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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#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 – 133 stories

Write a story about someone who is haunted. Whether by a ghost or something else is up to you.

Halloween – 137 stories

Write a story about someone trying to raise the dead.

Halloween – 49 stories

Write a story where ghosts and the living coexist.

Halloween – 69 stories

Set your story in a world where contacting the dead is as easy as making a phone call.

Halloween – 35 stories

Stories

“Haven't You Ever Loved Someone” by G.E. Konstantin

Submitted to Contest #221

Sunday When the light is soft in early morning, combing through the blinds and striping the bedroom floor, parts of me may be reflected. I am caught in the sun like a gossamer cloth, but momentarily. She lays in a pooling white blanket, the fabric rising and falling with the tide of her breath. Closer, I can see life blush in her cheeks and wish I could feel the warmth of the blood just beneath the skin. She is a vision, a hand painted portrait I would try in vain to replicate if I had the means. I hear her breath gently change and...

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“The Perfect Roommate” by Bryce Rhamon

Submitted to Contest #221

There will be moments where I catch myself forgetting. I wake up from my bed in a panic and notice a total stranger lying next to me. Sometimes you're even awake at the time, just looking at your phone not reacting to me. I think to myself 'What is this person doing in my home and why are they acting as if I'm not even here'. I notice you before I notice that this isn't even my same headboard or my same dresser or nightstand or the desk and computer missing from the side of the wall. In those moments I also seem to forget that I don't exactl...

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“Good Evening, Dear Listeners” by Anna Maeve

Submitted to Contest #221

It was the year 1942 and the world was engulfed in the turmoil of World War II. Sarah’s heart ached with worry as she listened to the crackling voices on the radio. Each broadcast brought news of battles, victories, and losses, but what mattered most to her was the hope of hearing about her husband, William, who had been deployed overseas. Here she sat in her London townhouse, listening in. [Sound of a vintage radio tuning in, followed by static. Then, a formal voice of a radio announcer is heard.] Radio Announcer: (Clears throat) Good e...

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“My Mind Ghost” by A J

Submitted to Contest #221

I wander sometimes, along paths not formed, realities not yet real – in my mind. It’s a journey of the real mixed with the unreal and a discovery of my own abilities, in a world already full of superhero's. However, for me, I think I have a ghost. I think it lives inside my mind. Suddenly I woke from a deep sleep and glanced at the phone for the time. Its early, I’m still tired. I can’t sleep any longer, I was welling up with anxiety and I had to be ready. Although at this point, I was not quite sure what...

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“Quotidian Ghost” by Nichola Kowald

Submitted to Contest #221

He stacks the shelves quotidian; clings to monotony in a defence against unspoken accusation— a quote attributed to no-one. He tidies, dusts; his shoes slip and slide on the floor. And briefly sliding like socks on polished tiles, he slips into a quotation of his childhood. Recollection wounds. The spirit of Eli did not speak; there were no whispers from the grave. To be haunted by a ghostly apparition would be a blessing; a mercy. But he is haunted by himself— by his lonesome. He remains; his brother reduced himself to remains. And he is ha...

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“THE HEADMASTER” by Isen Oommen

Submitted to Contest #221

When I think back on my childhood, there is one image that stands out in my mind. When I was in upper elementary school, our respected principal, we call him Headmaster, tried to teach us the ins and outs of English grammar. The teacher towered over the students, and his stern eyes seemed to reach right into their hearts. He was a powerful leader whom we all feared. In our childhood, he stood out from the rest of us because we believed he could think in English. We used the name of our respected headmaster a lot when we wrote Hindi compositi...

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“The Ghostly Harbinger ” by Joshua Nielsen

Submitted to Contest #221

“Mom, why did we have to move again? I hate packing and unpacking.” Sebastian whines. “Well, we would not have to, if you did not get into trouble in every town we have been to.” Declares Katie. “Ugh, it is just a little marijuana with my friends.” Sebastian turns away shaking his head. He was always getting into trouble with the new friends he made after each move. Drinking, smoking marijuana, and staying out late. This was their seventh move in ten years, and with his junior year of high school approaching in two weeks, Katie hoped it was ...

