Chloe's Not Scared

I started the #25SpookyStories challenge with the idea that I was gonna blow through it in a second. I found the creator of this challenge, my internet pal Ash (Notebook of Ghosts), when I was writing my thesis on diaries in archives (she’s big into commonplace books). If you don’t follow her on Instagram, you should. She’s held a reading challenge every October and December for a while now, and I love reading cozy horror stories around Christmas. Choose to read either 15 or 25 books (in October, it’s 13 or 31). You can read them all in one day or once a day, and they don’t have to be Christmas-y. You’re even encouraged to make a goal for yourself when you finish the challenge, which I love. Recently, illustrator Sian Ellis created some great graphics to accompany the challenge.

This winter, I gathered all the library’s short story anthologies that I could carry and trudged home in the snow. However, I’m the least motivated person when it gets cold, so the challenge didn’t go exactly as planned. I read a few full short story collections but more often than not, I referenced Notebook of Ghosts’ post compiling free ghost stories online. I also listened to a few podcasts to reach my goal. In total, I may have read a lot more than 25 stories because I read a few whole collections, but I tried to only log the stories that were truly memorable. 

I’ll list all of the collections and stories that I read at the end of this post (and on instagram), but right now, here are some of my favorites compiled into themes.

Speculative Universes

Speculative fiction is a catch-all term for fiction not existing in reality, with supernatural, fantastic and imagined elements. To me, speculative fiction is often rooted in a world that readers recognize, with supernatural enhancements that allow us to think about our own world in a different way.

“Lounge” by Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley is one of the best science fiction stories I’ve ever read. A group of scientists are on an expedition in a cave. When one of the women schedules a “lounge” (a virtual hangout) to get to know the others in the party, the lines between fact and fiction are blurred. I’ll definitely be checking out more speculative fiction from the Qitsualik-Tinsley’s.

V. Castro’s “Truck Stop” felt like a fever dream. I don’t want to give to much of it away, but it was my favorite story that I read for this challenge. The story felt drenched in neon and prosthetics; very sexy, bloody, and Cronenberg-esque. A convent, a truck stop, a diner, and an old school video store all play into it. What’s not to love?!

The Female Gaze (of Death)

Horror about feminine ideals and beauty culture is really fascinating to me, but I also thought this was an appropriate holiday theme, as so many of us (myself included) get concerned with negative body image and unhealthy transformations. Trigger warning: disordered eating, vomit, school shooting, and disfigurement.

“So Perfect” by Stephen Graham Jones is set in one of the scariest locations: high school. A group of girls ingest tick poison to aid in their bulimia. When they ask someone outside of their circle to poison themself too, things go horribly awry. I also want to mention that I think vomit is the through-line of this collection; someone throws up in every story.

V. Castro’s “Cam Girl Sally” is about a survivor of a school shooting who becomes a cam girl. Her videos become an unlikely avenue to advocate for gun control. It is almost like the Kuchisake-onna from Japanese horror folklore, but unlike some stories who use disability and disfigurement as a jump-scare, Castro’s take feels empathetic and empowering. 

A24 Bait

I read a lot of “literary horror” this winter which I could totally see being adapted into an A24 movie. A24 is an American indie production company that do (in my opinion) artsy fartsy movies like Midsommar, The Lighthouse, and The Green Knight. I love them a lot.

“Father, Son and Holy Rabbit” by Stephen Graham Jones is a quiet horror story and is the first story in the collection. A father and son are in stranded in the wilderness, forced to eat a rabbit that seems to be coming back again and again. Are they experiencing a shared hallucination, or is the universe gifting them with sustenance?

The next bleak story is about an unhappy couple mourning a child’s death. In “The Monsters of Heaven” by Nathan Ballingrud, a man finds a wounded angel and together, him and his estranged wife nurse it back to health. I always like stories about angels being straight-up scary.

Complete list of stories

The Ones That Got Away by Stephen Graham Jones

• Father, Son and Holy Rabbit
• Teeth
• So Perfect
• The Meat Tree
• Raphael

Mestiza Blood by V. Castro (look for it January 18th 2022!)

• Donkey Lady Bridge
• Nightmares and ICE
• Cam Girl Sally
• The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
• Truck Stop
• The Final Porn Star

Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories

• Iqsinaqtutalik Piqtiq: The Haunted Blizzard by Aviaq Johnston
• Lounge by Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley
• Strays by Repo Kempt

Weird Stories by Charlotte Riddell

• Walnut Tree House
• Sandy the Tinker

North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud

• You Go Where It Takes You
• The Monsters of Heaven

The People in the Castle by Joan Aiken

• A Leg Full of Rubies
• A Portable Elephant

Free online:

• Smee by A. M. Burrage
• Ofodile by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Christmas Spirits by Grady Hendrix
• Dark Christmas by Jeanette Winterson
• Cancellation Day by Will Rogers

Again, shoutout to Dr. Ash from Notebook of Ghosts and illustrator Sian Ellis for organizing this challenge. Thank you for the good tidings and cheer. A reminder that this is a challenge found primarily on instagram, so if you don’t already, please follow me on instagram!