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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

“Sila-pattikaram - ("The story of the anklet") ” by 2minutes-dharma *

Submitted to Contest #221

Sila-pattikaram ("The story of the anklet") I recently read an English translation of the above Tamil epic purported to be written in 1 CE . This epic relates the revenge the legendary Tamil woman Kannagi wrecks on the Kingdom of the Pandyan Dynasty in Southern India. While watching the mesmerizing ballet from an old film noir rendition, couple of weeks later , subtle furrows of my mind were dredged up and the following episode from back when I was an engineering student in the 70s surfaced. Some of you may be...

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“When in a Cell” by Hayden Gabrilska

Submitted to Contest #221

In the summer of 1969, a family sat around a roaring campfire. The children had smushed smores gripped tightly in their hands, smiles on their faces, and attentive eyes toward their grandfather. It was storytime, and Grandpa had a good one. He was finally to tell the tale of how he met Furrow, a man who had an ever-impactful influence on his life, someone he had always mentioned, but whom the children had never met. “Alright, little ones. Prepare for a spook!” I met Furrow in the year of 1921. I was in a prison cell, my first and o...

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“Spirit Guide” by Evee R

Submitted to Contest #221

The dancefloor was packed! Shouldn’t have been a surprise for a Saturday night. This was THE club to be at for electronica dance music, light shows, and drinks. The beat, the bass, was so strong you could feel it through your body. It gave a sense of euphoria just from the music. Drinks were plenty, and surrounded by others to enjoy, it didn’t matter if you danced alone, with a group, or met new people. Jer watched as she waited to get a drink. An invisible wave seemed to move the crowd up and down with the music. Everyone’s head and body bo...

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“A Death at The Hangman's Noose?” by Neil Dabb

Submitted to Contest #221

You probably have never heard of the Anti-Anonymous writer’s conference, and that is a dirty rotten shame, especially if you have ever had any desire to write. The price was right too, the worst piece of writing you've ever done. "You know Rick that just might work." Michael grinned, his teeth glowing in the dimly lit bar. "Might? There's no doubt about it," Rick said, his green eyes glowing with that cat-like stare of his. "Even old Cal over there lit up when I explained it," he said rising to his full seven-foot heigh...

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“Never Trust A Red Pencil” by Layla El Banna

Submitted to Contest #221

CHAPTER ONE 1702, The Forest. The heavy rain spilled down intensely on people’s rooftops, in the dark and brooding forest. Lucy Misol shivered as she made her way through it, the rain like cool metal pressed to her cheeks. The night sky seemed to swallow everything up, blurring the miniscule houses and it was almost impossible to see anything through it. But she needed to find her home – one of the many cobblestone houses with green metal for roofs. These houses were only for the poor. Only for the people who didn’t have enough ...

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“The Box” by Alivia Rozier

Submitted to Contest #221

“Okay, I have to call him.”I pinched my nose as my face curled at the smell of something rotting. I was already pissed that I had to clean out this stuffy attic, filled wall to wall with boxes and dusty sheets. It was the last part of the house we cleaned, and I wondered how we didn't notice the smell until now.If my mother was here, we could’ve used her help. The sweltering heat of the attic turned the stench into something of a drug, bringing on a lightheadedness and weak knees. I couldn’t stand it anymore, turning my body away and back to...

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“Marked By A Ghost” by Pius Ratugi

Submitted to Contest #221

Mary had always been a skeptic when it came to the supernatural. She never believed in ghosts, spirits, or anything of the sort. However, everything changed when she moved into her new apartment.As soon as Mary settled in, she began to notice strange occurrences around the apartment. At first, it was small things like objects that seemed to move on their own or strange noises that she couldn't explain. However, as time passed, the incidents grew more frequent and more unsettling. The apartment seemed to have a life of its own, and Mary could...

