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Center your story around a childhood fear that – as much as you try to shake it – still resonates in adulthood.

Posted in Angst on Oct 25, 2024

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✍️ 91 stories

NOISES FROM THE WARDROBE

Submitted to Contest #274

I was crying when Mummy came to tuck me in for the night. “Come on, Jamie, my love, dry those tears away. And please let’s not have any more of that silly nonsense about monsters in your wardrobe again tonight,” she whispered, stroking my cheek. “You know how cross Bill gets about it.” Bill! My stepfather. A horrid man, always shouting at me for one thing or another. How I wish he and Mummy had never met. It was only since he had come to live with us that the scary noises had begun. “But they are real, Mummy, I ...

59 likes 67 comments 67
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A Cat Named Cat

Submitted to Contest #274

Even as a young child, Mary knew that her grandparents put zero thought into naming their cat, Cat. It wasn’t indicative of their love for him though. He was a spoiled, fat cat, who ruled the house ... as cats tend to do. Mary’s fear of Cat wasn’t necessarily unfounded. Her grandparents warned her often of getting too close. He was abused at his last home by young kids, or so they claimed. He was fine with adults, but whenever a child came near, he would scratch and bite. Mary had never witnessed this, but she had no reason to not believe he...

35 likes 10 comments 10
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A Good Dentist

Submitted to Contest #274

I’ve never been a die-hard fan of going to the dentist. I can’t imagine anyone who is and is still considered sane. It’s not because of anything that’s happened personally, but the horror stories stick with you—things like teeth being pulled without your mouth being numb enough or what about those women who find out they’re pregnant a few months later? So, when I woke up in severe pain, I kept it to myself for as long as I could. I didn’t want to go to the dentist. But the pain became unbearable, and pretty soon I had no choice. When I final...

32 likes 24 comments 24
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RE: The Heat Death of the Sun

Shortlisted for Contest #274 ⭐️

Reality was having a Monday, with a capital M.Never mind that it was Thursday. Or that Monday always began with a capitalized M. Or that both Mondays and Thursdays only existed on Earth. That was all beside the point.Ron liked that about Earth, though: the calendars. Really, humans had something special going on with them. They were great with organizational skills, and he appreciated that, given his role as Manager of Accounts Payable. He was just one cog in the Existence machine, but lately Ron felt he might be the only one to really ...

31 likes 20 comments 20
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THE SHADOW WITHIN

Submitted to Contest #274

"The parts of ourselves that we fear the most haunt us, not ghosts.""I need help, doctor. ""What do you think about Brian?""…""Brian?""Hurting her.""Your wife?""Yes. I don't want to. But it's there. Just… there.""Do you think you're dangerous, Brian?" "…""Brian?""What does it matter? The thoughts come anyway.""It matters because you're here, asking for help. Do you know why these thoughts come, Brian?""No. They're just... there.""They're just there?""Always. I don't invite the thoughts. I just... can't stop them.""What exactly are these...

28 likes 15 comments 15
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Mr. XX

Submitted to Contest #274

By the sixth parent, Mr. Grant was ready to toss it in for an evening of Little Caesar’s, the new Ryan Murphy gorefest on Hulu.Where their offspring were relentlessly candid, contemporary millennial parents were adept in prefatory prevarication. I’m an adamant opponent of censorship. This isn’t a racial thing. We take our child’s education very seriously. Our daughter’s needs always come first.He’d scheduled Anthony Cardell last. Despite the common perception, big pitchers actually tended to have the biggest ears, and Wil warily regarded the...

27 likes 9 comments 9
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Puppet

Submitted to Contest #274

It wasn’t real.Ian knew that, and yet, every time he felt its presence, the way one can in dreams, he was six years old again, terrified, and alone.One would think that being a lucid dreamer would mean that he no longer feared the demons of the night, but even as his mind gained more power over the world of his dreams, it did too. He hadn’t seen it in two full decades, and yet somehow, that made it so much worse. Memories have a funny way of fading until the thing one remembers best is the sheer terror.Ian was twenty-six years old, and he di...

