Scary Short Stories

[Velocity Kendall]

I dont have time to read much these days, and audiobooks are ok I guess but its not the same.
So I love good old fashioned sting in the tail short stories.
They make the best movies, real or imagined.

Heres some I like; the SF, but I like shorts of any kind.
Got any you might recommend that stay on your mind long after the poo during which you read them is long forgotten?

Four scary SF short stories

Upon the Dull Earth by PK Dick.
A woman goes to heaven with horrifying consequences...
http://sickmyduck.narod.ru/pkd110-0.html

Dinosaurs by Walter Jon Williams.
First contact does not go well...
http://www.scribd.com/doc/49304950/W...iams-Dinosaurs

A Colder War by Charley Stross.
The Cuban Missile Crisis, Lovecraft style...
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/colderwar.htm

Alpha Ralpha Boulevard by Cordwainer Smith
Two young people ask a computer a question. They dont like the answer..
http://www.scribd.com/doc/24545043/C...lpha-Boulevard

[Candra H]

Those look good, Velocity, thanks for the links. Going to read them next time I have a bit of free time.

Have you read Black Static? It's a horror magazine by the same guys who do Interzone, and it's got some pretty good disturbing stories.

[armando]

The Deathbird by Harlan Ellison.
A man learns the truth about his past and takes responsibility for his life and death, as told in a mythological way.

[Widdershins]

I'm going to be illustrating a piece to accompany a short story in a webzine soon, I was just sent the text today actually. Freaked me out in an awesome way! I can pm you the link to it (or post it here) when it comes out online in the new issue, which will be a be in a fortnight or so. This is the site, there's a bunch of short stories, it's mostly all speculative fiction, and it's all free to read!

[HunterKiller_]

H.P. Lovecraft novellas/shorts are always good.

[Demo]

Their was this one site that had these stories written about all sorts of monsters/people/ unexplained things that were housed in this sort of government agency place. I cannot remember the name of the site, but there were things like this girl that was alive in like this paper dimension, and This vending machine that would dispense any sort of liquid (blood,gold, ect), all sorts of biblical creatures, this stair case that infinitely descended and kept getting darker and darker.

Does anyone remember the site?

[HarbingerofIllRepute]

Their was this one site that had these stories written about all sorts of monsters/people/ unexplained things that were housed in this sort of government agency place. I cannot remember the name of the site, but there were things like this girl that was alive in like this paper dimension, and This vending machine that would dispense any sort of liquid (blood,gold, ect), all sorts of biblical creatures, this stair case that infinitely descended and kept getting darker and darker.

Does anyone remember the site?

http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-series?

[Angel Intheuk]

This has been posted before I think but it's stuck with me..The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, it's so, so good. Found an audio version on youtube too...

http://filer.case.edu/dts8/thelastq.htm <

[erinc]

http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept...wallpaper.html


Perhaps I'm easily spooked, but The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, still creeps the hell out of me, even though I've read it a couple of times.

[GuruGaia]

"The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood was said by H.P. Lovecraft to be one of the scariest stories ever. It is definitely worth a read. Read it over a few years ago and still remember it, if that means anything.

[tobbA]

I realize you're specifically asking for non-audiobook stories. But I still have to mention pseudopod.org. (As well as Escape Pod and Podcastle for science fiction and fantasy stories respectively.) Which is a podcast with lots of well read horror short stories, and a new one every week.

[kev ferrara]

Clive Barker's Books of Blood collections are full of well written, visionary short horror stories.

[Kryzon]

Not by notable writers but by internet users: The Creepy Pasta collection.
It's somehow related to the SCP series cited above - it was in Creepy Pasta that SCP-173, the first story, was introduced.

Anyway, they've been conveniently archived here: http://www.creepypastaindex.com/cree...ted&order=desc
I prefer the shorter pastas, most can be quite entertaining. In any case, prefer the ones with the better rating or most comments.

[deputyballer]

I've shamefully only been reading creepy pastas lately, its hit and miss with them.

[Sid Bane]

Yeah, Creepy Pastas are among some of my shameless internet addictions. Some of them are pretty good. Of course,there are also some hilariously bad ones, as well(which are always entertaining in a way that the writers probably didn't intend).

Interestingly enough, when I first saw the thread title my mind immediately jumped to this- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scary_s...ll_in_the_dark. So many nights as a 6-year-old crying myself to sleep because of those illustrations.

[Munin Raven]

"The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood...

Yeah, The Willows is certainly one of my favorites. It has a very singular atmosphere to it. I would also suggest The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.

Velocity, if you ever do find the time to read longer works, I would thoroughly recommend House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. It's a stunning read, and certainly one that stays with you long after you put the book down.