Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Posted in Angst on Oct 11, 2024

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✍️ 63 stories

“The Urge” by Stasia Komadinko

Submitted to Contest #272

Hi, my name is Brian, and I'm a serial murderer. I haven’t killed anyone for 365 days. They say anniversaries are the hardest, that it’s exactly when you feel like you’re standing on the edge. The emptiness inside feels so palpable, like it’s about to consume you whole. Unfortunately, there’s no '12-step programme' for guys like me. Although my addiction is just as intense, it tightens around my neck like a noose. The thing is, my urge isn't constant like it is for people who crave alcohol or drugs. It comes on suddenly and then I'm ready to...

31 comments 31

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“Take Me.” by James Scott

Submitted to Contest #272

Trigger Warning: Suicidal ideation, slight gore and violence, fertility. I no longer wanted to live my life, but neither did I wish to die. So I resisted the temptation of the eternal abyss, knowing that any afterlife would hold no consolation. In effect choosing a living death. Achieved by numbing my senses against the world and disappearing within.By day it was books, movies, video games; anything to place my mind in the body of another. Transporting my consciousness to a plane where there were strict rules and the main character always tr...

14 comments 14

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“Treasure Trove” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #272

There's the bastard now. He's such an asshole I just want to grab him by the throat and strangle him. "Hello, Fred. Why don't you sit next to me? I'd like that." I smiled a phony one and moved my chair to accommodate another beside mine. "Thank you, Josh. I don't mind if I do." The pathetic shit took me up on my offer and plunked himself down in a chair smack dab shoulder to shoulder with me. "Fred, what's new?" "You wouldn't believe it if I told you. But if I do. You must promise me you won't speak it to anyone else." "Sure, Fred, I swea...

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“The Devil Wears Heels” by Kate Winchester

Submitted to Contest #272

**Trigger warning: This story has it all: alcoholism, swearing, violence, sex, and sex assault. ***The alcohol quelled their inner demons while the masks allowed the bar patrons to hide from the outer ones. Some hid under elaborate costumes, while others were scantily clad assuring themselves that it was just for Halloween. They could all go back to being pious tomorrow. Speaking of which, he never thought he’d see a nun in a bar, but she’s not what drew his attention. Sitting next to the sister was a woman. Red devi...

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“Language for Love. ” by Julie Grenness

Submitted to Contest #272

Words were so him. Lachie headed off to the Grand Annual Football Presentation event, taking his place as the hard-bitten journalist, to report on all the latest trophies. His photographer was at his side, these two were the hottest items in seeking any gossip at all about mere humans. It was that time of the season, football players in the finals walked as kings in their town, always needing some glamorous young babe in a fabulous frock at their side.The hype was developing, as Lachie joined the brilliant flashes of cameras and television ...

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“Mind Control” by J T

Submitted to Contest #272

“Don’t scratch at it.” Sammie swatted the redhead’s hand away from the back of her neck. “I said don’t pick,” she repeated through gritted teeth. She sighed, grabbed the redhead’s loose hand, and buckled it back down to the chair. “If you try to fight, it’ll only make things worse.”Sammie spun a dial on the radio sitting on the workbench. The redhead’s body stiffened and then relaxed as Sammie turned the dial back. “I think you are about ready. Nod if you agree.”The redhead struggled to keep her head stationary, her eyes screwed shut in conc...

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“A Growing Hunger” by B.R Wilson

Submitted to Contest #272

I don't remember how I died, but I remember the gnawing cold. A cold deeper than my bones that cut right into my soul. I was no longer myself when I awoke. I was only a husk of a man, something else entirely. The fire roared in the hearth. It was casting shadows on the wall that danced with a chaotic rhythm. No matter how intense the flame grew, I couldn’t shake off the intensity that took over my body. My blood turned to ice, but my hunger grew like that flame, and just like the fire, it was all-consuming. I had tried to hunt, but that was ...

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“Who By Fire?” by Abby Johnson

Submitted to Contest #272

For as long as I can remember, there has been a persistent impulse within me, a feeling that pulses just beneath the surface of my consciousness. It’s difficult to articulate, but it carries a weight that feels both dark and ancient, as if it has been woven into the very fabric of my being. This sensation often surfaces in quiet moments, whispering secrets I can’t quite grasp, urging me to explore depths I’ve yet to fully understand. It feels primordial, echoing through the corridors of time, resonating with something deep within my soul. Th...

