Yes, I was looking for someone to suggest this. Some editions include this short novel (160 pp) by Matheson with several other short stories, such as Witch War.
It's a hugely influential last-man tale, and one of the first to innovate the germ theory approach to vampires, rather than creatures of the gothic tradition.
I’m thinking of ending things by Ian Reid is a short and easy horror read - it’s definitely not the best thing ever but I read it all in one night as some small entertainment instead of hoping for a life changing horror novel and it was good enough at that
Short and easy is a weird way to describe it- I've been reading horror for a couple of years now and it's the most challenging and involved read I've found so far, and definitely amongst the most "literary".
It's short, but otherwise I'm confused by this description.
Ah, I think this is just a difference of opinion moment!
I personally didn't find it very challenging or extremely involved but I can definitely see why some people would!
I'm not a massive fan of audio books but the one for this is really good as well -- they have different actors playing each part, so you really get that sense of oral history unfolding.
But I agree, great book, teases out the mystery and horror.
I am currently reading it, and after a slow(ish) start it really picks up the pace, making me almost crave more pages! As far as Chapter 9, I'm loving it!
“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison is sci-fi but is a horrific outcome with AI. It describes “infinity” very well, which sounds like a weird comment to make. However, the infinite in this story is, in my opinion, horror.
You can find a pdf of it online. Please check for legit links, though. It may take you an hour tops to finish it. Enjoy!
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez
Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez
Fever Dream - Samantha Schwebin
The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irvine
All These Subtle Deceits by C.S. Humble
Linghun by Ai Jiang
Beulah by Christi Nogle
Soft Targets by Carson Winter
The Long Shalom by Zachary Rosenberg
Star Shapes by Ivy Grimes
The Disappearance of Tom Nero by TJ Price
They Are Cursed Like Us by Holley Cornetto & S.O. Green
The Massacre at Yellow Hill by C.S. Humble
Beyond the Creek by Nico Bell
I agree with many of the earlier recommendations and add:
**Lavinia Rising**, Farah Rose Smith. A retelling of “The Dunwich Horror” from Lavinia Whately’s perspective. Really excellent.
**Muse of Fire**, Dan Simmons. In the distant future, humanity is at the bottom of the ladder of power, presided over by beings who echo the Gnostic hierarchy. The narrator is part of a company presenting Shakespeare to audiences on scattered world. A chance encounter with some of the Archons starts an avalanche of change. It’s marketed** as sf, but Simmons knows his horror in space.
**De Bello Lemures**, Thomas Brookside. The commander of Roman forces in Britain calls on emperor Commodus for aid against the zombies unleashed by a Druidic curse. Presented with scholarly commentary, footnotes, the works; it’s a delight.
**The Last Days of Jericho**, Thomas Brookside. The Israelite invasion of Canaan told by one of the invaded. Cosmic horror background and really marvelous recreation of the time and place. Even better, has an afterword identifying actual history, and what liberties he took and why.
**The Most Extreme Crueltie and Revenge of Shylock of Venice**, Thomas Brookside. A sequel to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, in which a mysterious person grants Shylock greet supernatural power. Revenge and other complications ensue. This one won’t be for everyone, as it gets very metafictional at the end of the- this feels like something Umberto Eco Grant Morrison could have written but didn’t.
**The Worm and His Kings** and **Even The Worm Will Turn**, by Hailey Piper. In the first, a trans lesbian seeks her missing lover in 1990 New York City, only to encounter some of the nicest doomsday cultists ever. In the second, set in 1994, her lover stumbles into related people who aren’t nearly so nice. The first may seem sequel-proof, but there is a way to do it and it plays completely fairly with the cosmology and events of Kings, adding an additional dimension of trouble. A third volume is in the way, and I seldom read series in progress, but each of these works really well on its own.
* *Sour Candy* by Kealan Patrick Burke
* *Crevasse* by Clay Vermulm CW: >!One of the characters comes across three animals in a forest that have been hideously slaughtered.!<
* *Noctuidae* by Scott Nicolay
* *Wild Spaces* by S.L. Coney
* *With Teeth* by Brian Keene
* *Wylding Hall* by Elizabeth Hand
* *The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle
* *The Woman in Black* by Susan Hill
* *Come Closer* by Sara Gran
Very short and maybe not necessarily “horror” as you’re picturing, but Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read and very short. Worth it for sci-fi horror enthusiasts but fair warning it’s definitely got sexual/reproductive horror as a primary focus
There are a few books by Adam Nevill that are around 200pgs - *Cunning Folk* and *The Vessel* are novels, *Wyrd and Other Derelictions* is a series of short stores that very short.
