That gravelly hint-of-a-voice breathed into your ear anew as September began to bleed into October. It comes quiet at first, just as before, nothing but a faint whisper. “It’s coming”, “almost here”, “not long now”, it rasps, becoming more insistent as the days recede deeper into autumn. You know from whence the voice comes, Horror Delve Manor out atop the high hill at the edge of town, or more specifically, Halloween Hall inside Horror Delve Manor. Tonight marks your fourteenth visit to explore that web-strewn hallway and not once before have you spied another personage lurking about… until tonight. Lingering in the center of the hall, several feet away, is a tall, gaunt figure. The flesh of face and arms are so pale they appear to glow against the contrasting gloom of the corridor. You think the lanky figure is male, but it’s form wavers, as though viewed through an out of focus camera lens. It grins broadly at you, revealing a set of impossibly long teeth as it extends a disjointed digit toward the door across from it; the one that’s numbered 14.
* As a reminder, many of the stories listed below are not set during the Halloween season but I feel they do evoke the overall feel of it.
THE LIST (By Order of Publication)
“A Dead Finger” by Sabine Baring-Gould (1904) – A man becomes haunted by a disembodied, dead finger. It repeatedly inches forward and attempts to touch him. Later, he sees a vaporous body being pulled behind it. This finger appears to be leaching off his vitality. You can listen here for free: https://shows.acast.com/talestoterrify/episodes/tales-to-terrify-707-sabine-baring-gould
“The Curse of the House” by Robert Bloch (1939) – An American man tells how he traveled to Edinburgh years ago in order to research occultism. While there, he gets to examine a house which used to belong to a demonic cult. He is allowed access to it by a giant man named Droom. The American manages to sneak away and explore the network of cellars which descend deep into the earth beneath it, witnessing all sorts of horrible things there. Later, after escaping the house, he begins to notice it off in the distance everywhere he goes, as though the house itself is following him. This is a good, unique haunted house tale! You can listen here for free: https://horrorbabble.podbean.com/e/the-curse-of-the-house-by-robert-bloch/
“Dream of a Manikin” by Thomas Ligotti (1982) – The narrator of this story is attempting to communicate with a fellow psychologist and former lover who had recommended him to a patient. This patient, who is a loan processor by trade, has a recurring nightmare every night where she dreams she’s endlessly dressing and undressing manikins for a store. Then this dream-self of hers goes to sleep and has a terrifying nightmare of her own. This is a top-notch story about nightmares which is unsettling and filled with ominous twists along the way. Utterly fantastic! (Found in the Songs of a Dead Dreamer and Grimscribe collection)
“The Worst Fog of the Year” by Ramsey Campbell (1990) – A film reviewer attends the showing of a horror movie titled The Worst Fog of the Year. While watching it, he starts to feel himself somehow drawn inside the film itself during a scene where a hideous, sludge-like creature with long, black fingernails enters a house. (Found in the Told By the Dead collection)
“Memories of Día de los Muertos” by Nancy Kilpatrick (1993) – During a Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, a man visits the grave of his mother to be confronted by a revenant which refers to itself as Death. It is an undead being that hungers for his blood. (Found in The Mammoth Book of Haunted House Stories)
“Grauer Hans” by Helen Grant (2008) – In her adult years, a woman fears the return of a dark presence from her past. As a child she used to view this mysterious, smiling figure who beckoned at her to open her bedroom window each night as a friend. Later, she fears it’s actually ‘Grey Hans’, an entity her mom sings a warning song about each night as a ward against him. This is a chilling tale about a boogey man who preys on children which will have you checking your windows each night. (Found in the The Sea Change and Other Stories collection)
“The Maze” by Lisa Morton (2015) – Four seventeen year old friends go through a local corn maze on Halloween night. There seems to be something different about this one in how it’s structured compared to others. Once inside it, two become separated from the others and start encountering terrifying creatures which stalk them with murderous intent. (Found in the Dark Hollows: 10 Halloween Haunts anthology)
“Halloween Dark Ale” by Tony Walker (2025) – Set in 1987, a man in need of money takes a job working at a bar situated by the Thames. Many patrons flock to the place to indulge in their special brew, the Thames Halloween Dark Ale. He also learns of a legend about a local witch named Meg as he becomes curious as to why the owner keeps the wine cellar under lock-and-key. You can listen here for free: https://www.classicghost.com/blog/0e295b13-ac27-46e2-aded-08f9594ec396
“The House In My Head” by Gary McMahon (2025) – A man builds an imaginary house inside his head as place of mental refuge from the rigors of life. Many years later, after forgetting about this imaginary house, it reemerges in his mind, but now something is rambling about inside it. His made up house seems to have inherited a ghost somehow. (Found in Nightmare Abbey Magazine #9)
“The Revenant’s House” by Sean Hogan (2026) – A teenager named Anthony struggles with life cooped up with his mother and younger brother Callum in a small cabin following his parent’s divorce. This forced him and his relentlessly talkative brother into sharing a room. At one point, Callum mentions how his friends have talked about a nearby abandoned house which everyone says is haunted by a vampire. One day, Anthony goes to investigate for himself. This is a superb haunted house story which I really loved! There’s a lot of nuance to it, and it is very well-told. (Found in Nightmare Abbey Magazine #10)
PREVIOUS LISTS:
2026: https://horrordelve.com/2025/10/13/halloween-suggested-reading-list-xiii-2025/
2025: https://horrordelve.com/2024/10/14/halloween-suggested-reading-list-xii-2024/
2023: https://horrordelve.com/2023/10/10/halloween-suggested-reading-list-xi-2023/
2022: https://horrordelve.com/2022/10/03/halloween-suggested-reading-list-x-2022/
2021: https://horrordelve.com/2021/10/11/halloween-suggested-reading-list-ix-2021/
2020: https://horrordelve.com/2020/10/04/halloween-suggested-reading-list-viii-2020/
2019: https://horrordelve.com/2019/10/14/halloween-suggested-reading-list-vii-2019/
2018: https://horrordelve.com/2018/10/07/halloween-reading-list-vi-2018/
2017: https://horrordelve.com/2017/10/07/halloween-reading-list-v-2017/
2016: https://horrordelve.com/2016/10/10/halloween-reading-list-4-2016/
2015: https://horrordelve.com/2015/10/07/halloween-reading-list-2015/
2014: https://horrordelve.com/2014/10/15/horror-delves-second-annual-halloween-reading-list/
2013: https://horrordelve.com/2013/10/30/ten-scary-short-stories-for-halloween/
Article by Matt Cowan
