My Top 25 horror short stories October 2025

My Top 25 Horror Short Stories
October 2025

 

I've been reading horror stories since 1970, when I was 9 years old and I saw a copy of Alfred Hitchcock's Monster Museum (Random House, 1965) on the shelf of my grammar school library. 

While most of the stories in the book were rather tame - it was aimed at an audience of juvenile Baby Boomers, after all - Joseph Payne Brennan's story 'Slime' immediately gripped my attention, and from then on, my interest in the genre began, and has lasted since.

Every year now, for October and 'Spooky Stories Month,' I provide a list of my 'Top 2x' horror short stories. The list grows with each passing year, and now stands at 25, which seems condign for the year 2025. These are stories that (in my humble opinion) are the better ones I've encountered in 55 years of reading all manner of horror fiction. Since it's the interval covered by this blog, I've concentrated on stories that first saw print from the early 1960s into the mid-1990s. 

I've posted a brief synopses for each story, to jog memories and to give the reader a sense of what to expect.

One problem with focusing on such stories is that in many instances the books where they first appeared long are out of print, and copies in good condition have steep asking prices. Accordingly, where available, I've tried to provide alternate sources for obtaining these stories.

My Top 25, in chronological order:

The First Days of May, by Claude Veillot, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December 1961; Tales of Terror from Outer Space, 1975

‘Alien invasion’ theme, with some convincing bug-eyed monsters. A pdf copy is available here.

***

One of the Dead, by William Wood, The Saturday Evening Post, October 31, 1964; Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Scream Along with Me; A Walk with the Beast, 1969; Great American Ghost Stories, 1991

Although a bit overwritten, this is a well-crafted melding of the haunted house theme with the anomie of mid-1960s life in suburban Los Angeles.  

***

The Road to Mictlantecutli, by Adobe James, Adam Bedside Reader, 1965; The Sixth Pan Book of Horror Stories,1965; The Arbor House Treasury of Horror and the Supernatural, 1981

Morgan, a ruthless criminal, is travelling on a mysterious road in Mexico. The strange sights and passions he encounters will lead him to change his life........for good, or for ill.

'Adobe James' was the pseudonym of American writer James Moss Cardwell (1926 – 1990), who had his short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. 

***

Longtooth, by Edgar Pangborn, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, January 1970; The Best of Modern Horror, 1989

A resident of rural Maine discovers something disturbing in the deep, dark woods. A pdf copy is available here.

***

Goat, by David Campton, New Writings in Horror and the Supernatural #1, 1971; Whispers: An Anthology of Fantasy and Horror, 1977

Creepy goings-on in an English village. A fine early example of what now is classified as 'folk horror.'

 

***

The Human Side of the Village Monster, by Edward Bryant, Universe 1, 1970; Among the Dead and Other Events Leading Up to the Apocalypse, 1973

 

Despite its cumbersome title, this is a well-composed tale about a near-future New York City ruined by overpopulation and Eco-Catastrophe. It seems to have a predictable denouement, but veers off into an unexpected, but unpleasant, direction.

***

Satanesque, by Alan Weiss, The Literary Magazine of Fantasy and Terror, #6, 1974; The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III, 1975

Starts off on a thoroughly conventional note, then unexpectedly transitions into something entirely imaginative and offbeat.

 

***

The Shortest Way, by David Drake, Whispers #3, March 1974; From the Heart of Darkness, 1983; Vettius and His Friends, 1989;  Night & Demons, 2012

A 'Vettius' story set in the days of the Roman empire. Our hero elects to travel on a road that the locals take care to avoid. An atmospheric, memorable tale.

***

The Taste of Your Love, by Eddy C. Bertin, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series III, 1975; The Whispering Horror, 2013

One of the better Serial Killer tales I’ve read.

***

The Changer of Names, by Ramsey Campbell, Swords Against Darkness II, 1977; The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 4, 1978; Far Away and Never, 2021

I've never been a fan of Campbell’s horror stories and novels, but his sword-and-sorcery stories featuring the ‘Ryre’ character are entertaining exercises in creepiness. There are metaphors and similes abounding in the Ryre tales, to be sure, but as compared to Campbell's horror stories the purple prose is reduced in scope, and plotting receives due consideration. 

While the Swords Against Darkness paperbacks have exorbitant asking prices, a new (October 2021) reprint of Far Away and Never from DMR Press collects all four of the Ryre stories, along with other fantasy tales from Campbell's early career.  

