From The Wicker Man to Ghostwatch, I’ve always been a fan of scary screen shenanigans but I’ve never really embraced literary horror very much. So this October I set myself the challenge of reading fifty ‘classic’ short stories that would be perfect for Halloween; from pioneering gothic to Edwardian ghost stories via body horror and tales of the weird and uncanny where the flesh and blood humans could be creepier than any half-glimpsed spectre. This is my ranking of what I read (one story per author); none of them were terrible and some were masterpieces. I hope they give you some spooky inspiration for All Hallows’ Eve. 50 . All Hallows by Walter de la Mare (1926) A disturbed verger takes a credulous tourist on a twilight tour of a haunted cathedral in a spooky story long on atmosphere but almost entirely devoid of incident. 49. The Tapestried Chamber by Sir Walter Scott (1828) One of the building blocks of the modern ghost story so we’ll forgive this slice of haunted castle fun its