#221: Ghostly
With Halloween fast approaching, I find myself thinking about the different kinds of spooky stories we like to tell each other. Year after year, there’s one particular topic I gravitate towards when in search of a thrill: ghosts. Whether they’re friendly or vengeful, these haunting spectors represent more than just our fears and anxieties around our own mortality. They’re also symbols of the collision between the past and present, and the ways what has been can tangibly affect what will be. It’s no wonder, with the universality of these themes, that ghosts feature in folklore from all around the world.
This week, as the veil between worlds continues to thin, let’s dive into that liminal space between life and death, and see what it has to offer us.
This week's prompts
Write a story from a ghost’s point of view.
Halloween
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134 stories
Write a story about someone who is haunted. Whether by a ghost or something else is up to you.
Halloween
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138 stories
Write a story about someone trying to raise the dead.
Halloween
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49 stories
Write a story where ghosts and the living coexist.
Halloween
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69 stories
Set your story in a world where contacting the dead is as easy as making a phone call.
Halloween
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35 stories
Stories
“Dead Line” by Ashley Anon
Submitted to Contest #221
“Halloween” by Xochitl Leyva
Submitted to Contest #221
“A Night in the Swamps” by Bracy Ratcliff
Submitted to Contest #221
“Annoying people” by Bill Soest
Submitted to Contest #221
“The End of Bliss” by Frances Hogg
Submitted to Contest #221
“Lingering Spirit” by Joseph Gozum
Submitted to Contest #221
“Oculus School for Ghosts ” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com
Submitted to Contest #221
“These Silent Halls I Roam” by Bryce Kirkham
Submitted to Contest #221
“The Disembodiment of Tong Leung” by 𝗢wen 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿
Submitted to Contest #221
“My Purpose” by Alexandria Sammataro
Submitted to Contest #221
“A Brand-New Ghost Swims Away” by Carrie Simmons
Submitted to Contest #221
“Death on Repeat” by Elizabeth Beising
Submitted to Contest #221
“The Gravestone ” by Andrea Doig
Submitted to Contest #221
“Haunting Day 1” by William Simon
Submitted to Contest #221
“Scorched Earth” by Ian Grogan
Submitted to Contest #221
$250
Prize money
425
Contest entries
148
Stories
Ended on 23:59 - Oct 27, 2023 EST
Won by Bay Colt 🏆
Title: Clearance Aisle Libations
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!