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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

“What Echoes in the Woods” by Sravya Lekha

Submitted to Contest #206

Damp leaves whip me in the face as I bolt through the woods. Branches leave thin scratches along my arms, held up to protect my face. I can’t see more than a few feet in front of me, where the moonlight illuminates the muddy ground. I look up at the small golden light just beyond the periphery of the woods. I don’t know what it is, but somehow I know it is my only hope. The crunching of branches behind me forces me to pick up my pace. My head is frozen forward, but I can tell whatever is chasing me is right on my heels. Panting, I ...

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“"Sometimes, All it Takes is a Name.........."” by Andy Mac

Submitted to Contest #206

Sometimes, all it takes is a name. More than likely you already have multiple names in your head already. You have names for family members, friends, colleagues, and even strangers. But I’m not talking about these names. I’m talking about names that stretch the fabric of time. They may have came into this world in the usual way, but they grew into infamy because of either their heroic, or disastrous thoughts or actions. I know a lot of these names, being a history professor at South Bay University it is sort of my business. Allow m...

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“A Window With Nothing Outside” by Erin Ryu

Submitted to Contest #206

(Author's Note: Reader discretion is advised! The following piece contains mentions of suicide and mental illness. Please note that this is all fiction! If you are an individual struggling with any of the aforementioned, please know that there are resources! You are not alone!) Lawrence Bradford sat silently with his hands neatly folded across his lap, moccasins locked parallel to each other and pulled inward, like the unassuming character he was. Dressed in a frayed cashmere coat and long trousers, Lawrence shifted in his plush cush...

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“Keep Going” by Kaz Ingelman

Submitted to Contest #206

I thought it would be better in California. I thought the salty sea breeze would calm my racing mind. Or, if that didn’t work, the midnight pool parties would at least distract my brain. Or maybe if the change in environment didn’t improve my mood, the therapists in the golden state would at least be more helpful than the ones in Utah. But it turns out the therapists here are just as useless but double the price. No one here knows how to help me. I’m an enigma to some of the best minds in the state. I don’t have a physical disease or a vi...

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“Arachnophobia ” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #206

It was a long time ago. I think the Australian Southern Cross is good at yoga, taking eight legs and pressing two legs at each corner of the perimeter of imaginary square forming a stick and hook like cross. It's body having yellow curved stripes, probably to warn off predators and its orb with gossamer stretching out to a post in the group carport, whilst other supporting threads catch the clothes line and if not careful will extend to the car's side mirror. My friend was scared when she arrived late after an appointment at the doctor's sur...

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“Tooth” by Marleze Kruger

Submitted to Contest #206

It was so out of place. That's what drew my attention to it. There it was, to the left of the Max's drawing table. A tooth. Hesitantly I entered his office. It gave me chills when I picked it up and noticed that it wasn't a clean tooth. It was stained with dried blood, and was that part of a root? I shuddered again and dropped it onto my cardigan pocket. As hard as I tried to reconcile such an odd thing, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. Returning to Max's workroom makes me feel guilty. He's made it abundantly clear that it is 'his' s...

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“Wolf” by Robert Sowers

Submitted to Contest #206

Even amongst the shadows of the tree line, the creature appears blacker than the forest - a mere fleeting glimpse of a shadow lurking within the shadows. It has been many years since I hunted for deer in these woods as a child with my father, and the demands of my career don’t allow for much time in the outdoors. My communion with nature ended long ago, and my natural senses and instincts have been severely blunted. But there can be no mistake about what I just saw dashing through the tree line - it was a wolf. Contrary to popular belief, th...

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“Nothing To Fear My Dear” by Ashley Sawh

Submitted to Contest #206

Contains language usage.I was terrified. I had never seen my dad so helpless. I felt a wave of terror wash over me when I saw the pain in his eyes. I had never experienced such intense fear before. I was frozen in place, unable to move or speak. I was scared of what might happen next, to my dad. There was a part of me that wanted to help him, but I was too overwhelmed and too scared to do anything to help him. I saw the light dwindle out of his eyes and my heart sank. He seemed to have given up hope, and I felt helpless and powerless to do a...

