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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#215: Monstrous

Monsters have haunted the human consciousness forever. Or, more specifically, for as long as we’ve had the ability to wonder what might be lurking in the darkness. They might have teeth, claws, and an insatiable thirst for blood. But not all monsters are made like this. Some of them look just like you and me, and that makes them all the more terrifying.

So then, what makes a monster? Is it outward appearance or terrible deeds? Where’s the line between monster and human anyway? Because sometimes, the fanged beast might be less of a threat than the familiar.

This week's prompts

Write a story about someone trying to resist their darker impulses. Whether they succeed or fail is up to you.

Dark – 100 stories

Set your story in a haunted house.

Horror – 70 stories

Write a story about a monster trying to become more human. Or about a human trying to become more monstrous.

Thriller and Suspense – 60 stories

You confront the monster you’ve spent many long years hunting. Except they’re not exactly what you thought they’d be…

Adventure – 45 stories

Write a story about someone making a deal with the devil.

Dark – 112 stories

Stories

“The Mansion ” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #215

Passing by the old mansion Carol felt the eerie vibes that radiated from it. Checking behind her to make certain that her little brother was still close, she looked twice. Glancing over at the creepy building, she remembered the stories she had heard about the witch that used to live there. As she walked closer to the corner she felt like someone was looking at her so she checked the house and saw no one. She was drawn to a window on the top floor where she thought she glimpsed an old woman looking at her. Trying not to scare her brother, sh...

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“A Time to Kill” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #215

Camp Page in Chun Cheon Korea was the perfect place to pop my cherry. For six months, I’ve been training to be a sniper and now I’m finally getting my first assignment. It was a Saturday morning in 1953, when Major Bak called me into his office. “Here is a permanent pass for you. It will get you in and out of the front gate anytime, night or day. Now I want you to meet your partners. When you go out the gate, go straight ahead to the top of the hill. There, you will see several stores on the right on Myong Dong Road. Go there and find the ba...

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“The Cult: The Beginning” by Maxx Randell

Submitted to Contest #215

He was in love. Such elegance and near-perfection — nay, absolute perfection — sparkled in his eyes. A thing of pure beauty. If man strove to create perfection in art, this was nature finally equalling man in his endeavour. He had finally found perfection and it cleansed him, changing him. It made a believer out of him. &n...

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“Wamplus” by Vesta Bartholomew

Submitted to Contest #215

Tess suddenly sat up in bed, struggling for her eyes to gain focus as she roused herself from her nightmare that had been her close companion since she could remember. Her pink rose snap-down nightshirt was bathed in sweat and her fragile heart was thumping in her chest as she grabbed her two squirt guns in her left and right pockets, displacing the kleenex. She listened very carefully and yelled, "Are you there?" Receiving no answer, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, getting...

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“Portraits” by Amphitrite Henley

Submitted to Contest #215

The smattering of rain against the glass windows of the gallery disguised the persistent tapping on the the door across the noisy room. Almost. I doubted anybody else noticed- and if they did, they didn't seem to care, their senses flooded by the paintings they examined, the wine swirling around in their clinking glasses, or the various high-nosed critics rattling on about god knows what. I realized that I had stopped talking, and the curious patrons of the showcase were beginning to follow my wandering gaze. I issued a quick apology to ...

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“Orpheus” by Miranda Floyd

Submitted to Contest #215

TW: mention of suicide, mental illness and other dark themes My sister's death was the beginning of the end. We did everything together as kids. We were each other's rock. Our home. When something went wrong, we would also turn to each other for strength and comfort. She was an angel on Earth, and no one could tell me otherwise. Sophie was my polar opposite the way her pale, blonde hair matched that of our mother's and her round periwinkle eyes shone as a mirror into a place only she knew. While I was a good foot taller than she was wi...

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“Dealing with Satan” by Aneesa Shamsee

Submitted to Contest #215

*includes murder (possibly sensitive) Hell. Inescapable Hell. A place of horror, torture, malevolence. A place, only some, unlucky souls are welcome to. Me, for one. I awaken to the familiar sense of darkness, the smoky air slowly poisoning me, attempting to take me. Again. But something else wakes me. Purpose. Hell isn’t what some think it is. It’s not houses on fire, not bone-crushing monsters pouncing on us every five seconds. It’s not screaming people. It’s not hysterical crying until there are no more tears. There are no volca...

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“neon shadows” by Lennon S.

