligators are spotted at a local watering hole. it’s clear what happened here, which makes the scariest part of the story that no one will believe the woman. in fact, they don’t even bother to try to offer another explanation for her family’s disappearance; instead, she is thrown into the hospital because “everyone knows there are no alligators out there.” Terrible advice: Until this summer, there were no alligators in Chicago, either.
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60. “cemetery soup”, more scary stories to tell in the dark soup is not scary. the soup is delicious this soup in particular sounds most appetizing. With a little carrot, green beans, corn, barley, onion, potato and a “snitch of beef”, with a little salt and pepper, this soup is a chef’s kiss. The capture? the soup bone surely belongs to a corpse as it was found in a graveyard. however, when the corpse returns for what is its own, the soup maker simply throws it at the corpse before helping himself to some soup. scary? more like succulent.
59. “no thanks” scary stories 3: more tales to chill your bonesthis is the story of the vector marketing scam. you remember vectors, right? The company that convinced you and all your poor friends to sell kitchen knives during college as part of a pyramid scheme? In this story, we see a man so hopeless that he resorts to cold calling anywhere he can, even to a warehouse parking lot after hours. “Hello, sir,” he calls out to an employee who walks up to his car. “Nice sharp knife…cuts nice and easy,” says his sales pitch. “Hey man, just three bucks. Two for five.” he continues before adding, “nice present for your mom.” the brand dodges it by saying, “no thanks. she has one. what’s scary is it? probably yes, because no one is safe from a pyramid scheme in this small town. More annoying than scary, this one sits comfortably on the cooler, not the creepy end of the list.
58. “faster and faster”, scary stories 3: more stories to chill the bonesthe passage of time offers a certain type of fear. it’s fueled by anxiety, and something like an increasingly frantic drum roll is sure to trigger it. here, as a ghostly drum beats faster and faster, a man watches his brother die in front of him, but cannot prove that what he heard and saw were real. terror comes from time, or rather, from the lack of it. Combine that with the frustration of having to prove what he saw with your own eyes, and that’s why he sneaked up on the list.
57. “finger rings”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. if this story had a motto, it would be “don’t get mad, download yourself”. After Daisy dies and is buried in all her finery, a grave robber goes after her jewelry. specifically, he wants her wedding ring and her smaller but dazzling ruby mate. however, when he opens his coffin, his body has already started to swell and the rings are stuck on his swollen fingers. the guy is determined, so he cuts off his fingers. but to his surprise, his fingers begin to bleed and she begins to move. frightened, he trips over a pile of his own shit and falls right on his own knife. Unaffected, Daisy gathers her belongings and walks home as the grave robber bleeds to death. she deserves it.
56. “oh susannah!”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. this is not at all what you think it is. no problem. that semi-lovely song you used to sing at the top of your lungs as a kid has been replaced by a bedroom nightmare. susannah and jane are college students living together when susannah starts hearing “oh, susannah!” being hummed at irritating hours. I’m sure she’s my roommate fucking with me, she thinks and yells at him to stop. The humming doesn’t stop, though, so Susannah walks over to Jane’s bed to tidy up. But when she takes off the covers, Jane discovers that her head has been cut off. Convinced it’s a dream, she tells herself everything will be alright when she wakes up, and then the story fades, leaving us wondering if Jane was really beheaded or if Susannah is gone. interrupted.
55. “the church”, more scary stories to tell in the dark sometimes it’s the little things that can get you out of a story, and that’s what happens here. we’re off to a good start as larry is seen driving in her jeep topless when a storm starts. well, a jeep bro is going to rain on her parade. passing a cabin she knows is haunted, she heads to a church to seek shelter. she quickly parks her gas guzzler and runs for cover. sure enough, the church is dry as a bone, so the man gropes his way to a pew where he can stretch out and wait out the storm. but then lightning strikes, illuminating the church to reveal that it is full of demons waiting for their graves to dry out. at this point, it seems like literally anything could happen. maybe the demons mercilessly rip the guy in the jeep limb from limb as they mock his chosen mode of transportation. but no, instead one of them just says, “baa-a-a!” that is all. all it takes is the noise of a sheep and the story takes a turn for the worse.
