english scary story homework

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13 Ghost Stories in English

Being scared by a story , movie , or anything else you know is not real can be fun and exciting.

There are many different ghost stories, urban legends and horror tales in the English language.

Have a look at our favorite spooky stories.

Some of the older stories might be a challenge, but since many are available to read for free, you can at least give them a try.

1. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”

2. “the monkey’s paw”, 3. “the diary of mr. poynter”, 4. “the tell-tale heart”, 5. “the haunting of hill house”, 6. “the shining”, 7. “the screaming skull”, 8. “the woman in black”, 9. “the bone key”, 10. “the graveyard book”, 11. real ghost stories, 12. two-sentence horror stories, 13. “the big book of ghost stories”, why do we love ghost stories, how to learn english from scary stories, and one more thing....

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Written by: Washington Irving

Skill level: This story is old, so it uses some old language which may be difficult for beginners.

On his way home from a party, a schoolteacher meets with a terrifying headless horseman. This famous story is a favorite on Halloween nights, especially since the head of the horseman is often shown as a jack-o’-lantern (a carved pumpkin face with a light inside). This story has also been turned into a movie .

Find the book here or read it free here .

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Written by: W. W. Jacobs

Skill level: Another old story, this one is easier to understand, although you may need to look up some words that are not commonly used anymore.

A man gets a monkey’s paw that will grant him three wishes—but these wishes have terrible consequences (results). More creepy than scary, “The Monkey’s Paw” has been used many times in other stories, movies , TV shows, and many other places. It message is “be careful what you wish for!”

Written by: M. R. James

Skill level: This is an older story, though it’s accessible to intermediate-level learners.

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This story has given birth to a creepy urban legend that is retold many times: You stroke the head of your dog while your attention is on something else… then suddenly remember you don’t have a dog. M. R. James is a great author of short ghost and horror stories that might not have any blood or violence, but will still make you scared to turn off the lights in the dark.

Find the book of short stories here .

Written by: Edgar Allan Poe

Skill level: Poe’s writings are simple and clear, and should be understandable for early intermediate learners.

A man is haunted by the beating of a dead man’s heart. Edgar Allan Poe is very well known for his horror stories, many of which are about the darkness inside humans and not actual monsters. Horror story lovers should read at least one of his stories!

Written by: Shirley Jackson

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Skill level: This is a full book, not a short story. The language is not too difficult but the writing style can be a little tough to get used to.

Four people come to Hill House hoping to get evidence that the house is haunted. But the house is not only haunted, it’s looking for its next victim, and it has chosen one of the four to make its own.

Written by: Stephen King

Skill level: Modern, clear writing makes this a good book for learners of any skill. Watch out for some obscenities (offensive/vulgar words or behaviors).

A man is left in charge of a hotel during winter months when it’s closed, along with his wife and his son. Something is strange about the hotel, though, and it begins to affect the minds of everyone—with some terrible results. Stephen King is a modern master of the horror genre, and this book is a great read even if you’ve watched the classic movie .

Find the book here .

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Written by: F. Marion Crawford

Skill level: The language and writing style can be tough to follow, but Crawford’s writing is varied. So if you don’t like or understand one story, try a different one.

A man finds a skull in his house, which screams every time he tries to remove it. He learns to live with it, until a visitor comes to the house, and even stranger things start to happen. Crawford’s other stories are just as weird and scary.

Find the book here or read free it here .

Written by: Susan Hill

Skill level: Hill loves long sentences, which might be difficult to follow. The writing is not too advanced, though.

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A lawyer is sent to handle the affairs of an old house, but the house is more that it seems and hides many secrets and ghosts. You can also watch the movie version of this book, starring Daniel Radcliffe (who played Harry Potter).

Written by: Sarah Monette

Skill level: Clear and simple writing makes this a good choice for any level, though it does contain plenty of vocabulary words.

A stuttering museum archivist wants nothing to do with the supernatural, but for some reason ghosts and ghouls just keep coming to him. In a series of connected short stories, Monette creates a strange world not too far from our own, and a very likeable character.

Written by: Neil Gaiman

Skill level: There are some challenging words, but it was written with young adult readers in mind, which means it is good for learners of any level.

A young boy is raised in a graveyard, where ghosts and apparitions are the normal, and the real monsters might just be the living humans. Neil Gaiman is a great storyteller who creates worlds of magic and reality, where something dark is around every corner.

Written by: Many different people

Skill level: It depends on each story! Browse around and find something for you level.

Some books claim they’re based on real stories. On this website, you can find stories submitted by real people, about real strange things they’ve seen. Some are well written stories, and others are more like conversational blog posts. All are about real events—a great way to get spooked on Halloween night.

Find the stories free here .

Written by: Reddit users

Skill level: The level varies a little, but since there are only two sentences to each story, they are mostly simple and easy to understand.

“What is the best horror story you can come up with in just two sentences?” This is the question someone asked on Reddit, an online commenting and sharing community. Many of the top-rated stories are truly creepy, and manage to create a terrifying story in less than a paragraph.

Find the stories free here , or if Reddit is too confusing, see a free collection of the best stories here .

Written by: Many different authors

Skill level: This collection is so huge, there’s something for everyone here!

If you just can’t make up your mind about which ghost story to read, you can always just get them all! This massive collection of ghost stories has almost 1,000 pages, including classics, old and new stories. There are plenty of creepy, spooky and scary stories for any kind of reader.

Ghosts, ghouls, monsters and all sorts of supernatural beings have fascinated humans for many years. There have been countless horror stories written, or just told around a campfire to excite and scare. But why do we love scary stories so much?

Famous author Neil Gaiman puts it perfectly on Brain Pickings : “Fear is a wonderful thing, in small doses.”

There is something comforting about knowing that what you’re reading or watching  is not actually real. You can experience the physical and mental effects of fear, without being in any actual danger.

It’s like when you watch scary movies or shows on Netflix: You know they’re not real, but you can let yourself get lost in the stories.

Reading scary stories can be a bit like watching them on screen. But when you read, you rely (depend) completely on your imagination to picture the characters, the scenery and the events of the story.

You create the thrill of fear in your own mind.

Reading a ghost story lets you have fun with fear, instead of being afraid or stressed over the real things in your life.

In other words, scary stories are harmless but exciting, and that makes them fun!

You can always just read the stories below and enjoy them. But to really learn from them, there are a few tips you should follow.

• Read with a notebook. We know it ruins the effect, but to learn from the story you’re reading, you should read with pen and paper nearby. Use these to write down any words or parts you don’t understand.
• Read things twice. Read once for vocabulary, and a second time for understanding. This is a great way to read books and stories that are a bit higher than your current learning level. If you learn what a word means, you will understand the story better when you read it a second time, and be getting practice with the new words.
• Learn the cultural impact. Many ghost stories use ideas that have been around for a long time, and some have been repeated or rewritten into modern culture—like the jack-o’-lantern from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” which you’ll find on the list. Take the time to look up ways in which the stories you read have been reused in culture, or what the stories themselves can tell you about the culture it comes from. For instance, the American idea of a ghost is a bit different from the Chinese. Do you know how ? Learning interesting things about the culture of the language you’re studying can help you understand it a lot better.
• Ask questions. You already know that you should ask questions if you don’t understand something. But you should also ask questions to understand better. As you read, ask questions like “What’s going to happen next?” and “What made that story so scary?” Reading and discussing books helps you improve your English for everyday conversation .
• Enjoy what you read. Once you learn enough about the words the story uses, you can get into the actual story. Don’t forget to enjoy what you’re reading!

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Light a candle and turn out all the lights, because it’s time for some spooky reading!

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My Favourite Short Scary Stories!

By: zoea marland, class 12.

There is nothing I love more than scary stories. The adrenaline! The rush of fear! If you know me then you would know how much I love telling creepy tales, especially during a sleepover with my friends. What I enjoyed the most were the short collections that I collected online as a kid, and I thought it might be fun to share these stories with everyone. Until this day, whenever I tell these stories it never fails to impress so here they are, five of some of my favourite short scary stories!

Who’s in my bed?

A father went to say good night to his seven year old son, very well knowing that if he didn’t his son would have trouble sleeping. It was a nightly routine between them. He entered the dimly lit room where his son waited under his blanket. With the first glance the father could tell there was something unusual about his son tonight, but couldn’t put his finger on it. He looked the same but had a grin that drew from ear to ear.

“You okay, buddy?” the father asked.

The son nodded, still with the grin, before saying, “Daddy, check for monsters under my bed.”

The father chuckled a bit before getting on his knees to check only to satisfy his son.

There, under the bed, pale and afraid, was his son. His real son. He whispered, “ Daddy, there someone on my bed ”.

A hiker decided to go on a hike by himself. Something he was not very used to. The whole day was normal. Trees and bushes engulfed his surroundings. He enjoyed being outdoors in the mountains. Nothing seemed strange to him, that was until he was making his way back to his car. He figured an eight hour hike was good enough. The sky was already getting dark and he needed to get back, fast. What was odd was how much he didn’t recognize the trail back. He began to panic.

