Who said that ghost stories only happen around Halloween? Summer horror can be just as chilling. Here is a list of horror short stories found in the public domain that are free to read, perfect for a hot summer day.
Although the nights are shorter during summer and the sun vanquishes the long shadows, the time is no less haunted. The ghosts under the midsummer sun can be just as scary as those appearing on a stormy winters night. With the rise of summer vacationing in the Victorian area, there was also a flux of ghost stories set in this time. This opened for more stories centered around renting a haunted summer cabin, ghosts in the rose gardens and travelers finding strange places where monsters lurk.
Read Also: Wrong Season? If not summer, have a look at Top Free Horror Stories In The Public Domain To Read For Halloween
These stories, set during the warm and often deceptively calm summer months, create a stark contrast to the chilling ghostly encounters they depict, enhancing their eerie and suspenseful atmospheres. Here are some of the short stories of ghost stories and haunted places in the public domain you can read for free perfect for the summer days.
The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell — A haunted house mystery
The Open Door recounts a man’s unsettling visit to a manor house in the summer, where he is cautioned about the mysterious door that leads to a haunted room. It’s a classic ghost story written about someone vacationing in a haunted house during the summer that the Victorian popularized. Written by Charlotte Riddell in 1882 under her pseudonym Mrs. J. H. Riddell, known for her chilling horror tales.
Read the text version:
The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell
Listen to the audio version:
The Wind in the Rose-bush by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman — A ghostly encounter by the roses
This short story was first published in 1913 in The Wind in the Rosebush and Other Stories of the Supernatural. Her books dealt with Puritanism, and she was one of the first women in America to be elected to the National Institute for Arts and Letters. She was distantly related to another American writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Set during the late summer, this story involves a about a spinster Rebecca Flint who has come to Ford Village to take her elder sister’s daughter with her back to Michigan. But something about the village is strange and she encounters strange and ghostly things surrounding a rose-bush in the garden.
Read the text version:
The Wind in the Rose-bush by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Listen to the audio version:
The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford — Ghostly tale of a summer crossing the Transatlantic
“The Upper Berth” is a short story written by F. Marion Crawford, first published in 1886. The story takes place aboard a transatlantic ocean liner in June. A passenger named Brisbane travels this distance frequently. When the steward behaves oddly while taking his luggage to his stateroom, number 105, he thinks it’s odd, but continues his travels. In the middle of the first night his roommate suddenly leaps down from the upper berth and runs out of the cabin. The morning after he finds out that his roommate has gone overboard. According to the rumors, he was the fourth person staying at that very upper berth to have done the same.
Read the text version:
The Upper Berth by F. Marion Crawford
Listen to the audio version:
The Haunted Orchard by Richard Le Gallienne — The haunted summer in the apple orchard
“The Haunted Orchard” by Richard Le Gallienne is a ghost story that takes place in the countryside during the summer. The story follows a man who rents a country house in order to get some rest and inspiration for his work. The house has an old orchard that immediately captures his interest due to its neglected state and the eerie beauty of the overgrown apple trees. He begins to notice a mysterious presence in the orchard. One night, he encounters the ghostly figure of a beautiful young woman among the apple trees. She seems to be searching for something or someone and is clearly tied to the orchard in some tragic way. The story delves into the themes of lost love and lingering sorrow, as the man becomes more involved in uncovering the story behind the haunting and the tragic past of the ghostly figure.
Read the text version:
The Haunted Orchard by Richard Le Gallienne
Listen to the audio version:
The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — A haunted house tale of a summer vacation
Charlotte Perkins Gilman‘s short story The Giant Wistaria from 1891 is less known than her iconic story The Yellow Wallpaper, a feminist classic and deals with patriarchal values and the repression of women’s sexuality and motherhood. It starts off with a story about an unwed girl with a child and the family discussing what to do with her. The father wants to marry her to her cousin and leave the child behind when they leave the country. Years later, a young couple rents the house and starts to joke around with it being haunted. And perhaps they are right.
