Happy Halloween! I love the spookiness of this time of year. It’s the perfect time to curl up with a good book, and even better if it’s creepy or gothic. I don’t like gore, but I do like a lot of the classics. Weird tales. Atmospheric horror. I decided to read some appropriately themed books this month and just finished Nod by Adrian Barnes, which is all the more terrifying if you are an insomniac. A strange and frightening vision of the future. And yeah, it does have its share of gore. Bad things happen when most of the world stops sleeping. I’ve now started Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Goodreads has done some Halloween events and book recommendations this month. One of the recent ask the author questions was to write a two-sentence horror story. I’ve read some good ones and decided to try it. Enjoy!

At last, every spider in the house was dead, their crushed bodies unceremoniously flushed. Then I heard a clacking sound behind me and turned to realize just how wrong I was.

The dancers glide across the moonlit field, bending and turning with graceful movements, watching me with eyes full of longing. When I am dead, I will join them.

Fog rolls in and shrouds in moon. In the pumpkin patch, we shiver, for the Great Pumpkin has finally come and we must pay for each jack-o’-lantern.

Happy Halloween! If you have a two-sentence horror story, please share in the comments!