Nothing wrong with a little Poe, but if that’s all we give students, they miss out on the rich traditions of horror that come from different voices, cultures, and perspectives. The truth is, horror is universal. Every culture has its monsters, its cautionary tales, its restless ghosts. And when we bring those stories into the classroom, students get a fuller picture of what makes us human—and what keeps us up at night.
So, how do we diversify our horror units without throwing the standards out the window? Easy: pair, expand, and spotlight.
Pair the Classics with Cultural Counterparts
Keep the familiar stories, but put them in conversation with other traditions:
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The Monkey’s Paw (W. W. Jacobs) ↔ La Llorona (Latinx folktale)
Both explore fate and loss, but through different cultural lenses -
The Lottery (Shirley Jackson) ↔ The Woman in the Snow (Patricia McKissack)
One shows a small town’s brutality; the other uses horror to reflect racial injustice. -
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) ↔ Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky (Kwame Mbalia)
Shelley, a teenage girl in 1818, warned us about hubris and responsibility. Mbalia picks up that thread with Afrofuturist mythology and modern monsters.
Spotlight Women Horror Writers
Your students might be shocked to learn that Frankenstein—arguably the first science fiction/horror novel—was written by a teenage girl. Mary Shelley was way ahead of her time, and she’s a perfect example of how women shaped horror from the very beginning.
Other great names to highlight:
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Shirley Jackson (The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House)
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Tananarive Due (YA horror and speculative short stories)
Bring in Kid-Friendly Horror by Black Authors
Representation matters—especially in horror, where students want to see heroes who look like them and villains born from different cultural fears. Some middle grade-friendly options:
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Tristan Strong series (Kwame Mbalia) – myth + horror + humor
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Spirit Hunters (Ellen Oh) – spooky but age-appropriate
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Hoodoo (Ronald L. Smith) – historical horror rooted in African American folk magic
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The Jumbies series (Tracey Baptiste) – Caribbean monsters galore
Lean into Folklore & Urban Legends
Horror lives in oral storytelling. Every culture has its own cautionary tales, and students light up when they can connect class readings to their own family or cultural traditions.
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Latinx: La Llorona, El Cucuy
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African/Caribbean: The Jumbies, Anansi stories
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Asian: Japanese Kuchisake-onna (slit-mouthed woman), Korean Gwisin (restless spirits)
You can even invite students to research and share a scary story from their own heritage.
Discussion Starters to Tie It All Together
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What do different cultures fear—and why?
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How do horror stories reflect real-world issues (injustice, greed, power)?
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Who gets to tell the scary stories, and why does that matter?
Horror is bigger than Poe and Jacobs. By broadening our texts, we give students a chance to see horror as a universal genre that reflects culture, history, and identity. You don’t have to ditch the classics—just expand them. Pair a few, spotlight some underrepresented voices, and let students bring their own stories to the mix.
The result? A horror unit that’s creepier, richer, and a whole lot more inclusive.
Looking for resources to help you teach horror literature? 👉🏼Check out my Middle School & Secondary ELA Halloween Activities: Horror Novel Study Bundle!
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