Night had already taken over and all he had was a flashlight and no clue on how to get back. He knew it was already too late and too dangerous to keep going through the perilous forest. He began to worry that he would have no shelter for the night when almost luckily enough, he stumbled across a broken-down cabin. It was dark, and seemed like no one had visited it in years, but he knew it was the only place where he could rest until daylight, especially since his flashlight was running out of battery. He knocked on the door a few times but no one answered, so he let himself in where strangely enough, a perfect bed fitted for one person awaited him in the center. He knew that if the owner came back he could explain himself, he was sure that the owner wouldn’t mind, or was even probably dead. So he went ahead and got himself comfortable in bed. As he tried to sleep, he couldn’t ignore the collection of paintings around the room; portraits of strange looking people all peering at him, each wearing a smile that sent chills up his spine. Not too long after his  exhaustion from the hike got the best of him and he was able to ignore the faces.

The next morning he got up early and was shocked to see that there were no paintings around the room, but windows…

The Red Wristband

A doctor was working at a hospital, a hospital where the patients were tagged with coloured bands. Green: alive. Red: deceased.

One night, the doctor was instructed to get a few supplies from the basement of the hospital, and so he headed to the lift. The lift doors opened and there was a patient inside, minding her own business. Patients were allowed to roam around the hospital to stretch, especially those who have stayed long. The rule was to be back in their rooms before ten.

The doctor smiled at the patient before pressing the number for the basement. He found it unusual that the woman didn’t have a button already pressed. He wondered if she was heading to the basement too.

The lift finally reached the floor where the doors opened. In the distance a man was limping towards the elevator, and in a panic the doctor slammed the elevator button to close. It finally did and the lift began to ascend back up, the doctor’s heart pounding.

“Why did you do that? He was trying to use the lift.” The woman stated, annoyed.

“Did you see his wrist?” The doctor asked, “It was red. He died last night. I would know because I did his surgery.”

The woman lifted her wrist. He saw red. She smiled. “Like this one?”

White with RED

A man just moved into an apartment and heads to the receptionist to get his keys. The receptionist gave him the key with a smile but warns him not to disturb the door with no number on his floor. He wondered why but didn’t bother to ask, he was too busy with his new apartment to care. After he finished unpacking he began to get curious. He questioned why the receptionist would warn him of such things, and so he stepped out of his apartment to check the door with no number.

He tried the door knob first but it was locked, so instead he got onto his knees and peeked through the keyhole. The apartment he was looking into was empty. His eyes scanned the whole place before stopping at a woman, standing face against a wall, in the corner. He noticed her pale skin and long black hair before stepping back, suddenly feeling perverted in a way for invading someone else’s privacy. He brushed it off, assuming she was someone that did not want to be disturbed.

The next day he got more curious about the woman and eventually went back, straight away getting onto his knees. He peeked through the keyhole and saw all red. Red. He assumed that the pale woman must have caught him peeking the last time and covered the hole with something red.

He left the door alone and instead went down to the receptionist to ask her questions. The receptionist sighed and asked, “you looked through the keyhole, didn’t you?”

He admitted to it and so she felt obliged to tell him the story. She told him that a couple used to live in that apartment a long time ago, but the husband went crazy and killed his wife. However, this couple wasn’t normal.

They had pale skin, black hair and red eyes.

A mother’s call

A daughter was in her room upstairs, doing her homework, when suddenly she heard her mother call to come down for dinner. She jumped onto her feet and began making her way towards the stairs, but before even took a step, hands grabbed her and pulled her into the laundry room besides the staircase.

She panicked before realizing it was her mother, her real mother, eyes watery and bloodshot. “Don’t go down there honey, I heard it too.”

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9 Scary Short Stories for Middle and High School English

Oct 17, 2023

In the midst of the Halloween season, scary short stories are my go-to for teaching fun, rigorous, and engaging literature! I do NOT want to sacrifice learning for the sake of entertainment, but I love the idea of killing two birds with one stone.

I mean who really doesn’t like being scared a little in the month of October? Frightening experiences kind of go with the “monthly” territory; am I right?

So if you enjoy reading scary short stories and helping your students grow in their knowledge of literature, consider adding some horror into the mix!

Keep reading below for “9 Scary Short Stories for Middle and High School English!”

Need help with Test Prep? Check out this  FREE Pack of 3 Test Prep Activities  to help students achieve success on standardized tests!

Table of Contents

1.  “The Tell-Tale Heart”

The ultimate horror-filled story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” literally has it all! We have physical gruesomeness and psychological mania all wrapped up in a perfect package only Edgar Allan Poe could create! This infamous tale is the most taught short story in secondary classrooms!

QUICK SYNOPSIS: The narrator, a young man, lives with an old man. Over the course of the story, he plans the old man’s murder because of his “vulture eye.” After scheming for a while, he commits the murder and hides the body underneath the floor. Racked with guilt, the narrator ultimately confesses to the old man’s murder when police officers stop by to investigate after hearing about a neighbor’s concern.

If you need help with teaching character traits, character development, and/or literary analysis, check out this lesson bundle !

2.  “Click Clack the Rattle Bag”

Although “Click Clack the Rattle Bag” by Neil Gaiman is typically taught in middle school, your high schoolers will love this short story as well. It is a quick, easy read for most students, and it is a fun addition to any Halloween-based literature unit!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  A young male is watching his girlfriend’s younger brother at their home when the little boy tells the tale of the Click Clacks. Let’s just say that by the end of the story, the young man who was supposed to watch the younger boy, has not REALLY paid attention to the boy and the story he relates during the time at the house…

Standards-based reading comprehension questions will help to make teaching this short story, like most scary short stories, well worth your while!

3.  “The Veldt”

I absolutely love anything dystopian. From  1984  to  Brave New World  to  The Matrix , I am a sucker for futuristic worlds bent on their own destruction! When considering scary short stories, I try to include stories that go beyond the typical horror genre. That is where Ray Bradbury’s “The Veldt” comes in.

QUICK SYNOPSIS: A pair of siblings become consumed with technology. Their parents attempt to gain back control over their own children, which leads to the parents’ demise.

Visualization, characterization, and writing activities have never been easier while teaching scary short stories with “The Veldt” Lesson BUNDLE!

If you teach 9th graders, check out this post for short story ideas throughout the year!

4.  “A Vendetta”

Vengeance is truly sweet for some people, although I am not a proponent of it 😉  Guy de Maupassant’s “A Vendetta” relays a tale of revenge that makes it a perfect complement to any scary short stories unit!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  After her son is murdered, an aged mother trains her dog over many months to attack at her command. In the end, she fulfills her objective unbeknownst to others who would never suspect her of committing a foul deed.

Trust me! Your students will LOVE this short story! See it HERE !

5.  “The Monkey’s Paw”

This story by W.W. Jacobs personifies the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” Everyone who loves scary short stories will NOT want to miss out on this spooky tale!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  When a family receives the chance to make three wishes, they encounter a series of awful events they could not have foreseen and later on cannot escape. By the end of this horrific tale, the mother and father realize they cannot escape their son’s inevitable death.

“The Monkey’s Paw” BUNDLE contains lessons and activities focused on reading comprehension, characterization, visualization, writing, and more!

Click below to read about more ideas for teaching “The Monkey’s Paw!”

6.  “The Cask of Amontillado”

Edgar Allan Poe shows he is once again THE epitome of a short story master with the classic “The Cask of Amontillado!” Your students will find the characters, themes, and language engaging, right from the start! (Because of the higher level language, you may want to read it with them.)

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  During a carnival celebration, a man bent on revenge for some unknown reason lures his unsuspecting victim into the catacombs. He then seals his victim’s fate without any real explanation! The reader as well as the victim is left wondering “Why?”

To teach irony within “The Cask of Amontillado,” check out this activity HERE !

7.  “Lamb to the Slaughter”

Alfred Hitchcock’s episode “Lamb to the Slaughter” beautifully captures the essence of Roald Dahl’s short story of the same name! Middle and high school students alike will gleefully read and watch this story for many reasons: the plot, the characters, and the quite humorous twist!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  When a husband returns home from work after a long day, he tells his pregnant wife that he wants a divorce. His wife kills him in response and cleverly gets rid of the evidence!

You can help your students examine the evidence and write about it in this ACTIVITY BUNDLE for “Lamb to the Slaughter!”

8.  “The Most Dangerous Game”

“The Most Dangerous Game” personifies scary short stories, purely for the story’s psychological horror! It is one of my favorite short stories to teach because of its setting, two main characters, and well-developed plot!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  Marooned on an island, an infamous hunter becomes the hunted. He shrewdly plays the game and eventually overcomes his adversary!

If you need easy-to-teach plot activities, click this LINK !

