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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#206: Phobias

Have you ever had that nightmare where someone is chasing you, but you can’t scream or run away? It’s a pretty common (and terrifying) bad dream, and it always makes me wonder how I’d respond in a scary moment of crisis.

Fight, flight, or freeze? You never really know what you’re going to get until you’re in that moment, staring down the object of your fear — whether that’s losing someone you love, getting stuck in an enclosed space, being surrounded by a massive crowd, or just finding a cockroach in your bathroom.

Fear is a powerful feeling to capture in writing, so this week, join me to study this lightning-bolt emotion as it illuminates the actions of your characters.

This week's prompts

Write about someone facing their greatest fear.

Dramatic – 109 stories

Write a story that contains a flashback of a nightmare.

Horror – 63 stories

Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Horror – 53 stories

Write about a character in a situation where they have to be brave for someone else’s sake.

Character – 61 stories

Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Dark – 87 stories

Stories

“From Where You Dream” by Dora Acosta

Submitted to Contest #206

I’m awake this time. At least, I think I am. This place looks like my room and feels like my bed and sheets, but everything is a little moist. Am I sweating? Was I dreaming? Two minutes ago, I think this place caught on fire. But now I feel cold all over. I pull my sheets up closer to me. I scan the room, willing my eyes to adjust to the darkness. My drapes flutter. Is my window open? I never sleep with it open. What time is it? I search for my alarm clock but can’t find it. It should be on my nightstand. I used my hands to feel around. Mayb...

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“What lives beneath” by Lynel Black

Submitted to Contest #206

Fred had not been sleeping well of late, and it was playing with his mind now. And there was a lot of quiet time alone for it to play. His whole world was now just him and his 2 wheeled companion Wylma, and the open road. It had been just under a week since Fred had crossed by ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn. A week dogged by a medley of misfortunes which were getting the best of his mood, not to mention the constant drizzly rains intent on giving Fred the worst possible impression of the Baltic. It was 6pm, and Fred had just left Valmier...

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“Hapizizidal” by Wolfric Remington

Submitted to Contest #206

As I drove down the interstate, it looked like rain was on the way. I tried the internet radio, but all that remained was a buzzing sound. The quality was too lifelike and unsettling, so I quickly turned it off, leaving me in silence. GPS maps had stopped working some time ago, so I had a map on the passenger's side. I should be seeing the town of Meliponia's exit, but all I can see are signs for Honeydale. I guess I'll exit and ask a local. I pulled off and drove, unsure of where I was going. After a bit of driving, I came across a farmhous...

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“A Final Echo” by Mahaksh Dalal

Submitted to Contest #206

Something woke up. Something, that hadn’t entirely realized that it was someone. First becoming aware of the bitter, iron-like taste of its, no his, mouth, he heaved a cough and splattered blood over the titanium of the casket that seemed to envelop him completely from all sides, bringing about utter and complete oblivion to his vision. For the first time in years, no surely longer, he thought, he was aware of the oxygen entering his lungs, giving him life, mindful of the coldness of the casket underneath him, the warmth of the air around hi...

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“Socks for the Toeless” by Sam Jacobsen

Submitted to Contest #206

The house that saved me is haunted. At night a something moans, and this night never ends, so the moaning never stops. I was too tired the first night to notice, but by the third I was pretty fed up with it. At the top of every hour (I think, but don’t really know for sure anymore) the moaning is drowned out just a little by some poor woman screaming and being torn apart. She’s invisible, but I know she’s somewhere. There are chains too, which rattle in the basement. But...

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“A Desperate Deadline” by Amanda Leigh

Submitted to Contest #206

Aletheia just kept staring at her phone’s conversation history, paralyzed with indecision. “Hi, Dolly, you're booked for tomorrow at 8AM.” “Dolly, your appointment at All Smiles Dental is coming up.” “Press C to confirm texts to receive gym membership information for Dolly.” Dozens like this. It seemed that in the past two weeks, someone had repeatedly given out Aletheia's number instead of their own. Doctors, friends, even food delivery—all of them called her, assuming she was Dolly. At first, it had been exasperatingly hilario...

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“Gimme!” by Retro Bolic

Submitted to Contest #206

“Theseo, I want your nose. Mine is awful, deviated septum, and it doesn’t look good in any light except the dark. You’ve had yours long enough.” I shook my head. “Have you ever traded?” he asked. I never liked him—Goldeus—but he always came around to my apartment, and every time he looked different. This time he had golden hair that swirled down to his broad shoulders. “I only ask because, well, you seem quite fortunate. Put together, in a way.” I had received that comment before, back when I was ten. Another child asked for my e...