54. “Footsteps” Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling Tales This story is creepy, sure, but completely safe. While Liz is doing her homework, she swears she hears someone in the house. ella sarah de ella’s sister is there, but for some reason, ella liz is sure that the footsteps she hears belong to a man, although when she goes to see who’s upstairs, she can only find sarah. later, liz sees footprints in the snow, but something tells me they’re the result of a well-executed prank by her little sister. If you really want to scare us, let’s see some blood in the snow. (sarah, you can use ketchup for this).
53. “Like Cats Eyes” Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling TalesThe glowing eyes of animals are the no. 1 cause of alien conspiracy theories, and this story illustrates it perfectly. Are the many eyes that pierce the darkness and seem to peer into your soul simply a collection of pets watching you sleep, or are they a family of aliens plotting your dissection? There is only one way to find out. Strike the light, if you can find the courage to expose the truth.
52. “Such Things Happen”, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your BonesAs the title suggests, this story has a very impromptu setting that directly relates to the death of an elderly citizen. While the town doctor is convinced that the 90-year-old woman died of old age, Bill, the protagonist of the story, is sure that he killed her through a series of spells suggested by his grandfather after the cattle of bill begins to die mysteriously. Why does bill blame this woman for the death of her livelihood? because earlier in the story she ran over her cat and killed him. more silly than scary, and at one point a supporting character says, “but witches have gone out of style, haven’t they?” p>
51. “The Dead Hand” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones Set directly after the classic “Harold,” this story acts as a real downer. Starting slowly, we are introduced to Tom Pattison, who rather stupidly for a scary story character, comments, “I work out there every day. Not once have I seen anything that scares me. why should it be any different at night? well, tom, because shit hits at night, which he quickly learns when a dismembered hand reaches for his in the dark. and then no one can find tom for weeks. when he appears again, he is clearly traumatized, and where his hand is supposed to be there is nothing but a “ragged stump oozing blood”. So while this melee crime story doesn’t upstage “harold,” it does remind you that there’s still something terrifying in the dark.
50. “Bess,” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your BonesThis twisted tale takes us on a familiar journey to a fortune teller. as with most stories involving a mystic, her word goes unheeded. In this particular shot, John Nicholas visits the fortune teller and tells him that his beloved horse, Bess, will be the death of him. only slightly concerned, most of it he laughs and forgets completely once he retires the horse and sells it to a family for his sons to ride. Eventually, Bess dies. remembering his fortune, he laughs and decides he would like to see bess one last time to say goodbye to her. after all, a dead horse can’t kill you. John is told that the horse’s bones are in a far corner of the family farm. Once he locates them, he leans down to pet Bess’s skull and a rattlesnake that had taken up residence on the horse’s carcass bites and kills John. it’s a solid story, but not as original or compelling.
49. “The Wolf Girl” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your BonesThis one is longer with a title that tells you everything you need to know, but if that doesn’t seem like enough, may I suggest? do you see wild? is transmitting.
48. “ghost with bloody fingers” scary stories to tell in the dark no, this isn’t about slapping your fingers during your period, which is only scary if you’ve never done it before. instead, it’s very predictable about a ghost who won’t shut up about his bloody fingers. like one of the joke stories, its ending is abysmal and involves a guitarist (you know, like the one in college) telling the ghost to relax and get a Band-Aid. seemingly solid advice, if the guy wasn’t, you know, dead.
47. “the guests”, scary stories to tell in the dark While this tries to impart the messy lesson that if you’re really stupid, you deserve whatever scary thing happens to you, it ultimately fails. A couple traveling to visit family stop by a complete stranger’s house to see if they’re renting rooms. They don’t, but they will for this couple. Red flag! but then the stranger makes them cake and coffee and refuses to accept money for his kindness. Red flag! the couple spend a comfortable night and leave the next morning only to be told by a local server at a restaurant that there is no such stranger in town and that the house they claim to have stayed in burned down long ago. the couple returns and sure enough it turns out that they had spent the night with a ghost in a haunted house, but they did it for free, so really the only thing that’s scary here is knowing that a visit with the in-laws is just around the corner. /p>
46. “The Dream,” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your BonesJudging by the trailer, an adaptation of this will appear in the film. a visual treatment makes sense, given that the story pales in comparison to the disturbing illustration that accompanies it. In the same vein as “The Guests,” this is a risk-free weird tale about a one-night stay. Lucy Morgan, an artist, decides that she needs a change of scenery and heads to a hotel. Before her trip, she dreams that the hotel will be made of hatches with the windows nailed shut. she decides to change her plans based on this premonition and travel to a different town. Once there, however, the room she receives is exactly as she saw it in her dream, and the woman who had shown her to her room turns out to be the same pale-faced, black-eyed, long-black-haired woman as He haunted her while she slept. . this sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? well, it’s not. Lucy escapes without a scratch.
