Don't Turn Around And Other Spooky Tales

Scary Short Stories from Suburban India

(Ghost, Horror & Supernatural Fiction)

Scary short stories come in many varieties — but these horror short stories and ghost stories will be like nothing you’ve read before.

These are Indian ghost stories set in suburban India of seventy years ago — a time when roads were narrow, tree-lined, ill-lit, single-track, and lonely.

After 10 p.m., there was little or no traffic. No buildings in the vicinity. No sound except the whispering wind, the rustle of dry leaves, the hoot of owls, or the distant howl of a dog.

Electricity was rare. No televisions. No cinemas — except for the occasional thatched-roof touring talkies. No clubs. No social gatherings. People had leisure… and imagination.

Evenings were spent on open verandas, mats spread on the floor, listening to grown-ups tell stories. And the easiest stories to invent were about ghosts and ghouls.

Some of the stories my father told, he swore on everything he held holy, were true. But people then were deeply steeped in the occult. Their imagination ran wild. They were gullible. Auto-suggestion did the rest.

What they did possess was extraordinary storytelling skill. They spoke in pictures and engaged all five senses. We heard more than what we were told, saw more than what we were shown, believed more than expected.

These supernatural and paranormal stories come from that tradition.

They are lived experiences — my own or those of elders in the house. The line between fact and fiction is deliberately blurred, making this collection a blend of psychological horror, eerie storytelling, and occult fiction.

Read these spooky stories… and decide for yourself.