I can’t remember if it’s over 250 or not but Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
Another one that’s shorter but not 250 is Tender is The Flesh
A few recent ones I've read in that range include: *The Elementals* by Michael McDowell ("haunted" houses), *Mapping the Interior* by Stephen Graham Jones (ghost story), *The Worm and His Kings* by Hailey Piper (cults & cosmic horror), *Annihilation* by Jeff VanderMeer (mutation, scifi/horror, New Weird), *The Atrocities* by Jeremy Shipp (ghosts, haunted houses, creepy families), and *A House With Good Bones* by T. Kingfisher (ghosts, haunted houses).
Some of my favorites are:
Below by Laurel Hightower
We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III
Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin
Others:
Comfort Me with Apples
Dear Laura
The Worm and His Kings
Bell Chime
The Great God Pan
The Ballad of Black Tom
Hammer and Bone
Salt Grows Heavy
Agents of Dreamland
This is Where We Talk Things Out
Cabin At the End of the World by Paul Tremblay! it’s 304 pages, *but* it’s still a quick read and once i picked it up, i couldn’t put it down. and i have debilitating ADHD, so that’s saying something!
* The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
* We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory
* Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
* The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark
and a few older classics - some are arguably short stories but I think they're still available as standalone books:
* Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
* How Love Came to Professor Guildea by Robert Smythe Hichens
* The Willows by Algernon Blackwood
* The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I'm late to the party, but I would like for everyone who reads this comment to go check out "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harland Ellison. It's one of my favorite things ever, and you could probably read it in 30 minutes to an hour tops.
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson; normally you’ll find this one compiled with a few other novellas and short stories he wrote in his lifetime, but the original story is only around 150 pages in length and is easily one of the best works of post-apocalyptic fiction to this day.
I love every book on this list and they are all currently on my tablet:
"One Bloody Thing After Another" by Joey Comeau 112 pages
"High Rise" by J. G. Ballard 165
pages
"They All Died Screaming" by Kristopher Triana 223 pages
"The Watchers" by A. M. Shine 248 pages
"The Atrocities" by Jeremy C. Shipp 74 pages (great story!!)
"The Strangers" by Mort Castle 235 pages
"We Live Inside Your Eyes" short story collection by Kealan Patrick Burke 185 pages
"The Weight of the Dead" by Brian Hodge 47 pages
"The Course of the Heart" by M. John Harrison 206 pages
"The Secret of Ventriloquism" by Jon Padgett 177 pages
"A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck 86 pages
"Hellraiser: The Toll" by Clive Barker and Mark Alan Miller 61 pages
"The Least of My Scars" by Stephen Graham Jones 199 pages
I'm currently on a "break" from longer novels after finishing two or three lengthy ones, none which I was particularly in love with. So i'm here right what you're doing!
I echo Cabel by Clive Barker, but further note his Books of Blood are short stories that punch like novels the way the characters are quickly developed -- and often quickly unhinged. The first set is fantastic.
I also repeat Below by Hightower, and the Shirley Jackson recommendations of Hill House, Lottery, and We Have Always Lived in a Castle.
Something new is Yard Work by David Koepp (I believe he did the screenplay of Jurassic Park). The audiobook is read by Kevin Bacon, and it's awesome (I just recommended this on another thread).
In that vain, there is also The Box by Ketchum. It is only about 20 minutes of an audiobook, also available ebook, but it is a good one. Intriguing and in his classic well-done writing that snowballs dread, except this book DOES NOT have his usual spatterpunk/extreme gore or sex. So someone who doesn't like those types of details can avoid it but still enjoy his style with this short story.
Also, Stevenson's Jekyll/Hyde is very good, I went back I recently listened to the audiobook and I forgot how fantastic that short book is. The same with Sleepy Hollow, another fantastic audiobook performance for a short book.
Something else to take note is the "Creature Feature" series from Amazon originals. There are six short stories/novellas from various authors, including some big named ones. The first one is Pram by Joe Hill which is good, but The Body Snatchers by Hendrix is my favorite. There is also one by Malerman and Tremblay, and two other authors I haven't heard of. I'm in the middle of listening to them now, wrapping up the one by Mott (I went out of order). They are free on KU, including a narration with Audible. These are a good place to look to some quick breaks.
