Part of the difficulty horror writing faces has to do with the defenses that modern readers bring to genre fiction. Like virtually every other genre, horror only came into its own as a discrete mode ...

Another short story that has already inspired a number of adaptations, but is more relevant today than ever, is 1948’s “The Lottery” — one of the most unsettling works by Shirley Jackson, which is ...

It’s been a long day, and you’re just trying to get some sleep. But as you struggle to drift off, your mind wanders to the dark side. That’s when you know it’s time to get spooked!

So, with Halloween on the horizon, I gathered up what I find to be the 20 most frightening short stories in King’s entire output, from early tales to recent releases. I tried to avoid longer pieces ...