#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

“Huh?” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #13

That’s strange. I stopped and stared at the black cat. It had crossed my path several times today. I couldn’t count, though—I was striving to get to work to do some paperwork, although it was a Saturday. Yes, but I wanted to work extra hard to show Mr. Pigs that I cared about being one of his employees. If I didn’t work hard enough for his approval, I’d quit. I was getting tired of his complaining. EZ Ways Corporation was a...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Black Cat and Hattie” by Michelle Cook

Submitted to Contest #13

Hattie Jacques, they’d called her at school. After a fat, olden days actress. “Can you touch your toes, Hattie?” The skinny, mean girls would say.“Can you see your toes?” Jenna was the skinniest and meanest of the gang. Her sharp fingers were made for slapping faces.Hattie wasn’t that fat. Still, her thighs wobbled too much as she ambled towards the campus bus stop through the autumn drizzle.She’d planned to leave it all behind when she moved to Fulchester College. Granted, it was a twenty-mile commute on two stinky buses, but it was a ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Count to Ten” by Dale Lehman

Submitted to Contest #13

The black cat shot from the Kowalczyk’s hedge across my bow like a cannonball. At the same instant, the crack of a bat sounded, and ten-year-old Brian Kowalczyk nearly beaned me with a line drive hit off his younger brother Steve’s pitching. As Steve scrambled after the ball, Brian grinned sheepishly and waved. “Sorry, Mr. Stevens!” After my years in Nam, I don’t startle easily, and anyway, no harm had been done. I waved back and said, “Nice hitting! Who’s cat was that?” Brian shrugged and took a practice swing as Steve scampered back to the...

2 comments 2

Read story

“ 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.” by Huxley Giffard

Submitted to Contest #13

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.I move into 38 Brynteg terrace on the 24 of November 2014. yes it was summer time, and it was really or should or should I say very hot as I remembered very clearly I got out the car that my landlord was driving black ford focus he open the front door and we walked into that place well the ground floor there was a flight of stairs that lead upstairs into the bed rooms and the toilet and the artic and on the ground floor...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Incandescence” by Emma McKenzie

Submitted to Contest #13

I have to get out... I have to get out! I have to-!I sit upright immediately, spluttering and coughing until my throat felt sore. I blinked around, feeling disorientated. I was on my front porch, supine, and for a few seconds, my mind is as blank as new canvas. Everything felt fine, like I had no cares in the world anymore, and that I was ethereal.Slowly rising to my feet, I brushed the dirt off of my black jeans...Why am I covered in soot?I turn to open my front door (which looked like it was made of charcoal) and jiggle the handle. It was ...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Trick or Trick” by Laura Moverin

Submitted to Contest #13

My name is Roy Peterson, I’m a handyman and we get the weirdest jobs. Anything people deem to difficult or disgusting to do themselves is what I get called out for. That’s why it was not unexpected that Mrs Celia Walsh called me to clean out her gutters. The drawback to this job is that the Walsh house is as close to a mansion as this town has, that’s if you think of mansions as Gothic monstrosities like the one in the Adams family movies. It has gutters all right but they are way up high. My instinct was to suggest she call a roofer but we ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Presence” by Emily Butt

Submitted to Contest #13

She's in the streets now, bare feet sore and achy as she leaves her home and starts to walk. She hunches over, shoulders bared to the shuddering, chaotic world around her. It's cold out now, with the fall winds breathing ice across her face and fingers. She's blue and numb. She trips over her own feet, breathless and hasty as she scrambles back up, hoping that someone will take notice of her. Her skin blossoms with angry violets and sickening yellow-greens, and even the high-collared shirt she's wearing does little to hide the bruises. The s...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Just Paranoia” by Madison Rulapaugh

