18+ reading: this list is for adult readers only. Every piece on it lives in our 18+ Library and opens after a short age check.
Ghost trains, haunted houses, village curses and things that whisper in hospital wards: the Horror room of our 18+ Library is full of short horror stories by writers from around the world, many of them rooted in real folklore. If you are looking for scary stories to read online that feel fresh, not copied from the same old campfire tales, these ten are among the darkest on The Poetic Land. There is a sixth bowl on the kitchen shelf that nobody should need, the last fast train out of Mumbai at night, a grandmother's trunk from Jalandhar, a parish history that should never have been written, an old Kolkata house, voice notes from a sister, a quiet night on Ward Nine, a sea diver's whistle, a mask that faces the wrong way and a rent agreement in Hyderabad. Each pick has its opening line and a short note. Read them with the lights on.
1The Sixth Bowl
by Pema Dolkar Bhutia Horror Story
Six bowls. Ama said it the way she said everything in the kitchen, without turning round, and Dechen counted them down from the shelf above the bukhari: four of the blue ones with the chipped rims …
Six bowls on the shelf, and only five people at the table. A chilling mountain folk tale.
2Ladies Compartment, 11:52 Fast
by Pallavi Deshmane Horror Story
The 11:52 Borivali fast is the last train where you can still get a window seat and not feel like you're going to be murdered.
The last safe train out of Mumbai at night. Or is it?
3The Trunk from Jalandhar
by Jaskirat Bains Horror Story
The key was taped to the underside of the bathroom cabinet, which tells you everything you need to know about my grandmother.
A grandmother's hidden key, an old trunk, and a Partition ghost story about grief.
4The Bell at Saltmarsh End
by Philippa Brackenbury Horror Story
Agreed, against all my better instincts, to write the new parish history.
A gothic diary of a parish history that should never have been written.
5The House on Raja Nabakrishna Street
by Ishani Mukhopadhyay Horror Story
Notes of S. Gangopadhyay, Advocate, Calcutta High Court.
A lawyer's notes on dividing an old Kolkata house between four heirs, and one more who won't leave.
6Voice Notes to Apa
by Mehrunnisa Qadri Horror Story
[I am typing these out exactly as she sent them.
A story told in voice notes from a new bride, with strange sounds in the background.
7The Light on Ward Nine
by Rhian Pryce Horror Story
Monday, 03:10
Ward Nine is quiet. Twenty-two beds, nineteen full, one HCA on her break, me at the station with a cold tea and the drug chart for bed 11 that nobody has signed since teatime. The strip light over bay C is flickering again. I've reported it three times.
3:10 a.m. on a quiet hospital ward, and a flickering light no one can fix.
8Sumbisori
by Jeon Yu-seul Horror Story
My grandmother says my whistle sounds like a kettle.
"Not like that," Halmeoni says. "Like a bird that's a little bit angry."
A Korean folk horror of the sea, diving women and a grandmother's whistle.
9The Mask Facing Forward
by Arnab Ghoshal Horror Story
The mask is clay, painted, with big white eyes and a red mouth, and it goes on the back of the head.
In the Sundarbans, honey collectors wear masks on the back of their heads. This is why.
10Rent Agreement
by Zoheb Ansari Horror Story
Two BHK, second floor, Al-Hira Residency, Tolichowki, behind the Seven Tombs road.
A cheap 2BHK in Hyderabad with one strange clause. Dark comedy with a djinn.
Keep reading
Want more? Step into the Horror room of our 18+ Library.
Did we miss your favourite? Tell us in the comments. If you write too, we would love to read your work: submit your writing to The Poetic Land. It is free, and every writer is welcome.
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