Hallowe’en Special: Scary Stories from Around the World by Lucy Owen

Below is a small collection of book suggestions from Twitter and Instagram for those who can be persuaded to indulge in some international horror this Hallowe’en!

 

The Beetle by Richard Marsh

(Picture Credit: Penguin Classics)

 

The Beetle is an English horror story about an Ancient Egyptian supernatural entity that torments a British politician for defiling a sacred tomb. It was written in 1897 and initially outsold Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was published in the same year.

 

The Wish Dog and Other Stories

(Picture Credit: Honno Press )

 

The Wish Dog and Other Stories is a collection of 18 short stories written by Welsh women. The stories range from a chilling retelling of Babes in the Wood to a story about a lonely woman who seeks companionship from an imaginary dog.

 

The Decapitated Chicken by Horacio Quiroga

(Picture Credit: Livraria de Travessa )

 

The Decapitated Chicken is a Uruguayan short story about a couple who have five children. After their four sons are stricken by meningitis, they begin to neglect them. When their fifth child is born, parental neglect leads to a horrific conclusion.

 

Der Struwwelpeter by Heinrich Hoffmann

(Picture Credit: Barnes and Noble )

 

Der Struwwelpeter is an illustrated children’s book of rhyming stories written by German psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffmann as a means of scaring children into behaving. One story depicts a girl who burns to death while playing with matches.

 

Le Horla by Guy de Maupassant

(Picture Credit: Furet du Nord)

 

Le Horla is a French short story written in 1887 about a man who unwittingly invites a supernatural being into his life. Spanning four days, the narrator journals his growing fear that an entity is watching him sleep…

 

Gyo by Junji Ito

(Picture Credit: Medium.com)

 

Gyo is a Japanese horror manga series about an invasion of Okinawa by undead marine life that has mysteriously grown legs. These sea creatures are driven by an odour known as the death stench. This story notably includes an undead great white shark with legs (see picture).

 

Lucy Owen