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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#149: Of Stranger Things

After its much-awaited release last week, the fourth season of Stranger Things has taken the world by storm. First aired in 2016, this television show stars a group of D&D-loving kids and unlikely heroes in a topsy-turvy world. Its creators took inspiration from many classic thrillers, and the show has in turn been influencing writers to write Stranger Things books.

Whether you’ve been swept up by this sensational show or not, I hope my Stranger Things-inspired prompts can propel you into a story of your own this week:

This week's prompts

Write about a character who is trying to convince others to play a game.

Kids – 20 stories

Start your story with the flickering of a light.

Kids – 98 stories

Write about two people who form a bond with each other through music.

Middle School – 46 stories

Set your story in a town that’s teetering on the edge of something dark, literally or metaphorically.

Dystopian – 50 stories

Write a story about an unlikely group (or pair) of friends.

Middle School – 43 stories

Stories

“25 Magnolia St” by Sebastian Meadows

Submitted to Contest #149

17th October 2015 17/10 3:42 pm CREEEAK!!! It was a cold October afternoon and Sebastian Meadows (although everyone called him Seb) was walking up the driveway of 25 Magnolia street. My friends Sam and Max had dared me to enter the old, creepy and spooky mansion that stood shakily on 25 magnolia street. The howling wind had caused the old, wobbly and rusting gates to swing open. I thought I was being very brave by entering the old horror house, but I was starting the think twice about it. I decided I would just do it, after all, what was the...

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“3:33 and a flickering light.” by Dionne Nichols

Submitted to Contest #149

A newborn baby lays quietly in a crib. The moon shines bright and nearly full, casting a ghostly glow through the gap between the sheer curtains in the window. There is a slight chill in the air; it is the middle of winter afterall. The babe looks all around, arms and legs moving. One breath, then another. There is a second, warmer light coming from a nightlight plugged into the wall. Suddenly, the light flickers and a different light is seen. This light moves and floats around the room, ...

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“Flicker in the Dark” by Hope Elizabeth

Submitted to Contest #149

It is early evening, and I am staying at my parent’s cabin. The woods are snowy and clouds make it dark so the patio light is on as I read. Without warning the light above me flickers quickly and doesn’t stop. That isn’t too strange, we lose electricity a lot out here, so I just go turn the light off and go back to reading. For anyone to understand my current situation I have to explain that I am in the middle of nowhere. That isn’t an exaggeration, my parents bought this cabin for that exact reason. No neighbors for miles, just a seemingly...

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“Against the Dome” by Phillip Moore

Submitted to Contest #149

Gray tapped at his digital watch in vain as it flickered off. It was ironic, he thought, and perhaps a little cryptic that his trusty timepiece would die today of all days. He sighed, resting his chin on the butt of his shotgun as he returned his stare to the section of dome he’d been assigned to watch. It had been over six months since the domes—gelatinous-looking shadows which covered huge expanses of land—appeared. At first they did indeed resemble domes, enveloping entire cities and miles of earth in perfect circles. However, they had si...

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“The Case of the Disappearing Damsels” by Bruce Friedman

Submitted to Contest #149

Harry Krakow was reclining on his bed in the corner of his small, sparsely furnished efficiency in Hell’s Kitchen. In one corner was a hotplate sitting on an end table to heat up soup or canned beans. The room also contained a battered chest of drawers he had found on the street. A cracked mirror hung above it, secured by a single nail in the wall. The only window in the place looked out on an airshaft with trash collecting at the bottom.It was the summer of 1935 and Harry was feeling depressed and at loose ends. He was having trouble findin...

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“The Doll House” by H.K. Slade

Submitted to Contest #149

Stephen Graham leaned on his handlebars, staring at his watch and fighting the compulsion to turn his bike around and race home. In bed by 8:30 PM. Even in the summer, his parents permitted no exceptions. As the seconds ticked away, the knot in his stomach cinched down so hard that it hunched him over. His fingers went weak. He wanted to vomit. Alone in the twilight, on a newly paved street tucked in the back of a working-class subdivision, Stephen watched 8:30 come and go, and the winding tension… evaporated. He was late. ...

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“Fun with Colors” by Brady Taylor

Submitted to Contest #149

"Fun with Colors" by Brady M Tayor *Trigger Warning- This story does contain themes of child abuse The Shoes loved her. Red ones, black ones, striped ones, ones with high heels, and some with no heels at all…they all adored her, and the little girl loved them back with her whole heart. They were all she saw; they were her world. Oh, she had looked up once or twice when she was younger, but those blobs of flesh with the harsh, unfocused eyes and vulture lips had torn her apart each time. Much better to look down at the Shoes; the Shoes al...

