#13: Spooktacular

This Thursday is Halloween! And you know we couldn't let October 31st go by without giving you all a batch of spooktacular writing prompts.

But don't worry if your tolerance for the scare factor is low: whether you're a fan of spine-chilling fiction or prefer stories about friendly ghosts, there's something in these prompts for everyone!

If you want to do some Halloween reading after you submit your short story, here are some great resources to help you find the perfect, spooky read.

100 Best Horror Books of All Time

All of the Best Stephen King Books, Ranked

And Then There Were None: The 10 Best Agatha Christie Books

33 Best Vampire Books to Sink Your Teeth Into

The 50 Best Suspense Books of All Time

Guide to Southern Gothic: 10 Dark Must-Reads

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.

Halloween – 46 stories

You go to visit your neighbor. When you ring the doorbell, a stranger appears and tells you that your neighbor has been dead for ten years.

Thriller and Suspense – 49 stories

Write a story about someone who sees a black cat cross their path... for the tenth time that day.

Mystery – 40 stories

You go for a walk and accidentally bump into someone. They feel the bump, but the person can't seem to hear or see you.

Thriller and Suspense – 52 stories

Write a story about an eventful evening of trick-or-treating.

Kids – 37 stories

Stories

“The Man In Black” by Colton Leverett

Submitted to Contest #13

The Man In Black The black man, man in black, senses he will lack. People see, the horror of he, when they pat him on the back. No fortune will tell, what all will go well, but trust me. Don't Fall For His Spell! In a dark park, such a lonely place, the sun fall, at it's pace. With a big sigh, and a rough frown, the female child walks the town. As darkness fills the air, she once again sighs with a stair, and realizes that someone had once been there. After time go on, the girl was drawn. Who had once been there? A stare of confusion, ...

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“Lily” by Ashlyn Leung

Submitted to Contest #13

I don’t really remember that day. You’d think I’d remember, as it was the most painful day of my life. I remember a little brother, the smell of cinnamon sugar, and a calm tune playing on the radio. Then a scream, glass shattering, a flashing red light. The little brother was gone, cinnamon turned to blood, and the calm music was now a shrieking mess of screams and sirens. Then a sea of darkness rushed in and I started drowning. A month later, when I woke up, I was alone. I stared at the white-washed walls until my eyes hurt. No more mother ...

2 comments 2

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“Fear” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #13

You could call me superstitious, but you’d only be half right. Certainly I believe that broken mirrors and umbrellas indoors and crossing under ladders and black cats causes bad luck, just like four leaf clovers and burning incense and rabbit’s feet causes good luck. And yet, it isn’t the actual thing that causes it. It’s the symbolism of it. So yes, I’m superstitious, but for good reason. ~ Fear is a powerful fuel. Fear of death keeps us constantly building a legacy so we can survive in people’s memories. Fear of pain keeps us from tak...

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“300 Seconds” by Amanda Wilson

Submitted to Contest #13

Jared glanced at his watch and smiled to himself. He knew that it was pointless to time the bell hop, but old habits and all that. Considering this quirk was all that was left of his once debilitating OCD, Jared embraced it. Keeping track of those seconds kept him from needing to count stairs, kept him from having to go down to the first step again if he missed one or lost count, kept him from tapping the railing five times if there was an odd number of stairs, kept the compulsion to look at the ceiling every fourth step he took at bay.“Welc...

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“Coincidence?” by Sue M

Submitted to Contest #13

Coincidence? All I heard was, “… going to die…”Beads of sweat erupted and slowly trickled down my body. All I could see was a coffin being lowered into the ground and a cardinal watching from his perch in a maple tree. As I stood up, the doctor handed me an envelope before I could escape into what was left of the afternoon. It was August 17th, two weeks before my 36th birthday. I didn’t even know if I was going to make it that long. Either way, I had a lot to think about, so I tucked the envelope into my back pocket and hustled dow...

4 comments 4

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“A Guiding Force” by Daniel Eanes

Submitted to Contest #13

Halloween Day. It started off like any typical day. The alarm went off at 6:15 AM, just like so many other mornings for countless years. I threw the blanket off and swung my feet to the floor. The bare, hardwood floor usually felt cold to the touch that time of year. Strangely enough, however, the floor wasn’t cold at all – nor was it warm. It was just – there. Equally strange was the fact that I found myself feeling rather refreshed and energized that morning. I was up ‘til about three in the morning last ...

3 comments 3

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“Unseen” by Mushroom (flammulina Velutipes)

Submitted to Contest #13

It's raining as I walk. My hands are full of overfilled grocery bags and I'm precariously balancing an umbrella above me. I listen to the sound of the rain pattering on top of it.All around me, people are rushing past, their eyes glued to the sidewalk or their phones. My phone is shoved at the bottom of one of the grocery bags, so I can't look at it. I feel it buzzing from time to time.He's standing directly in my path. I don't notice him until it's too late, and as I try to swerve out of his way, I only succeed in swinging my bags at him, t...

