Thank you for the replies! I think we’ll go with something that at least has horror aspects, like some of you said, even if the story as a whole isn’t horror. Little Brother and Little Sister might work for that; someone can expand on the cursed springs and have them do all sorts of weird things to whoever drinks them. You could have to stay hydrated while avoiding the magic water. Maybe some of it hurts you, while the rest of it just slows you down!
That article also mentions Hansel and Gretel. In that one, they both get lost in the woods and have to escape the witch. That’s at least two games with a suspenseful atmosphere.
Of the stories mentioned so far, Chase of the Severed Head and Dracula would lend themselves best to horror. But as I said, I hesitate to lead an adaptation of a story from a culture that might not be my place to take from. Dracula could work, but I haven’t read the original novel. Plus, it seems a bit long to split among only a handful of people. (Though there is the option of only doing part of it,)
There’s also taking a less scary story and making it scarier; I think And was talking about this with the improv idea, but if it’s something we know well, we don’t have to do it exactly as written. Maybe something terrible will happen if Cinderella doesn’t do a certain thing by midnight!