45. “the shipwreck”, more scary stories to tell in the dark the movement of time in “the shipwreck” is interesting where fred and jeanne meet at a christmas dance, where fred gives her tinsel to comb her hair. later, jeanne asks to be taken to her car, which she had crashed before her, but she asks to be dropped off at the end of the road she claims to have left him on. Fred agrees and doesn’t ask at all why she went to the dance after a car accident. After walking away, he realizes that he doesn’t have Jeanne’s phone number, so he turns around to get it. that’s when he sees an accident up ahead and a car on fire. Upon closer inspection, he sees Jeanne nailed to the wheel with tinsel in her hair. i’m not sure which is more amazing, if jeanne’s ghost went to the dance, put tinsel in her hair and then returned to the scene of her death or if fred couldn’t have found her on tinder instead of turning around. /p>
43.-43. “the window”, more scary stories to tell in the dark, and “the drum”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. what exactly is there to say here other than beware of seemingly innocuous inanimate objects, because in a series of scary stories, they will be none. instead, they will be the reason you die. Fortunately, at least one of these is easily avoided.
42. “what are you coming for?”, scary stories to tell in the dark conspiracy theory: this story directly influenced manfred mann’s “I came for you”. Without going too deep, a disheveled man (“deeply wounded in battle, I’m full as a fearless soldier”) is determined… to repeat the phrase “I came for you” until he lands a record deal.
41. “The Bus Stop” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones What’s more horrible than getting along with someone just to be a ghost? maybe finding out that the person you’ve fallen in love with is literally a ghost. such is the fate of ed cox, who picked up joanna finney at the bus stop to save her from the rain. The kind gesture turned into a blossoming relationship, until one day Joanna seemingly stands him up. As Ed sets out to find out why, Joanna’s mother tells him that she died 20 years ago. She sure is scary, but there are better and more chilling romantic blunders to come.
40. “clinkity-clink”, more scary stories to tell in the dark although this story has one of the more jubilant titles, it is profound. after the death of an old woman, she features lines like “when she died, her eyes were wide open, looking at everything and seeing nothing”. depending on how honest we want to be with ourselves on any given day, that could be referencing eye strain from staring at a computer too long, or literally every mistake you’ve ever made by ignoring the obvious. in this story, it leans toward the latter, as a gravedigger decides to rob one of the graves he’s supposed to make room for in the cemetery. The rest of the story plays out as if it were inspired by Rhianna, with the stolen ghost taking a hit before demanding to be paid. here’s an excerpt: “wind: bizze, bizze, buz-oooooo-o-o-o money: clinkity-clink, clinkity-clink ghost: give me my money. who has my money? who? who? gravedigger: oh lord, lord!” it’s a real jam.
39. “The Trouble” Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling Tales This is by far one of the longest entries in the series. unfortunately, that doesn’t make it one of the best. A classic poltergeist tale, it is told through dated entries and is reminiscent of the Amityville horror movies. the twist is that it’s a commentary on teenagers and posits that poltergeists aren’t ghosts at all; instead, they are a manifestation of “normal teen” hormones. It’s an ambitious story, to be sure, reminiscent of the likes of Carrie, but fails with its practical delivery.
38. “someone fell from the top”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. this is for studio dwellers, bunk-sharers, and anyone else who has ever slept up high in a space-saving bed. Although it’s about a wraith falling off a ship’s top rigging, if you’ve ever worried about falling from your bed to the cold, hard ground below, you’ll understand. it also involves a murder conspiracy, after one of the shipmates is presumed to find a fallen stowaway and push his body overboard. This clearly begs the question: could you get your partner out of bed and get away with it?
37. “something was wrong”, more scary stories to tell in the dark sometimes the simplest story is one of the most terrifying. Case in point is the story of John Sullivan, which involves him walking around town only to cause chaos wherever he goes. the reason? Unbeknownst to John, he had died the day before, a fact that is revealed only when he calls home for his wife and is informed that she is at her funeral. Is this real or an elaborate breakup plan?