Read the text version:
The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Listen to the audio version:
One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce — A horror story about being buried alive a summer night
The short story One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce tells the story about a man realizing how he has been buried alive and how he has to deal with it and accept his fate. The story was first published in Cosmopolitan in 1906, and written by a writer who disappeared and was as mysterious as his stories.
Read the text version:
One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce
Listen to the audio version:
The Sand-Walker by Fergus Hume — The tale of a ghost haunting the beach of the English sea town
The Sand-Walker is a short story written by Fergus Hume. It was first published in the collection: The Dancer in Red, and Other Stories in 1906. It’s about a man coming to the beaches in England one summer where he is warned: Whatever you do, don’t go on to the beaches at dusk, or the Sand-Walker will come to your window at night.
Read the text version:
The Sand-Walker by Fergus Hume
Listen to the audio version:
The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling — Horror story from monsoon season in India
“The Phantom Rickshaw” by Rudyard Kipling is a haunting tale set in colonial India at the end of the monsoon season, where British officer Jack Pansay is tormented by the ghost of his former lover, Agnes Keith-Wessington, whom he had callously abandoned. Following her death, Pansay begins to see her spectral figure riding in a rickshaw, relentlessly haunting him. His repeated encounters with the ghost drive him to the brink of madness, as his fiancée and friends dismiss his experiences as delusions. The story explores themes of guilt, psychological torment, and the supernatural, blending an eerie atmosphere with the complexities of colonial society.
Read the text version:
The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling
Listen to the audio version:
The Rival Ghosts by Brander Matthews — Ghost story told a summer crossing the Atlantic ocean
The Rival Ghosts by Brander Matthews was written in 1884 and published in the collection Mystic-Humorous Stories. It tells the story about a group of passengers crossing the transatlantic by ship and debating if Europe or the States have the best ghost stories. They gather around one that has tales about both with a humorous twist.
Read the text version:
The Rival Ghosts by Brander Matthews
Listen to the audio version:
The Horla by Guy de Maupassant — A horror story about being posessed by an entity
“The Horla” by Guy de Maupassant is a psychological horror story that delves into the mind of an unnamed narrator who becomes convinced he is being haunted by an invisible entity. The story has been cited as an inspiration for Lovecraft’s “The Call of Cthulhu“. Set in the oppressive heat of a French summer, the narrator’s initially peaceful life is disrupted by a series of unsettling events, leading him to believe that a supernatural being, the Horla, is draining his life force and controlling his actions. As his paranoia deepens, he struggles to discern reality from delusion, culminating in a descent into madness. The story explores themes of mental illness, the supernatural, and the fragility of human sanity.
Read the text version:
The Horla by Guy de Maupassant
Listen to the audio version:
A View From a Hill by M.R. James — Ghost story about a pair of haunted binoculars that sees things that are not there
“A View from a Hill” is a captivating short ghost story penned by M.R. James and originally published in 1925. The narrative follows Fanshawe, a scholarly figure who embarks on a summer retreat to the English countryside, hosted by his friend Squire Henry Richards. During his stay, Fanshawe stumbles upon a pair of binoculars crafted by a man who met an untimely and enigmatic demise in years past. These binoculars possess a peculiar quality, allowing Fanshawe to behold objects that have long since ceased to exist. This intriguing premise sets the stage for a tale of mystery and suspense, as Fanshawe becomes entangled in a realm where the boundaries of time and perception blur. As the storyline unfolds, readers are drawn into a world where the supernatural seamlessly intertwines with the ordinary, creating an atmosphere of eerie fascination and spine-tingling intrigue.
