Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Happy (almost) Halloween to everyone in the Top Ten Tuesday community!
This is my favourite holiday of the year by far, so the end of October always has a few posts on this topic on my site.
If you feel the same way about this season, here are some free horror stories you can read online to get into the spirit of Halloween.
1. “The Bongcheon-Dong Ghost” by Studio Horang
This is a comic strip about a ghost looking for her baby.
2. “Candle Cove” by Kris Straub
Everyone has a favourite childhood show, but not all of them are as unique as Candle Cove.
3. “The Bog Girl” by Karen Russell
Is anyone else in the TTT community fascinated with bog bodies? I read as many non-fiction articles and books about them as I can find, but fictionalized accounts of them are interesting, too.
4. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates
There are some disturbing themes in this tale, so click carefully if you hate violence (implied or actual). But I loved the character development in it, especially once the protagonist realizes just how few choices she’s been left with.
5. “Redcap” by Carrie Vaughn.
If you like dark fairy tales, definitely give this one a try.
6. “Hello Moto” by Nnedi Okoafor
Anything in life can be turned into something frightening if it’s described in the right way. In this case, it’s wigs!
7. “Shiva, Open Your Eye” by Laird Barron
The writing in this short story was simply beautiful. I also enjoyed who the author chose to be the protagonist. Let’s just say it might not be who you’re expecting.
8. “Glashaus” by Madeline Gobbo and Miles Klee
There’s nothing scarier than an old-fashioned haunted house.
9. “A Guilty Conscience” by Nicholas Gordon
If you get scared easily, this is the best thing on my list to read. It’s much less intense than everything else I recommended.
10. “eyes i dare not meet in dreams” by Sunny Moraine
Finally, this tale should only be read by people who don’t get scared easily. And, yes, the title was not capitalized on purpose. That’s how it’s supposed to be written.
I love Halloween, but I hate scary…explain that paradox! So, thank you for the list of stories, but I want to sleep at night more than I want to read these, so I will be skipping them. There are many, many folks who love scary and will greatly appreciate these, I know.
Heh, I totally understand. No worries there.
Great take on this week’s freebie, Lydia! I’m a total chicken so I don’t know if I’d read any of these (that last one especially already has me picturing scary things I don’t want to be picturing!) but I do admit to being curious lol maybe when I’m feeling a little daring (or am taking a break at the office surrounded by people and sun) 😂
My TTT post
Thank you! And don’t worry about it. Some of the stories I linked to are pretty intense. “A Guilty Conscience” might be a good one to try if you can handle just a little bit of fright. 🙂
I love your list! The Bog Girl is one I need to go and read because you’re not alone – I find bog bodies fascinating, too. There’s a great poem by Seamus Heaney called “The Bog Queen” that you might like, and Sarah Moss’s Ghost Wall is worth reading, too.
Thank you very much. I’m going to look up “The Bog Queen” and Ghost Wall right now. They sound perfect.
Oh that is a great way to share the halloween love. 🙂
I’m glad you liked it.
This was a good idea! I love seeing what people come up with on these freebie weeks.
Thanks! Yes, everyone does really good jobs on freebie week. There are some very creative TTT posts out there today.
What a great topic and how much fun. I don’t know where to start!
Thank you very much.
Love your post this week! I’m definitely feeling some spooky stories, and I love that these are free, so anyone can access them. :3 I might have to read The Bog Girl. Bog bodies creep out, but in a good way.
Thanks! I think you’d really like The Bog Girl.
Great spin on the TTT Lydia! This scaredy cat has never any of these books and probably never will lol!!!
Thank you, and no worries. I know not everyone is into getting scared. 🙂
I’ve read Dracula and Frankenstein–both way better than I expected. Terror/horror are not for me! I do not enjoy being scared! East of Eden’s Cathy Ames gave me nightmares for weeks!
Eek! I hope you never get another nightmare from a scary book again.
What a great take on this week’s theme. Thanks for sharing these, Lydia!
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.
What a great post! I’m bookmarking it now! I love Joyce Carol Oates, so I need to read that one soon. 🙂
That’s awesome. Hope you enjoy her tale.
Free stories for a TTT freebie! I see what you did there… 😉
Great idea for a topic, too! I love that there are lots of places to read fiction for free online, but I haven’t yet compiled all of my favorites into one spot. I’ll have to keep this in mind for a future TTT freebie.
Ha! You’re the first person to catch that.
I hope you will use this idea in a future TTT post. It would be cool to see what you came up with.
Thank you for sharing these spooky stories, Lydia – I never knew there were so many free goodies to be had. 🙂
You’re quite welcome.
This is my favorite time of the year too! Great topic idea for this week. The internet can be a great thing when it comes to finding new and free stories to read, great list!
Same here. Hope you enjoy the stories I rounded up!
Love this idea! Checking these out now.
Enjoy! Glad you liked this concept.