Want help with teaching reading? Go here—> 19 Reading Intervention Strategies that WORK in Middle and High School Classrooms

9.  “The Masque of the Red Death”

In this current era, teaching Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death” is VITAL! Everyone, to some degree, fears death, which makes this story a perfect addition to your scary short stories unit!

QUICK SYNOPSIS:  During a rampant plague, the wealthy hide out in a fortress in an attempt to avoid death. Clearly, one cannot escape a ubiquitous plague, and these upper-crust partygoers succumb like everyone else in the land!

As you prepare to teach setting, imagery, characterization, and summarizing for this short story, check out this lesson BUNDLE or quiz pack !

Why Teach Scary Short Stories?

• They are engaging from the start!
• They utilize interesting language and vocabulary!
• They connect to themes in other texts !
• They link perfectly to the month of October!
• They usually contain fantastic characterization!

Don’t forget to incorporate these short stories this year!!

This  Short Story ULTIMATE BUNDLE   with Lessons, Quizzes, and Activities uses the Common Core standards with reading comprehension QUESTIONS and ANSWERS for 18 short stories such as “The Most Dangerous Game,” “The Monkey’s Paw,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “After Twenty Years,” “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Veldt,” “The Lottery,” “The Pedestrian,” etc. modeled after various state reading exams.

Make teaching short stories SIMPLE & EASY!

Just PRINT & TEACH!!

Want more ideas for teaching scary short stories and other interesting tales?  Check out my store  Kristin Menke-Integrated ELA Test Prep !

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I primarily focus on  integrating multiple disciplines and subjects. The goal is to make teaching simplified and effective!

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ESL Speaking Activity – Scary Stories

Scary stories.

This ESL conversation activity helps students learn English speaking skills by retelling a story. Memorization is a small part of this task, but more importantly, students need to be able to retell the key parts and fill in the details with their own words.

• Focus : learn English by retelling stories
• Time : 20 minutes
• Level : intermediate and up
• It’s a pair work activity. Each student gets one copy of one story.
• Each student reads a scary story. That takes about 10 minutes.
• The student then retells his or her story, making sure to keep the scary parts. The purpose is not to memorize the story but instead to remember the key details – plot character, setting – and mix with his or her own words. And, scare the other person.

Story A: The Death Car

Story A: The White Dress

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The image in this post comes from Courtney Rhodes  and its use complies with the owner’s creative commons licensing terms.

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Scary Stories For Halloween; A Guide For Teachers of English 

• October 16, 2023 October 16, 2023

Halloween is an excellent opportunity to think about the genre of horror. What makes a story frightening or horrific? Why do people enjoy reading books or watching films that make them feel scared? How do writers and directors manipulate tension and suspense in their work? And why are scary motifs such as witches and ghosts associated with Halloween in the first place?

Practical Teaching Ideas focused on films and literature

This article contains some practical teaching ideas and activities for English Language Teachers around the world. We focus particularly on the part that literature, movies and storytelling in general can play in encouraging students to learn and use English.

Context and History

Halloween has become one of the most popular seasonal landmarks of the year. In schools, teachers of all subjects find ways to incorporate elements of Halloween into their part of the curriculum. For teachers of English in all parts of the world, it is an opportunity to use English in context since the modern version of Halloween largely began in the English-speaking world. We have provided a more detailed text about the history and traditions associated with Halloween which you can download at the end of this article.

Why do we like to be scared?

We will not go into all the details here, but scientists have established that human beings ‘enjoy’ and may learn from being scared within a safe environment. Even babies enjoy playing ‘peek-a-boo’ probably due to the thrill of being surprised within a safe context. There is also an element of learning how to cope with potentially life-threatening situations by experiencing them second hand in situations which are not actually life threatening. This can be through ‘Roller-Coaster’ rides or watching scary movies. Psychologically, being scared releases a cocktail of chemicals in the brain and recovering from a fright releases pleasant, calming hormones.

Famous Horror Books, Films and Poems

You might want to lead into the theme of scary stories by looking at famous books, films and poems within the horror genre. Below we have summarised a few examples that could be useful in the classroom. (Please feel free to add some of your own suggestions in the comments). For some of the longer works listed below, it would be best to focus on a few key paragraphs or scenes. For others, you might want the whole class to watch or read the entire work together. We have listed the examples roughly in order of age and level of English, starting with works for younger students (A1 A2) and finishing with more sophisticated pieces at level B2 and above.

Books and Films

• The Witches by Roald Dahl – This children’s book tells the story of a young boy who encounters a group of witches who plan to turn all children into mice. There are several film and television versions available.
• Coraline by Neil Gaiman – A creepy story in which a young girl is tempted into a dark, alternative reality from which she may never escape. There is also an animated film version of the story.
• Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman – This novel (also a movie) follows the lives of two witch sisters, Sally and Gillian Owens, as they navigate love, magic, and family secrets.
• The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare – This young adult novel is set in 17th-century colonial New England and tells the story of a young girl accused of being a witch.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving – This famous short story tells the tale of the Headless Horseman and schoolteacher Ichabod Crane. It’s a spooky, Halloween-themed story set in a small, haunted town. There are several film and TV versions available to watch.
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelly – The story may be well known and there are many film versions to choose from if the art of making horror movies is your focus. However, it is worth reading the original novel by Mary Shelly which is easily readable and is widely regarded as a classic.
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare – If drama is your focus, you really can’t ignore ‘The Scottish Play’. This Shakespeare classic features three witches who prophesy Macbeth’s rise and fall. It’s filled with supernatural elements and a dark, eerie atmosphere.
• Anything by Stephan King – No list of horror in literature or films would be complete without mention of Stephan King whose novels have dominated the genre for half a century. His books and films tend to be character based with supernatural elements that subvert the reader or the watcher’s expectations. Examples available in both book and film include; ‘ It ’, ‘ Carrie ’, and ‘ The Shining ’.

Poems to consider

• The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
• A Child’s Nightmare by Robert Graves
• Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
• Witch-Wife by Edna St. Vincent Millay

Discussing Horror

There is much use of English to be covered in discussing horror stories. You could reference any of the works listed above as jumping off points for further discussion. Even with younger students, you could ask if they have read, seen or heard any scary stories. What did they think about them? How frightening were they? Why? Why not? You can then go on to discuss some common horror tropes. Perhaps show some pictures of scary scenes and ask what makes the image scary or unnerving. There is a lot of scope here for using adjectives and descriptive phrases. How would they describe a haunted house or a creepy location? What makes a character scary? What makes a situation horrific? How do writers and directors build up tension as the story develops? Any of these questions can be discussed as a whole class or in smaller groups although clearly the themes, vocabulary and types of discussion will need to be age and level appropriate. Discussions can lead to other activities, written or spoken presentations, and drama work. We will concentrate however on the theme of creative writing.

Writing a scary story with younger students

Writing a scary story with younger students requires careful consideration of age-appropriateness while still creating a sense of fear and suspense. Here are some tips and activities for helping your students to compose their own stories in groups or individually.

Chain Stories (A1-A2)

Chain stories are a simple way to engage younger or lower-level students in creative writing. The principle is simple. The teacher takes a blank piece of paper and writes a Halloween writing prompt on it such as, “It was dark and misty when Anna walked home from school…” The teacher passes the paper to the next student in line and asks them to add a sentence. Once they finish, they pass the paper on to the next student. This can go on in circles (either as a whole class or in smaller groups) until the story is finished and ready to be presented. Ask one of the students from the group to read the completed story to the rest of the class. This step can be used as a listening prompt. When the story has been read, students have to recreate the whole story in an individual text. The aim is to improve on the class/group text, either creatively or in use of English.

Group Story Writing (A2-B1)

Take the pressure off individuals by dividing students into groups so that they can work together and help each other out. Give each group a different spooky or Halloween themed picture to look at. There should be a lot of spoken discussion before they commit to writing anything. Give the students some of the following tasks, depending on the content of the picture.

• Name any characters from the picture.
• Decide on a short, bullet point biography for the characters.
• Describe the setting. Brainstorm a list of adjectives and look up any extra vocabulary they might need.
• Decide what is actually happening in the picture and what may happen next.

Once they have agreed on all the details, ask them to write a story based on the ideas they’ve discussed. This could be a text or picture/comic-book style story.

Five-sentence stories or Poems (A2-B1)

Stories don’t have to be long; by limiting the number of lines or words they can use, students have to focus and use their language knowledge cleverly.

In this activity, the students work individually and have a limited time to come up with a story. The story needs to have an introduction, a middle, and an end, but must be exactly five sentences long. You could give the whole class a title to work with or give individual written or picture prompts. In the end, as many students as possible should be given the opportunity to read their stories or poems out loud. You could possibly hold a class vote on which story is the scariest.