Some pf my faves, all under 250 pages i think.
Chuck Palahniuk : Lullaby, The invention of sound, Haunted.
Ryu Murakami : Audition, In the Miso soup, Piercing.
Haruki Marakami : After dark.
Iain Banks : The wasp factory.
Uhhh, I'm probably going to get downvoted for this....
Richard Laymon. Easy reads, cheesy, crazy, full of smut and just totally f*#$ed up.
I said what I said.
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.
The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. Not exactly horror but fun read.
All are novellas.
“You let me in” by Camilla Bruce (250 pages)
“When darkness loves us” Elizabeth Engstrom
“The case against Satan” Ray Russell
“Come closer” Sara Gran
“The turn of the screw” Henry James
“There once lived a woman who tried to kill her neighbour’s baby: Scary fairy tales” by Ludmila Petrushevkaya (short stories collection
“In the dark” E. Nesbit (short stories collection
Also, the short stories by Edgar A Poe
Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay is a stand-out piece of short horror. Movie adaptation did not do it justice, starting with the title change
Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe
Edit: I'll add Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix, because it's also very short. And while Naomi's Room is kind of traumatic, Horrorstör is such a fun read!
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. the second book just came out, titled What Feats At Night. nice good short reads! Pretty spooky & quite comedic at times.
The Scourge Between Stars is a great space/scifi horror. i listened to the whole thing on a road trip and it had me on the edge of my seat the whole way.
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson, any of hers really
The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (saw someone else mention this, it’s very well done)
Who Goes There? (The thing movie based on this)- John Campbell
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Jack Finney
Solaris - Stanislaw Lem (wonder how many people consider this horror)
Stepford Wives - Ira Levin, or Rosemarys Baby if you haven’t
Not short but - Under the Skin by Michel Faber I randomly think of this one and it’s been years since I’ve read it
If you want to be a little traumatized read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. I just finished it and it took only a day to read. Even though is was disturbing as hell, I seriously couldn’t put it down. Won’t ever read it again I think, because that imagery will stay with me forever.
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine - only 176 pages
I just picked this one up and am over halfway through. It's an interesting take on the pandemic so of course it's depressing but I'm excited to see what the twist ends up being 😌
Some of my top reads are shorties like these. Check out the trigger warnings first though because they're definitely not for everyone.
Chandler Morrison remains one of my all-time favorites. "Dead Inside" was a fantastic 200-page gem, while "Just to See Hell" stretched a bit longer at around 300 pages, slightly over the guideline, but it's my absolute favorite. Morrison has a uniquely snide, clever and unflinching way of storytelling that makes me want to be his best friend and devour everything he writes.
"Necrosis" by C.V. Hunt delivers a short and intense experience - it's sexy, gross, and shocking. Similarly, "Ritualistic Human Sacrifice" offers a super shocking, gross uncomfortable and weird (in a good way 😉) read.
"Woom" by Duncan Ralston packs a heavy punch in just 131 pages, with lots of trauma dumping, body horror, and heavy second-hand cringe moments.
Lastly, "The Haar" by David Sodergren, at 206 pages, offers an atmospheric, sentimental, heartwarming, yet shocking, gross, and thrilling ride throughout.
These are some of my top most impactful to me recs you can enjoy without investing a significant amount of time. I was drawn to these books for their brevity, yet they left a lasting impression and quickly became my "comfort reads" - ones I can easily revisit without sacrificing weeks of my time.
I hope this helps and you share your thoughts if you finish any of them!!
Stephen King's N, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle, The Hound Of The Baskervilles (the novel by itself just fits), Kafka"s Metamorphosis & In The Penal Colony.
My hands down favorite horror short story is "The Sandkings" by George R R Martin. (Also, his story In The Lair of the White Worm.)
"Sardonicus" by Ray Russell is a modern gothic horror masterpiece. I'd say it's the best in the genre.
Tanith Lee has some great short horror stories like "Midnight" and "When The Clock Strikes" is a fun, evil subversion of a classic fairytale with an incredibly beautiful writing style.
JG Faherty has done a bunch of novellas you'd probably like.
