31 Short Horror Stories for Halloween

Full Moon

She'd always loved animals. Dogs were her biggest weakness. She'd had so many pets growing up on a farm and that made it all the harder to adjust to life in the city, and her small apartment where pets weren't allowed.

The city was cramped, impatient, and unyielding so when she heard the howling sound that night, she ran to its rescue. It was raining and windy. Leaves billowed past and large drops of rain slapped her in the face as she stumbled towards the sound of the pitiful howl. It was coming from the alley; the source was a beautiful husky, shivering and hungry. He was big and it took a lot of effort to carry him back to her apartment. She dried him, made him a bed, and gave him some food. He was very well trained and that meant he wasn't a stray. Someone, somewhere had lost their dog.

The next day, she put up fliers with her number hoping that whoever had lost the beautiful canine would see it and come claim him. He was a perfect gentlemen and she knew she'd be sad to let him go.

Two weeks passed and no one called in response to her fliers. She lay awake in bed, contemplating whether to take him to a shelter or to find him a home herself when she heard a crash from the living room. She ran out and saw the dog's bed was empty. A man stood there in nothing but his skin.

'Tonight's a full moon' he said.