Buzz
We all cherish the classic tales from the authors who helped shape our childhoods—such as Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. Even literary giants like Charles Dickens and Mark Twain are familiar names. But did you realize these well-known authors dabbled in writing eerie and unsettling stories? Here are ten terrifying tales by iconic writers whose most renowned works aren’t typically associated with fear.
10. “The Story of a Mother” Hans Christian Andersen
The thought of losing a child to illness strikes fear into any parent’s heart, especially when medical advancements were not what they are today. This poignant story follows the agonizing path of a mother watching her child slowly succumb to sickness. She comes face to face with the personification of Death, the Grim Reaper himself. Yet, no matter how much she wishes to change fate, the natural cycle of life and death remains unyielding.
The horror in this story is a gradual descent into hopelessness, as the mother exhausts every possible effort to save her child, only to have each attempt end in despair.
9. “A Thousand Deaths” Jack London
Though Jack London is best known for works like White Fang and The Call of the Wild, did you know that his first-ever published work was “A Thousand Deaths”? Released in 1899, this eerie tale marked the beginning of London’s literary career. In it, readers witness the agonizing drowning death of the protagonist, who all the while regrets not living a more meaningful existence.
After slipping into the cold abyss of death, he is inexplicably revived aboard a strange boat, hooked up to a bizarre assortment of contraptions and machines. The protagonist now finds himself in the hands of a deranged scientist attempting to blur the boundaries between life and death.
8. “To Be Read at Dusk” Charles Dickens
In this tale, a group of couriers from across Europe gather at a social event near a convent nestled in the mountains. After indulging in wine and cigars, the conversation shifts toward supernatural phenomena. Some participants share their personal, seemingly real encounters, while others dismiss them as nothing more than superstitious fantasies. It isn’t until Giovanni Baptista is prompted by a colleague to recount his unsettling experience with an English bride that the atmosphere takes a dark turn.
A decade prior, Giovanni had known a couple recently married and filled with happiness. However, the wife soon became plagued by disturbing dreams involving a mysterious man. Her obsession with this spectral figure reaches its peak when he unexpectedly joins the couple for dinner. While he departs politely, the man checks on the wife repeatedly over the following week. Days later, she vanishes without a trace. And this is only the beginning of the eerie tales shared among the men.
7. “The Silver Mirror” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
From the mind that brought us Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle spins a chilling story about a fatigued ledger clerk who receives a haunted mirror as a gift. At first, the mirror seems perfectly ordinary, reflecting the world as expected. But when the protagonist begins witnessing ghostly visions and other horrifying sights through its glass, he starts to doubt the mirror’s unsettling nature and his own sense of reason.
Desperate for answers, the protagonist seeks help from a doctor, who becomes intrigued by the way the mirror seems to drive its users insane. The protagonist must uncover the dark, twisted history of the mirror before it shatters what little sanity remains.
6. “Phantasmagoria” Lewis Carroll
Written entirely in rhyme, Lewis Carroll offers a whimsical portrayal of the afterlife in this tale. It begins with a ghost being invited into the protagonist’s home, where it enjoys some snacks and casually recounts the various ways in which spirits and other supernatural beings terrify the living. The ghost even shares the story of its own death (a fatal blow to the face from a bottle), told with the lightheartedness one would expect from the author of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
The two exchange clever retorts and sarcastic remarks throughout, but by the end of the poem, they’ve formed an unexpected bond. So much so, that when the protagonist wakes up from a night of drinking, he finds himself in tears, lamenting that his new ghostly companion had the wrong house and is now haunting another man named Tibbs. While this may not send shivers down the spine of adults, it’s an excellent introduction to the horror genre for younger audiences!
5. “A Ghost Story” Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s A Ghost Story follows a man who seeks refuge from the rain in an almost deserted building, untouched by human presence for what seems like an eternity. As the storm subsides, the protagonist eventually falls asleep, only to be jolted awake in the dead of night. He senses something’s amiss, especially when the bedclothes are mysteriously pulled off by an invisible force.
More chilling events unfold as the protagonist endures a series of disturbing signs of a haunting throughout the night. One of the most unsettling occurrences includes “a grating noise overhead, like the dragging of a heavy body across the floor; then the throwing down of the body, and the shaking of my windows in response to the concussion.”
4. “A Haunted House” Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf’s story leans more toward melancholy than outright terror, but it is undeniably unsettling. Her narrative centers around two couples—one alive, the other long deceased. The narrator describes hearing the ghostly couple as they move about the house, opening and closing doors, cabinets, and drawers. She overhears them desperately searching for their long-lost “treasure.”
At night, she feels the presence of the ghostly couple in her bedroom, watching her and her spouse as they sleep, all the while murmuring about their need to find the elusive “treasure.” It’s only after the narrator wakes up that she realizes the “treasure” the dead couple sought was what she and her spouse possessed—life and love within their living marriage.
3. “The Red Room” H.G. Wells
Though primarily known for his contributions to Science Fiction, H.G. Wells wasn’t a complete stranger to the darker side of literature. In “The Red Room,” he tells the story of a man in his late twenties who visits an elderly couple living in a supposedly haunted house. The narrator (and protagonist) is skeptical of the couple’s eerie warnings, but they insist the dangers are real and advise him to be cautious while staying in their home. Undeterred, the narrator demands to see the room that is said to be the source of the strange happenings. The couple informs him that if he wants to visit the room that night, he must go alone, as they won’t even accompany him down the hall, merely giving him directions to the “Red Room.”
His journey down the hallway and into the room itself is far more nerve-racking than the narrator ever expected. His initial skepticism begins to dissolve as he’s overtaken by a deep sense of dread and panic. Someone had died in this very room. While he tries to convince himself that ghosts are merely fantasy, the candle’s flame keeps inexplicably flickering out. He soon discovers the true reason the couple warned him not to visit—especially not on that particular night.
2. “The Canterville Ghost” Oscar Wilde
When Virginia Otis and her family moved into their new home, nothing about it seemed out of the ordinary. Sure, the locals whispered about the house being haunted by spirits lurking in every corner. But the house’s charm and affordability were too good to pass up, and the Otis family didn’t hesitate to make it their own. Everything was going smoothly—until they began to notice the bloodstains on the floor.
Mrs. Umney, the frail and eerie housemaid of the residence, ominously reveals to the family that the former owners of the home were involved in a gruesome tragedy. Lady Eleanore, a poor soul, was horrifically murdered by her husband just weeks before, right where the ominous red stain now marred the floor. The family attempts to scrub away the stain, but every time they clean it, the next day it returns, just as vivid and fresh as before. And this is only the beginning of the disturbances. As the story unfolds, it becomes more intricate than the Otis family could have ever anticipated, with Virginia’s actions eventually uncovering long-forgotten secrets buried within their new home for generations.
1. “Napoleon and the Spectre” Charlotte Brontë
Written when Charlotte Brontë was still a teenager, “Napoleon and the Spectre” tells the absurd tale of the infamous Emperor Napoleon (yes, that Napoleon) being tormented by a strange poltergeist. It begins with him settling into bed, noticing odd flickers of light and hearing unidentifiable sounds, all the while growing convinced that he is being haunted, even though each previous incident had turned out to be nothing more than a trick of the mind.
Later that night, after attempting to rest once more, a shadowy figure materializes beside his bed. Napoleon dismisses it as another illusion, but his disbelief shatters when the figure speaks directly to him. The ghastly figure reveals itself to be real and announces that it is there to guide the self-declared emperor to the afterlife.
