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!

#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

“Clarence and Violet” by Howard Halsall

Submitted to Contest #215

‘Clarence isn’t a well man,’ Violet said, handing me a square head shovel. ‘He can’t face the autumnal leaves this year and our rose beds are a sorrowful state.’‘I’m no Capability Brown,’ I said, resting my wheelbarrow. ‘However, I’ll do whatever I can, providing Cassie has her piano lessons.’ ‘I’m sure we’ll all benefit from the arrangement,’ Violet said, arching an eyebrow. ‘Clarence has his little ways, but your daughter will flourish if she’s disciplined.’#I first met the old couple next door after Cassie announced she wanted to lea...

Read story

“Gardenia” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #215

The family left Gardenia around five in the morning. They quietly packed their things and left, stopping only to clean the fridge, because they felt strongly that a dirty fridge would speak poorly of them and their abrupt departure. When they left, the fridge was clean, and there was still blood all over the walls. The blood did not belong to anyone in the family. It had started pouring down from the ceiling, and the family decided that was the final straw. It was one thing when specters appeared at the top of the stairs with two heads and...

Read story

“Diary Dearest” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #215

Diary Dearest, Today is my birthday. And YOU are my present. I asked for a Barbie with different outfits to change up but I guess you will do. Nobody talks to me here or even at school so now I can tell YOU EVERYTHING! And you can’t say go away or call me Smelly Kelly or push me into the basketball pole on the playground. I asked Daddy for chocolate cake for my birthday but he said no. He says no to everything. He’s just the worst. AND he’s drinking again. I hate when he drinks because his face gets extra red and angry. I bet he doesn’...

Read story

“Modern Day Monsters” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #215

Modern Day Monsters How to build a modern day monster inspired by Mary Shelley: Believe misused power could destroy society. Believe in the Gods, here is a chain of them: Zeus: God of Sky, Weather and Fate. Call on him if questioning destiny. Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, Passion and Beauty. She will find love for the loveless. Poseidon: God of River, Seas and Earthquakes. Beware the Elements. Artemis: Goddess of Wild Animals, Disease and Children. Call on her for animal attacks, disease attacks and child attacks. Demeter: Goddess of Agricultu...

Read story

“The Court House” by Marty B

Submitted to Contest #215

Almost 8:30 AM, it was just before court would begin when his dead client, Mr. Black showed up to talk.Benny knew the consequences for being late, so was short with him.“Why are you here now?” He spoke in a hushed tone to the apparition in front of him, glancing around as the Alameda County Court room began to fill up. It would ruin his reputation as the best Public Defender in the County if people thought he spoke to ghosts. Mr. Black’s gray suit, the one he used to always wear, appeared now to fit him well, his cuffs were no lon...

Read story

“Three Easy Steps to Devil Summoning” by Brenna Herzog

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #215

It was a particularly dreadful night. Lightning split the sky in two, causing young Ruthie Thomas to jump. She stared out at the night sky for a moment before turning back to the task at hand. Squinting, she pushed her glasses up her nose as she surveyed the mess on her bedroom floor. She'd have to remember to pick it all up before morning, or else she'd be fried faster than an egg. Raising a smoking stick high in the air, Ruthie waved it about. Trails of smoke filled the room, and while it didn't smell of incense as the directions had inst...

Read story

“I Almost Shit Talked My Best Friend (But I Didn’t Do It)” by Audrey Knox

Submitted to Contest #215

My listless scrolling through Instagram is arrested by your smile. You look so happy, so carefree. Drinking at some event I wasn’t invited to. Lips parted in a laugh, as if a spectator just so happened to snap a photo of you listening to a joke, and it’s simply a coincidence that your guffaws are always photogenic. I gasp. Oh my God. It can’t be. It must be.I zoom in. I pull the image apart, distorting your face, desperate for a closer look at your lips. Internally, I am shrieking in glee as the ugly sensation of catty schadenfreude bubbles ...