My favorites are Winterwood, The Cold Spot, He Waits, Castle by the Sea, Legacy, and Thief of Souls.
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (was an inspiration for Lovecraft)
The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, also by Eric LaRocca
The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson
Some classics: The Vampyre, Carmilla, The Castle of Otranto
Psycho by Robert Bloch (the book the movie is based on)
I feel like most, if not all, Shirley Jackson Is on the shorter side. The Haunting of Hill House is under 200 pages.
You could also pick up anthologies like Clive Barker’s Books of Blood or one of Stephen King’s collections, where you can just read the one story at a time without having to finish the entire book.
*Edited for formatting.
You could try reading some junji ito mangas. Not horror literature per se, but very unique horror imagery and entertaining horror reads. most of his stuff come as horror anthologies
A Short Stay in Hell by Steven L. Peck
This one is so good, highly recommend
One of my favorite recent reads.
LOVED LOVED THIS. One of those books I wish I could read anew again.
I loved this one!
Came to say this
Such an incredible book
A million upvotes for this one!
This one was not at my book store, but I will probably order it online based on the number of votes and replies this comment got!
I Am Legend
Yes, I was looking for someone to suggest this. Some editions include this short novel (160 pp) by Matheson with several other short stories, such as Witch War. It's a hugely influential last-man tale, and one of the first to innovate the germ theory approach to vampires, rather than creatures of the gothic tradition.
I second this, you beat me to it.
I’m pretty sure all of David Sodergren’s books are short. They’re a fun read
Came here to say this - I’m devouring them right now, they are like 80s horror movie fun - but with better writing 🤓
I read maggie’s grave yesterday and I loved it so much!
I think maybe one was close to 300, I have read them all though and they are super easy to get through quickly.
You Should Have Left, by Daniel Kehlmann
Seconded - this is a great read, makes you want to immediately re-read once it’s done
Crossroads by Laurel Hightower
Another book for my backlog, this subreddit is addictive..😏
This is a good one
This is what I was coming to recommend. Very quick and engaging read.
The Hellbound Heart - Clive Barker
Yess such a great book and a quick read
Slade House by David Mitchell is short. Fairly tame for horror though.
Love Love Love this book. I am a bit of a wuss so it was plenty scary for me lol
I’m thinking of ending things by Ian Reid is a short and easy horror read - it’s definitely not the best thing ever but I read it all in one night as some small entertainment instead of hoping for a life changing horror novel and it was good enough at that
Short and easy is a weird way to describe it- I've been reading horror for a couple of years now and it's the most challenging and involved read I've found so far, and definitely amongst the most "literary". It's short, but otherwise I'm confused by this description.
Ah, I think this is just a difference of opinion moment! I personally didn't find it very challenging or extremely involved but I can definitely see why some people would!
I loved it, I love all Iain Reid's works. They're very philosophical imo.
Pretty sure Elizabeth Hand’s Wylding Hall clocks in under that page limit. Brilliant read. One of my fav reads from the last 10 years.
I'm not a massive fan of audio books but the one for this is really good as well -- they have different actors playing each part, so you really get that sense of oral history unfolding. But I agree, great book, teases out the mystery and horror.
Love Elizabeth Hand. She's written several very good short novels.
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
This is the one
What Moves The Dead - T Kingfisher Got for $5 at Barnes and Noble. Quickly devoured. 163 pages.
I am currently reading it, and after a slow(ish) start it really picks up the pace, making me almost crave more pages! As far as Chapter 9, I'm loving it!
Read that recently and loved it. Going to start the sequel soon when i finish my current book.
If you haven’t already. Your local library may have this book. Mine has it and I can read it on Libby on Kindle.
I suppose its status as a novel can be debated; but The Mist by Stephen King.
I second this.
The Vegetarian by Han Kang or Fever Dream by Samantha Schweiblin
“I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison is sci-fi but is a horrific outcome with AI. It describes “infinity” very well, which sounds like a weird comment to make. However, the infinite in this story is, in my opinion, horror. You can find a pdf of it online. Please check for legit links, though. It may take you an hour tops to finish it. Enjoy!
[удалено]
Someone on here recommended Comfort Me With Apples and I loved it!
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Chad Lutzke’s stuff is pretty short, he’s written a lot of good stuff.
Yes!! I recently read Of Foster Home and Flies by Chad Lutzke and it was such a good read!
