During the fall, creepy short stories catapult into the English classroom with fun and excitement. Who doesn’t love a spooky tale around Halloween?
Creepy short stories let the readers experience what we fear without the negative side effects of death, dismemberment, and disillusionment 🙂
Keep reading for 10 Creepy Short Stories To Read in Middle and High School!
Need help with Test Prep that includes one of the most creepy short stories read in middle and high school? Check out this FREE Pack of 3 Test Prep Activities to help students achieve success on standardized tests!
10 Creepy Short Stories To Read in Middle and High School
1. The Most Dangerous Game
Imagine thinking you had just found your salvation after falling off a boat. You discovered an island with people on it! Quickly, you realize that in order to survive, you will be running for your life while being hunted by another human!
That is essentially the plot of “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. As you read this story with your students, you may want to focus on teaching and analyzing plot elements like exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.
Because the short story is a bit longer, make sure to document each element and ask questions along the way to help with comprehension.
Really, any of the creepy short stories from this list will make more of an impact if you guide students through them by reading aloud or listening to an online recording!
2. The Monkey’s Paw
One would think a wish is a good thing, but “The Monkey’s Paw” is one of those creepy short stories that proves otherwise. A couple’s son has died and with a grotesque talisman, they discover that every wish granted has incredibly undesired consequences.
Teaching about characterization is a great way to start this story! The mother and father are complex characters who react to their son’s death and certain events quite differently.
Check out this characterization pack for “The Monkey’s Paw” to get organizers that will help your students analyze and write about character traits!
3. The Tell-Tale Heart
A perennial favorite, “The Tell-Tale Heart” is universally loved by secondary English teachers as well as students. The concept of one’s mental breakdown leading to someone else’s death is jarring, spooky, and a bit thrilling.
Before you begin reading, you may want to help your students examine certain vocabulary words as they can be quite difficult for many struggling readers. See this vocab activity pack with other fun activities to make teaching this short story SIMPLE & EASY!
Click the image below to get more ideas for teaching Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart!”
4. The Veldt
In a world inundated with technology, we can no longer be ignorant of its impact on our lives. Today, we can create AI-generated images, voices, videos, and stories all with a couple of keyboard strokes.
And it ALL looks decently real, or at least more real than it used to. Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” explores the pervasive use of technology on the family unit and its devastating effects.
Keep this tale in mind as you teach creepy short stories with a dystopian bent!
5. The Lottery
One of my favorite creepy short stories every year to teach is “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. While the title is captivating because of its seeming implications, this dark tale explores a town’s obsession with tradition.
A wife and mother, Tessie, jovially arrives late to the lottery, a yearly town gathering. The twist ending will have students gasping even with moments of foreshadowing early on in the story. That moment is what makes this text in my top 5 list of creepy short stories!
If you need a quick reading test prep quiz to gauge your students’ comprehension of this classic tale, click HERE!
6. The Masque of the Red Death
“The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe hits a bit differently after the Covid era, so be prepared as you introduce and teach this classic tale of pride and delusion.
This story describes a Prince who gathers together the wealthy elite in an attempt to escape a disease’s rampage throughout the country. Ultimately, he and everyone succumb to Death.
Because the story offers detailed descriptions of various rooms, imagery, symbolism, and visualization are PERFECT for teachers to focus on while teaching this story!
7. Click Clack the Rattle Bag
I was introduced to this story several years ago, and even for high school students, I would gladly take a class period to read aloud this incredibly spooky story.
A young boy tells the tale of the Click Clacks to his caretaker, who happens to be the boyfriend of the young boy’s sister. These monsters supposedly capture people and hang their dead bodies, which when dried out, make click-clack sounds like some sort of eerie chimes.
If you have not taught this short story before, be sure to add it to your list of creepy short stories!
Mood and foreshadowing would be a great place to start as you begin this short story. Mood (the emotion created by the setting, dialogue, and events) as well as foreshadowing (intentional hints about the story’s future) integrate well in this text, and your students will have a great time depicting the events and end of the story through visualization activities!
8. The Cask of Amontillado
The very first story I ever taught in 9th grade was Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado,” and I am so glad I did. Let’s be real, most of Edgar Allan Poe’s super creepy short stories are ideal for the Halloween season!
A man named Fortunato is led by his supposed friend, Montresor, deep into the catacombs. The reason for Montresor’s revenge is unclear, but he succeeds in orchestrating Fortunato’s death with frightening stoicism.
This text has become a yearly favorite of my students, but only IF I take the time to teach the dialogue through my irony activity!
Verbal Irony-the speaker means the opposite of what is stated.
Dramatic Irony-the characters believe there will be a specific outcome, but the entirely opposite event occurs.
Situational Irony-the audience thinks a certain event will occur, but the opposite happens.
Here is an excerpt from the story that incorporates verbal irony:
“Nitre,” I replied. “How long have you had that cough?”
“Ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh! — ugh! ugh! ugh!”
My poor friend found it impossible to reply for many minutes.
“It is nothing,” he said, at last.
“Come,” I said, with decision, “we will go back; your health is precious. You are rich, respected, admired, beloved; you are happy, as once I was. You are a man to be missed. For me it is no matter. We will go back; you will be ill, and I cannot be responsible. Besides, there is Luchesi ——”
“Enough,” he said; “the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.”
“True — true,” I replied; “and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily — but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.”
In “The Cask of Amontillado,” the use of verbal irony is prevalent and super important to understanding the theme! In fact, you and your students will begin to notice many instances of irony within creepy short stories!
Take students through “The Cask of Amontillado” with easy, teacher-led activities focused on irony!
9. Lamb to the Slaughter
I am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock from To Catch a Thief to North by Northwest to Rear Window, so teaching anything by this amazing director is just plain fun! The short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” is brought to life by the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television series.
A husband arrives home to his young, pregnant wife and proceeds to ask for a divorce. Instead of acquiescing to his request, she hits him in the head with a piece of frozen lamb.
Her cleverness in the face of possible discovery will easily intrigue and engage your students, especially when reading the twist at the end!
Examining the character traits of the husband, wife, and detectives will make teaching this “tale sheepishly” simple!
10. A Vendetta
I discovered Guy de Mauppassant’s “A Vendetta” while researching creepy short stories to teach about revenge. And most students, I have quickly learned, have never read this text!
An old woman discovers her son has been killed. She creates a plan to enact her vengeance through the use of her dog and anonymity as an older female. The description at the end will appeal to all of your students!
So including this tale in your creepy short stories unit is a tried and true idea! I loved analyzing the language and writing short summaries of each paragraph or chunk, so your students can see how the author builds suspense!
RESOURCE THAT INCLUDES CREEPY SHORT STORIES
Need creepy short stories for upper middle and high school students? This 10 Scary Short Story Digital Resource BUNDLE includes lessons, test prep quizzes, and activities for texts like “The Most Dangerous Game,” “The Monkey’s Paw,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Veldt,” “The Lottery,” “The Masque of the Red Death,” “Click Clack the Rattle Bag,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” “Lamb to the Slaughter,” & “A Vendetta!”
Make teaching short stories with relevant and rigorous activities SIMPLE & EASY!
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Make test prep and teaching classic as well as creepy short stories SIMPLE & EASY!
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