***

Long Hollow Swamp, by Joseph Payne Brennan, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, January 1976; The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series V, 1977

A great 'monsters-on-the-loose' tale from Brennan.

***

Sing A last Song of Valdese, by Karl Edward Wagner, Chacal #1, Winter 1976; The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series V, 1977; Night Winds, 1978, 1983

One of two entries by Wagner, who wrote his share of duds, but when he was On, he was On. In a remote forest, a lone traveler comes upon an inn filled with sinister characters. A pdf copy is available here.

***

Window, by Bob Leman, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, May 1980; The 1981 Annual World’s Best SF, 1981; The Best of Modern Horror, 1989

A neat mix of sci-fi and horror, revolving around a portal to another dimension. A pdf copy is available here.

***

Where the Summer Ends, by Karl Edward Wagner, Dark Forces, August 1980; In A Lonely Place, 1983; The American Fantasy Tradition, 2002

 

A second entry from Wagner. It’s hot, humid, and dangerous in 1970s Knoxville. Stay away from the kudzu !

***

The New Rays, by M. John Harrison, Interzone #1, Spring 1982, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series XI, 1983; The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories, 2012

A disturbing tale about disease and the desperate search for a cure, with proto-steampunk leanings. 

***

After-Images, by Malcolm John Edwards, Interzone #4, Spring 1983, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series XII, 1984; Interzone: The First Anthology, 1986

Another fine melding of sci-fi and horror, this time set in an English suburb. It’s too bad that Edwards, a playwright and editor, didn’t write more short stories. A pdf copy is available here.

***

The Man with Legs, by Al Sarrantonio, Shadows No. 6, October 1983, The Year’s Best Horror Stories: Series XII, 1984

Two kids learn some disturbing secrets about their family history.

***

High Tide, by Leanne Frahm, Fears, 1983

Frahm, an Australian writer, sets this novelette in the vicinity of the Newry Islands in coastal Queensland. A family camping trip to Mud Island discovers something strange is going on amidst the mangrove swamps: Eco-horror at its creepiest !

 

                                                                        *** 

Salvage Rites, by Ian Watson, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, January 1987, The Best of Modern Horror, 1989

 

Tim and Rosy, an English couple of modest means, take a trip to the town dump…….which, they discover, has its problems. 

***

 

Mengele, by Lucius Shepard, Universe 15, 1985, The Jaguar Hunter, 1988

Troubling things are going on at an estate located in a remote region of Paraguay.

***

Red Christmas, by David Garnett, The Year's Best Horror Stories: Series XIV, 1986

What seems like a conventional Mad Slasher story has a neat little twist at the end.

***

The Picknickers, by Brian Lumley, Final Shadows, 1991, The Year's Best Horror Stories: XX, 1992

Unsettling events are happening in the graveyard of a Welsh coal-mining village.

***

Under the Crust, by Terry Lamsley (1993); The Mammoth Book of New Terror, 2004

 

Like Ian Watson's 'Salvage Rites,' above, this is another tale set in the confines of a UK rubbish dump ('tip'), this one, Dove Holes near Buxton (Brits seem to have a real talent for mingling  landfills with horror themes). In 'Crust,' Maurice's encounter with some creepy habitues of Dove Holes eventually leads him into Lovecraftian territory. Atmospheric and imaginative.

 

Aftertaste, by John Shirley, Bones of the Children, 1996, Black Butterflies, 2001

 

The Zombie Apocalypse comes to the ghetto. A great tale from Shirley, mixing splatterpunk with irreverent humor.

***

Shining On, by Billie Sue Mosiman, Future Net, 1996

A mutant suffering from severe handicaps finds a friend online. But you know what they say about online friends: just who are they in person ?

National Lampoon October 1980

National Lampoon

October, 1980

October, 1980, and the number one album on the Billboard Top 200 chart is Guilty by Barbara Streisand.

Atop the Hot 100 singles charts is Queen's immortal 'Another One Bites the Dust.'

 

It's always interesting to look at the songs in the lower depths of the Hot 100. In October of '80 we see a 'rap' tune from one Curtis Blow......is this a novelty song, or perhaps a bow shot from a genre still in development ? And the rock band called 'Journey' seems to be doing alright, too. Surely we'll see them on the charts again, at some point in the future.

 

As for the group 'Zapp,' they are making their mark with 'dance' or 'funk' tunes (back in the Fall of '80 it was death to use the noun 'disco' to refer to anything). Lots of synthesizers in their song 'More Bounce to the Ounce.'