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“Dead Andy” by Jeff Namian

Submitted to Contest #272

During my tenure in Manhattan, I lived in just three different apartments. Most other people caravan around the island like nomads. There’s always a moving van blocking traffic close to the first of the month. Then there’s the ambulance chasers on the lookout for new digs. These opportunists stalk ambulances that pick up (usually) elderly people, then ask onlookers which building the person lived in and specifically which apartment. It’s morally disgusting but it happens all the time. When I moved out of one of my apartments, the d...

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“The Transition Point” by ISIL KARDAS

Submitted to Contest #272

Isil leaned back into her airplane seat, the soft hum of the engines vibrating beneath her. The flight from Doha back to Australia stretched ahead like a long, silent tunnel between the past and an uncertain future. The seatbelt light had just flicked off, and the flight attendants moved down the aisles with practiced efficiency. Outside, the endless expanse of clouds drifted below them, while inside, Isil felt a different kind of weight settling in her chest.Beside her sat Valney, his eyes glued to the flickering screen in front of him. He ...

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“Cause, Silly, It’s Mine” by Pete Devlin

Submitted to Contest #272

Cause, Silly, It’s Mine Donna and Ian had met in college. They had a mutual interest in serial killers and met in the stacks at the university library. Donna was looking for a book about H. H. Holmes, Ian was searching for a biography on John Wayne Gacy. They started talking about their mutual interest, compared knowledge, and talked about how it would feel to murder someone. These meetings in the library evolved to discussions over coffee, then conversations over dinner, and finally as debates over who was the deadliest killer before bed. O...

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“Teetering Domino” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #272

In life, one action leads to another and another. A single domino can topple a thousand. A seemingly insignificant ripple can encourage and cajole her brothers and sisters to join her in a dance that brings colossal waves to crash upon the shore and cause fatal devastation. The causality in life is due to connection. Connection cannot be avoided, for if it is, the destructive nature of isolation is even more vile. The dark ingenuity of an isolated mind is truly evil. The hateful intent that finds the button to press or the lever to pull, abs...

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“A Diet of Werewolves” by Veronika Jordan

Submitted to Contest #272

I'm not like other men,’ said Dan. ‘I’m not even like other werewolves.’ ‘I don’t understand Mr Shaffer,’ the psychiatrist shuffled his papers and coughed. ‘…like other werewolves. There is no such thing as a werewolf or lycanthrope as it’s really called. It exists only in myths and legends. Please explain further.’ ‘I can do better than that,’ Dan was slowly sipping a blended cappuccino laced with sugary hazelnut syrup. ‘I can show you.’He licked some syrup off his designer stubble and bared his teeth. They seemed to be growing as he spoke....

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“Johnny Be Good, Please.” by Tucker Sloan

Submitted to Contest #272

Johnny Be Good, Please.Trigger Warning: This short story contains gun violence and mature themes. John was a stupid name. A family name. A name I was stuck with. I wanted to change it in second grade when a fellow student began calling me Johnny B- after a character he saw in a movie once. “My name is John!” I told him right before I smacked his lower lip. I could hit pretty hard for a second grader. You had bette...

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“THE NIGHTMARE OF MALLORY” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #272

The story of Mallory begins as any other story. The story of innocence's. The story of beauty. The story of kindness. The story of love. But beneath that story lied a nightmare. A nightmare no one saw coming. Mallory only first name. No last name. No face to go with her name. Erased from the memory of those who knew her. Erased from the town she was born and raised in. A lovely girl. A girl of beauty and love with the heart of gold to those who knew her. On the outside that's the Mallory her town knew. On the inside was a heart of darkness. ...

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Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“The Urge” by Stasia Komadinko

“Take Me.” by James Scott

“Treasure Trove” by Lily Finch

“The Devil Wears Heels” by Kate Winchester

“Language for Love. ” by Julie Grenness

“Mind Control” by J T

“A Growing Hunger” by B.R Wilson

“Who By Fire?” by Abby Johnson

“Dead Andy” by Jeff Namian

“The Transition Point” by ISIL KARDAS

“Cause, Silly, It’s Mine” by Pete Devlin

“Teetering Domino” by Jed Cope

“A Diet of Werewolves” by Veronika Jordan

“Johnny Be Good, Please.” by Tucker Sloan

“THE NIGHTMARE OF MALLORY” by Melinda Madrigal

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Contest #272

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

488

Contest entries

176

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: