From potently succinct nightmares to interactive scares, we pay homage to the Halloween season with a list of frights in different formats.
It’s that time of year again, but instead of another list of horror flicks, we’re shaking things up with a lineup of scares in every form. After all, a good fright doesn’t just live on the big screen. Whether you’re into eerie short films, chilling games, spine-tingling literature, or creepy comics, these picks will fill your Halloween with enough shivers to keep you up all night.
READ ALSO: Horror Is A Feeling: Yvette Tan On The Art Of Fear
Short Horror Stories
Perfect for those read-aloud, “campfire” storytelling sessions with friends, or an evening of indulging in quick frights without the jump scares.
“Seek Ye Whore” by Yvette Tan
An American man purchases a mail-order Filipino bride, but gets a lot more than what he bargained for in the most literal, grotesque way possible—it’s up to you to figure out if he deserves it. Celebrated writer Yvette Tan does what she does best, infusing Filipino culture and politics into a slow, haunting story that deals with themes of objectification and colonization through legends surrounding the island of Siquijor’s traditions of witchcraft.
You can read the story in Tan’s sophomore short fiction collection of the same name, available in select National Bookstore branches.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
More than a century later, Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story remains an oldie but goodie, tracing one woman’s descent into madness as her husband and doctor isolate her in a room to “cure” her post-partum depression. It’s not just a feminist masterwork, but a shining example of how psychological horror can seep under the skin without anything overtly otherworldly at play. There’s something hypnotic about witnessing her descent into madness, yet it’s the quiet cruelty of being dismissed and silenced that leaves the deepest chill.
“Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler
In 1979, Alien popularized the idea of turning a human into a host vessel for extraterrestrial life in that famous “Chestburster” scene (iykyk). In 1995, renowned sci-fi writer Octavia Butler released an equally memorable and traumatizing short story in the same spirit entitled “Bloodchild.” Set in a world where humans coexist with insect-like aliens who ensure their survival (at a cost), it follows a young man who becomes part of an uneasy pact that explores themes of power, consent, and bodily autonomy, resulting in disgustingly compelling imagery you’ll have a hard time forgetting—it’s sci-fi horror at its finest.
Horror Books
Got some extra time on your hands? Curl up with these horror novels that build their scares slowly, layering atmosphere in ways that’ll stay with you long after you’ve finished reading.
Bunny by Mona Awad
A delicious blend of dark satire, psychological horror, and just the right amount of gore, Awad’s Bunny is the even more unhinged cousin of 1988’s Heathers. Samantha Mackey is an MFA Creative Writing student at a small, elite school in New England—out of place, cynical, yet secretly hungry for belonging and connection, she finds herself both drawn and repulsed by a group of coursemates who call themselves the “Bunnies.”
Frilly, decked in pastel, and moving like a giggly bright hivemind, the group of girls just seem like your average clique—but strange things begin to happen as they welcome Samantha into their elusive fold, blurring the lines between reality and fiction as their obsession with their craft reaches a fever pitch. Funny and unapologetically weird, Awad’s book is an examination of the complexities of female friendships, as well as a tongue-in-cheek critique of the absurdities of higher education in the fine arts.
Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
A fairly short novel, Our Wives Under the Sea centers on a sapphic couple whose lives are upended when one of them returns from an underwater expedition gone wrong. Some might say it’s more heartwrenching than scary, a chronicle of what it feels like to have someone you love suddenly become a stranger in both a physical and psychological sense.
Yet its scenes of a crew stuck in the deep, vast, unknowable darkness of the ocean are claustrophobia-inducing, made more eerie with the mystery of what really happened onboard the submarine. If you have thalassophobia of any kind, this book will echo long after the last page.
We Have Always Lived in a Castle by Shirley Jackson
We Have Always Lived in the Castle is yet another story that isn’t supernatural or blatantly frightening, but in the hands of a master like Shirley Jackson, its atmosphere of dread, death, and psychological decay becomes an experience in itself. Two sisters, Constance and her younger sibling Merricat, live in a large, isolated home with their ailing uncle, ostracized by the nearby town after Constance was accused of poisoning their family with arsenic.
The two girls move through a dreary yet oddly calm existence despite the hostility. Merricat is lost in the protective world she has built for herself until their greedy cousin Charles arrives, pretending to help but driven by his own motives. What follows is an unraveling that drives the sisters even further from society and toward a tragic kind of self-erasure.
Short Horror Films
For those times you’re craving horror cinema in a compact form—effective in delivering frights with compelling premises in so little time.
