Happy Halloween! To really give spooky season the send-off it deserves, we’re turning to some real-life scary stories. In lieu of a campfire, people have been spinning their yarns on Twitter, under the hashtag #ScaryStories, and Book Twitter is getting in on the action. Horror author, Under The Dome expert, and Tor.com contributor Grady Hendrix went viral earlier this week with an utterly terrifying thread, prompting us to look through the hash-tag for true stories from fiction authors. Below are several from Hendrix, horror and dark fantasy author Alan Baxter, and romance author Miranda Dickinson.
In his now-viral submission for the approval of the Midnight Society, Hendrix told a story about a late-night snack run in his childhood with an unexpected twist. It begins innocuously enough, in the spring of ’81 with midnight munchies for leftover sweet-and-sour pork:
Everyone’s telling scary stories for Halloween so I’ll talk about something that happened to me when I was a kid because hey, trauma never gets old.#ScaryStories
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
When I turned 9 I realized I could sneak downstairs after everyone was asleep and eat anything I wanted in the fridge. No one ever noticed!
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
I could make a peanut butter, Cheez Whiz, & mayo sandwich, eat leftover pizza, scrape off the icing from birthday cakes – as long as I was careful I could do anything!
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
Creeping down was the hardest part. I had to navigate the pitch dark house all the way downstairs in total darkness like a tiny ninja.
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
One night in May, '81 we ordered from Fish & Shrimp House. I waited until everyone was asleep & crept downstairs to eat the leftover sweet n’sour pork.
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
It took forever. I finally stepped into the totally dark den & let down my guard. All of a sudden I heard a fork click on the counter. I froze. The microwave clock light showed the outline of a man sitting at our kitchen counter.
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
He couldn’t see me, but I saw him: a skinny guy, eating our leftovers, and drinking our milk from the carton.
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 30, 2019
Prepare your most absorbent pants and read the rest of the story over at Hendrix’s Twitter.
Meanwhile, Alan Baxter went for a much more recent story that includes photographic evidence. This one starts on a book tour (which is how you know it’s going to be extra-spooky), and involves a late-night act of Good Samaritanship that doesn’t quite go as planned:
Let me tell you about the weirdest hitchhiker experience I ever had. #ScaryStories
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
I was on a short book tour, and being a low-key author like me, that means a lot of driving myself around and staying in cheap motels.
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
One time I was driving late after a signing. I’d decided to get in a few hours towards the next location before stopping for the night.
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
As I left town, a young woman was standing at the side of the road, thumb out.
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
Tall, blonde hair, well-dressed, and wearing a short denim jacket.
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
I thought she was taking a risk, but then again, maybe she was a serial killer and I was the one taking the risk if I stopped.
— Alan Bax Murderer (@AlanBaxter) October 16, 2019
For the full story, and the photographic evidence, head over to Baxter’s Twitter.
Finally, Miranda Dickinson had one from her days as a nanny for a couple who lived in an “old, rambling house” straight out of The Turn of the Screw. Illustrated with some well-chosen GIFs, her story kicks off when the husband comes to check on the kids:
I see #ScaryStories is trending. Here’s mine. Years ago I got a job as a nanny for a doctor and her husband in an old, rambling house. The house was so old that some windows were still bricked up on the top floor from the time of the window tax… (1) pic.twitter.com/KXKwziiJnO
— Miranda Dickinson (@wurdsmyth) October 30, 2019
I looked after a 4 yr old boy and a 2yr old girl in the house while the doctor worked at her surgery next door and her husband – a tutor – saw students in the oldest part of the house. Between lessons, he would come over to the newer part to see the kids…#ScaryStories (2)
— Miranda Dickinson (@wurdsmyth) October 30, 2019
The two bits of the house were connected by the first floor landing, which had a staircase at each side. It was always dark and I didn’t like going on it to wake the children in the morning. The little boy told me a ‘singing lady’ walked there at night…#ScaryStories (3) pic.twitter.com/My6mMsE262
— Miranda Dickinson (@wurdsmyth) October 30, 2019
I dismissed it, but the house definitely felt spooky. Sometimes the rocking chair in the kids’ playroom would rock even though neither I nor the children were nowhere near it…#ScaryStories (4) pic.twitter.com/NAUxZ9jOjD
— Miranda Dickinson (@wurdsmyth) October 30, 2019
For the full story, head on over to Dickinson’s Twitter.
Since you can never be too scared, here’s a bonus one from Hendrix, complete with some truly spine-chilling pictures and footage:
My wife’s working in the UK for the week and I’m home alone. I HATE being home alone. Our apartment is tiny but I get lonely at night & tend to freak out.
So…#ScaryStories— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
I decided to keep myself busy doing projects & sending pics to my wife.
Day 1 – here I am sorting out our books. pic.twitter.com/e0AemJ5ENZ— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
Day 2 – cleaning up kitchen cabinets like a champ! pic.twitter.com/Y4enu8gmrX
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
Day 3 – I send good night texts. pic.twitter.com/de3We73D5v
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
Day 4 – she’s been giving me a hard time about flossing so I sent this as a joke. pic.twitter.com/iN7QL8JiGU
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
Her replies are few and far between because she’s busy but they’re very: “ha ha ok” and “yeah happy halloween to you too” and “are you trying to freak me out? it’s not working”
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
Day 5 (today) I ask her what she’s talking about. She starts sending these.
— Grady Hendrix (@grady_hendrix) October 27, 2019
WHAT DID SHE SEND?! Find out here.
In the mood for something a little more fictional? No worries, we have a month’s worth of horror recs. Check out book recommendations from classic monsters like Dracula and Frankenstein’s Monster, horror recommendations broken down by your tolerance level, haunting audiobooks, and free audiobook horror stories from Nightfire’s Come Join Us By the Fire audio horror anthology:
- “Rabbit Heart” by Alyssa Wong
- “These Deathless Bones” by Cassandra Khaw
- “The Design” by China Miéville