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“Chrysalis” by Kris Hawkins

Submitted to Contest #149

Freya winced as she sat down. She set an overfilled glass of merlot onto her windowsill, and looked out at the moonlit courtyard of the Berkshire Apartments. Wine glasses clinked behind her. As they rang out, darkened light posts constellated throughout the courtyard flickered on then off in unison, revealing a glimpse of a well-manicured landscape covered in hundreds of monarch butterflies. Strange, she thought. Not about the butterflies, or even the lights; in fact, she hardly noticed them. She was transfixed on the motions of her ...

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“Seraphine” by Laurentz Baker

Submitted to Contest #149

I should be asleep by now. But something grabbed my attention. Fire, I think. A single flame. When I sit up to be sure of what I see. It is gone. A flicker. I sit a moment to see if it will show again. Nothing. I lie back down. And through closed eyes, I see something bright in front of my face. I open my eyes. And there it is. A flame hovering in the corner of my home just below the ceiling. In a blink. It no doubt retreated. It doesn’t shine as bright as it did when my eyes were shut. My eyelids stretch not yet adjusted to the dark...

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“The Airing” by Carolyn Brown

Submitted to Contest #149

COVID came to their town, as it did all the others. At first the citizens believed that their distance from the cities would protect them, as in olden days when the miasma was expected to hover above a populace and not spread through individuals, but modern realization soon proved that humans, as always, were the biggest threat to humans. People left the town, of course, going in their cars to visit relatives or in planes to visit beaches, and then they returned to the safety of home and the normalcy of work and school and church...

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“The Path Unspoken May As Well Be Unspoken ” by Bob Nike

Submitted to Contest #149

Hi im this 18 year old kid and something has been teetering on my mind. People have been saying this town I'm in has a quote on quote dark past. Whenever I walk around this small but very big eerie town there's always strange happenings, things that people can’t explain. You may believe or not believe in these strange happenings but i can tell if you were to ask anyone who lives here they will tell you lies to make you stay. Sometimes this town's curse as I may call it sucks you in and won't let go. May 16th 2020, a dark and seem...

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“Dark Dreams” by C.B. Tannon

Submitted to Contest #149

[Note: this is a sequel to the story "Lies of the Rational Mind", although it can be read as a standalone story]The aftermath of whatever had gone down was grisly, grislier than most supernatural crime scenes I had investigated. I’m slightly ashamed to admit I’d had to run to the toilet to puke immediately. I returned to the bedroom a shade paler than usual, brushed underneath the yellow and black tape crossing the doorway, and appraised the corpse for a second time, trying my utmost to ignore the viscid stench of rotting offal emanating fro...

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“Weird Band Chaperons” by Ray Maher

Submitted to Contest #149

Weird Band ChaperonsWe are close friends who were brought together through our repeated years of band practice. Meg is quiet and shy, with or without her flute. Dan, who plays trumpet, and Kyle with his French horn, are our loud ones. These two tall giraffes can be attention-grabbing fanfares even without their instruments. The other guy in our friendship gang is Dakota. He is short, intense, and as relentless as his drumming in the band performances. I am Dee, the last of our group, the other girl of our five, and I play the piano in our ba...

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“Strange Allies” by M B

Submitted to Contest #149

The dracoz made an intimidating figure against the setting sun: He had black scales with a bit of gray down the throat, two large horns jutting from the top of his draconic head, and a long tail ending in a spade point trailing behind him. His yellow eyes gleamed in the dusk light. His kilt rustled in the wind of the plains as the sun glinted off bits of armor adorning his torso. His greatsword - complete with a gem upon the pommel - swung at his side. His name was Draknor, and for many a long year he had wandered the lands and...

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“SURVIVAL” by VICTORIA HALTON

Submitted to Contest #149

SURVIVAL My eyes are opening up to the heat of sunlight shining in through the window on the right side of my bed. The warm touches are hitting my face and getting me ready for my daily routine. First, a full breakfast before working out. Next, a shower lasting at least thirty minutes or so. I never liked drying off with a towel. As I only enjoy letting the sun and air remove the water from my sun kissed skin. I reviewed my itinerary for the day. On the list is me taking care of business. As a young creative of course this means boring m...

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$250

Prize money

256

Contest entries

123

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jun 10, 2022 EST

Won by Katy B 🏆

Title: How to Win a Game of Chess Without Really Trying

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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