The Greatest Horror Stories
This selection of forty-four horror stories is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time and additional research into horror literature acclaimed by the world's readers, writers, critics and scholars.
For The Greatest Horror Stories, stories are defined as having fewer than 17,500 words, capable of being read in about an hour or less.
The list is continually updated as new works are discovered and appreciation of older works evolves. Please note the current revision date when citing the list.
Latest update: March 15, 2025
1819
"The Vampyre"
by John William Polidori, England
Story
1820
"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"
by Washington Irving, Scotland
Story
1828
"The Tapestried Chamber"
by Walter Scott, Scotland
Story
1834
"The Queen of Spades"
by Alexander Pushkin, Russia
Story
1837
"The Spectre of Tappington"
by Richard Harris Barham, England
Story
1864
"The Phantom Coach"
by Amelia Edwards, England
Story
1872
"Green Tea"
by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
Story
1887
"The Horla, or Modern Ghosts"
by Guy de Maupassant, France
Story
1893
"The Damned Thing"
by Ambrose Bierce, United States
Story
1895
"The Yellow Sign"
by Robert W. Chambers, United States
Story
1902
"The Monkey's Paw"
by by W.W. Jacobs, England
1905
"The White People"
by Arthur Machen, Wales
Story
1911
"Casting the Runes"
by M.R. James, England
Story
"A School Story"
by M.R. James, England
Story
1923
"The Haunted Doll's House"
by M.R. James, England
Story
1928
"The Dunwich Horror"
by H.P. Lovecraft, United States
Story
1936
"The Graveyard Rats"
by Henry Kuttner, United States
Story
1938
"Pigeons from Hell"
by Robert E. Howard, United States
Story
1940
"It"
by Theodore Sturgeon, United States
Story
1943
"Yours Truly, Jack the Ripper"
by Robert Bloch, United States
Story
1947
"Smoke Ghost"
by Fritz Leiber, United States
Story
1948
"The Lottery"
by Shirley Jackson, United States
Story
1955
"The Tower"
by Marghanita Laski, England
Story
1959
"The Landlady"
by Roald Dahl, Wales
Story
1973
"The Whimper of Whipped Dogs"
by Harlan Ellison, United States
Story
1981
"Coin of the Realm"
by Charles L. Grant, United States
Story
"The Reach"
by Stephen King, United States
Story
1982
"Calling Card"
by Ramsey Campbell, England
Story
"The Survivor Type"
by Stephen King, United States
Story
1985
"The Forbidden"
by Clive Barker, England
Story
1994
"The Man in the Black Suit"
by Stephen King, United States
Story
"Accursed Inhabitants of the House of Bly"
by Joyce Carol Oates, United States
Story
2003
"A Study in Emerald"
by Neil Gaiman, England
Story
2004
"Abraham's Boys"
by Joe Hill, United States
Story