Read story

“Ginger Monsters” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #215

The sound of plates smashing, furniture being upturned, and guttural, echoing roars, finally subsided as an uneasy peace drifted through the Skarion household, replacing the previous turmoil. It was a case of the calm coming after the storm. Standing around the dishevelled dining table in the storm’s wake, was Roger Skarion, his wife Barbara, Roger’s mother, Emily, and a very uncomfortable-looking seven-feet tall male creature of seemingly unknown origin, covered from head to toe in shaggy, matted ginger fur. “That is enough!” Scolded the pe...

Read story

“The Barber’s Pole” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #215

Oscar sits in his barber’s chair, reading the Trentonian on his iPhone, cataloging the day's stories for the early rush. Oscar pays special attention to the stock charts and the upcoming highway projects. People love to talk about making money—and to complain about traffic.The bell rings and Michael walks in. He is a tall, well put together, trader type in his early thirties, wearing a crisp white button-down and expensive men’s Oxford shoes. Oscar yells, “Maria, Maria. Customer. Get in here—I need a wash.”&nbsp...

Read story

“Haunted (A companion story to Ghosted)” by Michelle Oliver

Submitted to Contest #215

It was easy to disconnect from life up here, which was the reason Janice had loved this place. So far away, she’d said, like you were a bird hovering above everyone else. Janice was like that, looking for a silver lining. Me, I just saw the stairs that you’d need to take if the elevator broke down.I stood by the window and stared down at the traffic that ebbed and flowed on the street below. The apartment felt empty. It wasn’t. It was stuffed full of bits and pieces that Janice had collected, a random assortment of eclectic objects that clut...

Read story

“Velvet Ash” by Greydon Blight

Submitted to Contest #215

After a long day of driving, Brea and Ridley had at last made it free of the city. A winding road now guided them west, and with each turn they found themselves swathed in a fleeting moment of orange silk. The lazy sun had drawn the horizon’s blanket up to its chin like a drowsy giant. Ridley’s main focus was the road—an anxious driver who feared the sentinel oaks that flanked him on both sides. Tall and imposing, they cast a verdant dark canopy that turned the blue day overcast with leaf-green clouds. Beside him a sweet voice bro...

Read story

“Tight Spaces” by Nicholas Andrew Clark

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #215

I should never have agreed to this.Pale sunlight bleeds through the heavy cloud cover, turning the early 20th-century locomotives into the haunted bones of a disassembled mechanoid. Most of the station’s roof is caved in, revealing a frozen nerve branch of twisted support beams, but the building itself is intact, covered in bad-tattoo graffiti and standing sentry in the weeds. It overlooks a sinkhole in the center of the yard big as a football field. Tracks disappear into its open maw, dozens of rail cars piled together in the muddy gulch li...

Read story

“Death for Dinner and Screams for Dessert” by Karen Corr

Submitted to Contest #215

**Warning: Contains a house with a violent past, Hollywood passion, loose morals, and death**Arthur Macon wanted an authentic haunted house for his next movie. A place with a history of suicides, murders, and ghostly sightings.The house he chose was built in 1894 on the outskirts of Milwaukee, a ten-bedroom Victorian with deep porches and myriads of gables and chimneys. Three people died during its construction. Johann Buxley, the original owner, hung himself in an attic room in 1910. His oldest daughter, only sixteen at the time of his deat...

Read story

“Elderakin” by Anthony Carello

Submitted to Contest #215

Walking through the desolate landscape of Ruitina, Kurt Westin glanced over to his partner on this mission. His name was Alex, and he was a young cadet, freshly out of school. Kurt felt terrible for him for being sent on this mission, knowing that the kid did not know what was happening. The two arrived on this planet a few hours ago to investigate a report of strange sightings on and around Ruitina. Officially, this planet inhabited no form of life, but Kurt knew that was far from the truth. This planet used to be a lush paradise, fill...

Read story

“Cool” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #215

CoolHigh school. The land of the haves and the have-nots. The cool kids and the outcasts who gather at the nerd table in the lunchroom. The quarterback and the 3rd trombone in the school band. The Petrie dish for the natural evolution of separations within a species long before sociologists wrote about tribes and caste systems. Calvin knew where he was, and he knew he didn’t belong there.He fit in, but he hated where he fit in. His “friends” were companions. He concealed his disdain for them but never felt comfortable in their midst. It is a...

Read story

Load more stories

$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!

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 ⭢