Simplify the Text (B1+)

Photocopy a short scary story or a self-contained extract from a longer horror themed text. Students can work individually or in pairs depending on numbers and ability. Give each student or pair a copy of the text. Ask them to read the whole text and then ask some comprehension or concept checking questions to the whole class to make sure everyone understands the gist of the text. Their task will be to reduce the text by 50% without losing any important information. They can change sentences and vocabulary when necessary and leave things out, but their finished texts should still convey the same basic story.

This activity helps them to focus and write concisely, which is a key skill they’ll need for more formal writing assignments in other parts of the EFL curriculum.

Horror Stories with older or more advanced students

With older or more advanced students you can also adapt some of the prompts and activities described in the previous section to get things started. After that, your students should be capable of producing longer, more sophisticated narrative texts. You can prompt or guide them with some of the following tips.

Choose a Subgenre

Horror is a broad genre with many subgenres such as science fiction, supernatural, psychological, romantic, or comic horror. The subgenre will influence the story’s style and themes.

Create Characters

Encourage students to take time to create well-rounded, relatable characters that readers can connect with. Consider their backgrounds, motivations, and flaws. Readers should care about what happens to them. Creating character cards and profiles is an absorbing activity in itself.

Choose a setting that contributes to the eerie atmosphere of your story such as a haunted house, a remote forest, or even a school. Describe the setting in detail. Time is also part of the setting. Does the story happen in the past, present or future?

Create a believable Monster or Threat

In most horror stories, there’s a central antagonist or threat. This could be a supernatural entity, a dangerous animal, a fantasy monster, or something more abstract like the characters’ own psychological demons.

Descriptions

Use plenty of descriptive language to make the story creepy and the horror more vivid. Describe what the characters see, hear, smell, taste, and touch so that the reader shares their fear.

Structure and Plot

The horror story should have a clear beginning and middle part, leading to a climactic, terrifying moment. This is where the threat reaches its peak, and the characters (and readers) confront their worst fears. After the climax, provide a resolution that satisfies the reader’s curiosity and wraps up loose ends.

It might be worth using part of a lesson for your students to create a ‘plot board’ (like an incident board in a crime drama). Students write their characters, settings and notes on register cards or slips of paper and then move them around on a board (or their desk) until the structure and plot of the story become clear.

Something to fear?

The danger of encouraging students to write scary stories is that the stories can easily descend into gratuitous violence without much plot or character development. This can be even more the case if their stories are extended into drama work. Moreover, the genre of horror holds many negative connotations for a lot of people including teachers. One solution might be a structured mockery of the tropes associated with Halloween; a pastiche with an emphasis on comedy.

Get your students to brainstorm all the tropes, settings and elements they can think of connected with Halloween. These could include stereotypical characters, snippets of dialogue, scenes, settings or plot points they have seen or read in films or books. These should be written on the board as a list or a thematically organised mind map. Then, either individually or in groups the students have to write a story including as many of those tropes as possible. You could give points for every element included, and bonus points for cleverness of the plot or comedic value. This transforms a written task based on horror into a more light-hearted activity which is still creative and develops story-writing ability.

During Halloween, all sorts of activities will be going on around the school and wider communities. It would be a shame to miss this opportunity to allow students to extend their English speaking and writing skills. Story-writing provides a clear structure within which to exploit the themes and motifs that will preoccupy students during the Halloween season. What sets the horror genre apart is that the stories are clearly aimed at eliciting a very specific response from the reader; fear. Having such a clear goal can help students focus and refine their creative writing abilities. For English Language Learners it is an opportunity to study and use new vocabulary, demonstrate comprehension of complicated ideas, familiarise themselves with new forms and types of literature, and hone all the writing skills required to compose a compelling narrative in the target language.

For background, we have provided a B1 level, downloadable text about the history and traditions of Halloween which could be used as a comprehension exercise to introduce the theme. Sections of that text could also be used as an impulse or stimulus for creative writing.

Meanwhile, we wish you a spooky but safe Halloween!

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Tag: scary stories

Mini halloween plays for young learners.

Image credit:  cartoon-clipart.disneyimage.com

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This is a Halloween themed lesson for young learners. There are two spooky short stories for students to act out in small groups. Download the stories here:

Halloween Stories

Depending on the time and the student’s level there are two procedures for this lesson.

• For lower levels: Read and act out both stories for the class and then split students into groups to recreate them with the text.
• For higher levels: Split the class into groups, give out texts and have students read them in their groups and then rehearse and perform them.

Students should work in groups of 3-4, designate 1-2 strong students to act as narrators. Help ss with vocabulary and pronunciation problems.

Give ss 10 minutes to practice and then have them perform their stories to the rest of the class.

The Stories

The Werewolf

Once upon a time there was a farmer. One day he went walking in the forest. He was very tired so he decided to go to sleep under a tree. When he woke up it was dark and he was very cold. He looked in the sky and he saw a full moon. Suddenly, he heard a wolf howl very close.

There was a huge wolf behind him! He was very scared and he screamed. The wolf attacked him and bit him on the arm. He felt very strange, he ran to the river and looked in the water, his face was transforming into a wolf’s! Hair covered all his body and his teeth grew very long. He tried to shout but a long howl came out of his mouth.

Now if you go into that forest on the night of a full moon, maybe you will meet him…..

The hunter and the witches

Once upon a time there was a brave hunter. One day he was chasing a rabbit in the mountains with his dogs. They ran to the top of the mountain where they found 2 witches making a magic potion. The rabbit ran past the witches and the dog chased it. The dog crashed into the magic potion and it fell onto the floor. The witches were extremely angry and shouted at the hunter as he ran away after the rabbit.

The witches were very angry so they made a plan. One of the witches transformed herself into a rabbit. The other witch made a very powerful potion and put it in a little bottle. The rabbit witch ran to the hunter’s house, knocked on the door and ran away. The hunter and the dogs ran out of the house and chased the rabbit witch up the mountain. But at the top the other witch was waiting. When the hunter arrived she threw the potion at him and his dogs and they all turned to stone!!!

If you go to the top of the mountain you can still see the stone hunter and his dogs.

Do you know any traditional scary stories from your country?

Halloween Quizlet set:

Here’s a good quizlet set to practice Halloween vocabulary.

250 Horror Writing Prompts (Scary Good Ideas)

Looking to write your next spine-chilling horror story?

Here are 250 horror writing prompts to get your creative juices flowing. From ghostly apparitions to apocalyptic nightmares, these prompts will help you create unforgettable tales of terror.

What Is a Horror Writing Prompt?

Table of Contents

A horror writing prompt is a brief idea or scenario designed to inspire a horror story.

It provides the foundation for a plot, characters, conflict, setting, consequences, and sometimes a ticking clock plot device to build tension and urgency.

There is actually more than one type of horror writing prompt (see the chart below).

Types of Horror Writing Prompts

Ghost Stories

• The Forgotten Asylum – A group of urban explorers finds an abandoned asylum haunted by the spirits of former patients. They must uncover the asylum’s dark secrets before they’re trapped forever.
• The Phantom Ship – A ghost ship appears off the coast, and a team of marine biologists investigates. They discover the souls of the drowned crew seeking revenge.
• Haunted Housewarming – A couple moves into their dream home, only to find it haunted by a previous owner’s vengeful spirit. They must uncover the home’s history to break the curse.
• The Whispering Woods – Campers in a remote forest hear eerie whispers at night. The ghost of a lost hiker leads them to a hidden danger.
• The Ghostly Guardian – A child befriends a ghost who protects them from unseen dangers. The parents must confront the ghost to save their child.
• The Lighthouse Keeper – A lone lighthouse keeper encounters the spirits of shipwrecked sailors. He must guide them to the afterlife while battling his own sanity.
• The Cursed Portrait – An artist paints a portrait that traps the soul of its subject. The artist must find a way to release the soul before they face a similar fate.
• The Haunted Highway – Drivers on a desolate road encounter ghostly apparitions. A journalist investigates the road’s dark history to uncover the truth.
• The Spirit of the Manor – A family inherits a manor haunted by its former occupants. They must survive the night and appease the spirits to lift the curse.
• The Ghostly Choir – A school choir is haunted by the spirits of former students. The new choir director must solve the mystery before the spirits claim more victims.
• The Phantom Play – An old theater is haunted by the ghost of a lead actor who died on stage. The current cast must perform his unfinished play to set his spirit free.
• The Ghostly Conductor – A ghost train appears on an abandoned track, and a group of friends boards it. They must solve the train’s mystery before reaching their final destination.
• The Haunted Playground – Children encounter the ghost of a girl at a playground. They must help her find peace before she claims more playmates.
• The Ghost in the Attic – A family discovers a ghost living in their attic. They must uncover the ghost’s past to help it move on.
• The Spectral Detective – A detective partners with a ghost to solve a series of murders. They must catch the killer before the ghost’s unfinished business consumes them both.
• The Haunted Hotel – Guests at a remote hotel encounter the spirits of former guests. The hotel staff must uncover the truth to stop the hauntings.
• The Ghostly Librarian – A library is haunted by the ghost of a former librarian. The new librarian must uncover the ghost’s secrets to restore peace.
• The Phantom Dancer – A ballerina encounters the ghost of a dancer who died in a tragic accident. She must perform the dancer’s final routine to set her spirit free.
• The Ghost Shipwreck – Divers exploring a shipwreck encounter the spirits of the crew. They must uncover the ship’s fate to escape the underwater hauntings.
• The Haunted Cabin – A group of friends stays in a cabin haunted by the ghost of a previous occupant. They must solve the ghost’s mystery to survive the night.
• The Ghostly Roommate – A college student discovers their dorm room is haunted. They must work with the ghost to uncover the dorm’s dark history.
• The Phantom Photographer – A photographer captures images of ghosts in their photos. They must find a way to stop the hauntings before they become one of the subjects.
• The Haunted Mirror – A mirror in an antique shop shows the reflections of ghosts. The shop owner must uncover the mirror’s history to break the curse.
• The Ghostly Gardener – A gardener encounters the spirit of a former groundskeeper. They must work together to uncover the secrets buried in the garden.
• The Phantom Bus – A ghostly bus picks up passengers who never return. A journalist must uncover the bus’s story to stop the disappearances.