“Other Side of the Box” (dir. Caleb J. Phillips)
ALTER’s YouTube channel is full of amazing horror shorts, but one of the most innovative and unnerving is Caleb J. Phillips’ “Other Side of the Box.” Words can’t capture how the filmmaker uses sound, timing, and some of the creepiest visuals imaginable to mess with your senses, all without big special effects.
The premise: a couple receives an empty box with an endless void. They look away, and a man appears, forehead first. Each time the couple takes their eyes away from it, he emerges from the box some more. You’ll need to watch the entire thing to really feel the chest-tightening sense of panic from the well-executed concept, which also bleeds into the viewing experience on a meta level.
“Pleasant Inn” (dir. David Romero)
Animator David Romero’s short “Pleasant Inn” masterfully uses paranoia, rapid movements, and suspense to deliver a gruesome seven-minute fight for survival. A woman stops at an inn, only to have her stay violently interrupted by a monstrous, invasive visitor. From the very first frame, it’s clear that no other medium could heighten the otherworldly threat quite like animation.
“Pickman’s Model” from Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities
Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities is a delightfully twisted anthology—like a candy bag filled with sparkling, unsettling horrors. But one story stands out above the rest: the adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Pickman’s Model.” A visually stunning period piece, it lingers in the mind, especially with its gory final scene.
Young art student Will Thurber meets the peculiar and reclusive Richard Pickman, whose works of twisted creatures and the occult feel all too real to be made up. What begins as fascination quickly becomes a curse, as Thurber’s life is forever haunted by the horrifying images and figures Pickman reveals.
You can find “Pickman’s Model” and all other episodes of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities on Netflix Philippines.
Horror Comics
A great horror comic amplifies fear through sequential visuals, setting the tone and guiding you through the story at your own pace.
“The Hole the Fox Did Make” by E.M. Carroll
E.M. Carroll is one of the brightest voices in Western horror, known for his distinctive visuals and masterful storytelling. “The Hole the Fox Did Make” is one of his more quietly unsettling works, focusing less on his signature body horror and more on the supernatural threats lurking behind a dark secret.
Grade schooler Regan begins having “wonderful” dreams of figures in fine clothes and a mysterious woman whispering vague, ominous warnings about a past she knows nothing about. Rendered in melancholic black-and-white linework, the comic is a poetic unraveling that depicts childhood innocence colliding with harsh, violent realities.
“The Enigma of Amigara Fault” by Junji Ito
Junji Ito is arguably one of the most influential figures in Japanese horror today. With a recognizably detailed style that takes the physicality of gruesome occurrences, spirits, and monsters to new heights, you can see why. But what truly sets his work apart—like many of the titles on this list—is the way he turns the mundane into pure, mind-bending terror. He doesn’t just explore everyday fears, he creates them.
In “The Enigma of Amigara Fault,” human-shaped holes mysteriously appear on Amigara Mountain after an earthquake, drawing people into something far more sinister. I won’t spoil the brilliance, but this story is a chilling meditation on the fragility of the human mind; you’ll never look at small, tight spaces the same way again.
Horror Video Games
Horror video games are often underrated, but they combine the best of all worlds: storytelling, visuals, immersive sound, and—most importantly—interaction that draws you directly into the narrative. When fear relies on empathy and visceral experience, games deliver like no other medium.
The very best horror stories don’t just go for cheap scares (a pattern you’ll notice across this list). They’re the clever ones that probe the human heart of terror, no matter how otherworldly the threats become.
Mouthwashing
This first-person horror game from Sweden made waves in 2024 with unforgettable visuals and a nuanced story that lets players piece its mystery together themselves. A psychological spiral through and through, you play Jimmy: one of five crew members aboard the space freighter Tulpar, stranded after a sudden crash. Their captain, Curly, is burned beyond recognition, and as supplies dwindle and tensions rise, players uncover the reasons behind the disaster—slowly realizing that Jimmy may not be the protagonist he thinks he is.
Mouthwashing is available on Steam.
Inscryption
Inscryption is one of the most creatively structured and intriguing horror games in recent years. It begins as a card game: you sit in a cabin across from a sinister figure, your deck composed of talking animals that reveal pieces of the world as you use (and sacrifice) them, along with parts of yourself. Just when you think you’ve grasped the game, it throws two more layers of story at you, thickening the plot in exceptionally unnerving ways. Inscryption isn’t meant to be rushed; it’s a game to savor step by step. Just don’t play it at night—it gets under your skin in more ways than one.
Inscryption is available on Steam/PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Playstation.