Read the text version:
A View From a Hill by M.R. James
Listen to the audio version:
The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson — A summer vacation in a haunted tower
“The Room in the Tower” by E.F. Benson is a chilling ghost story that centers around a recurring nightmare experienced by the narrator. In his dream, he visits a friend’s house and is always assigned to sleep in a foreboding tower room, accompanied by an overwhelming sense of dread. One summer, he finds himself invited to a real-life version of the house from his dreams. Despite his apprehensions, he is given the very room he fears. As night falls, the nightmare becomes a reality when he encounters the ghost of a previous occupant, revealing a dark and terrifying past. The story masterfully blends psychological tension with supernatural horror, leaving a lasting impression of unease and fear.
Read the text version:
The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson
Listen to the audio version:
The Wood of the Dead by Algernon Blackwood — A horror story about a mysterious forest
“The Wood of the Dead” is a story written by Algernon Blackwood. It appeared in his first collection, The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, in 1906. The story is set during a summer where a person is making a solo summer walking tour of England’s west country and has stopped for a meal at a village inn. A local man tells the traveler to meet him at midnight in “The Wood of the Dead”. According to local lore when a person entered the nearby wood singing, he knew that person would soon die. Instead of continuing on his journey, the traveler decides to have a closer look at The Woods of the Dead.
Read the text version:
The Wood of the Dead by Algernon Blackwood
Listen to the audio version:
Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance by M.R. James — Summer spent in a haunted house with a mysterious maze
“Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance” is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James first published when he included it in his 1911 collection More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. The story is set in the late summer in England, when Mr Humphreys, arrives in Wilsthorpe. He has recently inherited an estate from his uncle, who died a mysterious death and the history of the strange maze and temple next to his new home.
Read the text version:
Mr Humphreys and His Inheritance by M.R. James
Listen to the audio version:
The Dead Valley by Ralph Adams Cram — A horror story about a haunted village in a valley
“The Dead Valley” by Ralph Adams Cram from 1895 is a chilling tale that unfolds amidst the haunting landscape of rural New England. Set in the secluded valley of a decaying village, the story follows a young traveler who stumbles upon the eerie remnants of a once-thriving community. As he delves deeper into the desolate surroundings, he uncovers dark secrets and encounters malevolent forces that lurk in the shadows. Through vivid imagery and evocative prose, “The Dead Valley” explores themes of isolation, decay, and the supernatural, leaving readers captivated by its unsettling portrayal of a world teetering on the brink of madness.
Read the text version:
The Dead Valley by Ralph Adams Cram
Listen to the audio version:
Free Ghost Stories Perfect for Summer Reading
This was just a small collection of some of the horror short stories found in the public domain that are free to read and are perfect for reading on a hot summer day or night. Have you read them all? Perhaps you know a couple of good ones that would be great for the list?
More like this
Newest Posts
- Free Ghost Stories Perfect for Summer Reading
![woman in embroidered dress reading book]()
- The Ghost Girl on the Arrabassada Road
![aerial view of road between green grass field]()
- Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 Disaster and Ghosts
![anonymous pilots in aircraft cockpit flying over sea]()
- The Rival Ghosts by Brander Matthews
![white and red boat]()
- The Mystery of D’Souza Chawl
![Deep in the D'Souza Chawl there is a well that had to be sealed after a woman fell out and drowned in it. Her ghostly screams trying to get out of the well are still heard, and residents in the chawls claim to have seen a ghostly silhouette around the neighborhood.]()
- The Legend of the Badlands Banshee Haunting the Prairie
![brown rocky mountain under white clouds]()
- The Spirits at Rosses Point on the Rugged Shores
![black and white photo of waves crashing onto sea shore]()
- The Giant Wistaria by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
![flowers of wisteria vine]()
- The Ghost of Catalina in Casa Lercaro
![photo of the beach]()
- The Borim Bridge Where Ghostly Whispers Haunt the Nights in Goa
![high angle view of suspension bridge against sky]()
- The Wood of the Dead by Algernon Blackwood
![green tree forest]()
- The Haunted Stepwell Agrasen Ki Baoli and its Dark Water
![the agrasen ki baoli in india]()