Submitted to Contest #13

I walked down the abandoned street. The trees stood like skeletal sentries all around, their fallen leaves whispering and ruffling in the winds that seemed to chill me to my bones. The last light was falling away, leaving me alone at the mercy of the silver veiled moon that sneered at me from above, casting shadows of ghosts in the corners of my eyes.I walked on, wrapping my arms tightly around myself, trying to still the tremors that had less to do with the cold, and more to do with my overactive imagination. I saw a shadow in a path of rus...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Dead or Alive??” by Kayla Berry

Submitted to Contest #13

It was cold, the leaves had just finished changing color, and in May Steven’s opinion, it was the perfect time to go for a walk. She’d said goodbye to her mom on her way out as she grabbed her coat, but her mom hadn’t seemed to notice. No surprises there though. Her mom was often distracted, whether it was with one of her crochet blankets or a new recipe she’d been dying to try, she had always seemed a little absent, though not in a bad way. Mrs. Steven was still an amazing mom, always going overboard for special events, like the holidays. S...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The House on Hooper Street” by Richard Sirianni

Submitted to Contest #13

A long, hot, muggy summer has finally given way to the brisk temperatures of a long-awaited Autumn. The New York tri-state region is now breathing a sigh of relief with the recent arrest of David Berkowitz, the infamous postal worker responsible for a year's worth of murders. Local sports fans are still basking in the reversed fortunes of their New York Yankees with newly acquired Reggie Jackson guiding the team to their first World Series title in over a decade.It is Halloween of 1977, overcast, with temperatures hovering near the fifty-deg...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Ghost on Church Hill” by Elisient Vernon

Submitted to Contest #13

The old brick house with its gabled roof and stained-glass windows had been converted into a church building. The church was on a hill. A narrow path bordered by wild ferns led up to it from the main street. It looked quite odd among the few cottages scattered here and there in the tiny community of Meadow Valley. Travelers passing by often stopped to take pictures of this Gothic looking church in the middle of ‘nowhere’. Right behind the church building was a cemetery where members of the chu...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Mystery of Eloise Smith” by Jessica Burnette

Submitted to Contest #13

The Victorian no longer looked scary. Every light was on in the four-story house. Maybe the place never had a ghost walking its halls, and only her imagination on Halloween night saw shapes in the windows. But it didn’t keep Sarah from hugging her overnight bag as she walked up the steps. “Welcome to Smith Manor!” A woman dressed in Victorian clothing stood in the foyer. Sarah planted her feet in the doorway. Pumpkins and hay barrels covered the foyer. The mansion looked like a hallmark card than a haunted house. “I have a letter i...

1 comment 1

Read story

“1 Victorian Way” by William Webster

Submitted to Contest #13

The Bed & Breakfast was better than they could have imagined. The brochure was great, the pictures were good, but the 1830 Victorian mansion was gorgeous. Gingerbread-trim decorated the exterior of the three story house. Inside, thick crown molding lined all of the ceiling edges and chair rails ran the length of hallways. Intricate woodwork with carved foliage trimmed the molding throughout the house. Dark, rich wainscote panels covered three walls of the study with the fourth occupied by a floor to ce...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Empty Space” by Kate Song

Submitted to Contest #13

Rushing through the bathroom door I scrambled to the glass mirror. My hands, like a wrecking ball, were knocking over bottles, looking for the orange container with the label reading “Take no more than one a day, if necessary.” To my surprise I found the bottle was not there. I slammed the mirror door closed, leaving a crack along the middle of the glass. I stormed into the next room over, and see my mom. She sat struck still on the floor, where in her hand lay the empty pill container. I stared at her with wide eyes wondering what had happe...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The One's Who Disappear” by Jamie Hyman

Submitted to Contest #13

It was a cold and windy Thursday evening but not just any Thursday. It was Halloween night, one of the most celebrated holidays in the small town of Unionville. As could be expected, the trick-or-treaters were all dressed up and on their way to find as much candy as one could desire. All but the one and only, neighborhood dad, Mr. Frinkles. Frinkles was on his way to pay a visit to his old friend, Carlos. Carlos lived exactly one block from Mr. Frinkles so everyday the two would meet to judge one another’s yard or have coffee at o...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

#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.