Why Spooky Stories Are the Ultimate Language Tool

The Evil Manifesto

Once upon a time, a brave teacher dared to ask: How do I make my students actually understand Present Perfect? And the answer, whispered on the wind through creaking classroom doors, was simple: tell them a spooky story. It was 12 years ago, and probably my first blog post!

There’s something about spooky stories that pulls us in. The flicker of candlelight. The creak on the stairs. The question what if? lingering at the edge of logic. And beneath the ghostly shivers, there’s a powerful truth: storytelling is the ultimate purpose of language.

We didn’t invent speech to label fruit. We invented it to warn others about the monster lurking in the shadows. We didn’t start writing to fill out worksheets, we did it to record the myths, the dreams, the terrifying things that kept us awake at night.

Language is, at its core, the original campfire. And spooky stories? They are the the reason we gather around it.

Why Spooky Works:

Spooky sounds fun and as such it may be easily overlooked in the classroom, or limited to Halloween themed classes. However, it brings some serious educational benefits:

• Emotion drives memory. Fear, curiosity, tension are all great for making vocabulary stick.
• Suspense commands attention. A spooky setting demands focus: What’s behind the door? Who’s breathing in the dark?
• Imagination fuels language output. You want creative writing? Let them invent a monster that feeds on adjectives.
• Spooky is safe rebellion. It’s weird, a little wrong, slightly forbidden. Students love that,  especially teens.
• It crosses cultures. Every culture has its own ghost stories. That means instant content and global comparisons.
• It scales beautifully. From whispering It’s behind you! in a preschool circle to discussing Lovecraftian unreliable narrators at C1 level: spooky fits everyone.

And best of all?
Spooky storytelling lets you sneak in grammar, vocabulary, speaking, reading, and writing without anyone noticing. It’s stealth learning. In a black cloak. With glowing eyes. Mwahahaha!

13 Spooky Storytelling Activities for the Language Classroom

Now, I have hopefully converted you into spooky storytelling acolytes, so let me share some activities that you might use with your students to practice various skills – and at various times, not only in Spooktober!

WRITING & READING

1 Graveyard of Adjectives
Draw a tombstone on the board and, together with your students, banish boring adjectives like big, nice, and scary to the graveyard. Then, resurrect them with more powerful, haunting words. Students use this new, stronger vocabulary to build creepy character profiles.

2. Eerie Endings
Read the start of a spooky tale, but stop just before the end. Students write their own conclusions—then compare with the original. You can try one of these.

3. The Forbidden Word
Give students a horror prompt but ban a key word (e.g. ghost, dark, afraid). They must rewrite it using synonyms and imagery instead. It’s a sneaky vocab expansion trick.

SPEAKING & LISTENING

4. Paranormal Interviews
One student is a cryptid (werewolf, vampire, Mothman), the other a journalist. Prepare Q&A prompts or go freestyle. Encourage accents and drama.

5. Spooky Soundscapes
Play eerie ambient sounds. Students describe the scene, imagine what’s happening, or write mini-stories based on what they “hear.” Try this Spotify list or search for Eerie Ambient Sounds or a similar playlist on your preferred streaming service.

6. Ghostly Gossip
Each student gets a character card (ghost, villager, vampire hunter). They mingle and share strange rumors they’ve heard. Great for practicing reported speech.

DRAMA & ROLEPLAY

7. Possessed Puppet Theatre
Use finger puppets or stick figures to act out mini spooky plays. Excellent for shy students and grammar in action.

8. Ghost Tour Guides
Students describe a haunted place to a group of tourists (the class). Focus on spooky vocabulary, passive voice, and presentation skills.

STEAM & CREATIVE

9. Design a Ghost Trap
Groups invent a trap for a ghost or monster. They present its features and how it works (modal verbs + technical vocab = STEAM win).

10. Invent-a-Creature
Students create a monster species, complete with habitat, diet, behavior and grammar targets like conditionals or relative clauses.

11. Potion Instructions
Students write and present spooky potion recipes using imperative forms (Boil the bat wings. Add three spider legs.).

YOUNG LEARNERS

12. The Bat Says…
Classic Simon Says with Halloween-ish commands and TPR fun: The bat says touch your nose. The bat says howl like a wolf. Fly! Shriek! Freeze! Turn into a bat!

13. Monster Mix & Match
Cut out monster body parts (head, torso, legs). Students create new creatures and describe them.

As you can see, even the simplest activities can be built around a good story. Now, if you want a proper no-prep lesson plan, don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter – this month I’m taking you to your school, and turns it into a haunted ghost tour!

Got a spooky storytelling lesson idea of your own?
Share it in the comments or tag me on Instagram or Facebook! And remember: creepy stories don’t need gore, just mood, mystery, and metaphor.