Scary stories for kids (just scary enough), for Halloween and after
Narrated spooky stories with creaking doors, whispers and a ghost or two, and an ending that lets everyone sleep. Five to fifteen minutes, free to play, no sign-up.
Spooky stories to play now
Written for six- to eight-year-olds: a shiver, never a nightmare. Tap one and listen.
Or one with your child as the hero
Their name, the world they love, and choices they make themselves. The first story is free.
How scary is too scary?
It depends on the age, and our stories follow the age you set. The rule at every age: the fear is real for a moment, and the ending takes it away.
Scary stories for 3- to 5-year-olds
At this age a "scary" story is a mystery with a funny answer, and nothing in it is truly frightening. The cookie plate is empty except for crumbs and a tiny chocolate paw print, and the trail leads to the puppy. A shadow on the bedroom wall starts wiggling like a bunny, until it turns out to be the tree outside the window. A giggle behind the sofa is a baby brother in a cushion fort. Five minutes is plenty.
Scary stories for 6- to 8-year-olds
From six, a story can have a real shiver, as long as it ends well. A letter in shimmering blue ink slides under the door at midnight, a ghostly hand reaches through the wall, and the ghost turns out to need help. A tin soldier from a museum marches across the floor on its own. Words appear in the fog on the window every morning: HELLO, then I NEED HELP. The stories above are written for this age.
Scary stories for 9- to 11-year-olds
From nine, the tension can build over a whole story. A shadow on the bedroom wall starts doing things on its own: it waves when your hands are in your pockets, and one night it sits down on the shadow of a chair. In every old photograph from the attic trunk, the same pale face stares out. Still no gore, and still an ending that lets everyone sleep.
A Halloween story night
Turn the lights down, put the story on, and let the sound effects do the work: footsteps on the stairs, a door that creaks open by itself, wind in the chimney. Our stories are not about trick-or-treating; they are about ghosts, witches and toys that march across the floor on their own, which is what a Halloween evening is for. If your child is the nervous kind, listen together and stop for a hug at the scary part.
Brave choices
At the scariest moment, the story stops and your child decides: open the creaking door or call for help? Follow the ghostly hand or wait for morning? A child who chooses to be brave in a story, and sees it turn out fine, learns something about fear that no reassurance can teach.
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