What’s the scariest story you can think of? For some kids, it might be a movie or a ghost in their room at night. For others, it might be being alone in an unfamiliar place.
Kids love scary stories, but they are usually too young to watch horror movies. Scary stories for kids can be a great way to introduce them to the genre without scarring them for life and the best part about them is that they are in their imaginations.
The next time you’re reading a story to your kids or telling one at night before bed, try adding an element of fear to it so they can get scared out of their minds! Some of these tales might not fit with your idea of what is appropriate for little ones, so make sure you know who you are telling them to!
Here are some tips on how to make your tales more terrifying. First off, a scary story should have an evil twist ending… I know this sounds crazy but if you say “and then Alice went home” right when she was just about to be eaten by zombies, it will definitely puzzle them and keep them thinking for weeks.
Another great thing would be talking about things like ghosts, vampires, and other paranormal creatures because many children find these types of beings
Scary Stories for Kids
Have fun reading some spooky stories with your friends and family tonight!
The Tale of Peter (for Older kids)
In a small town, there was a boy named Peter. He was born to an ordinary family with two happy parents and one younger sister. However, his aunt died from cancer at the age of 40. It was a tragedy that had impacted him deeply, but he found some comfort in visiting her grave every day before school.
When he was around 20, he got a job at the local hospital as an orderly. While walking by one of the rooms late at night, he saw something sitting on top of the bed. He quickly realized that it was his aunt’s head, just how she looked in death!
One day during lunch break, Peter decided to visit his aunt’s grave, as he usually did. When he arrived, he found that the tombstone was not there anymore! He began searching all over the graveyard until dark but couldn’t find it anywhere.
The next day, he went to the cemetery keeper and asked if he knew anything about his aunt’s stone being moved or taken away. The old man at the counter told him that he knew nothing about it, but if he wanted to talk about something really strange, then he should know that there was a murder in his neighborhood not too long ago.
The murderer had killed three people and escaped into the forest. When Peter asked what the murderer looked like, the old man described exactly how Peter’s aunt looked in death!
When Peter returned home, he decided to talk with his mother about it. His mother was only a little surprised by the news of her sister being gone from her grave, but she didn’t have any details as to what happened to her body.
At the end of their conversation, Peter reminded his mother that she had told him to never walk through the forest alone. He asked why, and she explained that not long ago, there was an escaped criminal that killed a lot of people in a very brutal way. One day he was caught and Peter’s aunt happened to be one of the people he killed…
These stories are really scary, right? Now you can make up your own scary story!
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The Book of Ghost Friend
A man was walking home from work at night when he saw something coming toward him but then vanished into thin air. He saw the same figure again when he was in his house, looking out the window. He thought nothing of it at first, but then things started to go missing in his house when the figure would appear.
One day, when he was sitting on his couch watching TV, he saw that no one had turned it off. He turned it off and went to go to bed as usual, but as he was walking up the stairs, he heard something coming from the basement. He stopped dead in his tracks and called out into the darkness: “Who’s there?” There was no reply, but he could hear something shuffling around down there.
After a few moments of hesitation, he decided to go into his bedroom and lock the door. But before he could close it all the way, something burst through the other side of the door! The man dropped dead on the spot…
The next day, some people came to investigate what happened. They went down into the basement where they found a book titled “Ghost Friend.”They figured that the man must’ve found the book and started reading it with an open mind, but never got to the end. From that point on, a man was never seen in the area again, but every few nights the book would mysteriously appear in people’s houses.
They all got scared and threw it away somewhere where nobody could find it and if you ever do come across it… make sure you read the whole thing to the end!
The Witch and The Little Girl
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Amanda who loved playing with her dog outside. On one sunny afternoon, Amanda went to play fetch with him in the backyard. When she threw the stick, her dog brought it back and then ran off toward their pumpkin patch. Puzzled by why he would want to ruin their pumpkins. Amanda followed him. As she approached, Amanda saw a little old woman digging out a patch of dirt in the middle of the pumpkin patch.
As soon as she saw her dog running toward her, she began to run away from the witch and tripped over a turnip left on the ground. When Amanda stood back up, unaware that she had fallen, she discovered the witch carrying a large bag full of stolen candy. The witch began running back to her house as fast as she could. Amanda picked up a stick and threw it at the old woman with all her might, but to no avail.
As Amanda returned to the house, she saw her mother watching through the window. The witch looked up at their windows and smiled. Amanda knew in an instant that this was no ordinary old woman, but instead the local witch who lived in their town. After discovering what happened, Amanda’s mother took it upon herself to warn all of the parents in the town about the danger.
