Five Short Stories for Halloween

October 29th, 2013

Trick or treat! Here are five spooky and classic Halloween short stories, perfect for school, around the campfire, at your Halloween party, or for reading after trick-or-treating.

1. “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allen Poe. A classic from the father of tales of terror. Other favorites: “The Masque of the Red Death,” “The Cask of the Amontillado,” “The Raven,” and “The Black Cat.”

2. “The Devil and Daniel Webster” by Stephen Vincent Benét. A New Hampshire farmer who sells his soul to the Devil and is defended by Daniel Webster, the famous lawyer, statesman, and orator.

3. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Take a midnight stroll with the Devil. This story is set during the Salem witch trials, at which Hawthorne’s great-great-grandfather, John Hathorne, presided as a judge.

4. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. The famous story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian soldier killed during the American Revolutionary War.

5. “The Man and the Snake” by Ambrose Bierce. A tense tale of psychological terror. 

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Tags: Halloween, holidays