Ideas for spooky stories

A house that was the site of a grisly murder in the past could be a great spooky story idea. The new owners start to notice strange things. Doors open and close on their own, and there are cold spots in certain rooms. They also hear faint screams at night. It turns out the spirit of the murder victim is still trapped in the house, reliving the horror of their death.

In a spooky forest, there's a lost hiker. As night falls, he notices strange lights flickering between the trees. He follows them, thinking it might be a way out. But the lights lead him to an old, gnarled tree with a hollow in it. Inside the hollow, he sees a pair of glowing eyes. Suddenly, he hears a howl and realizes he's not alone in this forest haunted by something otherworldly.

A haunted old mansion. There are creaking floorboards, dusty rooms filled with cobwebs, and portraits on the walls whose eyes seem to follow you. The attic is full of old trunks and strange noises come from it at night.

A haunted house is a classic idea. There could be strange noises at night, like creaking floors and whispers. Doors might open and close on their own. Another idea is a cursed object. Maybe a doll that seems to have a life of its own and causes misfortune to those who possess it. Or a spooky forest where people get lost and encounter shadowy figures that seem to follow them.

Using the idea of isolation can create a spooky atmosphere. If the story is set in a remote location, like a cabin in the woods, it makes the characters seem vulnerable. There's no one around to help if something goes wrong.

Maybe not all of them. There could be stories that are a bit too intense for younger children. If the book contains stories with very vivid descriptions of horror, like gory details or extremely malevolent spirits, it might not be suitable. However, older kids who enjoy a good scare might find many of the stories in the Arrow Book of Spooky Stories quite engaging.

There might be stories of strange creatures in the book. It could be about a werewolf - like creature that lurks in the woods near a small town. People in the town start to notice strange things like livestock going missing, and then some start to claim they saw a large, wolf - like figure but much more menacing. This kind of story, with its elements of mystery and danger, would fit well in a collection of spooky stories like 'the ghost train and other spooky stories'.

One spooky story could be about a haunted house. There might be strange noises at night, like creaking floors and whispering voices. The characters in the story might feel a cold chill whenever they enter certain rooms.

Here are a few more: 'Midnight's Whisper', 'The Phantom's Lair', 'The Bewitched Bridge'. 'Midnight's Whisper' creates an image of a quiet, spooky moment at midnight when you might hear something strange. 'The Phantom's Lair' implies a place where a ghost or phantom resides. And 'The Bewitched Bridge' makes it seem as if the bridge has some sort of magical or spooky curse on it.