If you like creepy, can I recommend Daphne Du Maurier's "Don't Look Now" from her short story collection by the same name? Du Maurier had quite the knack for twisty, turny, creepy sorts of stories. I made the mistake of watching the film adaptation first (a little side note--it appears they are remaking it?). Nonetheless, it has been long enough since I watched the movie, that reading the story still made the hairs rise on the back of my neck.
"Don't look now" actually begins the story of John and Laura Baxter, who are vacationing in Venice after the death of their beloved daughter. As they sit in a restaurant garden John tells his wife not to look--two older women are staring at them. They jokingly say they are actually cross dressers and Laura follows one into the restroom to catch her in the act of changing into her other persona. This is all in jest. When Laura returns to their table she is elated. The two women are actually twins, and one is psychic. The other tells Laura that her dead daughter has been sitting there at their table between them. The daughter wants to warn them to leave Venice as they are in danger. While Laura now feels a contentment that she had not felt in a long time, what will actually occur is a series of events that become "increasingly strange and violent".
Save this story for a grey, rainy day for maximum impact. Turn off all the lights except one lamp and then curl up on the sofa under a blanket. This is a slightly longer short story--about 55 pages. It is so well crafted you will feel you are there in Venice. If you are at all familiar with the city and the narrow, twisty streets you'll understand what a perfect setting this was for the book. It oozes atmosphere. The plotting and pacing is perfect--right up until the very end. There is nothing extraneous about the story--where you start being bored and begin thinking about something else. There's no time for your mind to wander! I recommend watching the film as well (though definitely read the story first!) as it is fairly notable in its own right. It is pretty faithful to the story, though they did change some details.
I read this as part of the R.I.P. Challenge--I am reading a short story (or two if they are really short) each weekend. Next weekend I have Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" lined up and ready to go. I found the story in The Martian Chronicles, which I always assumed was a novel and not a set of short stories. I am finding this is a good way to read more short stories, something I have wanted to do all year. If you have any other ideas for short stories that would fit with this challenge, please feel free to share! I may have to return to Don't Look Now for more of Du Maurier's work.