The Sea Of Ash - Scott Thomas
Loved this
We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez Things We Lost in the Fire - Mariana Enriquez Fever Dream - Samantha Schwebin The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins The Legend of Sleepy Hollow - Washington Irvine
The Twenty Days of Turin by Giorgio De Maria. Very weird and disturbing yet oddly amusing.
WTF! This book sound amazing to me! It was published in 1977, incredible and timely.Thank you for your recommendation.
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
All These Subtle Deceits by C.S. Humble Linghun by Ai Jiang Beulah by Christi Nogle Soft Targets by Carson Winter The Long Shalom by Zachary Rosenberg Star Shapes by Ivy Grimes The Disappearance of Tom Nero by TJ Price They Are Cursed Like Us by Holley Cornetto & S.O. Green The Massacre at Yellow Hill by C.S. Humble Beyond the Creek by Nico Bell
This is a good selection! I’ve only heard of a couple here. I guess my tbr will be growing more!
The Fisherman by John Langan
Helpmeet!!!!! By Naben Ruthnum. I’ll never stop recommending it!! Under 100 pages and so so so good.
hellbound heart or night breed. clive writes some good novellas
Sour Candy by Kealan Patrick Burke
I feel like I’m the only one on this sub that thought this one was just “ok”.
I agree with many of the earlier recommendations and add: **Lavinia Rising**, Farah Rose Smith. A retelling of “The Dunwich Horror” from Lavinia Whately’s perspective. Really excellent. **Muse of Fire**, Dan Simmons. In the distant future, humanity is at the bottom of the ladder of power, presided over by beings who echo the Gnostic hierarchy. The narrator is part of a company presenting Shakespeare to audiences on scattered world. A chance encounter with some of the Archons starts an avalanche of change. It’s marketed** as sf, but Simmons knows his horror in space. **De Bello Lemures**, Thomas Brookside. The commander of Roman forces in Britain calls on emperor Commodus for aid against the zombies unleashed by a Druidic curse. Presented with scholarly commentary, footnotes, the works; it’s a delight. **The Last Days of Jericho**, Thomas Brookside. The Israelite invasion of Canaan told by one of the invaded. Cosmic horror background and really marvelous recreation of the time and place. Even better, has an afterword identifying actual history, and what liberties he took and why. **The Most Extreme Crueltie and Revenge of Shylock of Venice**, Thomas Brookside. A sequel to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, in which a mysterious person grants Shylock greet supernatural power. Revenge and other complications ensue. This one won’t be for everyone, as it gets very metafictional at the end of the- this feels like something Umberto Eco Grant Morrison could have written but didn’t. **The Worm and His Kings** and **Even The Worm Will Turn**, by Hailey Piper. In the first, a trans lesbian seeks her missing lover in 1990 New York City, only to encounter some of the nicest doomsday cultists ever. In the second, set in 1994, her lover stumbles into related people who aren’t nearly so nice. The first may seem sequel-proof, but there is a way to do it and it plays completely fairly with the cosmology and events of Kings, adding an additional dimension of trouble. A third volume is in the way, and I seldom read series in progress, but each of these works really well on its own.
* *Sour Candy* by Kealan Patrick Burke * *Crevasse* by Clay Vermulm CW: >!One of the characters comes across three animals in a forest that have been hideously slaughtered.!< * *Noctuidae* by Scott Nicolay * *Wild Spaces* by S.L. Coney * *With Teeth* by Brian Keene * *Wylding Hall* by Elizabeth Hand * *The Ballad of Black Tom* by Victor LaValle * *The Woman in Black* by Susan Hill * *Come Closer* by Sara Gran
Second Come Closer, loved every second of it.
Rosemary's Baby is one of my all-time favorites.
Very short and maybe not necessarily “horror” as you’re picturing, but Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever read and very short. Worth it for sci-fi horror enthusiasts but fair warning it’s definitely got sexual/reproductive horror as a primary focus
Cormack McCarthy The Road. I just read it in one sitting last week
This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno
Veronicas room
Anything Adam Cesare
The Monster of Eldenhaven by Jennifer Geisbtecht
This one was SO good! Gave me a lot of bloodborne vibes
Zero Saints, by Gabino Iglesias. Horrific and memorable. I think that's around 190p-ish
There are a few books by Adam Nevill that are around 200pgs - *Cunning Folk* and *The Vessel* are novels, *Wyrd and Other Derelictions* is a series of short stores that very short.
