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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

“Pine Barrens” by Mungo Beans

Submitted to Contest #206

"No, no– ma'am– ma'am please–" I shift the phone to my left hand and peek through the blinds again, scanning the line of trees that mark the edge of my backyard. "It was not a coyote– and no, it was not a bear either. We have a lot of bears out here, I know what a bear looks like, so if you would just listen to me– I'm telling you– ma'am– the thing had– it had too many legs. And– yes I know I sound crazy– too many eyes." I let the blinds drop and pace into the kitchen, peering out the window there. "Well, I know that might not sound very b...

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“Soft Hands” by Ex Dez

Submitted to Contest #206

CRACK. Charles couldn’t tell if he heard the noise first, or, saw the wrist snapping. It must’ve been the sound because his brain couldn’t register what his eyes were seeing. Charles stood, rooted next to the massage table. The crimson-soaked rag in his hands fell to the floor, giving a tiny splat. He stared at a hand that was facing straight into the air, wrist bent at a ninety-degree angle. Fingers reaching for the sky. Almost quivering from pushing upwards so aggressively. Charles stumbled back, just a bit The crumpled towel was leaki...

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“Vaya Con Dios” by Douglas W. Carr

Submitted to Contest #206

Diego – or Chico by his friends – hadn’t lived his best life and found himself mixed up with the wrong crowd ever since he’d moved to Las Vegas. He struggled finding work – or good work – and quickly ended up on the streets with a group of thirty-something vagrants and outlaws, but he called them friends. He had never gained status with said friends nor had he risen in the ranks. He was mostly reduced to driving everyone else around in a vehicle that he first had to steal. On a most recent occasion, Diego had been preparing to steal a vehi...

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“She” by Chuck Thompson

Submitted to Contest #206

Ever been eye to eye with a rattlesnake? Ever realized the rattlesnake was on its tail looking you in the eye? Ever been so close to a rattler that you can hear it breathe? I live in the desert; have all my life. On a hike or just a walk through the land, I’ve met every kind of desert creature. One creature always scared me: rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes come in a variety of colors: green, blue, brown, black with silver diamonds, red or a combination of colors. It does not matter to me; they all scared m...

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“Escape” by Kara Niccum

Submitted to Contest #206

Sammy’s fingertips were raw and bloody, but she kept at it. She couldn’t let down Melissa. There was too much at stake. Melissa had stopped sweating hours ago, and was barely conscious. In a way, Sammy was thankful for the sweat that now dripped in her own eyes. She wiped it away and continued trying to pick the lock.Melissa’s cage was right next to hers, which was right next to the unfinished wall. It was a stroke of luck that the wooden beam was within reach. It had taken her days to work the nail out of the wood. Another bit of luck – her...

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“Thimbleful of Light” by 40 Akres

Submitted to Contest #206

Very little light poured down into the stairwell that went on forever. Only the thinnest slice of a sliver of light. A light that faded in the manner of a sketch, transitioning into a deep space like atmosphere. Dark, damp, dank, and dismal. Down, down, down, down into the basement where shadows breathe on their own. Deep into the dark where everything terrifying took up residence! His little mind stood chilled as his tiny eyes struggled to see. Those bright eyes tried their hardest to gather up all the light there was. Which barely m...

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“The Agent ” by Howdle Gavin

Submitted to Contest #206

The holiday agency was humming with activity outside, with people trying to spot the deal they felt they deserved. Tina strode up to the agency door confidently, grinning at the small group of people because she didn't need to look through the window while daydreaming about what could be. Tina walked into a large office dedicated to booking holidays for people such as Tina "Welcome, miss...I have a booking that wasn't on the website.""erm ok, where would you like to travel, miss Howdle?Bolivian rainforest, please. I would like to see the wil...

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“Shadow in the Deep” by Christopher Reifsteck

Submitted to Contest #206

Peter Fox was falling away. From the surface. From his retired father’s boat. Deeper and deeper he sank, his black flippers kicking him down. It always seemed like madness, in a way, to willingly abandon the air he could breath and survive in, for the cold blue ocean he could not. It was for this reason, even though it was a relatively short dive, that Peter used an air tank. He needed it to keep himself calm. It was difficult enough to keep his mind off the murky blue-green all around him, and Peter felt he didn’t care for the added stress...