Psychological Horror

• The Mirror’s Reflection – A person starts seeing a sinister version of themselves in mirrors. They must confront their inner demons to regain control.
• The Unseen Stalker – Someone feels constantly watched and followed. They must uncover the identity of their stalker before they lose their sanity.
• The Vanishing Family – A person wakes up to find their family has disappeared. They must piece together their fractured memories to find out what happened.
• The Hallucination Game – A group of friends takes part in a psychological experiment, only to find reality and hallucination blurring dangerously.
• The Time Loop – A person is trapped in a time loop, reliving the same terrifying day. They must find a way to break the loop before their mind unravels.
• The Doppelgänger – A person encounters someone who looks exactly like them but with sinister intentions. They must discover the doppelgänger’s origins to survive.
• The Sleepless Nights – A person suffers from severe insomnia, leading to disturbing visions and paranoia. They must find the cause before they break down completely.
• The Disappearing Acts – A person’s friends and family begin to vanish one by one. They must uncover the truth behind the disappearances before they’re next.
• The Phantom Voices – A person starts hearing voices that urge them to commit terrible acts. They must resist the voices and find out where they’re coming from.
• The Twisted Reality – A person finds themselves in a world where nothing is as it seems. They must navigate the illusions to find the truth.
• The Hidden Room – A person discovers a hidden room in their home filled with disturbing artifacts. They must uncover its purpose and the secrets it holds.
• The Fragmented Mind – A person experiences severe memory loss and blackouts. They must piece together their fragmented memories to uncover a dark truth.
• The Shadow in the Corner – A person sees a shadowy figure in the corner of their eye that gets closer each day. They must confront it before it consumes them.
• The Sinister Neighbor – A person suspects their new neighbor is hiding a terrible secret. They must investigate without falling into the neighbor’s trap.
• The Vanishing Town – A person visits a town where the residents start to disappear. They must find out what’s happening before they’re the next to vanish.
• The Haunted Dreams – A person has recurring nightmares that start to affect their waking life. They must confront the source of their dreams to find peace.
• The Creeping Darkness – A person notices shadows in their home that move on their own. They must discover the shadows’ origin before they’re engulfed.
• The Split Personality – A person develops a sinister alter ego that takes over at night. They must find a way to control it before it ruins their life.
• The Abandoned Factory – A person explores an old factory and begins to experience disturbing visions. They must uncover the factory’s history to escape its grip.
• The Cursed Diary – A person finds a diary that predicts terrible events. They must find the diary’s owner to break the curse.
• The Silent Treatment – A person wakes up in a world where no one can speak. They must find out what happened and restore communication before it’s too late.
• The Puppet Master – A person discovers they’re being manipulated by an unseen force. They must break free before they lose their sense of self.
• The Echoes of the Past – A person experiences vivid flashbacks of events they never lived. They must uncover the connection between the flashbacks and their present.
• The Invisible Enemy – A person is attacked by an unseen force. They must find a way to defend themselves and uncover the enemy’s identity.
• The Cursed Painting – A person acquires a painting that changes its scene to reflect their darkest fears. They must find a way to destroy the painting before it consumes their sanity.

Paranormal Activity

• The Poltergeist – A family experiences violent disturbances in their home caused by a poltergeist. They must uncover the entity’s past to stop the terror.
• The Possessed Doll – A child receives a doll that seems to have a life of its own. The parents must find a way to break the possession before it harms the family.
• The Haunted School – Students encounter paranormal activity in their school. They must investigate its history to stop the hauntings.
• The Supernatural Investigator – A detective with a sixth sense solves crimes involving paranormal activity. They must confront their own fears to catch a dangerous spirit.
• The Vanishing Townspeople – Residents of a small town start disappearing after a mysterious fog rolls in. The remaining townspeople must solve the mystery before they vanish too.
• The Ghostly Lover – A person falls in love with a ghost who haunts their home. They must find a way to be together or say goodbye forever.
• The Time-Traveling Spirit – A ghost from the past appears to a historian, seeking help to correct a historical injustice. They must work together across time.
• The Paranormal Researcher – A scientist investigates paranormal phenomena and discovers a hidden world of spirits. They must navigate this world to find answers.
• The Haunted Item – An antique shop owner acquires an item with a dark past. They must uncover its history and break the curse before it destroys them.
• The Phantom Room – A hotel room that doesn’t exist on the registry appears to guests. Those who enter must solve its mystery to escape.
• The Spectral Friend – A lonely child befriends a ghost. The child’s parents must help the ghost find peace before it takes their child to the afterlife.
• The Haunted Hospital – Patients in a hospital encounter ghostly apparitions. The staff must uncover the hospital’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
• The Possessed Vehicle – A car starts exhibiting strange behavior after an accident. The owner must uncover its history to break the possession.
• The Cursed Book – A librarian finds a book that causes anyone who reads it to experience paranormal phenomena. They must destroy the book before it spreads its curse.
• The Phantom Babysitter – A babysitter encounters a ghostly child in the house they’re watching. They must uncover the child’s story to protect the family.
• The Haunted Museum – Artifacts in a museum come to life at night. The curator must solve the mystery before the artifacts escape.
• The Possessed Painting – An artist’s paintings start depicting horrifying scenes that come to life. They must uncover the source of the possession to stop it.
• The Ghostly Guide – Tourists encounter a ghostly tour guide who leads them to dangerous places. They must uncover the guide’s past to escape.
• The Paranormal Investigation – A team of ghost hunters investigates a famously haunted location and encounters more than they bargained for. They must survive the night and document their findings.
• The Phantom Pet – A family adopts a pet that turns out to be a ghost. They must help the pet find peace to stop its restless behavior.
• The Haunted Object – A person buys a seemingly innocuous object at a yard sale, only to discover it’s haunted. They must find its previous owner to uncover its dark history.
• The Ghost Town – A group of friends stumbles upon a deserted town inhabited by ghosts. They must solve the town’s mystery to escape.
• The Phantom Carnival – A carnival appears in town, and those who visit never return. A journalist investigates to uncover its dark secrets.
• The Haunted Road – A driver encounters ghostly figures on a deserted road. They must find out why the road is haunted to find their way out.
• The Ghostly Warning – A person receives warnings from a ghost about an impending disaster. They must decipher the messages to prevent the catastrophe.

Creature Features

• The Werewolf Curse – A small town is terrorized by a werewolf. The townspeople must find and stop the creature before the next full moon.
• The Swamp Monster – A group of campers encounters a monstrous creature in the swamp. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
• The Vampire’s Lair – A vampire kidnaps townsfolk to feed on. A group of villagers must band together to defeat the vampire and save their loved ones.
• The Sea Creature – A coastal town is plagued by a sea monster. The townspeople must uncover the creature’s origins and stop it before it destroys the town.
• The Yeti Hunt – Explorers in the Himalayas encounter a yeti. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape the mountains.
• The Chupacabra – A small town is terrorized by a creature that preys on livestock. The townspeople must find and stop the chupacabra before it turns to human prey.
• The Mothman Prophecies – A town experiences sightings of a mysterious creature that predicts disasters. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the tragedies.
• The Wendigo – A remote village is terrorized by a wendigo. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature and break its curse.
• The Loch Ness Monster – Researchers searching for the Loch Ness Monster get more than they bargained for. They must survive their encounter and escape the loch.
• The Giant Spider – A group of scientists encounters a giant spider in the jungle. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
• The Goblin’s Curse – A village is plagued by goblin attacks. The villagers must find and defeat the goblin king to lift the curse.
• The Kraken – A ship is attacked by a Kraken. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.
• The Minotaur’s Maze – Adventurers exploring an ancient labyrinth encounter a minotaur. They must navigate the maze and defeat the creature to escape.
• The Gorgon – A group of heroes must defeat a gorgon to save their kingdom. They must avoid its petrifying gaze and find a way to kill it.
• The Cyclops – A village is terrorized by a cyclops. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
• The Harpy’s Lair – A group of adventurers encounters a harpy in a remote cave. They must survive its attacks and find a way to escape.
• The Hydra – A group of heroes must defeat a hydra to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
• The Chimera – A village is attacked by a chimera. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
• The Basilisk – A group of adventurers must defeat a basilisk to save their kingdom. They must avoid its deadly gaze and find a way to kill it.
• The Griffin – A village is terrorized by a griffin. The villagers must find and stop the creature before it destroys their homes.
• The Dragon’s Lair – A group of adventurers must defeat a dragon to save their kingdom. They must find a way to kill the creature and escape its lair.
• The Phoenix – A group of heroes must defeat a phoenix to save their land. They must find a way to kill the creature without it regenerating.
• The Roc – A village is attacked by a roc. The villagers must find a way to defeat the creature before it destroys their homes.
• The Unicorn’s Curse – A village is plagued by a cursed unicorn. The villagers must find and stop the creature to lift the curse.
• The Leviathan – A ship is attacked by a leviathan. The crew must find a way to defeat the creature and escape the ocean.

