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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

“6 Living Inside” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #215

6 Lives Inside The whole strange affair started one Sunday, when we were driving north a long way on the highway (well over an hour) to have a hamburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake at our favourite summer take out place: Weber’s. It was always well worth the drive and the lineup. Nearing our destination we saw an old abandoned house we had seen many times before. It was one of the sights we looked forward to viewing along the way, like a lake or a river. Was it always abandoned when we saw it?  We couldn’t say. It w...

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“Wildlife Of Mass Destruction ” by Rae Toonery

Submitted to Contest #215

The President slammed his gavel on the little wooden block. “With all parties in agreement, I hereby call the 27th summit of the Warnot Alliance to a close.” What all the parties had agreed this year, as in the previous 26 summits, going back a quarter of a century, was that they would not invade each other’s territories. They agreed to be accountable for their own respective WOMD (Wildlife Of Mass Destruction) and to maintain respectful levels of fear for whatever WOMD their neighbours acquired over the coming year. Commander Irons rushed b...

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“To Gut a Snake” by Kay Reed

Submitted to Contest #215

My world has been cleaved in two, a knife wedged in the wood between my before, and my after – the two halves spinning recklessly close to an edge, ready to drop. In the before, everything made sense – my entire life straight lines leading me here: into the lair of a snake. I was gifted a magicked knife from the Queen herself, the blade soldered, tamped, and sharpened into a gleaming point, laden with the drippings of magic – all with the sole purpose to hunt and kill the last great demon that threatened the known world. I imagined how...

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“Arachnomantic” by Sae Luy

Submitted to Contest #215

A liberal arts student was sleeping in her dorm when it all started. She had a restless sleep, tossing and turning in her bed, tormented by disturbing visions that replaced each other like a harrowing kaleidoscope. When she woke up in the morning, there was heaviness in her head and an unfamiliar sensation in her body. On top of everything else, some kind of itchy pimple appeared on her arm, prompting her to consider allergies or probably even an insect bite. With the same fog in her head, she took her place in her college classroom and then...

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“A Different Kind of Monster” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #215

He is the stuff of legends. But then they all are. By rights, they should not exist. That could be said about every species on this planet. Life is a precarious nonsense that fascinates me and appals me in equal measure.  I’m a fan though. How could I not be? My master waxed lyrical about William, and my master was not one for praise. I should know. I was a constant disappointment to him and he was quick to tell me so. I was his Grand Mistake. After me, he avoided making another for fear that he might double down on the fo...

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“Garita Del Diablo ” by Jonathan Page

Submitted to Contest #215

Methoughts I saw a thousand fearful wrecks;Ten thousand men that fishes gnaw’d upon;Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,Inestimable stones, unvalu’d jewels,All scatter’d in the bottom of the sea.Some lay in dead men’s skulls, and in the holesWhere eyes did once inhibit, there were crept –As ‘twere in scorn of eyes – reflecting gems,That woo’d the slimy bottom of the deep,And mock’d the dead bones that lay scatter’d by. Richard III, Act 1 Scene 4On San Clement’s Day, my lagoon front building project encounters an unexpected and...

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“For them all, this I will do.” by Madison Busi

Submitted to Contest #215

"Please Sir. Anything... I will give you anything." She was the 9th soul I’d seen today. Crawling, as is required, along the dark floor. The 9th soul today and the first with any chance of my acquiescence. “Sit.” I commanded, her body moved from the crawling posture to a suitable kneel. How I did enjoy seeing a beautiful girl kneel. It was, however, lessened by the state this one was in. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this girl had crawled through hell and back to get here, I humored myself.  Dark, knotted hair hung from her hea...

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“Monster” by Jesper Jee

Submitted to Contest #215

”That's why I stop myself from doing the things I want to do. Because it’s not right. What’s wrong is that I don’t want to.”The floorboards croaked beneath him as Richard Farraday walked from one side of the vestry to the other. There was a small sink in the corner and he needed to wash his face again. Not only because his skin felt clammy and beads of sweat were starting to form on his forehead, but because he felt dirty. Something not even holy water could fix.Cupping his hands under the cold tap, he gazed at his reflection in the mir...

