Scary Short Stories Unit - Horror Stories for Halloween in Middle School ELA

If you’re searching for an engaging scary short stories unit for your middle school ELA students to enjoy this Halloween, stop your search here! This bundle of activities for your favorite horror stories will thrill your students while reviewing short story elements in an unforgettable way.

From creative writing activities to short story escape rooms, your students will embrace short story analysis in a whole new way!

✔ Check out the preview for more information!

Using the following spooky short stories, your middle school ELA students will review story elements and literary elements like foreshadowing, suspense, mood, tension, and much more:

• ⭐️ The Landlady
• ⭐️ The Monkey's Paw
• ⭐️ The Elevator
• ⭐️ The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street
• ⭐️ Click Clack the Rattlebag
• ⭐️ ...and the newly added Lamb to the Slaughter

All included horror stories have a variety of story analysis activities that students will complete after reading PLUS an accompanying escape room! This is the perfect spooky stories unit for Halloween, October, or any time of year!

► Here’s What's Included in this Scary Short Stories Unit:

An Introduction to the Horror Stories

• Editable PowerPoint on the Elements of Horror
• Interactive Notetaker
• Mini-lessons on fear, suspense, setting, foreshadowing, and mystery

The Landlady by Roald Dahl Activities

• Plot Diagram
• Compare & Contrast Short Story & Film
• Create a Wanted Person Flyer
• Write a NY Times Feature Story
• "What If" Scenarios
• Short Story One-Pager
• PLUS, my BEST-SELLING The Landlady Escape Room

The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacobs Activities

• Cause & Effect with Three Wishes 
• Compare & Contrast Short Story & Film
• Rewrite the Ending
• Superstition Research 
• Dear "The Monkey's Paw" Thank You Letter
• PLUS, another FAVORITE Escape Room

The Elevator by William Sleator Activities

• Plot Diagram
• Finish the Story
• Unwritten Social Rules
• The Fear Factor
• Podcast Pairing
• The Great Debate
• PLUS, another Escape Room

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street by Rod Serling Activities

• Plot Diagram
• Paired Text: Herd Mentality
• Real World Connections
• Compare and Contrast to The Twilight Zone's film adaptation
• Argue & Debate, "Who's the real monster?"
• Create a CharacterGram
• AND another Escape Room

Lamb to the Slaughter Activities

• Plot Diagram
• Character Transformation (Similar to a Character Autopsy)
• Character Pies (A Characterization Task)
• Then vs. Now Comparison Activity
• Irony Scavenger Hunt
• WANTED Poster
• ... Escape Room Coming Soon!

Everything in this Scary Short Stories unit is available in digital (Google Drive) & printable versions (PDF). Plus, the escape room questions are editable using the included PowerPoints.

↠ Save over 40% of the individual listing prices by purchasing the spooky short stories bundle!

TEACHERS LIKE YOU SAID…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Lisa says, “Thank you for creating high-quality products that are both engaging and teach the standards. I have bought several of your products and have been "awed" by the engagement of my students.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐ Amy says, “This was a fantastic summer school enrichment unit! The students loved the story selections. We are looking forward to doing some of the breakouts later this week, and students are excited!” 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Darci says, “Great resource! My students love these stories and corresponding activities/escape rooms. Customer service was fantastic and quick. I had purchased one of the sets separately and was given a prompt refund when I decided to purchase the whole bundle.”

Supports Common Core Standards (CCSS):

RL.6.1, RL.6.3, RL.6.4, RL.6.6

RL.7.1, RL.7.3, RL.7.4

RL.8.1, RL.8.3 RL.8.4

TECHNICAL SUPPORT:

These escape rooms may work with Breakout EDU Kits. However, they are not required. Some familiarity with Google Forms and Google Slides is required.

Want to see a "how-to" video walk-through of one of these escape rooms? Watch this video here.

If you assign the Google activities and your students receive an "Access Denied" error message, your district has blocked students from opening Google files owned by someone outside your district. You can solve this by making your "teacher copy" of the activities, then sharing your document links with the students.

Have a question?

Please check out the Q&A section or email me at info@heynatayle.com. I'll get back to you within 24 hours.

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Thanks so much,

Natayle Brown

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