This study aims to explore how the author John Ajvide Lindqvist portrays horror and unpleasantness in three of his short stories. The stories were read closely to identify and categorize the means by which the author creates a spooky and scary atmosphere and feeling. The findings were compared to the horror genre and its properties. The main finding was that Ajvide Lindqvist uses traditional horror conventions and modernises them, for example by placing the plot in desolate locations within a more modern setting. As well as this, the author also uses foreshadowing and placement of objects that evokes an ominous feeling within the reader and uses explicit and sometimes grotesque descriptions of the human body.