Submitted to Contest #215

It all began the night I lost my shadow. The night of perfection, the night where I didn’t know it yet, but I would soon discover the difference between true shadows and light blocking. *** February 22nd “I’ll be okay to stay mom.” I assured her. “I don’t know, Emberalia. It’s a big responsibility for you to be left here.” she said with a hint of the soft baby voice that annoys me so much. “I’ll be fine, if anything happens I can just go over to Rein’s house.” She gave a nervous laugh and a quick nervous look to Dad, “The ide...

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“beelzebub's Apprentice” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #215

Hey Beelzebub, let’s make a deal!” It wasn’t Tom’s first trip on the river Styx. He had made many pilgrimages there since his daddy turned over the real estate business to him decades ago. At first, he didn’t believe it existed. Those stories of his father’s canoe trips on the river had to be bullshit. He remembered his dad’s long absences during his childhood. He’d always return with a new scheme, a bag of money and a red glow to his eyes. Failed business ventures would suddenly be successful and business partners and adversaries would myst...

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“The Tale of the Golden Yellow Weeping Willow ” by Louise Muller

Submitted to Contest #215

It is a tale as old as time, perhaps even older, I suppose. Pure evil has no recorded date of birth, you see. Deep in the forest the three teens worked hard to overcome their loss. The harsh and brutal winter had taken their mother and father the year before. This forced them to learn how to live off the land and support each other as there was no one else to care for them. Whenever Liam looked at his sister, Stella, he was amazed by how much she had grown. The golden streaks that glistened in her hair reminded him so much of his late m...

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“Next Time Satan Calls, Play Dead” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #215

Dr. Kyle Kidd looks out of his window at the lush greenery surrounding his office, smiling serenely. “I’m glad we came here. I really like it.” Tempest, his nurse, nods approvingly. “It’s the perfect small town for a talented country doctor. We can live here for twenty years before anyone notices you haven’t aged.” Kyle rolls his eyes. “With all the eligible men in this town already lining up at the door faking ailments just to get a look at you, no one’s paying any attention to me. We might be able to stay here forever.” “… Inbred hill...

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“The Agony of Fire” by Eric Smith

Submitted to Contest #215

Sara hid behind her small bed in her sparse cottage. She clutched her worn bible and a small wooden cross, desperately praying. Her table and chair, the only other furniture in the simple abode, were pushed up against the door. Tears leaked from her eyes as she pleaded with her god for protection. She can hear the mob nearing her home. The door shook violently from the pounding on the other side. “Open this door!” yelled a voice. Sara tried to make herself small and unseen. More pounding and yelling came from outside. “In the name of our l...

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“Stab Wounds And Satan” by Mary Davis

Submitted to Contest #215

It was a colder night than usual in Oakland, but no one gave it any thought. A group of friends sat in a circle around a Ouija board, all four of them gently placed their fingers on the arrow. "Is there anyone that wants to talk to us?" Delilah said her voice is dull and her expression blank. We all know she doesn't believe in this kind of stuff, but I do. The arrow twitches and we all jump. "Hey that's not funny stop guys." Says Brandon he is scared of everything. "wasn't me" i say. "Oh, yeah right jenny we all know you're trying to trick u...

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“ Codetta and Fugue” by Benjamin Boxer

Submitted to Contest #215

You can call me Anthony, even though the name would have meant not a thing to me before I fell to Hell. On my last day of blissful anonymity, I sat on a heavily bleached concrete-form garden bench wearing an unrestricting, white flowing gown. We, the angels of eternal bliss, walked in the sun-soaked garden under magnolias’ leaves, surrounded by walls that seemed to match my favorite bench in both color and austerity. The walls’ sole purpose seemed to be—or so it seemed to me—to hold up humble ivy that neither obscured the walls nor re...

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“DAMNED” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #215

DAMNED I walk these filthy streets, searching, seeking my prey. For so long, my urges were held in check, just. I am filled with self loathing for how I feel yet I am unable to curtail my murderous activities now that I have finally acted; given vent to my twisted lusts after so many weeks of tortuous, agonising denial. Who shall stop me now? Only God, if there be such a thing. Yet, how can there be a God that can allow a person such as myself to exist in a metropolis such as this, full of foulness and destitution, attracting more and ...

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$250

Prize money

387

Contest entries

135

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Sep 15, 2023 EST

Won by Danielle Barr 🏆

Title: What Kind of Mother

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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