plot ideas for short scary stories

A young woman moves into an old apartment. Every night, she hears a baby crying from the empty room next door. When she investigates, she finds a diary that reveals a tragic past of a mother and child in that apartment.

One idea could be a story about a haunted mirror. A young girl moves into an old house and discovers a large, ornate mirror in the attic. Every time she looks into it, she sees a figure that gets closer and closer each day. Eventually, the figure steps out of the mirror.

A story about a cursed doll. A little girl finds an old, tattered doll in a thrift store. She takes it home, and strange things start to happen. Her toys start to move on their own, and she hears whispers at night. It's revealed that the doll was once owned by a witch, and now it's bringing bad luck to the girl's family.

One plot idea could be a haunted house. A family moves into an old, dilapidated mansion. Strange noises start at night, like creaking floorboards and whispering voices. Objects move on their own, and the family members start having nightmares about a dark figure that lurks in the shadows of the house. As they try to uncover the history of the place, they find out that a murder took place there decades ago and the spirit of the killer is still trapped.

There's a small town where every year on the same night, all the lights go out. A curious teenager decides to stay outside during this time and witnesses shadowy figures moving through the streets, whispering his name.

Imagine a scientist who goes to an isolated research station in the Arctic. The station has a dark past that he's unaware of. As he conducts his experiments, strange things start to occur. Equipment malfunctions on its own, and he finds odd footprints in the snow outside that don't belong to any known animal. He begins to feel like he's being watched. Eventually, he uncovers a secret experiment that went wrong decades ago, and the mutated creatures from that experiment are now after him in the isolation of the Arctic.

A girl finds an old, mysterious diary in the attic of her new home. As she starts reading it, she discovers that it was written by a girl who lived in the house decades ago. The diary reveals that the girl was into some dark magic and made a deal with an evil entity. Now, as the current girl reads the diary, she starts experiencing strange events. Things in her room move on their own, and she has nightmares of the entity from the diary coming to get her.

One idea could be a story about an old, abandoned house at the end of a dark lane. A young girl, curious about the rumors surrounding it, decides to enter. Once inside, she hears strange whispers and feels cold hands on her shoulders, but when she turns around, there's no one there. As she explores further, she discovers a locked room with a faint red glow seeping from under the door.

One idea could be that the character who seems to be the hero is actually the villain all along. For example, in a story about a detective solving a crime, it turns out that the detective was the one who set up the crime in the first place to gain fame.

One idea could be a story about a haunted old mansion. A family moves in, not knowing it's cursed. Every night, they hear strange noises like creaking floors and whispering voices. Then, they start seeing shadowy figures in the hallways. Eventually, they discover a dark secret in the attic that the previous owners tried to hide.