All of these sound really creepy! — Too creepy for me!
Heh, no worries. I know horror isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. 🙂
Ooh thanks for this! I love a good short story, will have to read a few of these this week.
Enjoy.
Great topic choice, these all sound so scary!
Thanks a lot.
I”m a big fan of free. And I love some of these titles!
Hope you like reading them, then. And free stories are always nice.
I’ve not heard of any of these by Hello Moto sounds super interesting
I hope you like it if you read it!
Ooooh! Thanks for putting together this list!
You’re welcome.
Even your content warnings scare me, Lydia, but this is a cool post. Best I’ve seen today!
Thank you very much.
Thank you for sharing these! They all sound just perfect for Halloween!
You’re welcome. Enjoy.
I am really curious about that last title that you featured, but I can’t handle horror as well as I use to haha
If you can’t handle horror, definitely skip it. It was good….but it was not exactly a fluffy, cheerful read. 🙂
Wow some great sounding ideas here! The Bog Girl definitely sounds interesting!!
Thanks a lot.
Ooh, this is such a great idea! I’m definitely checking out some of these, I’ve been needing some more horror before the month ends.
Thanks a lot. Happy reading.
Love this so much. Thank you for the recommendations!
You’re very welcome.
Ooh this is awesome! Will be checking out some of these soon.
I hope you like them.
Thank you for doing the legwork for us on this one. Can’t wait to check a few of these out for myself.
You’re welcome. Happy reading.
This is an amazing post! I’ll have to come back when I have some free time to read these stories. I see lots of authors I love!
Thanks a lot. I hope you do check out as many of the stories that appeal to you as possible.
Karen Russell is one of my favorite authors. She always finds the weirdest stuff to write about. I’m crossing my fingers that I’ll get to read her newest book soon.
I need to read more from her then! That story was a great one. I hope you will get to read her newest book soon.
Nice list. Thanks for stopping by
You’re quite welcome.
Where Are You Going, Where Have YOu Been is SUCH a disturbing story! Have you seen the movie version? The Bog Girl sounds really good — I find bog people stories pretty fascinating as well! Great list.
No, I had no idea there was a film version. Now I have to see it, so thanks for the heads up.
Bog bodies are definitely fascinating. Our local museum brought in a Bog Body exhibition at one point. Absolutely amazing.
And really really fascinating for more than just the preservation of the bodies. Textile historians must just go wild for new discoveries 🙂
Going to have to remember to go read that story!
Wow, that must have been an amazing exhibit to see! Yeah, bogs preserve all sorts of things that would normally disintegrate long before our scientists and historians could do anything to document them. The textile historians must have loved what they saw.
Great thinking, sharing free horror stories! 🙂
Thank you very much.
Love this post! SO fun to be able to hop into one of those stories and get into a spooky mood. Heading over to read “Candle Cove” now : )
Yay! So glad you liked it, and I hope you enjoy “Candle Cove.”
CANDLE FUCKING COVE
god that creepy pasta ruined my life. it’s terrifying!! you did such a great job with this prompt.
I’ve always avoided reading The Bongcheon-Dong Ghost” but…I’m feeling brave today.
It was really scary for sure. And thanks for your kind words.
I hope you like The Bongcheon-Dong Ghost. It was a spooky one.
Thank you for this list! I don’t think I’ve read any of these, so now I need to check them all out. Just in time for Halloween 🙂
You’re welcome. Enjoy!
I love how you spun this week’s TTT! I’m definitely gonna have to check out as many of these as I can as I love scary stories, so thanks for all of the free recommendations 🙂
Thank you very much. Happy reading!
I love your post! This is so cool, I think I’ll read A Guilty Conscience… (Yep, chicken…) 😉
Thanks a lot. I hope you like A Guilty Conscience.
Ooh, Candle Cove!!! I loved Channel Zero’s adaptation of this story in season one. 🙂
I didn’t know this was a TV show. Cool!
This is such a great idea! I’ll have to give these stories a read soon! 😀
I hope you like them. And thanks.
This is the bets list! I hope you have an fabulous Halloween!
Thank you. Happy Halloween to you as well.
I’m really a chicken and can’t read horror stories haha
Heh, no worries.
Very interesting list. Quite sufficiently creepy!
Thank you very much.
Fun list! I’m definitely going to give a few of these a read!
Glad to hear it. Thanks.
I don’t read much in the way of horror but I’m definitely a fan of free reads. 🙂
Free reads are always awesome.
Fun twist you put on this past week’s topic, Lydia. Who doesn’t enjoy finding a fun little story online, especially if its of our favorite holiday? I’m all about cozy and seasonal (Christmas) reads right now because of some upcoming blog content I’m going to post. It’s a little early yet, but I’m still enjoying. 🙂 Thanks so much for the Finding Wonderland visit!
Thanks a lot! I look forward to your Christmas posts.