The Best Scary Short Stories for Middle and High School To Teach Around Halloween
My favorite time of year is quickly approaching. Bust out the sweaters and tall boots. Get your Halloween decorations all sorted out. Start sipping everything apple cider and pumpkin spiced. And most of all, get your SpOoOoOoOoOky stories prepped and ready! There are some phenomenally engaging scary stories that are just right for the month of October. Not only are they just the right amount of creepy, they are also chock full of literary elements. Read on for our list of favorite Short stories to read during the month of October.
Favorite Horror Stories to Read in October
1. The Monkey’s Paw
First published in England in 1902, this creepy short story by W.W. Jacobs analyzes the age old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you may receive it." The Monkey’s Paw is a fantastic story to analyze theme, foreshadowing, symbolism, characterization, setting, mood and tone, and plot. You can find some pretty creepy audio retellings of the short story online. This one is pretty great. The full text is also available with just a simple search. We like this one.
2. Lamb to the Slaughter
Roald Dahl’s revenge drama was first published in 1953. This killer little tale has a very satisfying ending indeed. The best part, Alfred Hitchcock created a great tv episode of the same story that is just as creepy and fun as the story. This story is awesome for analyzing characterization, setting, point of view, mood and tone, foreshadowing, and theme.
3. The Lottery
One of our all time favorite short stories to teach is The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Originally published in the New Yorker in 1948, this cautionary tale is excellent for analyzing characterization, point of view, plot, foreshadowing, and theme. The end will have your students talking for days!
4. The Landlady
Another scary story that is a huge hit in the classroom is The Landlady. Originally published in the New Yorker in 1959, this is the second Roald Dahl favorite that is sure to please. This story is great for practicing reading strategies such as predicting and inferring, as well as analyzing characterization and foreshadowing.
5. Sound of Thunder
This short story, published in 1952 and written by one of our favorites, Ray Bradbury, has it all: time travel, dinosaurs, and a plot twist for an ending. While it is not as creepy as the above mentioned stories, it definitely keeps students engaged and is quite suspenseful. We love using this story for teaching the concept of cause and effect. It also is a great story to analyze plot, character, figurative language, conflict, theme, and foreshadowing.
6. The Tell Tale Heart
Pretty much anything written by Edgar Allan Poe is just creepy enough to enjoy during the month of October. The Tell Tale Heart was first published in 1893. Throughout the story, the narrator tries to convince the reader that he is sane, while all the while describing how and why he killed a man. His motivation was neither passion nor desire for money, but rather a fear of the man’s pale blue eye. This creepy story is a crowd pleaser, but pretty much any short story or poem by Poe will work during this spooky spooky, month.
If you are looking for some great lessons to go along with the first three short stories, you can check out our bundle here.
Finally, here is a list of 27 horror and suspense short stories from Common Lit.
Until next time teacher friends,
Bottoms up!