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“The Afterlife of Jordan Stone” by Julia Rock

Submitted to Contest #221

The graveyard was quiet at night, and so cold. Not that they could feel cold anymore. Or warmth. Or anything. An eerie mist crept along the mossy ground and curled around the tilted gravestones. They perched atop their own gravestone, so old the letters carved in the stone had faded, as the fog crept closer and wrapped around their ankles like a cat, greeting them like an old friend. It was easier to enter the world of the living at this time of year. Samhain was close and the veil was thinning. Spirits, both well-meaning and malevole...

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“One Last Good Deed” by Kay Lesley Reeves

Submitted to Contest #221

One Last Good Deed I always wondered what it would be like to actually die. I don't think it will be long now. Recently I've felt a need to declutter my life. I've got rid of numerous unwanted possessions and cleaned my little apartment until it shone. I have tried my best to put my financial affairs in order. It was a strange but satisfying feeling, rather like the 'nesting' process that you go through when you move to a new house. I am not ill, apart from the accumulated aches and pains that come with age. Nevertheless, I have a prem...

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“The Walk” by Ed Wooten

Submitted to Contest #221

THE WALK ED WOOTEN The Halloween activities at the rec center were winding down, so Beth grabbed her coat and we started home. The wooden steps creaked as we descended to the sidewalk. The town’s maintenance crew had applied a new coat of whitewash to the seventy-five year old center a couple of months ago. The streetlights were already on and the almost full moon provided sufficient light for our short walk home. After all these years, I still enjoy walking with Beth by my side. It’s been over thirty years since we first walked this r...

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“The gap under the door” by Chris Casburn

Submitted to Contest #221

The Gap Under The Door I’ve been trapped in this loo for ages. Surely someone has to come looking for me soon. The Putrid Trash are on their second song and the Duck and Dolphin is crammed with the usual regulars hovering around the bar. Sundays attract an older crowd with no kids to rush home for or dogs to walk. It’s a chill-out zone for the over thirties. Everyone knows everyone, but there are secrets hidden in the shadows. Take The Putrid Trash for example. Good mates held together by a love of alcohol and music from the last century....

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“ABIGAIL” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #221

BOO! I love scaring the living. Its fun seeing them run not knowing where the noises are coming from. I love hearing them scream. The living shouldn't come to my domain if they know what's good for them. They come to the cemetery, for what? To have a good laugh at the dead. But they don't know what they are in for. They have me to deal with. Every day I look at the living and I think back to those times when I was alive, I ask myself this one question. Why didn't I ever find love? I had everything I ever wanted, a good job, money, a nice p...

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“'Til Death” by Makayla Moore

Submitted to Contest #221

I suppose being a ghost is like waking up early while the rest of the world slumbers; Even though you're alone, you get to appreciate dawn with new eyes. For a moment, I can almost feel the brisk morning air, the amber light that thaws my ever-cold presence, and I think, well, this isn't terrible. But then the world begins to stir, people flood the streets, and I am reminded of my isolation. I'd give up an eternity for just one more day, but I've realized that thought is nothing original. Anyone would say the same. How many of us had forgott...

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“The Last Train” by Angela Watt

Submitted to Contest #221

Sensitive Content - Implied Violence The Last Train I come to suddenly, relaxing once I realise where I am. The gentle rocking and the clickety-clack, clickety-clack over the rails must have lulled me into sleep. The darkness blanketing the fens is disrupted by an occasional light shining from a lone house or farm. Blink. It’s there. Blink again, and it’s gone. Almost home, a long way from the sparkle of the city. We make brief stops at remote stations with empty benches and faded posters. No passengers waiting. Only the sound of a...

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“The Lost Soul” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #221

Victoria couldn’t believe that it was actually happening. She didn’t think it would actually work. She never imagined she would be able to muster enough strength to manifest herself. Practice really did make it perfect. She had been trying for such a long time to be normal again. Finally, she was able to do it. Not sure what she wanted to do, she sat on the couch to think about it. Smiling from ear to ear, she couldn’t recall the last time she had been that happy. Her sister was going to be so happy. Victoria couldn’t wait to tell her. Decid...

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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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