#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 Girl with the Cupcakes” by Kinsey Oates

Submitted to Contest #13

It seemed like I had made too many cupcakes again. I don’t know why I always bought the amount of ingredients that I did. I decided I would do what I did every time: take them to my neighbor. I put a few in a basket and began walking to the door. I was taking the cupcakes to my old neighbor, Johnson. His wife had died a while back and he lived alone in this big house with his chihuahua. He was always sitting on his porch watching the cars drive by, so I was a little shocked to see that his porch was empty. I walked up the steps and kno...

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“The Halfway Street” by Hayden Garris

Submitted to Contest #13

Dianne was an impressive woman. Strong, independent, and loving towards her two daughters. In her world she was a successful person. Working a nine to five. Cooking dinner every night. Reading bedtime stories. Hosting dinner parties for the neighbors every week. The only problem was with her and her husband, Mack. Repeated arguments had torn the couple apart. That years halloween couldn’t have been any worse. Mack was spending more time at the bar while Dianne had completely immersed herself in a social life. All to avoid the consequences of...

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“Conscience” by Bro Yaboi

Submitted to Contest #13

I feel the cold walls all around me, the hard bench behind my back. The little light that could come into the box doesn’t, it’s smartly avoiding the damp containment. An icy voice keeps calling into my cell, but I don’t hear it anymore. I know what it’s saying. How could I forget? My mind wanders back and forth through time, much like the time travel machine I dreamt up in elementary school. I feel my feet walking, the leather shoes rubbing against my ankles where my hurried preparation left it folded at the top. The top of my turtle-neck wa...

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“Welcome Home” by Misty Naxxremis

Submitted to Contest #13

Sasha Ayala watched out the window of the taxi as it drove slowly through Hemmings Street, looking for the familiar Sugar Maple that stood in the yard of the duplex she and her best friend Miri owned. It had been a little over a year since she had last visited. Six years since she had lived there.“I’m finally home.” She breathed as the taxi stopped in front of her house.Sasha checked the time on her phone as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, and jogged to the door. “3:27... I wonder if Miri is waiting up for me.”S...

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“The Wreck” by Rebecca Shipp

Submitted to Contest #13

“Oh. Hi. Is Vince here?” I peer around the gray haired woman, searching the house for my best friend and neighbor of twelve years.“Vince?” She looks at me with pity in her eyes. “Oh, Honey, I think you need to come in for a few minutes.”“Okay...” I step through the door with a bit of reluctance. I don’t know who this woman is, or what she’s doing at Vince’s place. Maybe he invited her to dinner too.“Come on in to the kitchen, Jeff.”I stop, a chill running up my back. “How do you know my name?”“Don’t you remember me?”I look over the woman car...

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“Out of Luck” by Susan Newton

Submitted to Contest #13

I have never been a superstitious person. I have never balked at the idea of walking under a ladder or opening an umbrella indoors. Stray pennies that I find on the sidewalk don’t fill me with excitement at the prospect of coming luck. Quite frankly, I think that people who do think this way are a bit ridiculous. Still, I had to admit that I had seen more than just a few strange coincidences that day. It started early, with not one of my six alarms going off to wake me up. Sure, that’s just a small thing for most people, but I have six...

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“My Misfortune” by Joyce Han

Submitted to Contest #13

My name is Pisano and I live in St Lost where cats are quite uncommon especially dark-colored cats. I never realized why but I guess it just didn't matter that much. But there was this one time, when I was going to school, I saw a black cat as I went on the school bus. Wow, how interesting! I thought. Such a rare sight. Unfortunately, we had a math and science test today. Agh, I hate tests. But it got weirder when I saw 3 more black cats on the courtyard. 4 black cats in one day? What sorcery is this? They were all under one car. How interes...