36. “a strange blue light”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. this is another ship-related story that easily translates into present danger. Sure, the weird blue light in the story refers to an old-school schooner on fire in the water, but let’s not forget the current danger posed by blue light from digital devices. the ghost ship vanishes without harming anyone, but it makes for a great story. Kind of like the story you tell when you bought blue light blocking glasses to beat digital eyestrain and can’t help but recommend them to everyone you know.
35. “the voice”, more scary stories to tell in the dark, it’s not about the reality show, but you already knew that. however, it has a strange connection to evidence of child stardom. how is that? well, the horror largely depends on the negligence of a child. ellen, who hears someone calling her name and threatening to go upstairs to look for her, repeatedly yells at her parents to no avail. when she finally comes to her rescue, whatever she was tormenting her seems to be gone. maybe ellen just needed a little attention from her parents. Does she remember someone who was raised by baby boomers? there’s nothing like legacy horror that will inevitably trickle down through generations to come.
34. “The Babysitter”, Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark This is a classic story that hasn’t aged too well, although it spawned “the call comes from inside the house”. First things first, landlines are pretty much obsolete, so the idea of one ringing incessantly is a bit unbelievable to modern audiences. and if you have your phone on anything other than silent, you get what you deserve, which is probably a lot of ring-related anxiety and maybe death. anyway, the man upstairs ends up getting pulled over by the police before he can do more than smile creepily at the babysitter and her temporary brood, which makes this more of a shock than a scare.
33. “a new horse”, scary stories to tell in the dark a new horse is an old horse is a dead horse, of course. Seriously, these books take a sick delight in involving animals in their diabolical forms. but sometimes the horse is not a horse at all and instead is a man who has been magically turned into an animal. does he take it lying down or does he rear up? oh, he certainly resists, exacting revenge on her by placing the cursed chair on her rightful owner and seeing how she likes to be ridden hard before she is discarded.
32. “can I carry your basket?”, scary stories to tell in the dark yes, please. I’m tired. Seriously, I’d love for you to carry my purchases. here we have good samaritan sam offering to carry a woman’s basket. he can’t really make out this woman’s face because she’s wrapped in a scarf. or is that it? As soon as Sam picks up the basket, he hears a woman say, “That’s very nice of you.” sam freaks and the woman’s body and her disembodied head began to chase him and bite his legs. why is this scarier than some of the other stories? because it reinforces the notion that helping others only brings you pain, which is dark and dangerous thinking.
31. “the white satin evening gown” scary stories to tell in the dark if you’ve ever rented the runway, checked thrift stores, or generally avoided buying new clothes, this story, which was probably written by capitalism himself, is here to scare you. a poor woman is invited to a dance but she has nothing to wear. her thrifty mother suggests she rent a suit, so she goes to the pawn shop. there, she finds the most beautiful white satin evening dress, which is a specific kind of mood if you wear it for something other than your own wedding, so it’s good for her. she has a great time dancing the night away until she gets dizzy and decides to leave early. once home, she goes to bed. the next morning, her mother finds her dead. the enjoyment of this story comes from her incredibly specific explanation of her death. an autopsy indicates the woman was poisoned with embalming fluid. You see, the pawnbroker bought the garment from an undertaker who must have taken it off a corpse, and the embalming fluid that had been rubbed off got into the woman’s skin when she got sweaty going to bed. A word to the wise, wash your second-hand items before you use them.
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30. “old lady all skin and bones”, scary stories to tell in the darkthis is a summer theme about a lady making the most of the lazy season. after traveling to church, she stops to rest for a while. When she reaches the door, she thinks to herself, I’ll rest some more. This lady knows what’s up.
29. “cold as clay” scary stories to tell in the dark talking about summertime bops, “cold as clay” could easily be a chart-topping country song. set as a ballad of star-crossed lovers, a farmer’s daughter falls in love with the farmhand. to keep them apart, the farmer sends his daughter across the country to live with an uncle. the farmhand dies of a broken heart, which the father hides from his daughter. he comes back, however, one night on a horse, knocks on her daughter’s door and tells her that her father has asked him to go get her. the two return on the horse, and the woman notices that the man is “cold as mud”, so she offers him a scarf to warm his head. when they return to the farm, the horse and farmhand disappear, leaving the father unable to keep the dark secret from him. he not only opens up to his daughter, but goes and tells the peón’s parents, who open his coffin to discover that his corpse is still there, but with a scarf around his head. Basically, this is the worst version of “she has a crush on the boy” by trisha yearwood.
