10 Gothic Short Stories to Add Some Horror to Your October

Halloween is quickly sneaking up on us. What better way to generate some goosebumps than with a couple scary stories? These ten short staples of American Gothic literature will help send a shiver down your spine with spooky themes ranging from madness and monsters to deceit and death.

1. “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Taking place in Salem, Massachusetts, Hawthorne’s 1835 short story “Young Goodman Brown” starts our reading list off with some good old-fashioned puritan fear. Themes of evil, distrust, and alienation bleed through this story as our protagonist is forced to question his pious community, his own lineage, and his personal faith. Read this story to be left with the sense that evil may be lurking anywhere--and within anyone.

2. “Behind A Mask” by Louisa May Alcott

If you have time for a bit of a longer read and love a powerful woman protagonist (and antagonist), then Alcott’s 1866 novella is for you. Set in the late Victorian era, a new governess finds herself hired by a wealthy family and sets to work winning them over, with ulterior motives. You will find yourself both creeped out by the shrewd deception taking place, as well as impressed by its execution. You may even find yourself rooting for the antagonist as she transcends the limitations of class and nobility--unless you hate to see a girlboss winning.

3. “Replacements” by Lisa Tuttle

Published in 1992, Tuttle’s short story explores the realistic nature of a man’s growing insecurities over his wife’s success and independence through the unnatural introduction of blood-sucking creatures to his everyday life. The man’s disgust over the parasitic creatures is chillingly contrasted by the adoration women feel for them within the story. By the end, you may feel more distressed for the vampiric vermin than the humans existing around them.

4. “Old Woman Magoun” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

This tragic short story has tugged at people’s heartstrings since its publication in 1905, and always threatens to bring me to tears. The story follows a young girl named Lily and the protective grandmother who raised her after the girl’s mother passed away and her alcoholic father abandoned her. Now that Lily has grown to be a teenager, her father finds renewed interest in her, hoping to marry her off. Fearful of this, Lily’s grandmother seeks out ways to protect the child from this fate.

5. “The Giant Wistaria” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This story is split into two time periods, from one century to the next. In the first section, we are made privy to a family scandal in which a daughter has had a child out of wedlock. Her father’s hateful response to the situation imposes a lack of hope or power for the women of the story that is weighty for us to carry as we continue reading.

The second half of the story lands us in the same location as the first, but much later. Curiously, our new characters are charmed by the idea of our setting, now partially overgrown by a wistaria vine, being haunted--and even hope to find ghosts within. After staying in the house, their unusual dreams lead them to shocking discoveries.

Gilman is well-known for her feminist literature. “The Giant Wistaria,” published in 1891, is a great read for those enamored with her other writing. Similarly to “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which was published just one year later, this piece addresses masculine control versus the autonomy of women under rigid gender expectations.

6. “The Little Room” by Madeline Yale Wynne

“The Little Room” will leave you feeling as consumed with madness as its characters are. This story involves a seemingly shapeshifting room, causing disagreement as to what the room truly contains. Served with several helpings of gaslighting, characters begin to question the truth of the situation--and you will too.

… As long as you avoid the sequel. Though both were published in 1895, each story has fairly different gothic elements, and I would argue that the sequel undermines some of the mystery and intrigue of the former. If you’re too curious to heed my advice though, this piece is straightforwardly named “The Sequel to The Little Room.”

7. “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Within a fictional town in Mississippi, Emily’s life unfolds. Interestingly, it is retold to us out of order by a narrator representing the people of the town. Though Emily is a recluse, we still learn some details about her: she’s a skilled china painter, she’s resistant to change, and whatnot. There are some strange moments entangled in her past though, and not even self-isolation can hide her secrets forever.

The story was published in 1930, but takes place about seven decades earlier. The character of Emily is representative of the Old South, set in her beliefs and clinging to tradition. This is evident not only in her personality and actions, but in the surrounding story, as it takes place throughout her life following the Civil War.  The town progresses forward, but Emily does not move with it.

8. “Cat in Glass” by Nancy Etchemendy

A highly valuable cat sculpture is at the center of several murders in this piece. With dark themes ranging from greed and madness to grotesque imagery and odors, Etchemendy’s 1989 tale checks a lot of horror boxes. We are lead through the story by the sculpture’s terrified owner as our narrator, but in the story’s final chilling moments she is oblivious to the full scope of terror that should be felt.

9. “The Enormous Radio” by John Cheever

Published in 1947, “The Enormous Radio” is considered to be Domestic Gothic. The story follows a respectable, middle class family with a love of music. When their radio breaks down, they purchase a new one, and that’s where the trouble begins.

The new radio, already physically clashing with the aesthetic of their home, begins disrupting their day to day lives further with the discovery that it allows them to eavesdrop on others in their apartment building. What starts as a fascinating pass time quickly becomes disturbing. Facades begin to break down.

10. “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Though Gilman has already made the list with “The Great Wistaria,” it would be a disservice to leave her famed 1892 story off of this list. “The Yellow Wallpaper” will always be one of my favorite stories--short or long, Gothic or any other genre. It’s brilliant.

This isn’t just a story about madness, but about women’s rights and the detriments of denying women autonomy in favor of patriarchal standards for subservient wives. Gilman perfectly combines her feminist messaging with ambiguous horror that will have you revisiting multiple interpretations of the ending. The creeping in the story will become the creeping you feel in the back of your mind.

I hope these stories fill you with dread this holiday season! If short stories aren't your cup of tea, keep an eye out for Monday's Gothic film recommendations instead. Happy haunting!