This haunted house story is about a rotary phone that wasn’t connected to anything. It rang five times on our first Halloween in the house, and every time, the same old woman asked me the same question. I’d always rolled my eyes at scary Halloween ghost stories. Then I picked up the phone. My husband … Read more
My friends and I have told scary campfire stories every Halloween weekend for ten years. This is the year a stranger walked out of the dark, sat down in the fifth chair, and told one about us. We’ve heard a lot of terrifying campfire stories at that fire ring, and this is the one none … Read more
This scarecrow horror story happened on a county highway in northern Iowa on Halloween night, 2022. There was a scarecrow at every mile marker, and every one of them was facing the road. I’ve told this Halloween night story every October since, and I still can’t drive that road. I was driving home from my … Read more
Every small town Halloween story I ever heard as a kid was about our own town, and every one of them was about Walter Pell. In Halden, Vermont, every porch lights a jack-o’-lantern on October 31st so Walter can find his way home. My family was the only one that didn’t, and the town made … Read more
Most scary babysitter stories start with a phone call. Mine started with a seven-year-old in a dinosaur costume who came back from the sidewalk and asked me why the old man upstairs kept waving at her friends. Anyone who collects home alone scary stories knows the worst part is finding out you were never alone. … Read more
This night shift hotel horror story starts with a wake-up call for a room nobody could be in. Room 214 was out of order and locked in the system, and every night at 3:10 a.m., something in that room still picked up the phone. I worked the night audit at a highway hotel for almost … Read more
This late night radio horror story begins with a sweet little song dedication for the woman in the blue Corolla. Then the caller kept phoning back to tell me exactly where she was driving, and I kept reading it on the air. I hosted overnights at a small radio station in south Georgia for three … Read more
This haunted elevator story comes from a night security guard in Phoenix and a fourth floor that had been gutted down to bare concrete. Nobody had any reason to go up there, but every night at 2:17, the elevator went up anyway. I worked nights as a security guard in an office building in Phoenix … Read more
This truck stop horror story happened during a wind closure on I-80 in Wyoming, when the speaker in the drivers’ lounge called my first name for a shower I never booked. I thought it was a mix-up until the third call came from somewhere it shouldn’t have. I’ve been called just about everything over a … Read more
This fake detour horror story starts on an empty Nebraska highway at midnight, with orange signs that looked exactly like every detour I’d ever followed. A deputy later told me there was no roadwork anywhere on that road, and then he showed me how they picked my car. The detour signs looked exactly like every … Read more