28. “Sam’s New Pet” Scary Stories 3: More Bone Chilling Tales Here, a family travels to Mexico and encounters a cute puppy. Sam’s parents insist on bringing the puppy across the border so he can have a mate. they manage to pull this off, only to discover that their beloved pet is actually a rat infected with rabies. Intended to “reflect anger at Mexican workers who entered the United States illegally and competed for jobs held by Americans,” according to the notes section at the end of the book, it is troubling, even frightening, to think that this story was provided to the United States. children, allowing is the opportunity to give shape to their bias, which makes it one of the scariest stories on this list.
27. “the haunted house”, scary stories to tell in the dark this story is a murderous story of revenge executed by women. after being killed by her lover for her money, a woman haunts the last place she was alive. a well-intentioned preacher realizes this is happening and sets out to remedy it. luckily for him, this ghost is more than just a game. she asks the preacher to dig up the hidden bones of her so she can rest properly before instructing him to bring her ring-covered little finger to church to place in the collection plate. the preacher does what he is told. the following Sunday, when the murderous compadre passes the collection plate, her finger sticks to it. no matter how hard she tries, she can’t help it, leading to a confession and her hanging. what sweet justice is this.
26. “the hearse song” scary stories to tell in the dark the visuals in this one are top notch, even if it’s one of at least ten stories that have the exact line “the worms get in, the worms come out.” I get it, though. There are so many ways to describe decomposition to children. Some of the choicest descriptions, however, include “your stomach turns slimy green / and the pus comes out like whipped cream / you spread it on a slice of bread / and that’s what you eat when you’re dead.” sounds suspiciously like some kind of flutternutter sandwich for the underworld. I bet it’s delicious.
25. “the cat’s paw”, more scary stories to tell in the dark“spitting and meowing like a cat” is a phrase that sticks with you, and also this story in which a cat-woman, not Being mistaken for the cat woman, she goes around town stealing Jed Smith’s meat. Ham, bacon, you name it, jed’s smokehouse was no match for this “black cat.” So jed sets out to catch that cat burglar, lurking with a shotgun. he manages to shoot the cat’s paw when she appears, but when he goes to inspect it, it is actually a woman’s foot. the idea that women can no longer safely assume the body of a cat to steal meat in 2019? you hate to see it.
24. “room for one more”, scary stories to tell in the dark. I’ve seen this useful story praised elsewhere, and I can assure you that the title took me by surprise because there’s nothing worse than being asked if there’s room for one more. . there is never room for one more. if someone asks if there’s room for one more, it’s because he assessed the situation, found it was full, but doesn’t give a shit and still wants to get involved. in turn, if someone insists that there is room for one more, they are up to no good. Specifically, in this story, a hearse driver begins stalking Joseph Blackwell, calling out to him, “There’s room for one more.” Joseph ignores him until she encounters one of the most formidable “room for one more” situations known to mankind, the office elevator. indeed, someone says, “there’s room for one more”. Joseph walks in before realizing that he is the hearse driver and they plummet.
23. “the cat in a shopping bag”, more scary stories to tell in the dark, these books contain many stories around theft and the punishment one thinks is appropriate for the crime. here, a woman accidentally runs over a cat, which she then places in a shopping bag so she can bury it when she returns home. but when he parks his car to run the errands she had set out to do, another woman steals his bag, assuming it is full of newly purchased items. the first woman follows the second to a restaurant, where she stops to check what fortune she will find in the bag. she pulls a prank on him, of course, and she passes out, but that’s not enough punishment. The woman who ran over the cat makes sure to follow the ambulance that was called to the second woman to deliver the bag to her, because she wouldn’t want that poor lady to lose her things. how tortuous.
