Menu

Prompts

Contests

Stories

Blog

Menu

✕

CONNECT

Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites

BLOG

Success Stories

APPS

TOOLS

Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships

ABOUT

About Reedsy Terms Privacy

CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#169: I've Got Goosebumps

Whether you celebrate Halloween or not, late October is an interesting time, full of contradictions. On the one hand, you’ve got chunky sweaters, auburn leaves, tea, grinning pumpkins, the flicker of candles. On the other, the looming threat of winter, darkness hiding just under the surface of all this cozy festivity.

This week, let’s see if we can give each other the creeps.

This week's prompts

Start your story with a character encountering a black cat.

Horror – 74 stories

Write a story where someone sees the shadow of someone standing behind them.

Mystery – 62 stories

Start your story with a blast of lightning casting a graveyard in a flash of brief, white light.

Dramatic – 36 stories

Write about someone finding a monster under their bed.

Kids – 32 stories

Write a murder story where the murder weapon is the knife used to carve a pumpkin.

Thriller and Suspense – 49 stories

Stories

“The Witch's Familiar” by Shawn Wier

Submitted to Contest #169

[CW: mentions animal abuse and death] Nine hundred and ninety-nine steps into the forest, there is a clearing–a perfect circle exactly eighteen feet across. The trees here are centuries old, and though their trunks and roots dare not creep into this space, the canopy of their orange-clad branches create a cave with a skylight casting the center of the clearing in a persistent glow. There, in that natural spotlight, a familiar awaits his new master. He is tall, long, and lean; nose to tail tip is at least the length of a grown woman's leg...

Read story

“The devil lived in the Ghostly Manor.” by Roxanne J. Black

Submitted to Contest #169

Warnings: curse words, murder.On a Halloween night of 2022, at the Ghostly Manor, at 224B of Rounery street, the doorbell rang.In the weirdest hour of the night, Layla stared down at her little purple dress and grimaced.Growing up, Halloween had been her favourite holiday, but at twenty-three years of age, she should’ve been at one of those parties where everybody was blind drunk and half-nakedly groping each other, dancing out of rhythm to a remixed Beyonce song.But nope, there she was.Standing in front of the Ghostly Manor, trembling like ...

Read story

“Toxic Breakup” by Gina Kopcrak

Submitted to Contest #169

Jessica laughed before throwing back another whiskey shot. The bitterness sent a shiver through her body. Strobe lights lit the club in flashes of blue and red. The combination of the alcohol, the pounding music, and the lights made her dizzy. There were so many bodies packed into the small space, grinding, dancing, drinking, pressing up against each other. She saw him from across the crowd, and they locked eyes through the flashing lights. She never missed him walking into a room. &nb...

Read story

“My Name is Adrian” by Devadeep Gupta

Submitted to Contest #169

My Name is Adrian My name is Adrian, and I cannot sleep. I see his shadow behind me. He is standing behind me… or is he? I imagine his voice. That deep, booming baritone lets everyone know that he was born to be the King. He is gone, but I still hear it. There is darkness all around me. I am alone in my room. Why do I still hear the voice? I cannot hear his words. It is like a deep, humming sound… “My Lord? Are you here?” No one answers. I only see hazy shadows in my chambers, as my pupils adjust to the light. I have barely...

Read story

“I Killed The Monster Under My Bed” by Kenneth Bryan Villagoneza

Submitted to Contest #169

My mind was drifting elsewhere while riding the bus to only God knows where. People inside the bus were wearing costumes for Halloween but I was too preoccupied to notice. They also didn’t notice the bloodstains which drenched my shirt. Or maybe they thought it was a costume. I could not shake the events earlier from my mind. I killed the monster lurking under my bed. I could still hear the sound as I stabbed him repeatedly with a knife as if it was recorded and playing in a loop to my ears. By the way, my name is Thea and I’ll tell you how ...

Read story

“A sale is a sale!” by Laura Ethington

Submitted to Contest #169

Feeling wildly pleased with herself, Sara walked back to her apartment from the flea market, prize in hand. On a crisp Saturday morning, she had no idea her coffee walk would lead her to this little market. Well, it was more like a few tables on the side of the street where the Sunday Farmer's market typically was. But still! It was New York City, and a sale was a sale! With an overly sweetened pumpkin spiced latte in her hand, her first of the season, she glanced at the painting on the sidewalk. She was instantly mesmerized by...

Read story

“Trick or Treat!” by Sydney Holt

Submitted to Contest #169

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. The flickering of the library lights was tantamount to blaring alarms. Larissa groaned internally as she brought her head up from the desk. It was well past midnight at this point; not an unreasonable time for somebody her age to be awake, but unpleasant nonetheless. Once she spotted it, she had no idea how long the shadow had been there. The shadow was tall and flickered along with the yellow library lights. She had to turn her head only slightly to see what, or rather who, cast it: a tall man as disheveled and tired as ...

