Hello and welcome to my podcast My Life and Other Funny Stories. My name is Dagmar Tomášková, I am an English tutor and coach and I created this podcast for English students who want to improve their oral comprehension. As always you can find the transcription of this episode and vocabulary list in the notes of the podcast. 

It is October, uiii. Time of Halloween, horror movies, pumpkins, candles and  scary stories. I was thinking about what I could do here this week and since Halloween is a predominantly American holiday, I want to talk about its history. But we will leave that up to the next week and today we will do something different but still fun. 

Do you like scary stories? I kind of do but I don’t know that many of them. Especially not many short ones. So today I let the Chat GPT generate five scary stories and we will read them together and rate them on a scale from 1-10 of how scary they are. Actually, I generated seven of them but two of them were just stupid so I cut it down to five. What do you think? Some of them are weird but they are definitely full of interesting vocabulary so don’t forget to check out the vocabulary list that is linked in the notes. I also edited the stories a little bit because sometimes the choice of words was very peculiar…

If you are easily scared, maybe don’t listen to it when it is dark outside. But…it is up to you.

1. The Whispering Woods

There was a small village placed on the edge of a dense forest, known for its towering, ancient trees and eerie silence. Eerie means strange or frightening. The locals called it the Whispering Woods. For generations, they believed the forest was cursed. Every year, without fail, someone would go missing in the woods, and no one ever returned.

Lily had grown up hearing these stories, but she never believed them. She was a rational person who thought the disappearances were just accidents or people getting lost. One late autumn evening, she decided to prove to everyone that the woods were just woods. Armed with a flashlight, she entered the forest alone.

As she walked deeper into the woods, the sounds of the village faded away, replaced by silence. The trees seemed to close in on her, their branches twisting in unnatural shapes. She kept walking, determined not to let fear overtake her. But then, she heard it—a soft whispering, just on the edge of hearing. It was faint, like a distant voice carried on the wind. She stopped and listened, trying to figure out where it was coming from, but the whispering seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once.

Lily brushed it off as the wind playing tricks on her. She went on, but the whispers grew louder, more distinct. She could almost make out words, but they didn’t make sense. It was as if the forest itself was speaking, trying to tell her something, trying to lure her deeper. Her flashlight began to flicker, and panic gripped her chest. She turned to go back, but every path seemed unfamiliar as if the forest had changed behind her.

The whispers were right in her ear now. “Come closer,” they said. She started running, heart pounding in her chest, but no matter which way she turned, the trees grew taller, the whispering got louder. Then, just as her flashlight went out, she saw them—faces in the bark of the trees, twisted in pain, eyes hollow, mouths moving in silent screams.

Lily’s scream was the last sound anyone heard from the Whispering Woods that year.

Ehmm, okay. That is quite disturbing. What do you think? Let’s come back to the scale. One is not scary at all, 10 is the most terrifying thing you have ever heard. I would give it like 4. It is maybe because I don’t really believe that much in the supernatural. I always think that stories about murders or someone being in your house are much scarier than ghosts. What about you?

All right, let’s go to number two.

2. The Old Doll

Mia had always loved dolls. As a child, she had a whole collection of them displayed on a shelf in her bedroom. Her favorite was an antique porcelain doll with blue eyes and curly blonde hair that had been passed down from her grandmother.

When Mia moved into her own apartment, she decided to bring only one doll with her—her grandmother’s doll, which she placed on a shelf in her living room. It was a comforting reminder of her childhood. But soon after, strange things started happening.

At first, it was small things: the doll would be in a different position than she had left it, or its head would be turned slightly, staring at the door. Mia dismissed it, thinking maybe she had moved it accidentally. But one night, she woke up in the middle of the night to a soft tapping sound. At first, she thought it was coming from outside, but then she realized—it was coming from inside the living room.

Heart pounding, she got out of bed and crept down the hall. As she entered the living room, her breath caught in her throat. The doll was sitting on the floor, its porcelain hands tapping softly on the hardwood. Mia froze, staring at it in disbelief.

Suddenly, the doll’s head turned toward her, its blue eyes gleaming in the darkness. Then, it smiled—a slow, unnatural smile that sent chills down her spine. Before Mia could scream, the doll whispered, “I’ve missed you.”

From that night on, Mia could never get rid of the doll. No matter how far she threw it, burned it, or buried it, it always found its way back. And every night, it whispered to her.