They all knew that if their children were out after dark, she would probably come and take them away. The parents sent Amanda to stay with her grandmother until the witch was caught and locked up in a cage. They hung her from a tree for everyone to see what happens when you steal candy from children during trick-or-treating.
Everyone knew not to go near the old woman’s house after dark for fear of being kidnapped by her. The witch died in prison and no one heard from or about her ever again.
From then on, parents kept their children indoors after dark during Halloween.
The end
The Scary Tall Tree

One day, there was a man who needed to chop down a tree. He went out into the forest and found one that was just about right. So, he decided to go home for his ax so that he could cut it down. After looking around for a solid hour, he realized that he had lost it. So, before trying to search for it again, he decided to rest and take a nap. As he fell asleep, the man heard a branch that was draped into the ground. Because of this, he slept soundly through the night.
The next morning, as soon as it grew light enough to see, the man awoke from his slumber and began his search for his ax. He looked behind, below, and all around the tree, he had planned to chop down. After searching for about an hour, he finally found it just where that branch was draped into the ground.
As soon as he got home with his ax, his friends asked him how it went. He told them what happened and they laughed at him. They told him that he was an idiot and needed to watch where he placed his tools. So, the man listened to them and watched out for his ax or anything else that might be around.
A few days later, the same thing happened again, except this time it involved a tree stump with a nail sticking up on it. The man once again searched on and on for his lost ax, but he could not find it anywhere. So, in turn, he searched for his ax in the same place where it was the last time.
As soon as he found it sticking up from behind a stump, the man tried to pull out his ax by pulling on that nail. It worked all too well when that nail broke off into his hand instead of coming out with the blade. The man ran home with his hand, which was soon wrapped in cloth and thrown into a bucket of salve.
That same night the man was asleep again when something stuck its foot out of the bucket that held his hand. He kicked it away and went back to sleep. He did not know how long it had been there, but when he awoke he noticed that it had gone away. He pushed the bandage off, and his hand was back to normal again.
When morning came, he knew he could never forget to watch where his ax was at all costs. So, whenever he went into the forest or wherever there was bush, he always kept an eye on his ax to make sure it would not disappear on him again.
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The Demon of the Hill
A long long time ago, there lived a girl and her parents in a village. Their house is near a big hill. but it is quite far from any other house in the village. one night, when the girl was asleep, she heard some sound and woke up and saw two pairs of red glowing eyes staring at her from the window. She got scared and ran to her parent’s room, but the door was bolted from inside. she started banging on the door, “Dad! Mom!” … but there’s no reply from them.
With fear in mind, she went back to her bedroom and saw a huge black figure walking towards her slowly… it took a long swing and hit her… she woke up and realized it was just a dream. “dad! mom!“ The girl called again to let her parents know that she’s awake, but there were no replies from them, so she went back to sleep.
The next morning, when the villagers found the girl dead in front of her house, they were shocked and ran towards the house to see what happened. They saw her parents dead too in their bedroom. Without a doubt, they all knew that the girl was killed by an animal or something during the night. so, they left her there and went back to their houses after locking everything down.
At night, people started hearing some sound again from the same house. so, some brave men from the village went back to the house and saw a large black figure was running towards them as swiftly as it could… they couldn’t see its face, but they know it has red eyes…
it is said that the monster killed every villager who saw him or who heard him during the night… After a few days, no one lives in that village anymore.
It is said that if you ever come across this demon, just close your eyes and don’t look at her…
Happy Halloween!
The Giant Who Took Kids Away
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Emma who lived in the woods. She never stayed indoors because she loved watching her friends play. One day, when she went to watch them, she noticed how strange they were acting so she started to follow them. They walked for about an hour until they finally stopped at a house that looked really creepy.
It was a huge cottage that looked like a normal cottage but at the same time, it did not look normal at all because it was much bigger than other houses in town! When she got closer to them, she noticed they were holding something behind their backs and talking about how smart they were for doing this.
Suddenly, the door opened and a big woman appeared on the doorstep. “Come in!” she said as she opened her arms to welcome everyone inside. They went into the cottage one by one until it was only Emma left outside. She stared at them from behind a tree but that didn’t last long because one of them saw her looking at them.
“Who is that girl staring at us?” he asked as they all turned to look at Emma. They started walking towards her until she ran away as fast as she could! She ran and ran until she couldn’t run anymore so she decided to climb a tree. As soon as she climbed high enough, the kids got to the tree.
