7 Spooky Short Stories to Teach Around Halloween
By
Presto Plans

This post originally appeared on the blogPresto Plans.
I absolutely adore teaching spooky, creepy, scary short stories. The suspense, the twists and turns in the plot lines, and the sinister characters always seem to draw students in. This is why I use Halloween as an excuse to spend Octobers studying my favorite eerie and freaky short stories.
Below you’ll find a list of my absolute favorite ones that are great to teach around Halloween (or really at any time in the year) along with some teaching tips and assignment ideas!
If you’d like to check out this complete unit in my store, click here ===> Spooky Short Story Unit
- A Sound Of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
This story follows Eckels, a hunter who pays to go back in time to hunt the most ferocious beast that ever lived: the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The hunters are given strict instructions not to touch anything while visiting the past as any small interruption of the natural process could have an irreversible effect on the future. Unfortunately, when fear enters the equation, things don’t quite go as planned!
When I teach this story, I usually begin with a little pre-reading discussion on time travel. I have students imagine that they have access to a time machine and have the opportunity to go back to witness a historical event or meet a particular person from the past. You’ll be really surprised at the variety of choices from your students. I also have them consider whether the invention of a time travel would be a positive or a negative.
After students have read the original text, I also love to show them the EC Comics adaptation of the story as it stays incredibly true to the plot line and hooks even your most reluctant readers. You can access this version here ===>: EC Comic Interpretation Of A Sound Of Thunder
The literary elements I focus on during this story are characterization (particularly the development of Eckels) foreshadowing, figurative comparisons (metaphor, simile, personification are used throughout the text), and the theme that even small things can have a big impact (the butterfly effect).

Bradbury is known for his ability to create vivid images for his readers, so for a final assignment, I focus on improving students’ descriptive writing by having them examine Bradbury’s description of the T-Rex (see an excerpt below and be prepared to be blown away by the imagery). I have students use it as inspiration to write their own descriptive paragraph .


Check out my resources for teaching this story here ===> A Sound Of Thunder - Lamb To The Slaughter by Roald Dahl
Enter Mary Maloney, a loving and devoted housewife who receives the terrible and unexpected news that her husband is leaving her. Mary, in her incredible shock, enters a trance and commits an unspeakable act that no one sees coming.
I do a whole-class reading of this story and choose students to play the different roles. I bring in some basic costume props (and by bring in, I mean swipe from the school’s theatre costume room) and have students come to the front of the class to read their lines and act out the scene. They really get into the story this way, and of course, they love the part with the frozen lamb leg! A little tip: print out a script for each character and highlight each of their individual parts. It makes things go much more smoothly.
Here is a list of what you might want to have for costumes and props
Yarn/thread and needleA glassSomething that looks like a leg of lamb (I just stuff a brown paper bag – see picture below)Potatoes, a can of beans, and cheesecake (you can also just print pictures of these things)A woman’s dress (for Mary)An apron (for the grocer)Dress shirts with police badges (print a badge) for Patrick, Noonan, and O’Malley

The literary element I focus most on with this story is dramatic irony. We also discuss the idea of guilt and whether or not Mary’s actions were justified. It always makes for an interesting ethical discussion.
As a final creative assignment, I have students write Mary Maloney’s Secret Diary. They write three entries from specific important moments in the plot.
Check out my resources for teaching this story here ===> Lamb To The Slaughter - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
Enter the mind of a disturbed narrator attempting to convince the reader of his sanity while telling the story of how he came to commit a murder. The story focuses on the reasons for the man’s actions, the process he takes, and the guilt and paranoia he feels.
There are lots of new vocabulary terms in this story, so before we even begin reading, we do some pre-reading vocabulary work to prep students for this more challenging read. After reading, we also do some work with figurative language as Poe so skillfully uses alliteration, simile, and personification in this story as a tool to enhance description. I also have students examine the internal conflict (person vs. self) of the speaker and consider whether or not he is a reliable or unreliable narrator.
As a final creative assignment, I have students choose between two assignments.
The first one has students create a detailed police report from one of the police officer’s perspective. Students will include a detailed account of the ‘suspect’, the crime scene, and the evidence.
The second assignment has students write a prequel or a sequel to the story. If students choose prequel, they explain how the narrator came to live with the old man and what came to make him so fearful of “the eye.” If students choose sequel, they will explain what happens after the speaker confesses his crime.
Trick and treat