Worldwide, rates of esophageal cancer have been keeping highly in recent decades. Genetic variants in multiple cellular pathways might play an important role in altering risk of esophageal carcinoma. In this study, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were investigated in Chinese Han populations. We have genotyped the ANRIL rs2151280 T/C, POLR2E rs3787016 C/T, and HULC rs7763881 A/C SNPs in 380 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cases and 380 cancer-free controls. POLR2E rs3787016 C/T was associated with a significantly decreased risk for ESCC (CT vs. CC: OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.44-0.87, P = 0.005; adjusted OR 0.62, 95 % CI 0.44-0.87, P = 0.005). The other SNP, HULC rs7763881, also showed a suggestive association (AC vs. AA: OR 0.70, 95 % CI 0.50-0.98, P = 0.037; adjusted OR 0.69, 95 % CI 0.49-0.97, P = 0.031). ANRIL rs2151280 T/C SNP was not associated with risk of ESCC. In the future, larger studies with other ethnic populations, tissue-specific biological characterization, and detailed individual information should be undertaken to validate current findings.