best 2 sentence scary stories

One: The old house was empty for years. I walked in, and a cold hand grabbed my ankle. Two: I heard a baby crying in the attic. When I got there, the crying stopped, and a shadow whispered 'leave'.

The old house at the end of the lane was empty for years. One night, I heard a child crying from it. When I looked inside, a pale face stared back at me from the darkness.

In the old house, a creaking sound came from the cellar. I opened it and a pair of red eyes glared at me.

The last person on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door.

The clock stopped at midnight. Then, I saw a face in the mirror that wasn't mine. I couldn't look away as it started to smile a sinister smile. It felt like it was reaching out from the mirror, its long fingers stretching towards me. I tried to run, but my feet were glued to the floor. I closed my eyes tightly, hoping it would disappear when I opened them again. But when I finally gathered the courage to peek, it was still there, closer than before.

The old house creaked in the wind. I woke to find a shadowy figure at the foot of my bed.

They are effective because they create immediate fear. In just two sentences, they can set a spooky scene and introduce a threat, like a sudden grab in an empty house or a menacing face in a mirror.

In the attic, I found a diary with my name on it. I've never been in the attic before and the last entry was dated yesterday.

One element is the element of surprise. For example, in a two - sentence story like 'I opened the attic door. A monster lurked behind it.', the sudden revelation of the monster is unexpected. It gives the reader no time to prepare, hitting them with fear right away.

They often play on our deepest fears. Take 'The cellar door opened on its own. Something dark and formless slithered out.' It taps into the fear of the unknown in a very short space. The brevity makes it even more impactful as there's no time for the mind to rationalize. It's just pure fear hitting you.