Read story

“Butterscotch the Brave” by Emma Bailey

Submitted to Contest #169

Not so long ago and not so far away there lived a knight: Butterscotch the Brave. At first glance, he appeared unimpressive and his only defining features were his namesake butterscotch-coloured curls. He was not particularly muscly, nor was he exceptionally tall (in fact, he was slightly shorter than average), but his loyalty and big heart were second-to-none - matched only by his bravery. The night Butterscotch’s bravery was born began in a place few would expect: a child’s bedroom. In the quiet dark of her bedroom atop her messy ...

Read story

“Big Bertha” by Marilyn Filewood

Submitted to Contest #169

A rap at the front door. "Who's there?" Beads of sweat were already trickling down my spine. Had someone heard something? "It's me, Ella. Stan. Is Cedric there? I need to borrow the pumpkin knife." "He's resting." This was technically true. I couldn't lie straight in bed. Best to stick to at least half truths. "I'll get the knife for you." I rushed back to the kitchen. The knife was in the sink, pinkish liquid still dripping, despite my scrubbing. I wiped it carefully and carried it out to Stan, wrapped in a clean tea towel. "Watch...

Read story

“Stuck” by Haruhiko Cho

Submitted to Contest #169

Stuck “Don’t look under the bed.” Mom said and gave me a good night kiss. “Why?” I just had to ask. “Your favorite question again. ‘Why, why, why.’ Well, you might find something you don’t want there. That’s why. Good night.” Mom left the room with the door slightly opened so I could see the hallway light. Then again in the morning, the light was always off. That spooked me each time when I thought about it. Now, here is a different situation, I thought. Why did Mom tell me not to look under the bed...

Read story

“After-School Walk” by Ace Burnside

Submitted to Contest #169

Hildred Brasher had not walked home after school in many a year—probably not since his parents had his little sister, Zariah, and even less so when they had his even littler sister, Margaret. Which was a shame, really, because he had once truly and deeply loved these walks. They were just about as peaceful as his chaotic, violent mess of a life could possibly get, although that wasn't saying much.It wasn't that his parents were helicopter parents or anything of the sort. If anything, it was the precise opposite. They probably gave Hildred a ...

Read story

“Here Kitty Kitty” by David Ader

Submitted to Contest #169

He wished he’d thought more about that black cat when he first saw it earlier that morning. Black cats are bad omens, right? Maybe the omen was the cat itself, a ‘here kitty kitty’ gone very wrong. Now, though, as that morning led into the afternoon, he saw that cat again in front of him, staring and swishing its tail not five yards ahead. He knelt and held out his fingers, feigning the act of teasing a treat like he would do for a dog; he was not a cat person. ...

Read story

“The Little Black Cat” by Ace Burnside

Submitted to Contest #169

Mia Moore had always considered herself to be more of a dog person. That is, she got along well enough with her grandparents' little chihuahua, Cupcake, although that was basically the extent of her experience with animals of any sort. They simply were not something that crossed her mind very often—until the day she had a most dreadful breakup.She had been sitting upon the front steps of her porch, lamenting and glowering over her day, when a little black cat had just so happened to approach her, its eyes wide as it let out a sheepish meow, ...

Read story

“Don't Look Under Your Bed” by Lucy Starr

Submitted to Contest #169

Oliver woke with a start to someone calling his name. Was it his parents? Maybe it was from his dream. His room was pitch black from the midnight darkness and he lay quietly, listening for the voice. A faint scratchy whisper drifted up to his ears. "Oliverrrrr. Oliverrrrr," the voice spoke. Oliver shivered. Was he still dreaming? The voice sounded like it came from directly under him. Oliver wrapped the covers protectively around him and peered over his bed. "Oliverrrrrrr," the voice continued. The night surrounded Oliver in darkness, so it...

Read story

“N O T Y O U B I L L Y ” by Katharine Widdows

Submitted to Contest #169

Billy jumped in his skin as the lightning flashed again, illuminating ground-level sculptures of books, hearts and hands, for less than a second. Metallic vases of long-dead flowers cast shadow-fingers against tombstones under the electrical burst.Claire swished her torch from headstone to mossy headstone, pulling her hood tighter round her oval face against the lashing rain. Escaping strands of mousey brown hair stuck to her cheeks like spidery legs, as she strode through the dark in her black, rubber wellies. She crunched along the gravel ...

Read story

Load more stories

$250

Prize money

253

Contest entries

109

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 28, 2022 EST

Won by Lindsay Flo 🏆

Title: Maniacal, Manipulative, Psychotic

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!

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