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“Answers From Beyond the Veil” by Josephine Martinez

Submitted to Contest #221

There is a stretch of road on the Pacific Coast Highway where the veil between worlds grows thin. That barrier, typically a heavy, ever present velvet, is like tulle instead, sheer and pliant. There, it almost seems that you could reach out and touch the other side… Almost. Nothing about this part of PCH is predictable other than how it rarely appears between the same crossroads twice. That and the timing. Because this stretch of road is just like any other until that unwavering darkness that settles after the moon has gone down but before ...

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“The Long Goodbye” by Grace Cooley

Submitted to Contest #221

Maybe I should have cooked only organic food, she thought for the millionth time. Maybe I could have insisted on a vegan diet. Maybe I should have suggested that fancy, expensive protein powder that got so famous for its incredible results. What if I had pitched a low-fat diet – or even a no-fat diet? One expert said the problem was a high fat diet along with heavy metals. He said what was needed was a specific, daily smoothie to remove the metals. Another expert wrote a book about how a high-fat, keto diet had healed a large percentage of t...

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“Home Is Where The Haunt Is” by Olivia Faye Scott

Submitted to Contest #221

A scream rips through the night. A stout woman bursts onto the dead front lawn. She pounds through the wrought iron gates and races to the sidewalk- she trips- the screaming pauses- she pitches forward, windmilling her arms- the screaming resumes as she catches her balance and makes a break for the sedan across the street. I watch her from the shattered window, despair at her leaving and awe at her lung capacity growing in equal measure with every frantic step she takes. “Hey!” I bellow, climbing onto the fire escape. Breath escapes ...

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“Welcome Your Guest” by Andrew Coy

Submitted to Contest #221

Blood and shards of glass litter the floor around me. My fists still hung in the air where my mirror once stood, something I used to take pride in. Now, I have to throw away every piece of it as well. When did everything start? How did it get this far? “You know that won’t get rid of me. I’m your guest.” Even now, I can see the smirk on that damn reflection. “Like hell you are. You’ve been ruining my life!” I stomp my foot down, piercing skin onto the miniature blades. The bastard only clicks his tongue. “Don’t you know that breaking a...

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“Walking” by Jenna Lothian

Submitted to Contest #221

There’s something wrong with the house. It was fine at first. The roof tiling cracked. We had it repaired, but it still leaks whenever the weather is bad. There’s mold growing near the front door that nobody ever uses. The floor creaks and shifts and the paint is peeling from the walls, from the roof. The carpet has been torn off the floor in my childhood bedroom and you can still see the sticky residue from where my old artwork was stuck on the walls. When I lay in bed at night, I can hear the faint drip-drip-drip of the taps. My room is r...

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“October and the Ghost” by Nadi Abdi

Submitted to Contest #221

October entered her apartment and paused. She stood in her doorway, dropped her bags, and sighed. Before her stood a tall, pale, skeleton of a man. He wore a white, long-sleeve gown down to his shins that was way too big for his emaciated frame. He was barefoot. His eyes and cheeks were sunken. Everything about him looked like he’d never tasted food. Which would explain the look of anger and vengeance glued to his face. She’d be mad too if she’d never tasted spices.But what annoyed her at present wasn’t him, but what he’d done.In yet another...

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“Warmth in a Cold Conclusion” by Dayton Idoni

Submitted to Contest #221

Mansfield Town, England, 2022. The town centre was obscured by morning darkness. Icy wind blew through the streets, hindering the stride of a lone, thin figure. The old man shrank into his overcoat against the gale’s bitter assault. “Come on, Chief,” mumbled Randall. “Not far to sanctuary.” En route to the library, he passed a small, family-run electronics shop. Across the window was a huge banner advertising a ‘Going out of Business Sale’. “Time for a new owner, Bunty?” he asked. He fondly placed his hand on the glass, staring i...

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“The Letter” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #221

Maverick closed his robe on the way to the mailbox. Never enthusiastic about the bills, he dreaded making the walk. He always hated the bad news that the mail carrier delivered. Stretching in the freshness of the sun made him feel exhilarated. Taking a deep breath, made him appreciate nature more since he had fewer opportunities to visit. An avid outdoors person, he was distraught when he had to move closer to the city to find work. The company he worked for multiple years had filed for bankruptcy. He knew eventually it would happen. The bus...

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$250

Prize money

423

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!

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