“Come down!” one of them shouted as they started shaking the tree until it fell. Emma screamed as she hit the ground and then everything went dark. When she woke up, she was inside a room with dirt for a floor and rock walls all around her. The only light that shone through were cracks in the roof so it was really hard to see what was going on.
“Hello?” Emma called out but there was no one around to answer her call so she started walking around in the dark until she found a locked door. She banged her fists against the door and shouted at the top of her lungs but when nobody answered, she gave up and went to a corner of the room. She sat there quietly until she heard footsteps getting louder and louder until the door swung open.
“We’re here! The giant has come to get you!” one of the kids shouted as he opened the door with his friends behind him. They laughed as they walked towards her but their laughter stopped when they noticed that she was gone! When Emma looked up, the giant was looking down at her.
“Where are you? I’m right here!” he shouted but Emma could not answer him because she had fallen asleep while waiting for them to open the door. He picked her up and brought her back to his cottage where he locked her up in a dark room. As soon as he left, Emma heard him talking to himself about how smart he was for tricking the kids into thinking she was still there.
Emma waited until it got really dark before she started calling and banging on the door but there was no answer so she ran around the room and shouted but still, there was no answer. She sat in a corner of the room and cried until she fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up to a loud noise coming from outside. She ran to the door and opened it but instead of her friends being on the other side, there was a door on the other side. She banged on it with her fists and called out for help but there was no one to hear her cry for help so she decided to find a way out of the cottage alone!
She ran around until she found a window but when she tried looking through it, all she saw were trees and nothing else. When it got dark again, the giant came back to see Emma trying to squeeze through the window.
“Hey! Where are you going? Emma ran and ran and finally saw her friends standing in front of her. They hugged her and then led her back to their normal houses. When they asked Emma why she was so scared she told them what had all happened. They decided to go back and never come to the area again.
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The Scary Garden
It was a beautiful moonlit night and Motshegwa, my dog, started howling. I got up from bed and as I opened the door to his run as usual he went quiet. At that time we had a terrace with a high wall separating us from our neighbors. I called him but no reply came. This is really strange I thought as I stepped out onto the terrace.
I saw him lying with his belly up, looking at something inside those bushes that were all over our wall. What was he doing there? And why didn’t he come when I called? So I decided to call him again and as soon as he heard my voice, 2 glowing eyes appeared through the bushes.
I shrieked…as I saw what was behind those bushes…Trying to escape…but…too late! A hand grabbed me by the neck and pushed me back, against the wall. I was horribly scared when I noticed that it wasn’t a human being holding me from behind, but a monster, something not of this world! I tried to scream but I couldn’t as its other hand was covering my mouth. With one forceful push…it threw me over the wall…I fell inside the neighbor’s garden.
As soon as I landed on my feet…I turned around and ran away from there as fast as possible…Barely managing to keep my balance, I ran down our street into the main road. As soon as I reached there…I bumped into someone…I turned around and saw a lady…She asked me what happened so I told her everything that just happened to me. She reassured me…told me not to worry.
“Don’t be afraid?” she said…as she pointed at something behind me.
I turned around and I found Motshegwa there, hiding in the dark…” He was the one calling you.” said that lady. “But why didn’t he come when I called him?” I asked her while stroking my dog who was looking at me with a guilty look on his face.
When I asked him…he started barking and pointing at the bushes where I first saw those glowing eyes! That’s when we both heard some howls coming from that direction. A few moments later…I saw 3 more glowing eyes peeping through the bushes..after a while, they disappeared..leaving us there with an uncertain feeling.
The next morning…I saw that woman again…”Tell me, what is behind those bushes which you call the scary garden ?” I asked her with curiosity.” People say that at night a ghost dog is living there who eats whoever gets near him.” she replied with a smile on her face… “But I know the truth…the dog you saw last night is not a ghost but an ordinary hungry stray dog who often comes here to eat the scraps of food I throw over the wall for him. He has puppies somewhere near there…”
“I know this because once when I was throwing some food to that dog…I heard some puppy cries coming from that direction. That’s when I decided to give them some food as well.”
“Whenever I throw those scraps of food over the wall, that dog growls at me with a threatening look but then just before he attacks me…his hungry puppies come running from behind and pull him back…that’s why you saw him lying there with his belly up”
“I know that the dog you saw last night is not a ghost but he looks like it when he stands in front of you in all his hairy glory. So I thought someone was trying to scare you away from there.”
She asked me to forget everything she told me because she didn’t want anyone taking pictures of this ‘ghost’ dog and then publishing it on the web.