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“Do not leave your window open” by Karen Preciado

Submitted to Contest #13

It was a cold gray day as usual in that part of the city, people were not friendly at all, they were even quite rude to each other. I went for a walk as I used to do since I was widowed, I bought some white flowers to my wife, I would take them to her grave like every day; but that day something was different, the atmosphere felt heavier than usual, and most curious, a black cat was following me, it was the tenth time I saw him on my way that day, I decided to ignore it, since I do not believe in superstitions, however, during the night I co...

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“The black cat story” by Yana Riabichenko

Submitted to Contest #13

Hi, guys. My name is Samantha and I have a question. Are you a superstitious person? Do you believe that some object or creature is able to bring you good or bad luck?I don’t. At least I consider myself not a superstitious one. You’ve broken a mirror. Who cares? Is it something wrong with that object whether with your hands which let the mirror fall down?And what could be wrong with a cat even if it is black? The cat itself is cute and fluffy. It can bring no danger. Ok, maybe broken mirror but it doesn’t count.Have you already given your an...

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“What goes bump unseen or heard?” by Debbie Stelzle

Submitted to Contest #13

The weather upcoming to Halloween can be unpredictable, from a summer time day to a blizzard. Today, the weather was summer like. Requesting a personal day so one of my favorite pastimes is reading horror around halloween. I savor a good old scare feast. Downloaded a new horror EBook to my reader, it was a collection of down right scary books. Taking my E-Book, lounge chair and coffee cup to my balcony,suddenly I was stunned by a car alarm going off. Looking down at my E-Reader the battery was exh...

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“Another Step” by Jordan Cuskelly

Submitted to Contest #13

There it is. That acoustic melody that reminds me of Spring, the gentle song that wakes me and briefly takes me to a memory that I never actually experienced. The memory is slightly different every day, but today for a moment I’m in an open field looking at bluebells. Tomorrow it might be sunflowers, yesterday it was daisies, but in every memory there are flowers. The sun is always hitting the field in the perfect place, giving everything a warm glow and I am always sitting next to Maria. Her hand is on mine, which is much more meaningful to...

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“A Sweet Act” by Sarah Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #13

When you walk down the street on Halloween. What is it that you see? I look around at all of the children going from door to door and see them all excited with glee. They are dressed up all spiffy and neat. Some of their costumes are homemade and special, some are store bought and the manufacturing shows. I look out my window and let out a big sigh. I’d love to join them. If only for this night. I turn away from the window and continue down the stairs. My house, it isn’t much and we never have visitors here. I go from room to room just...

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“Halloween land” by Karen Preciado

Submitted to Contest #13

Halloween night finally arrived, the four Valmir brothers will go out to ask for sweets like every year, but this time they won't do it all together, each one will go in a different direction to collect as much candy as possible.Mike Valmir, the eldest of the brothers, went to the north of the city, the richest people in the city lived there, the houses were huge and that night they were full of Halloween lights and ornaments. It was not easy to order sweets there, there were many guard dogs that did not let the children approach the door.Mi...

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“Devil's Hour” by MJ Pennell

Submitted to Contest #13

This is a nice hotel. It should be a nice hotel. Grand and old and bleed-you-dry expensive, a real Shining type thing if The Shining was set in a sprawling Victorian, all alone way up in the mountains. See, it’s the inspiration of the place that brought you to it - what better place to write a horror novel than a house like this? And it’s even advertised, The Most Haunted Hotel in America. When you saw the ad, you thought, there. That’s the place. That’s where you’re going to go. Halloween night sale, of course you’ll go, the night the veil ...

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“Happy Holidays” by Shavon Erasmus

Submitted to Contest #13

Halloween in a hotel, that’s what we’re doing this year since no one ever has enough room for the entire family to sleep. At first mom didn’t like the idea but she finally agreed, with the one condition that I had to do the planning, which I did. I found a gorgeous old Victorian home that was recently developed into a hotel and from the pictures I could just tell everyone will like it. It is in a safe area so the kids can go trick-or-treating. There is a charming brick fire place and a library to keep the adults busy. What ...

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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.

Stories