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Short horror texts for older teens

15 replies

Puddypuds · 29/10/2025 10:46

Hi would anyone be able to recommend short snappy texts with a twists. I'm thinking a couple of pages long but that really engage the reader. I'm currently trying to encourage my teen to read (massive uphill struggle) so I was thinking that this might be a good place to start. School have put some ideas forward like The Landlady by Roald Dahl but I wanted something a bit more adult thriller/horror to capture his imagination.

OP posts:
weebarra · 29/10/2025 12:25

I immediately thought of The Lottery!

Tillow4ever · 29/10/2025 16:12

I found all my old “Point Horror” books from when I was a teenager and gave them to my eldest son - he loved reading them, and wasn’t really a reader before that either!

DontGoJasonWaterfalls · 29/10/2025 16:14

Ex English teacher; I taught "The Lottery" as an introduction to a unit on The Hunger Games - big hit!

mydogisanidiott · 29/10/2025 16:18

Tell Tale Heart Edgar Allan Poe
The Vendetta Guy de Maupassant
Frankenstein Mary Shelley - try the adapted play or short read version if the original is too long.
Year 8 love the play version

Pippatpip · 29/10/2025 16:23

The Landlady and also Lamb to the Slaughter are from Dhal’s Tales of the Unexpected aimed at adults. The Landlady is brill. I teach it to Year 9.

LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand · 29/10/2025 16:24

Definitely The Lottery

VikingLady · 29/10/2025 16:39

We did Tales of the Unexpected for GCSE!

Point Horrors were meant to be fairly easy reading. Pulp fiction for teens. I’d recommend them too.

Diggetydawg · 29/10/2025 18:21

DontGoJasonWaterfalls · 29/10/2025 16:14

Ex English teacher; I taught "The Lottery" as an introduction to a unit on The Hunger Games - big hit!

That's a great idea I might start doing that

LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand · 29/10/2025 19:12

The yellow wallpaper is another one

BedlingtonFloof · 29/10/2025 19:16

If you’re cool with him reading Stephen King, then The Boogeyman is a great one. I think it’s 11 or 12 pages long. I loved King in my teens and he seems to still be popular with the teens I know today.

xumakha · 06/11/2025 09:59

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LikeAHandleInTheWind · 06/11/2025 18:26

Conan Doyle wrote horror stories - might be too long but they are very atmospheric. MR James could be worth checking out and the BBC often do a Christmas adaptation of one which might appeal as way in - or the Derek Jacobi audiobooks.

BetteDavisChin · 06/11/2025 18:35

Exactly what I came here to say!

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