Horror Stories

[rynling]

Readings for week 1 of my horror writing workshop, all free online
https://mobile.twitter.com/ChristiNogle/status/1625599014954749952

For my own reference, I put the stories with links under the cut.

"In a Cavern, in a Canyon" by Laird Barron
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/in-a-cavern-in-a-canyon/

"Closet Dreams" by Lisa Tuttle
https://pseudopod.org/2021/11/19/pseudopod-785-closet-dreams/

"A Diet of Worms" by Valerie Valdes
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/a-diet-of-worms/

There are a few more linked in the thread...

"The Specialist’s Hat" by Kelly Link
https://kellylink.net/specialists-hat

"The God of Dark Laughter" by Michael Chabon
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2001/04/09/the-god-of-dark-laughter

"The House on Cobb Street" by Lynda E. Rucker
https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/the-house-on-cobb-street/

"What Gentle Women Dare" by Kelly Robson
https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/what-gentle-women-dare/

Comments

[deemoyza]

Ooh, another thanks for sharing! I love these!

My favorite among them, in terms of plain creepiness, was "In a Cavern, in a Canyon," but "Closet Dreams" hit me especially hard.

"Closet Dreams" proves that the most terrifying stories don't necessarily need to involve the supernatural at all, and that the most heinous monsters are sometimes other people. I think we are so accustomed to finding and accepting supernatural elements in horror fiction that I was willing to suspend my disbelief during the middle of the story and hope for an explanation later. But as the details began to unravel, my dread grew, and the final line turned my stomach.

(I suppose I should have seen it coming from the title, with "dreams" in the plural, but I kept holding out for that flicker of hope.)

Anyway, these are some great stories, and they remind me that I really should get back into reading short fiction. Thanks again for sharing! :D