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“From Shadows to Words” by Madison Stodghill

Submitted to Contest #206

Several centuries ago, there was a little girl named Emily who lived in a small town called Willowbrook. It is in her nature to spend time in the quiet corners of nature, dreaming and creating beautiful stories in her mind that it is that she was a kind-hearted and imaginative girl who loved nothing more than spending time in the quiet corners of nature. Throughout her life, Emily poured her heart and soul into writing, and it was evident from the style of her writing that she loved writing. In spite of this, Emily had suffered from a vari...

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“Phobias ” by Fiona Jensen

Submitted to Contest #206

Warning: content with death and corpsesIt had taken years and years for the technology to develop, but finally, Emmett hooked up several screen monitors to the machine that he and his fellow scientist had been manufacturing just for this specific occasion. He took a step back and surveyed his work. One of the screens showed a heart monitor while the other one blinked several colors for a few seconds before settling on a blank white screen where Emmett would view the images from his patient’s mind. Next to this was a single hospital bed ...

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“The Prey and the Arrow” by Stephanie Leon

Submitted to Contest #206

The fire dances to the wind this November night, the moon a full circle of light shining above it. I am covered in a blanket surrounded by my friends Kai, Diana, Emi, Theus, and Dmitry.Echoes of “Happy Birthday Effie!” sing beside me.“Thank you, guys!” I smile, “I’m not getting up because the fire feels nice and I’m freezing to death!”What’s your birthday wish?” asked Kai…“Uhm, probably for my loved ones to be healthy,” I said, “I don’t think I want to face any more deaths this year.”Six months ago, I lost my grandfather to cancer and went t...

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“The coffin” by Magdalee Brunache

Submitted to Contest #206

I As far as I could remember, it had always been there. Its presence in our living room had always seemed incongruous, inappropriate. It had become one with the scenery, after all these years that had seen the family gather mere meters away from it. It was irritatingly clean, shining and blooming all day long with the orange scent of the liquid my mother used to clean it. Every day, without fail, she polished it with precision, humming happily. At ease, as if it was normal that there was a coffin inside ...

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“ Tannenbacher” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #206

“Welcome to Tannenbacher Medical, producer of beautiful human fetuses for space travel.” the screens showed happy children playing in a field from wall to wall under the company logo. The main promenadium was as busy as Dr. Sobol had ever seen it, white-swathed personnel and patients shunting their way to their morning preliminaries under the ever-present ceilings. “Tomorrow’s astronauts are being conceived every day. Here at TMC we reach for the stars.” He was holding a folded periodical in his hand, showing a full-page cross-section ...

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“Awakening ” by Jose Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #206

I’ve never seen him so anxious. Cliff is enthusiastic; maybe annoyingly enthusiastic sometimes but, it’s not his fault. I Shouldn’t have brought him. Cliff is curled up with his back against the tree; locking erratically between me and peeking at the opposite side of the tree. Cliff leans over; no less than a second, a stream of fire grazes the ground forcing Cliff to cling back against the tree. “I’m still here!” That arrogant loser spews. I drag a fist onto the ground and with any power left in my feet to lift me, I catapult myse...

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“THE NOBLE ART” by Terry Patterson

Submitted to Contest #206

THE NOBLE ART Walking slowly through the huge crowd of screaming people Danny Wellard made his way towards the ring. His mind was flooded with things from his past. Would he be able to go through with it? Or would he cower away like he’d done in the past? He felt the urge to run and needed to use the toilet again, but it was too late to turn back. Closer and closer he got to the ring led by his coach Joe Myers, and his second Eric Clarke who kept on giving him encouragement and a comforting rub of his shoulders. When they reached the rin...

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“Fragments of Life: Loss and the Supernatural” by Sofia Albertini

Submitted to Contest #206

February the 8th is the date carved on the tombstone before me - the date when my best friend died, the date when it all turned to shit and my life tilted into the bizarre. It started as a slow transition, a direct response to my friend’s death. I’m sure of it. Heavy with grief, I slump onto the nearest bench, rain plops on my skin. For a few moments, it’s just me and those drops - a thread hooking me back to life. But the thread is brittle, ready to snap and leave me disintegrating into nothingness. I grip my hollow stomach, feeling how loo...

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$250

Prize money

373

Contest entries

130

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jul 14, 2023 EST

Won by Parul Shah 🏆

Title: Shameless

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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