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“A Burning Spirit” by Frank Dimaio

Submitted to Contest #13

The air around his head grew warmer than usual as the typical clunk of the AC grew quiet, now just a hum. Stretching his arms and legs out straight, pushed the ball of his feet against the sheet at the foot of the bed. A familiar and distinct sound of ripping cloth broke the silence as the big untrimmed toes pushed through the worn threads of the sheet. Wiggling them looked like Casper the ghost winking at him from the foot of the bed; it was Halloween after all. His eyes hurt and felt like a pail of sand had fallen in them from last ni...

3 comments 3

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“Carnevil” by Denise DeVries

Submitted to Contest #13

When I found myself sitting on a chartreuse carousel elephant and holding a funnel cake, I knew something was wrong. Besieged with raucous tinny music and blinded by flickering neon, my motion-sickness worsened by the smell of fried fat, I looked around for my family. They were the ones who had wanted to come to the carnival. Funnel cake fumes rose as the elephant dropped with a sickening lurch. I thought of throwing the plate, but didn’t want to add to the congealing piles of garbage all around. When the carousel finally slowed, I loo...

2 comments 2

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“Circumlocutions” by Agathe Burrier

Submitted to Contest #13

The story goes like this: you bump into someone. That is the beginning, for all stories need one – for if there weren’t one, we would all be stuck, unable to know where to start, unable to know how this all came to be, unable to know what to make out of it. For meaning is derived from evolution, and so any story has got to have a beginning and an end, so we can see the progression, the growth, and the message within.Your story is boring.You bump into someone, as one does every day. No one can build a compelling story out of that. You bump in...

1 comment 1

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“Black Feline” by AL Paradiso

Submitted to Contest #13

It always gets worse, or at least more frequent, on Halloween. It began twenty years ago, just before the first anniversary of her passing on 11/3/1998. I was with her for her last breath. She used the last of her strength to make her way to me and lied down at my feet. That was the last time she put her trust in me instead of finding shelter to die, just as her mom did five years earlier. She routinely trusted me above all others and above her own natural instincts. What was different, was that she growled at me for the first time in her ...

5 comments 5

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“Parlor Games” by Melinda Care

Submitted to Contest #13

Virginia knocked hard on the door. “I’m coming!” she could hear old Mrs. Wambly scrambling to get to the door. Suddenly the door opened and her neighbor stuck her head out. “Hey neighbor, what can I do for you?”, she asked in a pleasant voice. Virginia noticed the tired eyes, but the gentle smile as Mrs. Wambly tried her best to be neighborly. “Just wanted to borrow a cup of sugar. I forgot it at the market, you know me, always running! I can’t keep up with myself anymore. Halloween is tomorrow night so the kids are begging for homemade...

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“A Pinch Into Reality” by Cool Creations

Submitted to Contest #13

A Pinch Into Reality The world is spinning. I can’t think. I can’t see. I can’t breathe. I’m cold. I’m hot. Or maybe somewhere in-between. I gulp for air, yet nothing comes. I panic and try again and again. Breath. Nothing. Breath. Nothing. I close my eyes and wait. I wait for a sign that it’s ok. That I’m ok. That the world is ok. That I can think, and breath. Feel a sense of consolation. When my eyes open again, I see a black cat with...

3 comments 3

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“Get Into My Car” by Ryan Hunter

Submitted to Contest #13

“Perfect end to a perfect day,” I mutter to the CLOSED sign hanging on the deli’s door. Larry never closes this place. What? Was there a death or something? I should probably give him a call, see if he’s okay. I fish around in my pocket but my cell isn’t there. I check my others to be sure but I only put the thing in the one pocket so I’m not shocked to find them empty as well. Must have left it charging at the office. &nbsp...

2 comments 2

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“The Vicar's Warning” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #13

THE VICAR’S WARNINGStephanie Mc Kay didn’t scare easily, and her main objection to horror films was that they were silly, though she had to admit there was something unsettling about The Wicker Man that gave her odd dreams about haystacks for a while afterwards. But this was more daunting than she cared to admit, and she still wasn’t quite sure how she had been talked into escorting a troupe of screeching , ghosts, and (for some strange reason she hadn’t fathomed) ice lollies as they paraded round the streets in pursuit of confectionery...

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$50

Prize money

224

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Nov 01, 2019 EST

Won by Zilla Babbitt 🏆

Title: Queen Cymbeline

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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#13: Spooktacular

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.

You go to visit your neighbor. When you ring the doorbell, a stranger appears and tells you that your neighbor has been dead for ten years.

Write a story about someone who sees a black cat cross their path... for the tenth time that day.

You go for a walk and accidentally bump into someone. They feel the bump, but the person can't seem to hear or see you.

Write a story about an eventful evening of trick-or-treating.