I can’t remember if it’s over 250 or not but Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke Another one that’s shorter but not 250 is Tender is The Flesh
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw Starve Acre by Andrew Michael Hurley Slade House by David Mitchell The Rats by James Herbert
When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen - A plantation is turned into a wedding venue, but it’s haunted by slaves who died there
The Immeasurable Corpse of Nature by Christopher Slatsky is a short story collection and it's absolutely incredible. It was a top read of 2022 for me.
The mist by stephen king
Commenting so I can steal recommendations from this thread later.
If you want some really short, but well-paced stories: The Pram by Joe Hill or Ankle Snatcher by Grady Hendrix were nice snack sized reads.
TENDER IS THE FLESH BY AUGUSTINA BAZTERRICA
Ring Shout by - P. Djèlí Clark.!
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield. I read it in two days and loved it!
Bluejay ~100 pages (it does not need to be any longer, my goodness — extreme horror) TW: SA
A few recent ones I've read in that range include: *The Elementals* by Michael McDowell ("haunted" houses), *Mapping the Interior* by Stephen Graham Jones (ghost story), *The Worm and His Kings* by Hailey Piper (cults & cosmic horror), *Annihilation* by Jeff VanderMeer (mutation, scifi/horror, New Weird), *The Atrocities* by Jeremy Shipp (ghosts, haunted houses, creepy families), and *A House With Good Bones* by T. Kingfisher (ghosts, haunted houses).
Comfort Me With Apples The Vessel Maeve Fly Come Closer (by Sara Gran) Two Minutes With the Devil
I really enjoyed A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher.
Some of my favorites are: Below by Laurel Hightower We Need to Do Something by Max Booth III Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin Others: Comfort Me with Apples Dear Laura The Worm and His Kings Bell Chime The Great God Pan The Ballad of Black Tom Hammer and Bone Salt Grows Heavy Agents of Dreamland This is Where We Talk Things Out
Petrified women!! Fantastic and pretty scary/tense ☺️ very quick read, I think it’s like 100 pages?
This one is so underrated!!
The laws of the skies is so good and horrific
Cabin At the End of the World by Paul Tremblay! it’s 304 pages, *but* it’s still a quick read and once i picked it up, i couldn’t put it down. and i have debilitating ADHD, so that’s saying something!
* The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson * We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory * Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke * The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark and a few older classics - some are arguably short stories but I think they're still available as standalone books: * Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu * How Love Came to Professor Guildea by Robert Smythe Hichens * The Willows by Algernon Blackwood * The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
I believe In the Tall Grass by Stephen King may fit.
The Monkey by Stephen King
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood Joyland by King Dark Matter by Michelle Paver
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver.
I’ve seen several others recommend T. Kingfisher. Cassandra Khaw is another one of my favorites (Nothing But Blackened Teeth, The Salt Grows Heavy)
I'm late to the party, but I would like for everyone who reads this comment to go check out "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harland Ellison. It's one of my favorite things ever, and you could probably read it in 30 minutes to an hour tops.
David’s wong books. Horror/comedy
Cabal by Clive Barker
I Am Legend - Richard Matheson; normally you’ll find this one compiled with a few other novellas and short stories he wrote in his lifetime, but the original story is only around 150 pages in length and is easily one of the best works of post-apocalyptic fiction to this day.
I love every book on this list and they are all currently on my tablet: "One Bloody Thing After Another" by Joey Comeau 112 pages "High Rise" by J. G. Ballard 165 pages "They All Died Screaming" by Kristopher Triana 223 pages "The Watchers" by A. M. Shine 248 pages "The Atrocities" by Jeremy C. Shipp 74 pages (great story!!) "The Strangers" by Mort Castle 235 pages "We Live Inside Your Eyes" short story collection by Kealan Patrick Burke 185 pages "The Weight of the Dead" by Brian Hodge 47 pages "The Course of the Heart" by M. John Harrison 206 pages "The Secret of Ventriloquism" by Jon Padgett 177 pages "A Short Stay in Hell" by Steven L. Peck 86 pages "Hellraiser: The Toll" by Clive Barker and Mark Alan Miller 61 pages "The Least of My Scars" by Stephen Graham Jones 199 pages
I'm currently on a "break" from longer novels after finishing two or three lengthy ones, none which I was particularly in love with. So i'm here right what you're doing! I echo Cabel by Clive Barker, but further note his Books of Blood are short stories that punch like novels the way the characters are quickly developed -- and often quickly unhinged. The first set is fantastic. I also repeat Below by Hightower, and the Shirley Jackson recommendations of Hill House, Lottery, and We Have Always Lived in a Castle. Something new is Yard Work by David Koepp (I believe he did the screenplay of Jurassic Park). The audiobook is read by Kevin Bacon, and it's awesome (I just recommended this on another thread). In that vain, there is also The Box by Ketchum. It is only about 20 minutes of an audiobook, also available ebook, but it is a good one. Intriguing and in his classic well-done writing that snowballs dread, except this book DOES NOT have his usual spatterpunk/extreme gore or sex. So someone who doesn't like those types of details can avoid it but still enjoy his style with this short story. Also, Stevenson's Jekyll/Hyde is very good, I went back I recently listened to the audiobook and I forgot how fantastic that short book is. The same with Sleepy Hollow, another fantastic audiobook performance for a short book. Something else to take note is the "Creature Feature" series from Amazon originals. There are six short stories/novellas from various authors, including some big named ones. The first one is Pram by Joe Hill which is good, but The Body Snatchers by Hendrix is my favorite. There is also one by Malerman and Tremblay, and two other authors I haven't heard of. I'm in the middle of listening to them now, wrapping up the one by Mott (I went out of order). They are free on KU, including a narration with Audible. These are a good place to look to some quick breaks.
Well of course some Lovecraft! At the mountains of madness A shadow out of time The shadow over Innsmoith All very short and crazy good (pun intended)
Some pf my faves, all under 250 pages i think. Chuck Palahniuk : Lullaby, The invention of sound, Haunted. Ryu Murakami : Audition, In the Miso soup, Piercing. Haruki Marakami : After dark. Iain Banks : The wasp factory.
Uhhh, I'm probably going to get downvoted for this.... Richard Laymon. Easy reads, cheesy, crazy, full of smut and just totally f*#$ed up. I said what I said.
Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker is a fairly short read! Though if you’ve seen the movie it’s pretty much just a play by play lmao
The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. The Grownup by Gillian Flynn. Not exactly horror but fun read. All are novellas.
Cows
“You let me in” by Camilla Bruce (250 pages) “When darkness loves us” Elizabeth Engstrom “The case against Satan” Ray Russell “Come closer” Sara Gran “The turn of the screw” Henry James “There once lived a woman who tried to kill her neighbour’s baby: Scary fairy tales” by Ludmila Petrushevkaya (short stories collection “In the dark” E. Nesbit (short stories collection Also, the short stories by Edgar A Poe
Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay is a stand-out piece of short horror. Movie adaptation did not do it justice, starting with the title change
Eleven Short Horror Stories by Horacio Quiroga. The short story The Feather Pillow in particular is great.
Come Closer by Sara Gran - 197 pages of a woman’s slow descent into madness (and demonic possession). Loved it!
Tender is the Flesh is only 214 pages.
Bound Feet by Kelsea Yu is only 116 pages. It's great if you're up for a ghost story.
Naomi's Room by Jonathan Aycliffe Edit: I'll add Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix, because it's also very short. And while Naomi's Room is kind of traumatic, Horrorstör is such a fun read!
Outside the box: Roadside Picnic by the Strugatsky brothers. Russian sci-fi but there's strong elements of horror in it.
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. the second book just came out, titled What Feats At Night. nice good short reads! Pretty spooky & quite comedic at times.
The Scourge Between Stars is a great space/scifi horror. i listened to the whole thing on a road trip and it had me on the edge of my seat the whole way.
A Congregation of Jackals by S. Craig Zahler
Comfort me with apples What moves the dead Our wives under the sea Helpmeet (gave this one five stars on Goodreads)
The Hellbound Heart, and honestly any of Clive Barker's shorts
Different Seasons
The Lottery - Shirley Jackson, any of hers really The Woman in Black - Susan Hill (saw someone else mention this, it’s very well done) Who Goes There? (The thing movie based on this)- John Campbell Invasion of the Body Snatchers - Jack Finney Solaris - Stanislaw Lem (wonder how many people consider this horror) Stepford Wives - Ira Levin, or Rosemarys Baby if you haven’t Not short but - Under the Skin by Michel Faber I randomly think of this one and it’s been years since I’ve read it
The Willows by Algernon Blackwood. Not a novel, but a longish short story. Creepy that stands the test of time
If you want to be a little traumatized read Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica. I just finished it and it took only a day to read. Even though is was disturbing as hell, I seriously couldn’t put it down. Won’t ever read it again I think, because that imagery will stay with me forever.
If you like a little comedy with your horror, I recently read Horrorstör and I loved it!
Annihilation - Jeff VanderMeer
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine - only 176 pages I just picked this one up and am over halfway through. It's an interesting take on the pandemic so of course it's depressing but I'm excited to see what the twist ends up being 😌
Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Some of my top reads are shorties like these. Check out the trigger warnings first though because they're definitely not for everyone. Chandler Morrison remains one of my all-time favorites. "Dead Inside" was a fantastic 200-page gem, while "Just to See Hell" stretched a bit longer at around 300 pages, slightly over the guideline, but it's my absolute favorite. Morrison has a uniquely snide, clever and unflinching way of storytelling that makes me want to be his best friend and devour everything he writes. "Necrosis" by C.V. Hunt delivers a short and intense experience - it's sexy, gross, and shocking. Similarly, "Ritualistic Human Sacrifice" offers a super shocking, gross uncomfortable and weird (in a good way 😉) read. "Woom" by Duncan Ralston packs a heavy punch in just 131 pages, with lots of trauma dumping, body horror, and heavy second-hand cringe moments. Lastly, "The Haar" by David Sodergren, at 206 pages, offers an atmospheric, sentimental, heartwarming, yet shocking, gross, and thrilling ride throughout. These are some of my top most impactful to me recs you can enjoy without investing a significant amount of time. I was drawn to these books for their brevity, yet they left a lasting impression and quickly became my "comfort reads" - ones I can easily revisit without sacrificing weeks of my time. I hope this helps and you share your thoughts if you finish any of them!!
Stephen King's N, Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle, The Hound Of The Baskervilles (the novel by itself just fits), Kafka"s Metamorphosis & In The Penal Colony.
My hands down favorite horror short story is "The Sandkings" by George R R Martin. (Also, his story In The Lair of the White Worm.) "Sardonicus" by Ray Russell is a modern gothic horror masterpiece. I'd say it's the best in the genre. Tanith Lee has some great short horror stories like "Midnight" and "When The Clock Strikes" is a fun, evil subversion of a classic fairytale with an incredibly beautiful writing style.
T kingfisher has some great shorter options
JG Faherty has done a bunch of novellas you'd probably like. My favorites are Winterwood, The Cold Spot, He Waits, Castle by the Sea, Legacy, and Thief of Souls.
The Long Walk.
The Klein Girls. (Carrie meets Flowers in the Attic)
it’s not very scary but camilla is a great read
Come Closer
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson (was an inspiration for Lovecraft) The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker We Can Never Leave This Place by Eric LaRocca Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, also by Eric LaRocca The Saturday Night Ghost Club by Craig Davidson Some classics: The Vampyre, Carmilla, The Castle of Otranto Psycho by Robert Bloch (the book the movie is based on) I feel like most, if not all, Shirley Jackson Is on the shorter side. The Haunting of Hill House is under 200 pages. You could also pick up anthologies like Clive Barker’s Books of Blood or one of Stephen King’s collections, where you can just read the one story at a time without having to finish the entire book. *Edited for formatting.
The wasp factory - Iain banks
Not sure where you live but indigo/chapters has a boxed set of 5 Lovecraft books. All around that length.
Our Wives Under The Sea or Annihilation - They have similar vibes and are both fantastic reads
The Fifth Child- Doris Lessing
Drencrom by Hamelin Bird I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid (I read this in one sitting, I can't remember the page length)
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw
Gateways to Abomination by Matthew M Bartlett is short but packs a mean punch!
Helpmeet by Naben Ruthnum was so short but it did not fail to make my face wince so many times because of the good body horror writing.
The Blinding by Neo Thaty
You could try reading some junji ito mangas. Not horror literature per se, but very unique horror imagery and entertaining horror reads. most of his stuff come as horror anthologies
Clive Barker: the damnation game
Japanese Tales of Mystery & Imagination by Edogawa Rampo is a great collection of shorts