Let's take a look at the October issue of the National Lampoon. This is a rather dull issue; P. J. O'Rourke is the editor, but most of the magazine's creative icons have moved on to the world of film, riding the success of National Lampoon's Animal House. 

 

Writer John Hughes, who contributes the feature 'Bullies' to this issue, is on the cusp of becoming one of the most influential and successful directors and producers of the decade of the 1980s, with such movies as National Lampoon's Vacation, Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

 

 

Chris Miller, who contributed many memorable short stories to the Lampoon, is absent and Gerald Sussman provides this issue's story: 'Curses,' about a witches and warlocks convention where an orgy runs into trouble. It's a funny story, but it lacks the demented quality of a Miller tale.

 

There's an advertisement for a comedy album (?!) from Chevy Chase (?!). It's Chevy providing some ad-libs in accompaniment to a variety of tracks, like 'I Shot the Sheriff.' It's pretty awful. You can listen to it here. 

 

 

Some neat little cartoons among the pages, and 'Foto Funnies' goes existential:

The comics section of the magazine has quite a profile in this issue. Not all the stuff is very good, but still, it was better than most of the magazine's text pieces.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's what you had in the pages of the National Lampoon in October from 45 years ago....

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of New Terror

Book Review: 'The Mammoth Book of New Terror' edited by Stephen Jones

 3 / 5 Stars

'The Mammoth Book of New Terror' (496 pp.) was issued by Carrol and Graf in 2004, and features cover art by John Picacio, and interior illustrations by Randy Broecker.

 

This is a rather odd mashup of older material, first published in the decades from the early 1970s to the late 1990s; and some material from 2003, presumably the 'new' stuff alluded to in the anthology's title. Of the 26 stories, many are authored by familiar names, and there are some splatterpunks included, which always is good.

 

One thing that emerges from this collection is that many of the UK contributors frame their entries as what nowadays is referred to as 'folk horror,' a term which really wasn't in widespread use in 2004. Indeed, many of the entries in 'New Terror' would be very much at home in Jones's 2021 anthology, 'The Mammoth Book of Folk Horror.'

 

My capsule summaries of the contents of 'New Terror':

 

Fruiting Bodies (1988), by Brian Lumley, deals with fungus, and an abandoned seaside town in North Yorkshire. It mingles an atmosphere of entropy (that M. John Harrison and J. G. Ballard would approve of), with physical horror. 

Needle Song (1979) is the obligatory Charles L. Grant entry. It's about an old lady whose piano-playing brings corruption to an otherwise prosperous suburb. Old ladies and pianos ? Must be Quiet Horror, of course......

 

Turbo-Satan (2004) by Christopher Fowler: Mats is a loser. Until he learns that texting to a certain number, can bring good things into his life. An interesting premise, but one paired with an underwhelming denouement.

Talking in the Dark (1984) by Dennis Etchison: the obligatory Etchison entry. Victor Ripon is a damaged loner who finds some purpose to life via a correspondence with the bestselling horror author Rex Christian. Maybe Rex can come visit Victor, and instruct him in how to write horror fiction ? This tale has an interesting premise, but a Quiet Horror diet of figurative language, metaphors, and similes leads to a conclusion that I found contrived.

 

The Circus (1980) by Sydney J. Bounds, is a clever tale about a Most Unusual Show, a tale with the sensibility of the more memorable stories appearing in the EC horror comics of the 1950s. 

 

Foet (1991) by F. Paul Wilson: very dark, but impactful, humor about the latest and greatest in fashion accessories.

 

The Candle in the Skull (1984), by Basil Copper: Martin has a plan to make his life quite a bit more enjoyable. But his daughter Kathy might not cooperate. This is one of those stories where the author is evasive about whether Something Spooky is 'real,' or simply a hallucination. I don't like stories like that......

 

The Chimney (1977) by Ramsey Campbell: overwritten tale about a neurotic, whiny British boy who suspects the Boogeyman is hiding in his bedroom's chimney. I was hoping for the Boogeyman to do something awful to our Brit Boy, but sadly, it was not to be............

 

Dark Wings (1982) by Phyllis Eisenstein: walking the beach late at night, a spinster spies an unusual species of eagle. She soon is obsessed with portraying the bird in her art. Lots of metaphors and similes in this Quiet Horror piece: Night upon night, in fair weather and foul, when the waves were slick as glass, when the waves were wild things clutching for the sky. There is a 'shock' at the conclusion that made this story, for me at least, digestible.

 

Reflection of Evil (2004) by Graham Masterton: a trio of Brits, out on the moors on a miserable November day, uncover an artifact that may be worth a great deal of money. An interesting tale from Masterton, one with a bit of splatterpunk.

