15 of the Scariest Stories Featuring Sports
Posted on March 31, 2025
by Sam P
A little late to the game, I came across two novels categorized as horror and both featured basketball. It struck me as sorta funny that basketball horror happened twice (at least in our collection). So here are some other sporty, scary things you can check out.
dead eleven by Jimmy Juliano
Clifford Island is stuck in 1994. Whatever weird curse has befallen this island called for Willow-- who moved to the island in an effort to find answers about her sons untimely death. When she's later considered a missing person, her brother, Harper, is swept up into the island's mysterious trappings as well and tries to find answers alongside Lily; the Clifford Island high school's star basketball player.
daphne by Josh Malerman
Kit Lamb may be the protagonist of this slasher, but the ghost of Daphne-- or maybe Kit's psyche-- is the real star of the show.
the long walk by Stephen King
You may have heard that Carrie was King's first published novel, but The Long Walk was his first written manuscript. Think of this like a dystopian Olympic walking. You stop walking, you die.
the bright lands by John Fram
Football and high school seem to be synonymous with each other, from here in the Midwest to the town of Bentley, Texas. When star quarterback Dylan goes missing, his brother returns to the town that shunned him for a chance at piecing it together. The trick lies in figuring out if the culprit is real or stems from an urban legend.
this wretched valley by Jenny Kiefer
Inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident, four hikers disappear on a trip only for three of their mangled corpses to be discovered months later. So where's Dylan's body? Or, if he's alive somewhere, where is he?
hide by Kiersten White
Extreme hide-and-seek in an abandoned amusement park sounds like the greatest game of all time. Kick it up a notch and instead of hide-and-seek-tag, you've got hide-and-seek-and-an-abomination-is-It.
hide
Hide-and-seek-and-an-abomination-is-It but graphic novel edition!
shredded: a sports and fitness body horror anthology by Various Authors
The title certainly speaks for itself in this case.
rollerball
It's like a cross between killer roller derby, lacrosse or hockey, rugby, AND it's got motorbikes.
rollerball
And if you're a completionist, you can watch the remake, but it is generally regarded as abysmal.
the hunt
If I had a nickel for every "rich people hunt humans for sport" story I've come across, I would have, like, a lot of nickels. Still, it's an enjoyable, fast-paced satire.
ready or not
Another nickel! If you think your in-laws are bad, imagine them hunting you for sport on your wedding day. I'm sure there's a joke about prenuptials, but I can't think of one.
night swim
Do we all have an irrational fear that there's a monster waiting to drag you to the depths of a swimming pool? No? Just me?
all cheerleaders die
We're not here to debate whether cheerleading is a sport or not. We're here to relish in the guts and glory of a zombified cheerleading squad. Unfortunately for completionists, only the remake is available anywhere. The original DIY low-budget film from 2001 is mostly lost to time.
crawl
Competitive swimmer, Haley, must survive a hurricane AND alligator infested waters in this reptilian thriller.
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