Gothic Horror

• The Cursed Castle – A family inherits a castle with a dark history. They must uncover its secrets to lift the curse.
• The Haunted Abbey – Monks at a remote abbey encounter ghostly apparitions. They must uncover the abbey’s dark past to stop the hauntings.
• The Sinister Manor – Guests at a manor encounter strange occurrences. They must solve the manor’s mystery to escape.
• The Dark Forest – A village is surrounded by a forest where no one returns. The villagers must uncover the forest’s secrets to survive.
• The Phantom of the Opera House – A theater is haunted by a ghostly figure. The performers must uncover the phantom’s past to stop the hauntings.
• The Ghostly Bride – A bride haunts the church where she was left at the altar. The townspeople must uncover her story to set her spirit free.
• The Vampire’s Castle – A group of travelers seeks shelter in a castle only to find it inhabited by vampires. They must escape before becoming prey.
• The Sinister Tower – A tower on a cliff is said to be haunted. Adventurers must uncover its secrets and survive its dangers.
• The Witch’s Cottage – A cottage in the woods is said to be inhabited by a witch. Brave villagers must uncover the truth and survive the night.
• The Shadowed Hallways – A noble family in a mansion encounters shadowy figures that stalk them at night. They must uncover the mansion’s history to banish the shadows.
• The Forbidden Tomb – Explorers uncover an ancient tomb that curses those who enter. They must find a way to break the curse and escape.
• The Haunted Chapel – A chapel is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the church. The new priest must uncover their stories to bring peace.
• The Eerie Estate – An estate known for its eerie occurrences becomes the setting for a family reunion. The family must uncover the estate’s dark past.
• The Sinister Sculptor – A sculptor’s statues seem to come to life. Visitors to the sculptor’s estate must solve the mystery before they become statues themselves.
• The Phantom Shipyard – A shipyard is haunted by the ghosts of shipbuilders who died in a tragic accident. Investigators must uncover the cause of the hauntings.
• The Cursed Bell Tower – A bell tower’s toll brings doom to those who hear it. The villagers must silence the bell to stop the curse.
• The Secret Passage – Hidden passages in a mansion reveal dark secrets. The inhabitants must navigate the passages to uncover the truth.
• The Ghostly Governess – A governess haunts the children she once cared for. The new caretaker must uncover her story to protect the children.
• The Darkened Library – A library contains books that whisper dark secrets. The librarian must uncover the source and stop the whispering.
• The Phantom Train Station – A train station is haunted by passengers who never reached their destination. A traveler must uncover their stories.
• The Sinister Garden – A garden blooms with flowers that have a deadly secret. The gardener must uncover the truth to save themselves.
• The Ghostly Host – A host at a manor party is a ghost who never left. The guests must uncover the host’s story to escape.
• The Haunted Portraits – Portraits in a manor watch the inhabitants. The family must uncover the stories behind the portraits.
• The Cursed Well – A well in a village grants wishes at a terrible cost. The villagers must uncover the well’s origins to stop its influence.
• The Phantom Ball – A grand ball is held every year by a ghostly host. The attendees must uncover the host’s story to escape.

Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic

• The Last Survivors – After a nuclear apocalypse, a group of survivors must navigate a ruined city to find safety.
• The Plague – A deadly virus wipes out most of humanity. The immune survivors must find a cure before they succumb to the infection.
• The Alien Invasion – Aliens decimate Earth’s population. A group of resistance fighters must find a way to fight back.
• The Artificial Intelligence Uprising – AI turns against humanity. A group of survivors must find a way to shut down the AI network.
• The Resource War – After resources become scarce, warring factions fight for control. A neutral group must navigate the conflict to survive.
• The Frozen Earth – A new ice age begins, and survivors must find a way to live in the frozen wasteland.
• The Solar Flare – A solar flare wipes out the technology. Survivors must adapt to a world without electricity.
• The Zombie Apocalypse – The dead rise, and survivors must find a safe haven. They must navigate hordes of zombies and hostile humans.
• The Asteroid Impact – An asteroid destroys major cities. Survivors must rebuild society in the aftermath.
• The Supervolcano Eruption – A supervolcano erupts, causing a global catastrophe. Survivors must navigate the ash-filled landscape.
• The Mutant Uprising – Radiation causes mutations in humans. The unmutated must find a way to coexist or fight back.
• The Machine Takeover – Robots take control of the world. Human survivors must find a way to disable the machines.
• The Bioweapon Leak – A bioweapon leaks and creates deadly mutants. Survivors must find the source to stop the spread.
• The Water Crisis – Water becomes a scarce resource. Survivors must find new sources of water and fend off those who want to steal it.
• The Dark Age – Society collapses, and survivors must navigate a world without order. They must rebuild communities while avoiding bandits.
• The EMP Attack – An EMP attack wipes out all electronics. Survivors must adapt to a pre-technological world.
• The Global Famine – A famine causes mass starvation. Survivors must find new ways to grow food and fend off starving invaders.
• The Infected Animals – A virus causes animals to become aggressive. Survivors must protect themselves from the deadly wildlife.
• The Drought – A prolonged drought causes a water shortage. Survivors must find new sources of water and protect them from others.
• The Nuclear Winter – A nuclear war causes a nuclear winter. Survivors must find a way to live in the cold, dark world.
• The Toxic Air – Pollution causes the air to become toxic. Survivors must find ways to purify the air and protect themselves.
• The Invasion – A foreign army invades, causing chaos. Survivors must navigate the war-torn landscape.
• The Collapse – Economic collapse causes society to break down. Survivors must find ways to rebuild while avoiding hostile groups.
• The Plague – A new plague decimates the population. Survivors must find a cure before they become infected.
• The Resource Scarcity – Resources become scarce, and society collapses. Survivors must find new ways to survive and protect their resources.

Body Horror

• The Parasite – A person becomes host to a parasitic creature that slowly takes over their body. They must find a way to remove it before losing control.
• The Flesh-Eating Disease – A disease that causes flesh to decay. The infected must find a cure before they succumb.
• The Mutation – A person starts mutating uncontrollably. They must find a way to stop the mutations before they become unrecognizable.
• The Experiment – A person is subjected to horrific experiments that alter their body. They must escape the lab and find a way to reverse the changes.
• The Transformation – A person transforms into a monstrous creature. They must find a way to stop the transformation and regain their humanity.
• The Infestation – A person’s body becomes infested with insects. They must find a way to remove the infestation before it’s too late.
• The Amalgamation – A scientist’s experiment causes multiple bodies to fuse together. The resulting creature must find a way to separate or live as one.
• The Skinwalker – A person can change their appearance by shedding their skin. They must find a way to control their abilities before they lose themselves.
• The Growth – A person discovers a rapidly growing tumor that gives them strange abilities. They must find a way to control it before it consumes them.
• The Symbiote – A symbiotic creature bonds with a person, granting powers but slowly taking over. They must find a way to separate before losing control.
• The Reanimation – A scientist’s experiment to reanimate the dead goes horribly wrong. The reanimated must find a way to live with their new bodies.
• The Graft – A person receives an experimental organ transplant that changes their body in unexpected ways. They must find a way to reverse the changes.
• The Cannibal’s Curse – A person who consumes human flesh gains horrific powers. They must find a way to break the curse before losing their humanity.
• The Melting Man – A person starts to liquefy. They must find a way to stop the process before it melts away.
• The Living Tattoo – A person’s tattoos come to life and start to control them. They must find a way to stop the tattoos before they take over.
• The Bone Shifter – A person gains the ability to shift their bones, causing great pain. They must find a way to control their power before it destroys them.
• The Organ Thief – A person wakes up missing organs that are replaced by mysterious mechanical parts. They must find the thief and recover their organs.
• The Flesh Sculptor – A person gains the ability to mold their flesh like clay. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
• The Skin Thief – A person can steal others’ skin to change their appearance. They must find a way to stop their urges before they lose their humanity.
• The Hive – A person’s body becomes a hive for insects. They must find a way to remove the insects before it’s too late.
• The Limb Regenerator – A person gains the ability to regenerate limbs, but each regrowth causes them to lose part of their humanity. They must find a way to stop the process.
• The Mind Swap – A person swaps minds with another, causing their body to undergo horrific changes. They must find a way to reverse the swap.
• The Flesh Weaver – A person gains the ability to manipulate flesh, weaving it into grotesque forms. They must find a way to control their power before it consumes them.
• The Bone Collector – A person starts collecting bones, and their body begins to incorporate them. They must find a way to stop before they become living skeletons.
• The Living Parasite – A parasitic organism living inside a person starts taking over their body. They must find a way to remove the parasite before it controls them completely.

