Core Concepts
The author recommends a selection of eerie and atmospheric short stories perfect for sharing around a campfire, emphasizing the haunting nature of the tales.
Abstract
Gather around the campfire with these chilling short stories recommended by the author. From Edgar Allen Poe's classic "The Tell-Tale Heart" to Shirley Jackson's bone-chilling "The Lottery," each story is sure to send shivers down your spine. These tales are perfect for creating an eerie atmosphere and captivating your audience with suspenseful narratives.
Stats
In Brian Evenson’s short story collection, Song for the Unraveling of the World, there is a story that rattled my boyfriend so much when he read it that he called me immediately and read it to me, so that I may join in his terror.
Part of an aptly named collection called Tiny Nightmares, this story is about a window who wants, more than anything, to be haunted by his dead wife.
From Karen Russell’s amazing collection, St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, this story tells of two siblings looking for their drowned sister.
All of the stories in Aimee Bender’s Willful Creatures are delightfully askew. She presents a world knocked off its axis in some small way.
In case you didn’t get enough of “The Green Ribbon” vibes, I would highly recommend Carmen Maria Machado’s story, the first in her debut collection, Her Body and Other Parties.
Quotes
"I want to tell you about the night I got hit by a train and died. The thing is—it never happened." - Laura van den Berg
"You can’t go wrong with Shirley Jackson’s iconic, bone-chilling tale about a fictional town with a terrible tradition."
"In Brian Evenson’s short story collection, Song for the Unraveling of the World, there is a story that rattled my boyfriend so much when he read it that he called me immediately and read it to me."