22.“Hello Kate!” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your BonesThis story might make you think twice about becoming someone’s ghost. Tom Connors is on his way to a dance, a popular pastime in the scary story universe, when he meets a woman in the woods. Thinking she might be a potential dance partner, he stops to wait for her only to realize that it is her old flame, Kate Faherty, who had died a year earlier. The two of them had danced together many times before, but Tom never thought to approach her, essentially making her pass as a ghost. To his horror, Kate’s real ghost had come back to haunt him, following him to the dance and getting so close to him that they touched. Tom wanted to scream, but terror, or perhaps guilt, silenced him. let that be a lesson.
21-19. “ties me to dough-ty walker”, scary stories to tell in the dark; “the black dog”, more scary stories to tell in the dark; and “The Black Dog,” Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones These three stories stand out because the horror isn’t based so much on suspense or ghosts, but on the death of dogs. if you are a dog lover these are not for you. From a siren song meant to lure a dog to its death to a phantom canine ready to kill man’s best friend for sport, bloodhounds are hunted and hunted in equal measure and the survival rate is zero. This reveals the scariest part: your own pending fate. everyone knows that anyone willing to kill man’s best friend is going to be willing to kill you too.
18. “the wendigo”, scary stories to tell in the dark this story comes from a long tradition of campfire tales. Located in the cold and dark forest, we are introduced to the creature of the same name. he is a mythical man-eater unable to satiate his murderous intent and greedy desires. told in different ways by different people, this version focuses on the wendigo’s ability to lash out with the wind and carry off its victims so fast it burns their feet. the scariest part? the wendigo is real.
17. “a ghost in the mirror”, more scary stories to tell in the dark if you’ve never played bloody mary before, now is the time. This iconic entry acts more like a how-to than a ghost story, giving you everything you need to know to summon a ghost in your mirror and a bit of history behind the legend. Growing up, I thought that locking myself in the bathroom, turning off the lights, and saying bloody mary three times was enough. I never saw a ghost. Turns out I was doing the last part wrong. the book suggests that you say the name between 47 and 100 times. why didn’t I think of those arbitrary and somewhat tiring numbers? Chances are the ghost will be angry because you’ve disturbed it, but don’t worry, it’s easy to beat just by flipping the light switch.
16. “The Hook” Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark This is a car-related classic you’ve probably heard before. Two kids hit the road, then park to play without being interrupted by their parents. as he gets down to business, a news report interrupts the music playing on the stereo. it seems that a prisoner with a hook for a hand has escaped from a nearby prison and is armed and dangerous. the pair argue over whether they should pack up and leave. To no one’s surprise, the sexist boyfriend gets angry and says, “girls are always afraid of something,” while the girlfriend rationally suggests they leave the immediate prison area. before he finally agrees, she thinks she hears something, but her boyfriend is still mad about not having sex, so he ignores her and drives her home. once there, he manages to stifle her toxic masculinity long enough to walk her to her door, but when she invites him in for chocolate, he goes back to being a jerk and refuses. when he returns to her door, he sees a hook attached to the door handle. an old but good.
15. “high beams” scary stories to tell in the dark another car-related classic, “high beams” is here to terrify anyone who’s ever found themselves driving alone down a country road at night. an aggressive trucker follows the protagonist while he flashes his bright lights. given the disparity in size between a car and an 18-wheeler, what appears to be a blatant case of road rage is scary enough. however, it is the twist that reveals the true horror. the truck driver had actually been trying to warn the driver that a stowaway was in the back seat waiting to pounce. every time the villain got up with a knife in his hand to stab the driver, the truck driver would turn on the lights to scare the villain back into the shadows. creepy stuff.
14. “Maybe You’ll Remember”, Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones, this one feels like a trap. it’s confusing at best and seemingly completely open ended. that is, until you follow the instructions written on a page in the back of the book that opens the story’s story wide open. So what awful thing are we dealing with here? the plague in paris, baby. Before we get the full story, we are told that a daughter is sent away from the Parisian hotel where she and her mother are staying to fetch some medicine. she gets runarounds almost everywhere she goes, which initially appears to be related to a language barrier until she returns to the hotel and she can’t locate her room or her mother. the unhelpful hotel staff makes her think she has the wrong hotel, when in fact they have disposed of her mother’s body after she died of the plague and remodeled her room to screw the daughter’s head off her. Apparently, Paris couldn’t bear to let the news of the death get out, because it would cause total panic. There is nothing more terrifying than a large-scale government conspiracy against you and yours.