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“Burying Ghosts.” by Lara Deppe

Submitted to Contest #215

Kanna drew an impossibly deep breath as she drove down the winding drive through the overgrown brush and trees that were scratching their names in her airport rent-a-car. She could already hear the neglected engine of her father’s rotting chevy choking its way down the long-abandoned road in her memory. She exhaled a painful breath as she approached her destination. The driveway before her was cracked and beveled like an abandoned eggshell. She pulled closer to the garage door. The paint that was peeling from aged wood was piling like leaves...

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“The Thaumatrope” by K. Espinola

Submitted to Contest #215

Lenore Whitten had lived in this house for one hundred and fifty years. Or, at least, that’s what she would claim if anyone ever asked her. But, in reality, there was little left here from her time. All the furniture had gone when her parents sold the home in 1888. At the end of the century, the porch had been replaced when the owners’ little terrier fell through rotting boards. In the twenties, the plumbing had been redone. Then, a young couple had moved in and arranged for the wall between the kitchen and parlor to be removed. It opens thi...

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“The Unconquerable Monster” by John-Paul Cote

Submitted to Contest #215

I am close.I have sought this creature for years. This unconquerable monster, I am told.I have been called arrogant, ignorant, mad in my pursuit of it.The monster haunts my ever waking thoughts and deep into the recesses of my dreams.Each brush stroke brings me closer to my nemesis.I have been creating this painting nearly my entire life.When the monster first struck, I did not know what to do. It cursed me as a child. It cursed my mother and father. My siblings. As I grew, it followed and cursed those I called friends. I found little solace...

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“Don’t” by Vincent Paiement Désilets

Submitted to Contest #215

I’m writing this with two remaining fingers, one dead friend, and three decades of regrets, loathing, and pain. You’ll never read it—there’s no such thing as time travel—but consider this a therapeutic exercise. A hopeless shot at inner peace, at settling the past. I’ve tried many times to write this. Must be my fiftieth attempt. I’d burst into tears, I’d shake for hours, I’d get lost in a confusing mist of memories, bite my cheeks until they bled. One night, I slit my wrists and soaked my sheet with blood. You’re young, healthy—you feel ...

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“The Psycho's Revelation” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #215

"Trender's Orphanage. If you aren't familiar with it, that's because it is basically wiped from the media. Hard as they could, though, those fools could not wipe away the blood...or tears." The six-foot-seven-inch lady looked down upon the white-haired boy, a metal staff as his only protection held in his lap. She conceded to his intrepidness, and so kept her custom goalie stick-styled blade down. She also appreciated him not staring at her scars around her mouth, usually covered with a surgeon's mask but for today; she wanted to be un...

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“Hematites ” by Aly Magpie

Submitted to Contest #215

Theodore blinked. "Up there?!" he craned his neck till it popped. "What are we, goats?! I'm not crawling there!" "You are," said Grigori, eyes on the steep slopes, clad in snow from the foot to the spear-like cusps, "have you dragged yourself here for nothing? Care to tell His Majesty you rode all the way to the Nebesk Pass to take a nice look at the scenery and bid it farewell?" "Care to tell His Majesty that believing in fairytales past the age of five is considered a sign of madness in most human societies". Grigori grabbed him by the fur...

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“Santa Clara ” by Midnight B.

Submitted to Contest #215

I looked at the sunset beaming on the horizon in the distance. The treacherous waves crashed against the large boulders afar. I could feel my hands slowly become clammy over the thought that nightfall was coming. My whole body tensed up with nerves like never before.  Captain Russell spoke, "Ole’ Pacific sure is wild tonight, ain’t it?”  “Indeed. Are you sure we should be going out to the island? The radar on the boat said there was a storm up north towards there. I don’t think we will even get out of here.” Russell ...

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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!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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