IMHO, the ten scariest short stories of all time, listed in chronological order. Some of these were very tough calls (what’s the scariest Edgar Allen Poe story?), but I kept it to just one story per author, even if there were many other fine scares by that author; others by the same author are listed as HM (honorable mention).

1) "Hop-Frog" (1849) by Edgar Allen Poe (HM: "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Black Cat" and "The Fall of the House of Usher").
2) "The Yellow Wall-Paper" (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gillman
3) "The White People" (1899) by Arthur Machen (HM: "The Novel of the White Powder")
4) "The Willows" (1907) by Algernon Blackwood (HM: "The Wendigo")
5) "Sredni Vashtar" (1912) by Saki
6) "Caterpillars" (1913) by E.F. Benson (HM: "The Face")
7) "The Rats in the Walls" (1924) by H.P. Lovecraft (HM: "The Thing on the Doorstep" and "The Whisperer in Darkness")
8) "The Small Assassin" (1947) by Ray Bradbury
9) "The Unspeakable Betrothal" (1949) by Robert Bloch
10) "Sticks" (1975) by Karl Edward Wagner


Woman is the Earth and Man is the Sky.