Bailey Breathing

Do you have a teen that loves horror movies? TV mysteries? Dark humor? Get them reading with this list of short fiction with dark themes for teens.

1. Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allan Poe
2. The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
3. The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe
4. A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury
5. The Veldt by Ray Bradbury
6. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell
7. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
8. Showdown by Shirley Jackson
9. Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
10. The Landlady by Roald Dahl
11. The Legend of Sleepy Hallow by Washington Irving
12. Was it a Dream? by Guy de Maupassant
13. The Flowers by Alice Walker
14. Click-Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman
15. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
16. Fairy Tales by The Brothers Grimm (the originals)
17. The Money’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs
18. The Wives of the Dead by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Each of these pieces of short fiction with dark themes for teens I used frequently in my high school English classroom. They are engaging, suspenseful, and teen thriller junky approved.

What is your favorite dark short story? Are there any you think should be added to this list? Let me know in the comments!

For more resources for your teens click here.