Spooky stories to read in 2023

One of my resolutions for 2023 is to read at least one short story every day. Totally achievable, right?

Yes, definitely, especially if this replaces endlessly scrolling social media, hoping something might happen.

But I do like social media, especially when it’s helping me find good stuff to watch or read.

I asked for recommendations for spooky stories on Mastodon and Twitter – not just the names of authors, but which specific piece or pieces I should read first.

I’ve got piles of anthologies and volumes of collected stories. The challenge is knowing where to start.

This is the list I’ve ended up with.

The Same Dog	Robert Aickman
The Trains	Robert Aickman
The Fully Conducted Tour	Robert Aickman
The Coffin House	Robert Aickman
The Swords	Robert Aickman
Ringing the Changes	Robert Aickman
The School Friend	Robert Aickman
The Diver	A.J. Alan
The Room in the Tower	E.F. Benson
The Outcast	E.F. Benson
The Moonlit Road	Ambrose Bierce
The Willows	Algernon Blackwood
The Wendigo	Algernon Blackwood
The Gospel According to Mark	Jorge Luis Borges
Curfew	Lucy M. Boston
The Bishop of Hell	Marjorie Bowen
The Crown Derby Plate	Marjorie Bowen
The Scythe	Ray Bradbury
Smee	A.M. Burrage
The Day Father Brought Something Home	R. Chetwynd Hayes
Hell is the Absence of God	Ted Chiang
Snare	Bora Chung
The Upper Berth	F. Marion Crawford
The Smile	F. Marion Crawford
A Slap in the Face	Chris Culshaw
The Dark Divide	Chris Culshaw
The Landlady	Roald Dahl
Out of the Deep	Walter de la Mare
The Horla	Guy de Maupassant
The Signal-Man	Charles Dickens
The Return of the Native	William Croft Dickinson
The Breakthrough	Daphne du Maurier
The Apple Tree	Daphne du Maurier
The Blue Lenses	Daphne du Maurier
The Entrance	Gerald Durrell
A Rose for Emily	William Faulkner
Kwaidan	Lafcadio Hearn
Pop Art	Joe Hill
Black Phone	Joe Hill
The Brownie of the Black Haggs	James Hogg
Three Miles Up	Elizabeth Jane Howard
While the Nightjar Sleeps	Andrew Michael Hurley
The Tooth	Shirley Jackson
The Monkey’s Paw	W.W. Jacobs
Under the Crust	Terry Lamsley
The Tower	Marghanita Laski
The Haunted Saucepan	Margery Lawrence
Whoever Heard of A Haunted Lift	Alan W. Lear
Cargo	E. Michael Lewis
In a Foreign Town in a Foreign Land	Thomas Ligotti
The White People	Arthur Machen
The Sundial	R.H. Malden
The House	Katherine Mansfield
An Encounter in the Mist	A.N.L Munby
Gabriel Ernest	H.H. ‘Saki’ Munro
Man Size in Marble	Edith Nesbit
The Shadow	Edith Nesbit
Secret Observations On the Goat Girl	Joyce Carol Oates
Dolling Halt	Pamela Oldfield
The Beckoning Fair One	Oliver Onions
Rooum	Oliver Onions
The Running Companion	Phillipa Pearce
The Yellow Wallpaper	Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Tourist Trap	Barbara Roden
Bosworth Summit Pound	L.T.C. Rolt
This Creeping Thing	Robert Shearman
If The Dead Knew	May Sinclair
The Portobello Road	Muriel Spark
On Mirrors	Ben Tufnell
The Pennine Tower Restaurant	Simon K. Unsworth
The Island of Regrets	Elizabeth Walter
The Boys’ Toilets	Robert Westall
Afterward	Edith Wharton
The Eyes	Edith Wharton
Miss Mary Pask	Edith Wharton
The Lady’s Maid’s Bell	Edith Wharton
Pomegranate Seed	Edith Wharton
Diary of a Madman	Lu Xun

I’ve already read some of these, as you might expect, but will probably reread them this year.

You’ll also notice that there’s no M.R. James because I’ve read his ghost stories multiple times. He’s a given. The same goes for H.P. Lovecraft who, anyway, is generally more hysterical than spooky.

With that in mind, what’s missing? Comment below, or let me know via Mastodon or Twitter.