Slasher Stories

• The Masked Killer – A masked killer hunts down teenagers at a summer camp. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
• The Urban Legend – A group of friends accidentally awaken a killer from an urban legend. They must find a way to stop the killer before becoming victims.
• The High School Horror – A killer stalks students at a high school reunion. The former classmates must band together to survive the night.
• The Night Stalker – A serial killer targets people walking alone at night. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
• The Cabin in the Woods – A group of friends vacationing in a cabin are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and uncover the killer’s motive.
• The Halloween Horror – A killer in a Halloween costume targets partygoers. The survivors must figure out who the killer is before it’s too late.
• The Summer Slasher – A slasher terrorizes a summer camp. The counselors must protect the campers and stop the killer.
• The Haunted House Horror – A group of friends visiting a haunted house attraction encounter a real killer. They must survive the night and escape the house.
• The Killer Clown – A killer dressed as a clown targets children. The townspeople must uncover the clown’s identity to stop the killings.
• The Prom Night Massacre – A killer crashes a prom, targeting students. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
• The Road Trip Terror – A group of friends on a road trip are hunted by a killer. They must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to survive.
• The Island Slasher – Vacationers on a remote island are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to escape the island.
• The Carnival of Carnage – A killer targets visitors at a carnival. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.
• The Silent Stalker – A killer who never speaks targets people in their homes. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
• The Snowbound Slasher – A group of friends snowed in at a cabin and are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to escape.
• The College Campus Killer – A killer stalks students on a college campus. The survivors must band together to uncover the killer’s identity.
• The Backwoods Butcher – Campers in the backwoods are hunted by a killer. They must survive the night and find a way to stop the killer.
• The Stalker in the Shadows – A stalker targets a woman, and her friends must protect her and catch the stalker.
• The Holiday Horror – A killer targets people during the holidays. The survivors must uncover the killer’s identity and motive to stop the murders.
• The Beachside Slasher – Vacationers at a beach resort are hunted by a killer. They must survive and uncover the killer’s identity.
• The Amusement Park Horror – A killer targets visitors at an amusement park. The survivors must stop the killer and escape the park.
• The Midnight Stalker – A killer targets people walking alone at midnight. A detective must catch the killer before more lives are lost.
• The Wedding Day Massacre – A killer crashes a wedding, targeting guests. The survivors must find a way to stop the killer and escape.
• The Forest of Fear – Hikers in a forest are hunted by a killer. They must survive and find a way to stop the killer.
• The Asylum Escapee – A killer escapes from an asylum and targets people in a nearby town. The townspeople must uncover the killer’s identity to stop the murders.

Cosmic Horror

• The Lovecraftian Entity – A small town is plagued by sightings of an otherworldly entity. The townspeople must uncover its origins to stop the madness.
• The Eldritch Tome – A scholar discovers a book that drives readers insane. They must uncover the book’s secrets to stop its influence.
• The Alien Artifact – Scientists discover an artifact that brings forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to destroy it before it consumes them.
• The Forgotten Temple – Explorers find an ancient temple dedicated to a cosmic entity. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
• The Star Cult – A cult worships a cosmic entity that grants them terrible powers. Investigators must stop the cult before they summon the entity.
• The Cosmic Rift – A rift in space-time opens, bringing forth horrors from another dimension. Scientists must find a way to close the rift.
• The Astral Projector – A person gains the ability to astrally project but encounters cosmic horrors. They must find a way to control their power.
• The Interdimensional Traveler – A traveler from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send the traveler back.
• The Eldritch Signal – A signal from deep space drives those who hear it insane. Scientists must find a way to stop the signal.
• The Otherworldly Beacon – A lighthouse serves as a beacon for cosmic entities. The keeper must find a way to stop the beacon.
• The Alien Invasion – Aliens from another dimension invade Earth, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to fight back.
• The Eldritch Storm – A storm brings forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop the storm.
• The Forgotten Ones – Ancient beings awaken and bring cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
• The Cosmic Plague – A plague from another dimension infects humanity. The survivors must find a cure before it spreads.
• The Eldritch Machine – A machine built by an ancient civilization brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
• The Otherworldly Visitor – A visitor from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to send them back.
• The Lovecraftian Dreams – People start having dreams of cosmic horrors that drive them insane. They must find a way to stop the dreams.
• The Eldritch Ritual – A cult performs a ritual to summon a cosmic entity. Investigators must stop the ritual.
• The Alien Mind Control – Aliens use mind control to bring forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
• The Eldritch Portal – A portal opens, bringing forth cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to close it.
• The Forgotten City – Explorers find a lost city dedicated to cosmic entities. They must uncover its secrets to escape the horrors within.
• The Otherworldly Artifact – An artifact from another dimension brings cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to destroy it.
• The Eldritch Experiment – Scientists’ experiments bring forth cosmic horrors. They must find a way to stop the experiments.
• The Alien Infestation – Aliens infest a town, bringing cosmic horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop them.
• The Cosmic Entity – A cosmic entity awakens, bringing forth horrors. The survivors must find a way to stop it.

Folk Horror

• The Village Ritual – A village performs a dark ritual every year. Outsiders must uncover the ritual’s purpose to escape.
• The Forest Cult – A cult in the forest performs dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover the cult’s secrets to survive.
• The Harvest Sacrifice – A village sacrifices people for a good harvest. The outsiders must stop the sacrifices.
• The Witch Hunt – A village accuses outsiders of being witches. They must prove their innocence to survive.
• The Cursed Land – A village is built on cursed land. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to lift it.
• The Haunted Farm – A farm is haunted by the spirits of those wronged by the landowners. The new owners must uncover the farm’s dark history.
• The Pagan Festival – A village’s pagan festival hides dark secrets. Outsiders must uncover the truth to survive.
• The Reaping – A village reaps souls to appease a dark entity. The outsiders must stop the reaping.
• The Cursed Forest – A forest is cursed, and those who enter never return. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin.
• The Old Gods – A village worships ancient gods that demand sacrifices. The outsiders must stop the worship.
• The Blood Moon – A village performs a ritual under a blood moon. Outsiders must stop the ritual.
• The Spirit of the Lake – A lake is haunted by a vengeful spirit. The villagers must uncover its story to stop the hauntings.
• The Cornfield Curse – A village’s cornfield is cursed, causing bizarre deaths. Outsiders must uncover the curse’s origin to stop it.
• The Stone Circle – A stone circle in a village is used for dark rituals. Outsiders must uncover their secrets to stop the rituals.
• The Phantom Harvest – A village experiences hauntings during the harvest season. Outsiders must uncover the cause to end the terror.
• The Cursed Festival – A village festival turns deadly each year. Outsiders must uncover the festival’s dark origins to stop the deaths.
• The Whispering Woods – The woods surrounding a village whisper dark secrets. Outsiders must decipher the whispers to escape.
• The Haunted Mill – An old mill is haunted by the spirits of workers who died there. New owners must uncover the mill’s dark history.
• The Witch’s Mark – A village marks certain people as witches. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the markings to survive.
• The Blood Ritual – A village performs a blood ritual to appease dark forces. Outsiders must stop the ritual before they become sacrifices.
• The Specter of the Fields – A scarecrow in a village’s fields comes to life. Outsiders must uncover the scarecrow’s dark origins.
• The Sinister Shepherd – A shepherd in a village controls his flock with dark magic. Outsiders must uncover his secrets to stop him.
• The Ghostly Harvesters – Spirits of past harvesters haunt a village. Outsiders must uncover the harvesters’ stories to end the hauntings.
• The Village of Shadows – A village is plagued by shadowy figures. Outsiders must uncover the figures’ origins to escape.
• The Witching Hour – A village experiences dark events at the Witching Hour. Outsiders must uncover the truth behind the events to survive.

Here is a video with 25 bonus horror writing prompts:

Final Thoughts: Horror Writing Prompts

Using these writing prompts is simple.

Choose a prompt that sparks your interest. Imagine the characters, setting, and conflict. Let the prompt guide you, but feel free to add your unique twist.