13. “the curse”, more terrifying stories to tell in the dark. here is a story that remains terrifying because it is true to form and current. Focusing on one of the most terrifying remnants of modern culture, “The Curse” is about the very specific toxic masculinity associated with fraternities. after such a horrendous hazing, the fraternity in question is disbanded by its college and members are suspended for a year. this is the punishment for indirectly losing (read: murdering) two of his garments. don’t worry though, no one was ever arrested, the narrator assures us, and now, every year, one of the former fraternity members goes insane from trauma. are we sure this is not a news article?
12. “the bed by the window”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. this is a corner office allegory if I have ever read one, a chilling allegory of capitalism, so to speak. set in a hospital, there is a good bed to die. it is by the window and supposedly offers a spectacular view. so spectacular, the patients begin plotting to kill each other so they can get their turn in bed. Richard, for example, throws another patient’s heart pills off his nightstand to make sure he has a heart attack. His plan works and he revels in his future, which he assumes will be full of all the things previous patients had described seeing out the window. Richard, however, comes to discover that the only thing looking out of that window is the blank brick wall of the neighboring building, and a void, not unlike the kind that might settle over a treacherous co-worker who made it to the top without someone to rejoice with, about richard’s last days. he speaks of a post-capitalist nightmare.
11. “The Date”, Scary Tales 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones Short, sweet, and to the point, this tale reminds us that you can’t escape death. a boy walks to the square of a small town near the farm where he works and death calls him. Thinking that he can escape his fate, he begs his grandfather to let him drive to town. Grandfather allows him and, in a show of strength, he returns to the village to face death. Death unexpectedly apologizes and explains that it was not his intention to call his grandson, but that he was surprised to see him downtown when she has an appointment scheduled with him for this afternoon in the city.
10. “Wonderful Sausage”, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark Butchering is a good trade backed by a rich tradition. it’s also a unique ability that allows anyone who masters it access to the exact tools needed to get away with it. butcher samuel blunt (not to be confused with sam franklin, famous for bringing alice’s meat) enters, gets angry with her wife and kills her. he, of course, disposes of her body making sausages and tells anyone who asks that she moved. Samuel sounds like a real jerk, so of course the townspeople believe him. but something strange happens. Blunt perfected his sausage recipe and it became a huge hit. greed took over and he began killing anyone he could to feed his newfound fame. Then one day a boy managed to escape and Blunt chased him into town, where everyone saw him. the villagers realized that they had been eating human flesh all along. Seeking revenge and one last taste of the special sausage, they blunt-fed their own grinder. There is a lot going on here, the most terrible part is that in the process of revenge, the townspeople have become what they once abhorred. it’s also quite worrying that this entire city is now infested with cannibalism.
9. “dead man’s hand”, more scary stories to tell in the dark what’s scarier than blatant sexism? perhaps the kind that women explicitly perpetrate on other women. At a nursing school, everyone gets along with everyone except Alice. What’s wrong with her “she was always kind and always cheerful” and, among other good traits, “she didn’t even bite her nails”. This made the other students upset with Alice and planned to play a prank on her. they decide to take the hand of a corpse they have been studying and tie it to a power cord in their closet. sure enough, when she goes to get something from her closet, she gets scared with her hand. however, what no one anticipated is that she is so scared that her entire career is derailed. what’s scarier than that?
8. “the bride”, more terrifying stories to tell in the dark here comes the first of two blows for anyone who finds marriage to be the epitome of terrifying, anyone who wonders if vows bring with them the death of independence. this story goes one step further by taking not only the individualism of the bride but also her life. recalling one of the shittiest parts of society, “the bride” shows how invisible a woman can become after saying “I do”. so invisible that when she disappears later on her wedding day, she only runs a mediocre search and eventually everyone gives up by the end of the week. she tells of a disastrous wedding that lends true credence to the term cold feet: she is found years later in the trunk, and her skeleton is all that remains. cue the dead wife op-ed.
7. “aaron kelly’s bones”, scary stories to tell in the dark. this one is great because it taps into the fear of getting caught that many people spend their entire lives trying to avoid. it also has one hell of a horrible ass. Aaron Kelly is a man who refuses to allow her wife to experience any kind of happiness or security after her death (and frankly, I’m sure he was a jerk to her when he was alive too). although he doesn’t necessarily pursue her, he makes it extremely difficult for her to move on by refusing to stay in her coffin. claiming that he “doesn’t feel dead”, his skeleton is looking like shit, but not enough to convince the insurance company not to pay his widow. and when the widow gets the chance to remarry, do you think aaron allows it? absolutely not; instead, he makes sure to chase the suitor away from him. talk about dead weight.
