31 Short Horror Stories for Halloween

Sleep Walkers

I used to sleep walk as a child. I never went far, normally I'd just get up and pace my room. Sometimes I'd open and close the closet. One time I walked out of the house but it was just that one time. It stopped when I grew up. Thing is, I know what sleep walking is and it doesn't freak me out or anything. My roommate on the other hand was so embarrassed by it, he wouldn't acknowledge he walked in his sleep.

The first night I caught him sleep walking, I was having a bizarre dream myself. Something stood over me as I slept. It looked like a man but it wasn't a man; big blank eyes and a wide jaw that hung open. It was terrifying and it woke me up. What scared me more was my roommate standing over my bed. I cursed, turned the lights on and led him back to his bed. He had no memory of it the next day when I casually asked him how he had slept.

A month later, I felt something grabbing my foot as I lay in bed. I was half-asleep and half-awake. I looked down and saw the same ghoul from so many nights ago grabbing my foot and trying to yank it off. I yelled and woke up. My roommate sat by the foot of my bed, clawing at it. I helped him back to bed and confronted him the next morning.

He denied it. I told him to get some help. Told him I'd been through this and it wasn't a big deal but he just wouldn't acknowledge the problem. The next month went by without him waking me again.

And then it happened again. I had been exhausted that night and fell asleep immediately. I dreamt of the ghoul again; it seemed to get more horrifying with each appearance. This time, it stood with its hand stretched out as if to grab me. It had long fingers. The skin was white as paper and the tongue was slimy black. When the image woke me, it was to discover my roommate standing over me, as if about to grab me.

I was about to help him back to bed when an idea struck me. I grabbed my phone to take a picture of him. I'd show him in the morning and then try and get him help. It was a genius idea for two in the morning. I opened the camera app and aimed it at him. He hadn't moved at all. He just stood there, arms out.

It was too dark for a good picture. I turned the lights on and he turned to look at me, his neck cricking loudly. I aimed the camera at his face but the camera saw something else. I had one quick glimpse of the ghoul from my dreams before it leapt at me.