“Just because that dog looks like a ghost doesn’t mean he is one,” she said as she went inside her house…I never saw her again after that day…as for myself.. I’ve forgotten everything I saw except those eyes which looked so much like those of a monster’s…
End
The Scary Doll Story

I was at my friend’s house, and her mom had gotten her a new baby doll. I was afraid of the baby doll because it looked evil to me. but anyway, after she told me that she got a new baby doll, one day I went over there again to play with her. Anyway, her mom was at a meeting, and we were in her room. Suddenly she said,” ya know, I have a surprise for you!!”
“Oh really?” I said to her,” what is it?” “Well…” She gets the baby doll from off of her bed and brings it over to me with a smile on her face. This time when I walked into her room I saw her holding the baby doll. That was no surprise for me so we sat on the couch and played with our dolls.
All of a sudden she pulls this red ball out of the baby doll’s mouth. I screamed because I thought it was real blood! She laughed and said, “It’s not REAL BLOOD!” I cried and she said, “Look inside the mouth of the baby doll.” After that I felt a little better, but then I realized it was just because of its appearance. It scared me because of its looks, but not anymore.
Now I play with the doll all the time!
It Was Just a Dream… or Was It?
This is a scary story for kids. It’s also one of those stories that make people think twice before going to sleep at night.
In this story, there was a young boy named Carlos who had been having trouble sleeping for as long as he could remember. He would lay awake in bed, trying his best to fall asleep, when suddenly he would feel a pair of cold bony fingers gently stroke the back of his neck. He said that it felt like someone was sitting in bed with him, but no matter how much he looked around there seemed to be nobody in the room.
He started running down the hall when suddenly a head popped out from around the corner.
to find that his grandfather was nowhere in sight and that no matter how fast he ran, no matter which direction he turned, there always seemed to be something lurking just behind him.
Blinded with fear and running as fast as his legs would carry him, Carlos ran headlong into the closet door and knocked himself out.
The next morning, Carlos’ mother found him on the floor of his bedroom with a huge bump on his head and no memory of how he had gotten there.
After that night, Carlos stopped having trouble sleeping and never experienced anything unusual ever again.
What do you think about it?
The Creepy Clown (Scariest Story in Our List)

Once, there lived a girl named Kimiko, who was 12 years old. She had long black hair with bangs that reached her eyebrows which were right above her graceful dark eyes. Her father was famous for being one of the wealthiest people in the city. Every day after school, she would walk to the park near her house and sit there for a while.
One day as she was sitting at the park bench reading a book, a group of 3 kids came up to her and asked if she wanted to play with them. She replied saying that they should go away because she did not want to play with them. They were laughing at her because they thought that she was scared of them. One boy pulled down her glasses which made her very mad, so she threw the book she was holding in his face.
Everybody started to laugh again and ran away except for one kid who stayed sitting next to Kimiko, he had red hair and freckles. He wore a purple sweater, black shorts, and red shoes. At first, Kimiko thought he was going to be mean to her but instead he said, “My name is Tom”.
She replied with a simple hi, thinking that there might be something wrong with him. Then they both started playing together which made Kimiko very happy. A few minutes later they ran into the house across the street with no adults around, Kimiko started to get scared.
As she saw how bad it looked inside, she was very surprised. She asked Tom if he knew whose house it was and he said yes. He also told her that nobody would ever come here because this is where Jack-O-Lantern lived. She looked at the door and saw a light turn on.
They both ran into a room that was full of toys, they started to play. A few seconds later Kimiko heard someone running up the stairs so she grabbed Tom’s hand and they started freaking out because of what was happening. After a couple of seconds, they hear someone talking from behind the door, it was a man with a deep voice.
He said, “Who’s in my house?” Kimiko replied saying “Nobody sir.” The man replied saying that there were people in his house and he went to find them. Then Tom whispered into her ear to hide behind the curtains next to them because they were going to get caught. It turned out to be a clown with a Halloween dress.
He looked at them and asked what they were doing in his house. She said they were just playing. They thought the clown would kill them. the clown said thank god you came. I don’t have any friends. Let’s play together and be friends. It turned out it was just a rumor about the clown being scary. He was a good clown and slowly all the kids became friends with him.
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Summary
This blog post was written with the intention of being a fun way to entertain kids. The top ten list is not meant to scare anyone or make them feel uncomfortable, but instead provides some good spooky stories for children who are looking for something new and exciting.
If you have any more suggestions on how we can improve this article, please let us know in the comments below! Have your child read one of these scary tales tonight before bedtime- they’re sure to enjoy it! Happy Halloween!
Naomi is an educator with 2 decades of experience working with children of all ages. She is a keen observer of the magic and importance of Maths in our daily lives. Follow me on Linkedin