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“Mimir” by The Rainbow Lorikeet

Submitted to Contest #206

Hi, I'm not sure if trigger warnings are applicable, but there's a bit of implied physical violence at the end __________________ It was 8pm on Thursday afternoon, Valentine’s day in the year 2050. Outside, it was raining. I liked that—my biobot Bast had told me to have an umbrella ready to go. It was also windy. I didn’t bring a windcheater, so I did not like this as much. I was cursing the wind, cursing the terrible weather forecast models and ready to drag myself through the 500 meter gauntlet from Minerva tech to my apartme...

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“Birding in Idaho” by Carolyn Fenzl

Submitted to Contest #206

I was reminiscing about the Hairy Woodpecker I’d seen just up the mountain last week as my snowmobile sped through the newly fallen half foot of snow. I’d forgotten my camera that time, a rookie birding mistake, and I hoped the bird would still be in the same stand of trees. The dry air was making my throat scratchy, and I needed water or I’d start coughing and upset my already shaky driving skills. My wife had warned me against buying a snowmobile, calling it a death trap, but it was an early retirement splurge and made winter birding on th...

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“The Caretaker” by Alysha Davies

Submitted to Contest #206

*TW - Themes of sexual and physical violence*In the shadows, I watch as he stares and grinds the gummy remains of his teeth. I meet his yellowed eyes and watch a dark stain grow across the quilt. His gnarled knuckles clutching the bars of the bed. Gasps rattle through the collapsed caverns of his lungs and escape with what words he can still stammer.Maura MauraWhispers barely audible over the pounding of his heart, staccato percussion against his brittle ribs. It’s a taxing performance, as I watch fear possess his body. His mouth will ...

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“CREATURE OF THE NIGHT” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #206

I hate the night especially when there's no light. Bad things happen at this time. Midnight is the witching hour, I need to get to my car as fast as possible or else. Shit! What is that? Growling, low menacing growling. Oh God! something is out here with me, watching me. Keep it together Kat. Keep walking don't look back. There's that growling again. It's behind me. Don't you dare look back Kat. I take out my car keys and run to my car. I hear it behind me. Run Kat, run fast. I see my car. I made it to my car. I press the turn on button....

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“Endless Deep” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #206

At first, the bite felt like a mere pinch near his right elbow, how a mosquito might make its presence known to an outside reveler on a sultry summer’s evening. Here and gone as suddenly as it came. Like a mosquito, or perhaps a biting fly or ant, and Helm’s instinct was to brush the creature away. Go bother somebody else outside. But there was always the possibility it was a wasp or a hornet. He’d never been stung before, knock on wood, but pop, God rest his soul, had had to deal with anaphylactic shock, and wasn’t that a genetic thing?&nbs...

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“Everything is Ok” by Halle Simmons

Submitted to Contest #206

It was a Wednesday night when I saw her. I was taking a relaxing shower, trying to clear my mind after a long day of school. I breathed in the clean air and listened to the sound of water falling. The silence was suddenly cut short by the sound of the bathroom door creaking open. It was probably just my roommate Britany, I assured myself. Maybe she didn't realize I was using the shower. "I'll be out in a second!" I yelled out to her. I hopped out of my shower and threw on my pajamas. Looking back, I should have realized s...

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“In Sickness and in Health” by Karin Eriksson

Submitted to Contest #206

Having worked numerous jobs throughout my life, I had nothing to prepare me for the emotional and physically taxing job of being the caregiver to my husband. It was, hands down, the roughest, most demanding, and most brutal position I ever found myself in. It took my time and energy, threw me into isolation, left me overwhelmed, frustrated, and on constant crying j...

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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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