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“Not in Pain” by Dorothy Lee

Submitted to Contest #206

[Warning: this story contains description of physical injuries that might lead to upsetting image] “Ah!” A short grunt came out of Amy when she foolishly cut herself with scissors. A tiny arrow-shaped wound appeared on the inner side of her left ring finger. She calmly put the scissors and the yarn she was cutting down on the table. It was Saturday morning, the day when Amy and her mom spent doing their common hobby. Amy was cutting yarns for her macrame in her study, while her mom was combining two threads on her spinning wheel just a few...

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“Two organisms, one boat” by B. Oyewole

Submitted to Contest #206

When my father asked me if she would be okay, I said yes - because really, there was nothing else to say. Because I could intuit that he wasn’t so much as asking for medical updates, as he was a reassurance of faith, our faith, that she would be okay. That she would sit up from that bed, any day now, and would pull out the long transparent tubes that now sustained her breath. Her voice would be croaky at first, hoarse from the months of unuse, and then she would try again, and ask for water, which I would rush to bring to her, and after she’...

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“The Mogollon Monster” by Jonathan Gartner

Submitted to Contest #206

“It’s coming up here in a few minutes I think,” Tom said as he put his hands over the heater vent. “Daddy I’m cold,” six year old Alisha said from the back seat. “The hot air doesn’t get back here enough.” “I’m sorry sweetie,” Mel replied to her exhausted little girl. “Let me point the vents back towards you a little more and you wrap that blanket around you okay?” “I’ve got the blanket but it’s not helping enough,” she complained. “My fingers feel all crackly and my nails are turning purple.” “We have more blankets and warm cl...

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“The Girl Down the Stairs ” by Allison Dandar

Submitted to Contest #206

When our parents died, I didn’t expect that a war was about to begin. So now, it is just Charlie and I in our small German city. We were supposed to go to live with our grandparents, but exactly one week after our parents died, the bombings started. Now, it is too dangerous to travel cross-country. Most of the trains have been derailed or bombed. All of the remaining trains that are still running require you to have papers, which neither of us have. There is no way that I’m risking traveling without them. These days, mercy isn’t even shown t...

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“The Dream” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #206

Running through the woods, James kept glancing over his shoulder to check if it’s still chasing him. He wasn’t able to get a look at what was chasing him, but he knew it almost caught up to him several times. Racing for his life he didn’t have time to process anything except the fight or flight instinct in his brain. Seeming like it was taking centuries for him to find the walking trail he detoured from, he began to slow as his breathing quickened. Filling hopeless he began to think that maybe he should face his assailant and accept his fate...

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“The Magical Cottage in The Forest” by Emily Kaufman-Bell

Submitted to Contest #206

“Oh dear, you are far from home,” the gray-haired woman said after just one glance at the young girl who was standing in front of her. “I’m looking for my brother. Have you seen him?” The woman pitied the girl, who was clearly lost and couldn’t have been more than 14 years old. “Not many people come by here. I’m afraid I can’t say I’ve seen him.” The woman extended an invitation into her moss-covered cottage. “Would you like to come in? You look like you could use some rest.” The girl was timid and politely turned down the offer when a man’s...

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“Killers of Light (part 1; revised from a manuscript circa summer 2021)” by E Moss

Submitted to Contest #206

Armies of scab-clad blackguards gather in crooked files under dim little exhaust off last skein of light before the one who wrote MOT so was the halcyon thousandfold at a zenith for all varieties of phosphene kiln killers to try and take flight. Behind them, cities and towns and terrain alike all lie razed, ablaze high, outlines of blackened rubble cast low.The mighty Mahmud, the victorious Lord,That all the misbelieving and black HordeOf Fears and Sorrows infest the SoulScatters and slays with his enchanted sword-from The Rubaiyat of O...

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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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