Hallowe’en (a contraction of “All Hallows’ evening”) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows’ Day. It begins the observance of Allhallowtide, the time in the liturgical year dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed. Hallowe’en activities might include trick-or-treating, carving pumpkins, telling spooky stories and watching horror movies. We have some scary horror short stories to suggest for this Hallowe’en.

“Pigeons from Hell”, written by Robert E. Howard, is an old haunted house story with plenty of gore and blood, suspense, voodoo, witchcraft, and revenge. The title comes from an image in Howard’s grandmother’s ghost stories of a deserted plantation mansion haunted by pigeons. According to Rod Serling and Stephen King, it is one of the most popular horror stories written and was the basis for a 1961 episode of Boris Karloff’s Thriller television series.

Robert Howard wrote other horror short stories for Hallowe’en reading as well, such as “Skull-Face”, a story about a man who has recurring dreams of something he calls “Skull Face” and is puzzled about their meaning.

Another horror story writer, Henry Kuttner, offers several horror short stories for Hallowe’en reading such as: “The Graveyard Rats”, where a gruesome fate befalls the old cemetery caretaker in the burrows beneath the graves, “It Walks By Night”, a blood-chilling narrative of a ghastly horror that stalks through the crypts beneath the old graveyard, and “The Watcher at the Door”, a story of horror lurking in the dreams.

We also have eight H.P. Lovecraft short stories including “The Outsider”, “The Horror at Red Hook”, “Cool Air”, and “The Cats of Ulthar”.

Many more horror books and short stories can be found here at Faded Page by clicking on the horror subject tag. Help us add even more public domain books by volunteering to proofread a few pages! For information, go to Distributed Proofreaders Canada.