26 likes 6 comments 6
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When No One is Left to Remember

Submitted to Contest #274

Beatrice does not celebrate Halloween. It’s a wicked holiday, for one, and what anyone finds satisfying about scaring themselves and each other, she cannot imagine. Ridiculous, the whole affair.Not that Beatrice is judgmental. Of course not.But surely no rational person would ever spend money on decorating their house to look infested with spiders?Surely we have some dignity?And the doorbells — those are the worst part. Somehow, it has become socially acceptable to let children run around harassing people in their homes at ungodly ...

25 likes 13 comments 13
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Said the Spider to the Fly

Submitted to Contest #274

Their introduction was a meet-cute, kind of, at a Halloween party.Will Travers, invited by a friend from his accounting firm job, had decided to go at the last minute. Halloween parties weren’t really his thing, but he didn’t have any better plans, so he had stopped at the local drugstore, bought a cheap kids makeup kit, and thrown together a passable Dracula costume.His first sight of her, from the back, had come when his friend and host Benny had pointed her out, standing behind him.“Now that’s what I call a sexy spider.”“There is absolute...

20 likes 15 comments 15
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His Dark Is Worse Than His Bite

Submitted to Contest #274

The woman groaned when the streaming service on the TV paused, asking if she was still watching.The Shadowman lingered outside her lounge window, waiting for his moment. It was never the same time – her sleeping schedule was all over the place – but he knew when roughly. It was coming soon. He had only to wait.She ran a hand over her eyes and mumbled to herself. ‘You know you should call it a night when Netflix starts getting all judgemental. All right, all right. Time for bed.’The Shadowman grinned.She turned off the TV, got up, left the lo...

19 likes 9 comments 9
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VIBRANCE IN THE DEADENED VOID

Submitted to Contest #274

The air thickened with haunting sounds—a relentless chorus of moaning and mewling unsettled the senses. High-pitched moans pierced the air, reverberating with an unnerved intensity, sending shivers through the screamer's body. Their fear radiated, overshadowing the listeners' apprehension around them. Yet, this was a unique terrain she discovered herself traversing. Despite Sarah's efforts to block out the jarring sounds in her ears and cloud her mind, the noise continued to surge, relentless and menacing. Sarah felt the familiar sensation ...

17 likes 4 comments 4
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Camp Dread

Submitted to Contest #274

Now I hate the water.  I have hated the water since I was a kid at Camp Glee, or as I remember this place of my childhood trauma that took place on a wooded lake retreat, Camp Dread.    Even before my mom drove me into the Catskills, I was not a fan of the wilderness.  In the dark shadows of the dense forest, I saw indescribable creatures that stalked the campers who had come to have fun frolicking in the woods and water.  I don’t like the water.  I really don’t.  Oh please leave me alone! When I envis...

16 likes 8 comments 8
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An Unsolved Mystery is a Thorn in Your Heart

Submitted to Contest #274

An Unsolved Mystery is a Thorn in Your Heart‘Such long fingers, I wonder what she would become one day, mother’s friend commented.My mother and the other woman rejoiced at talking about the last night’s dinner, the dessert, one new recipe they just heard from a newcomer in the neighborhood. One chocolate, mug of milk, cups of sugar, vanilla … The sudden aroma of vanilla lulled me into my thoughts. That’s the moment where I exactly stopped listening to their cheerful conversation. My father was playing chess, as usual, with the husband of tha...

16 likes 1 comment 1
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COM 107 Public Speaking

Submitted to Contest #274

(Note: mentions famous serial killers, mass-shootings, and terrorist attacks as historical events) October 2012 Daniella slipped into her seat just in time. Parking was a nightmare at Oregon University. She knew this, just as much as she knew her favorite coffee shop was busy before morning classes started. And yet, she would not get up any earlier. Beating the clock to class was starting to feel like a game that would be embarrassing to lose someday. “Good morning!” the professor called out as he closed the classroom door.  Daniella n...

16 likes 1 comment 1
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The Secret Ingredient is Terror

Submitted to Contest #274

The first thing they don't tell you about Food Network auditions is that the studio lights make your palms sweat like you're holding raw chicken. The second thing is that those lights aren't really lights at all, but tiny judging suns, each one designed to illuminate every single one of your insecurities. Standing here in their glare, I can feel my childhood stutter creeping back into my throat like kudzu. "Whenever you're ready, Ms. Williams," says the producer, a white woman whose clipboard probably costs more than my first car. I am not r...

16 likes 2 comments 2
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