Keep writing until the story unfolds naturally.

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Creative Writing:Horror & Ghost Stories

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Worksheet/Activity

Last updated

16 August 2021

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Thank you- some excellent activities to delve into the elements needed to produce an effective horror story. <3

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Scary Stories. HOMEWORK

Evelyn Esprasandin

Hello students! here you can send your homework about Scary Stories! See you next Friday!

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88,947 English ESL worksheets pdf & doc

Teach Your Students How to Write a Scary Story

You’re terrified. Your heart is pounding, and your chest feels like it’s going to EXPLODE !  You breathe faster and faster as sweat drips from your shaking hands. Are you going to die?  NO .  You’re just listening to a SCARY STORY .

Being scared is exciting, right?  If it wasn’t, why would we go on haunted hayrides, watch scary movies or ride roller coasters?

Let’s face it, in each of these circumstances, we know we’re pretty safe. And when the experience is over, the thrill isn’t.  Just watch a group of kids coming out of a haunted house at the fair.  They’re shrieking and laughing at the SAME TIME . And, because they know the fear is SAFE , they scramble to get in line again.  They’re experiencing a fear-induced NATURAL HIGH .  That’s because being scared causes an adrenaline rush in your body and creates a feeling of EUPHORIA .

Enter SCARY STORIES ! When it comes to teaching your students how to write a scary story that will keep readers or listeners on the edge of their seats, nothing beats a good old-fashioned scary story.

Kids love the element of surprise and the unexpected. It’s fascinating to talk about monsters, ghosts, or anything weird! Reading and writing these stories is reassuring to kids. The creepy stuff is just fiction, and it’s not a part of their everyday lives. It’s IMAGINATION .

Over the years, I’d teach my students how to write scary stories. But, I was disappointed by the majority of the stories I got. I tried different writing prompts, using scary pictures, anything I could think of. None of that worked. To be honest with you, I got some pretty crummy stories. I knew my kiddos were capable of more. I refused to give up! Finally, through trial and error, I developed a formula that worked for me.  It’s just two magic words: CHOICE and TOOLS.  

I provided my kids with a buffet of plots, settings, and characters.  They were intrigued.

Suddenly they had the FREEDOM to concoct a story that was guaranteed to spook their audience. They didn’t have to respond to the same writing prompt.

The graphic organizers helped them plan and organize their stories, develop their characters, and use descriptive words in their writing. Keeping students engaged in writing is foolproof when they choices and the tools to plan and write a great scary story.

Scary Story Elements

Scary Stories:

• Amp up the fear factor.
• Add cringe-worthy thoughts like a darkness that foreshadows an unknown danger.
• Have characters that get into terrifying situations by breaking the rules, making bad decisions, or ignoring a warning.
• Include a terrible problem that is creating a mood of doom.
• Are usually set in someplace spooky and often takes place at night.
• Include a wide variety of sensory words.
• Contain mystery and suspense.
• Might be unpredictable – setting the reader up to expect one thing but then providing something else.

Setting the Stage

Nothing sets the tone for writing better than turning out the lights and reading a couple of scary stories. Here are a few of my favorite scary stories for younger kids.

PICTURE BOOKS:

• The Teeny Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone
• There’s a Nightmare in my Closet by Mercer Mayer
• There’s an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer
• A Very Hairy Scary Story by Rick Walton
• Beneath the Bed and Other Scary Stories by Max Brallier
• In a Dark Dark Room by Alvin Schwartz
• The Little Old Woman Who Was Not Afraid of Anything
• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
• Piggie Pie by Margie Palenti
• Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds
• Ghosts! Ghostly Tales From Folklore by Alvin Schwartz
• Tell Me a Scary Story but Not Too Scary by Carl Reiner
• Scary, Scary, Halloween by Eve Bunting

One year, I took my kiddos to a Tale Telling Festival in Selma Alabama.  My kids were on the edge of their seats listening to master a storyteller regale them with tales from the book Thirteen Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey .

If you can’t make it to a storytelling festival, expose your students to a few videos of storytellers telling scary stories to get a sense of the mood these stories elicit.

Videos provide your students with the opportunity to experience how professional authors play with the readers’ emotions through their choice of WORDS , VOICE, and FACIAL and HAND expressions. One of my favorites is Jackie Torrance telling The Story of Tillie

How to Write the Scary Story

Have you ever tried to teach without a lesson plan?  It’s quite frustrating and chaotic isn’t it? You need a PLAN . The same thing is true for your kids.  Some of your kids have minimal experience in writing stories.  They don’t even know where to begin. They need a plan!

That’s where you come in!  By providing supports and structure, your students will write fantastic scary tales.  Writing a great story takes time, so if you only have one class period for your kiddos to write, you’re probably not going to get great stories. The time frame from start to finish to sharing takes my kids about a week to complete.

Writing Steps

Here are the steps I use with my students.  Depending on the age and degree of writing experience, your students may not need to spend much time on each step.

First,  students BRAINSTORM story ideas for things and places that scare them. This is a fun and easy step because kids LOVE to talk about being scared. It’s also good for kids to see that some of their friends are afraid of the same things they are.  Be prepared, you might hear some things that you can’t imagine being afraid of.  For example, my grandson was TERRIFIED of going to visit my mother in her assisted living facility.  He thought all the “old folks” looked like evil creatures. Thankfully, he got over that.

Next, students select a setting, problem, and characters for their story. To help my kids out, I  give them choices and ideas to get them started. I provide them with  SETTING , PROBLEM , and CHARACTER cards to choose from.  By taking note of what your kids shared during the previous BRAINSTORMING SESSION , you have some great ideas to write on the cards.

In the next step, students organize their thoughts using a story elements organizer and a story summary organizer. With these organizers, students plan the story and make sure it has a logical sequence.

Giving students copies of word lists helps them choose sensory words, sound effects (think Ontomontopeia), and vivid verbs to add to the writing.

Have you ever had kids who wrote a narrative and every sentence began with “and then?” Since scary stories are NARRATIVES , I make sure they use a TRANSITIONS WORD LIST to help them with word choice.  That way I don’t have to read  “and then,” “and then” over and over again.

Let the Writing Begin!

You’ve laid the groundwork.  Your kiddos have a recipe for their story.  Now it’s time to put pen to paper and START WRITING . For a first draft, I usually have my kids write on every other line.  That way it’s easy to make edits during the revision stage.

Next, have a peer and or a teacher review the rough drafts. It’s also helpful to give the kiddos a checklist to make sure they included all the elements for a scary story.

Finally, revise and edit. This is the kids’ LEAST FAVORITE STEP .  They want to write their stories ONCE and be done with it!  I try to make it more fun by having a little revising party in the class.  Give out stickers and turn on some creepy music. If your students have not had experience with peer editing, you can be the editor.  A little hint:  Tell at least 2 things you really like about the story BEFORE you may suggestions for improvement.

Oops!  We’re not done yet!  The most overlooked step is REFLECT AND EVALUATE !  Give your kids a writing rubric that is completed by both the student and yourself. I always have my kids share what they think they did best first, and then what they need to improve upon in the comments section of the rubric.

Sharing Your Scary Stories

The most fun is when the kids get to share their own stories. This is the time when my friends say I put on a DOG AND PONY SHOW .  But seriously, your kids are super pumped about sharing after learning how to write a scary story.

It’s time to celebrate all their hard work.  Have the kids dress up in costumes. Make s’mores.  I bought a fantastic electric s’mores maker on Amazon.  Turn out the lights, play some spooky music. The piece de resistance is a fake classroom campfire for your kids to sit around.

When it’s time to share his story, I give each kid a flashlight.  Remember, it’s important to encourage the kids to ham it up with sound effects, facial expressions, and tone of voice.

Creating a Classroom Campfire

You can find numerous blog posts with instructions for building a classroom campfire. Just do a search on Pinterest.  Basically, all you need is:

• rocks in a circle
• sticks in the center of the ring of stones
• battery-operated Christmas tree lights to place under and around the sticks
• some orange, red, and yellow tissue paper for the flames.

Avoiding Overwhelm When Teaching How to Write a Scary Story

Does this all sound like a lot of work to you?  Don’t worry!  I’ve got you covered.  You can purchase my Write A Scary Story unit on TpT. It includes a PowerPoint on how to write a scary story, all the handouts, cards, rubric, graphic organizers, and everything else you need to teach this unit.  There is also a Distance Learning Version you can use if you are teaching remotely!

I’d love to hear how your scary stories turned out!  Come back comment to let me know!

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Write your own scary story

A detailed resource which includes question prompts and a differentiated writing frame to support students in writing a narrative based on an unexpected change to a student's school day.

The first version of the activity includes a series of events to help students construct the narrative, alongside some questions.

The second version of the activity is designed for writers who require more support, so includes sentence starts and word banks, and is constructed as a writing frame for students to complete the task.

Could be used for a Halloween-themed topical lesson. 

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