 

Mirror of the Night (1998) by E. C. Tubb: a squabbling husband and wife must take refuge in an abandoned house. This tale, too, has a dose of splatterpunk, but that can't save the story from its overpurpled prose.

 

Maypole (2004) by Brian Mooney: UK folk horror, with some explicit grue. A good combination, in my opinion !
 

Under the Crust (1993) by Terry Lamsley: Maurice finds himself in Dove Holes, a real place north of Buxton in Derbyshire. A communal dump ('tip,' in the British vernacular), Dove Holes has some disturbing qualities. A very good story, one that takes an atmospheric approach to its horror, in a manner akin to that of Ramsey Campbell. But Lamsley avoids Campbell's abstruse prose and indifferent plotting in favor of clearer language, and a plot that comes to an imaginative, quasi-Lovecraftian conclusion in the closing pages.

 

After reading Tir Nan Og (1999), by Lisa Tuttle, you'll never look at middle-aged Cat Ladies quite the same way again...... 

 

A Living Legend (1982) by R. Chetwynd-Hayes: Chetwynd-Hayes is one of the those authors whose stories are nicely set up, but meander to anemic denouements. So it is with 'Legend,' where a reporter named Brian Radcliffe travels to a dilapidated mansion in rural England, there to interview a woman who allegedly is 117 years old. Yet another tale where it's never clear if what the protagonist experiences is 'real,' or only the product of a Diseased Imagination, etc., etc.

Wake-Up Call (2004) by David J. Schow: zombies, and black humor. As only Schow can do it !

 

The Fourth Seal (1975) by Karl Edward Wagner: a physician discovers that his profession has its darker side. A competent, but not memorable, tale from Wagner.

 

Unlocked (2004) by John Kaine and Tanith Lee: a husband-and-wife collaboration, and one of the lamer entries in the anthology. There is no horror content. The plot is overwrought, and has something to do with illicit lesbian love in late 19th century France. Lee's relentless use of metaphoric, figurative prose doesn't help matters.

 

Neil Gaiman's Closing Time (2003) is about an abandoned house and some foolish Brit schoolboys. It has a subdued creepiness, that proves effective in the closing paragraphs.

 

It Was the Heat (1988) by Pat Cadigan: a thirty-five year-old lady executive attends a business conference in New Orleans. She makes some dangerous liaisons in the French Quarter. Cadigan is ambiguous as to whether a female interpretation of the trope of 'when boys are away, they will play,' is a good thing, or a bad thing.

 

Fodder (2002) by Brian Keene and Tim Lebbon: France, the Argonne Forest, the First World War. A group of British 'tommies' discover something sinister in a trench network. This story has an interesting premise, but loses its way, due to too many story beats competing for attention. It would have been better off as a one-author production.

 

Open Doors (2003) by Michael Marshall Smith: the first-person narrator seeks solace for his Suburban Anomie.

 

Andromeda Among the Stones (2003) by Caitlín R. Kiernan: in a house overlooking the northern California coast, a family of Seeker of Eldritch Knowledge confront Cosmic Horror. This is the worst entrant in the anthology: a rudimentary plot, overlaid with an excess of pulp-inspired purple prose.

 

Flowers on Their Bridles, Hooves in the Air (2003) by Glen Hirshberg: a trio of hipsters discover a spooky arcade sitting at the end of a pier in Long Beach, California. Like Terry Lamsley's story (above), this story, too, is modeled on Ramsey Campbell's style of horror prose. However, compared to Lamsley's effort, 'Flowers' is labored and devoid of action. 

Amerikanski Dead at the Moscow Morgue, or: Children of Marx and Coca-Cola (1999) by Kim Newman: a tale about Romero's zombie apocalypse unfolding in Russia (the 'Amerikanski' are zombies, generated by some secret biological weapon the yankees have unleashed on Russia). It's an interesting take on the zombie story, however, after setting up an offbeat premise, Newman lets the story sputter out in the denouement.

 

Among the Wolves (1971) by David Case: a maniac is murdering folks, picking them at random from the ranks of the elderly and helpless. This story suffers from overwriting, with too many long-winded philosophical musings. Where it does work, surprisingly, is as a 'wilderness adventure.'

 

The verdict on 'The Mammoth Book of New Terror' ? It's a Three Star collection, some good stories, some mediocre ones. It does show that older and newer content can be placed side-by-side to good effect, and for that, getting a copy may be advisable for horror fans.