# Need a scary short story! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [October 29, 2022, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-scary-short-story/973950 "2022-10-29T04:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 14
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2022, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-scary-short-story/973950/14 "2022-10-29T14:24:22Z")
Figuring out what would scare the OP’s daughter is tricky, for two reasons. One is that different people find different things scary: what’s terrifying to one person is ho-hum to another. (See the [That’s for children?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thats-for-children/973784) thread for examples.) The other reason is that there are different kinds of scary. There are stories that have a shocking ending that stays with you (like the aforementioned “The Jaunt” or “The Lottery”). There are stories that are pervaded by a growing sense of dread or menace (maybe Stephen King’s “1408” is a good example). There are stories that are thrilling or suspenseful and have you scared for the protagonist’s safety. There could be stories that have the literary equivalent of jump scares—and I can’t think of any good examples right now, but that might be what the OP’s daughter is thinking of, since it’s something that’s significantly easier to do on screen than on the page. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-a-scary-short-story/973950)._