Okay, I don’t really like this one, it is not scary to me at all. I would say like 2. First of all, if I had a doll that would start moving around the room mysteriously, it would be out of the house in no time. This is one thing about horror movies that I find really funny. The people there have this new thing or move into a new, scary house and suddenly they can hear noises from the basement, someone walking in the attic and they are like: “Hm, that’s weird. Anyway, who wants breakfast?”. Like no. If I can hear someone walking in my attic, I am calling the police and if they don’t find anyone up there, I am moving out. Goodbye. 

Second of all, the doll didn’t even do anything? Like yes, it smiled and talked but it seems like it only whispered at night. Okay, you can get used to it after a while. I will just take earplugs so I won’t hear it and good night. 

Let’s move to number three:

3. The Midnight Caller

Jake lived alone in a small, run-down apartment at the edge of town. His nights were quiet, uneventful, until one evening when his phone rang at exactly midnight. The number was unknown, but Jake, thinking it might be important, answered.

“Hello?” he said.

At first, there was silence on the other end. Then, he heard soft breathing, followed by a voice, low and raspy. “I’m watching you.”

Jake hung up, assuming it was a prank call. But the next night, the phone rang again at midnight. And again, the same voice whispered, “I’m watching you.”

Over the next few nights, the calls continued, always at midnight, always the same voice, but with more details each time. “I can see you sitting on the couch.” “I can see your bedroom window is open.”

Jake began to grow paranoid. He started locking all his doors and windows, but no matter what he did, the calls kept coming. One night, after another midnight call, Jake decided to call the police. They traced the number, but what they told him made his blood run cold.

The calls were coming from inside his apartment.

Right, this one. What do you mean that he didn’t call the police sooner? Are all people in scary movies without a brain or what? I would rate it as 3 out of 10 just because the guy was stupid. Where would you rate it?

Moving on!

4. The Black Door

In the small town of Hollow Creek, there was an old, abandoned house at the end of Main Street. Everyone knew about the black door. It was said to be cursed. No one knew what was behind it because anyone who entered never came back.

One night, a group of teenagers dared their friend, Tom, to open the black door. Tom, full of courage, accepted the challenge. Armed with only a flashlight, he approached the house. The front door creaked open easily, revealing a dusty, dilapidated hallway. At the end of the hall was the infamous black door.

With his heart racing, Tom slowly opened the door. It led to a staircase descending into complete darkness. He hesitated for a moment, then, not wanting to back out of the dare, went down the stairs. As he reached the bottom, the door slammed shut behind him.

The darkness was suffocating, and the air was cold. Tom’s flashlight flickered and went out. He was alone in the pitch-black basement. Then, he heard it—soft footsteps, shuffling toward him from the darkness. He fumbled with his flashlight, desperately trying to get it to work. The footsteps grew louder, closer, until he could feel hot breath on the back of his neck.

Suddenly, the flashlight flickered back on, but it was too late. All that remained of Tom was a faint scream that echoed through the house.

I mean, this is a little bit of a cliché but it is quite okay as a very short scary story. Even though we literally know nothing about the house or the monster or what was that in the basement. I would give it like 6 out of 10. 

Let’s look at the last one, number 5:

5.The Ghost in the Mirror

Emma’s grandmother had always warned her about mirrors. “Never stare too long,” she’d say. “You never know who might be staring back.” Emma always thought it was just an old superstition, until one night, she saw it for herself.

She was getting ready for bed, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. As she turned to leave, she noticed something strange. Her reflection didn’t move. It was still standing there, staring at her. Emma froze, her heart pounding. Slowly, her reflection’s lips curled into a malicious smile, and it whispered, “I’m not your reflection.”

Emma backed away, her mind racing. As she watched, her reflection reached out of the mirror, its hand stretching toward her. She screamed but it was too late. Suddenly, she could see the room from inside the mirror and there was someone in the bathroom who looked like her but wasn’t her, smiling at her with a creepy smile. “Have a nice life”, said her double, then she turned around, switched off the lights and left.

That was the last time Emma saw the light.

With this one, I actually changed the ending because I didn’t like the original one. Do you want to hear the original ending? Let’s go back to the sentence “I’m not your reflection”:

“I’m not your reflection.”

Emma backed away, her mind racing. As she watched, her reflection reached out of the mirror, its hand stretching toward her. She screamed and ran from the room, but from that night on, every time she looked into a mirror, her reflection wasn’t her own.

It was something else, something waiting to take her place.

What do you think is better? I kind of like this story because a reflection in the mirror that doesn’t respond to reality is a super scary concept to me, so I would give it like 7/10. 

And that’s it. I hope you liked it and weren’t too scared. Let me know what you think!

Thank you for listening! If you liked this episode, please leave a five-star rating and share it with your friends. Don’t forget, you can find the transcript and vocabulary list in the podcast notes. See you next time.