Dark & Somber Stories
Heavy, serious themes with darker emotional tones
Stories in this category (6)
A Madman's Diary
By Lu Xun
Through the perspective of a "madman," this story reveals the man-eating nature of feudal ethics. Presented in diary format, the protagonist, in his paranoid delusions, perceives that everyone around him wants to eat him, ultimately discovering that thousands of years of Chinese history is a history of "cannibalism."
The Mirror Room
By Eleanor Blackwood
A young woman inherits an old mansion and discovers a locked room filled with mirrors that show more than just reflections.
The Last Broadcast
By Eleanor Blackwood
A late-night radio host receives increasingly disturbing calls during what will become his final broadcast.
The Gardener
By Eleanor Blackwood
A suburban neighborhood hires a mysterious gardener whose plants grow with unnatural speed and beauty—but at a terrible cost.
The Echo House
By Eleanor Blackwood
A family moves into a house where every sound echoes back moments later, but the echoes begin to change, revealing terrible futures.