6. “sounds”, more scary stories to tell in the dark. this is an especially dark story about a woman’s cries for help that go unanswered. One of the many shelter-from-the-storm stories in the series, this is by far the scariest. As three men wait out the storm on the first level of an abandoned beach house, they hear screams coming from upstairs. then blood begins to drip from the ceiling. “I do not!” a woman yells, followed by a man’s voice yelling, “I’ll get you!” there’s a brief silence followed by deafening laughter, then the three men below hear someone drag something heavy up the stairs and out the door. at no point did any of the men think to help the woman up the stairs, and only after she is clearly killed do they feel real terror and run out of the house.
5. “a sunday morning” more scary stories to tell in the dark with your calculator in a sleepy haze – here is the horror story for you. Waking up to the sound of church bells, Ida realizes she’s late for service and runs out the door. once he arrives and takes his seat, he begins to realize that the congregation is unfamiliar to him. eventually, she recognizes a friendly face, only to remember that the person is long dead. One by one, Ida realizes that every person there is already dead and she runs out of the church, barely escaping as the undead rip some of her clothes off and tear them to shreds. is a relatable real-life nightmare that transcends the basic disasters of being late for work and being naked in front of co-workers.
4. “just delicious” scary stories 3: more tales to chill the bones, here is the scariest line in the story: “george was a bully, and mina was a shy woman who did everything he asked because she was afraid of him .” One day, a neighbor dies and Mina mentions it to George, who ignores her as usual. Defeated and unable to have a conversation with her husband, Mina begins to prepare George’s meal for the day. while he is away from her, she gets hungry and starts to pick at the liver that she had cooked. before she knows it, she has eaten it all. Worried about how George will react: “He would be angry and mean and she didn’t want to face that again,” she goes to the neighbor’s house to secure a replacement liver. cannibalism as a means of avoiding abuse? that’s scary.
3. “the man in the middle”, more scary stories to tell in the dark what is the worst part of public transport? delays? the crowd? the smell? I’m going to be alone in a train car when three apparently drunk brothers arrive, two of whom are rooting for their friend Jim. And of course Jim’s friends abandon him at his stops, leaving him to squirm while Sally, still all alone, is too scared to change train cars, because why draw attention to yourself when you can try to become invisible from their gaze? masculine? ? then the train takes a sharp turn and jim goes flying and where he lands but at sally’s feet. that’s what happens in this super scary story because it could happen to you so easily.
2. “The Red Spot”, Scary Tales 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones Waking up with a red spot on your face is hell. is it a pimple? maybe it’s an insect bite. oh god, are they bedbugs? the possibilities are all unpleasant, as is the transformation that occurred overnight without your knowledge. Add to that the inevitable urge to choose, and you’re screwed. or maybe not, maybe you are like the protagonist of this iconic story, so you go the hot compress route, hoping to help the blemish go away. however, it is a joke for you; instead of a puss-pop situation, a bunch of baby spiders come crawling out like it’s charlotte’s web or something. awful.
1. “harold”, scary stories 3: more tales to chill your bones, this is it, the scariest story. appropriately, it features heavily in the trailer for the movie, though it’s clearly been updated. Originally, Harold the Scarecrow was created so that two men who are dissatisfied with their lives would have something to get even with. Named after another farmer they hate, the two men routinely abuse Harold in the most horrific ways, completely unable to find a healthy outlet for their unhappiness. as the story goes, “they cursed him, even kicked or hit him.” While it may seem harmless enough to abuse an inanimate object, the suppressed hostility exhibited by the two farmers is chilling. Even more terrifying is when Harold is no longer a replica of a man and is instead a living, highly vengeful human being. And what is Harold’s recovery? why, he skins the farmers and spreads their carcasses out to bake in the sun, of course. One of the most memorable series of scary stories, Harold is a haunt that we can’t get rid of, a reminder that our bad deeds have consequences and, if this movie has anything to do with it, the renewed source of our nightmares.
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