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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#272: Fright Night

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ReedsyFright to share your stories (and potentially be featured on our social accounts)!

Spooky season has arrived, and what better way to embrace this time of year than by diving into some spine-chilling writing? I’m constantly amazed by the variety of enthralling narratives we come across in this contest — from subtle, eerie stories with sinister undertones to tales that are outright macabre.

So, as one of the year's most popular holidays approaches, let’s get into the Halloween spirit and conjure up some creepy tales. Grab your coziest sweater and favorite hot drink, and let’s get writing!

This week's prompts

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Short Story – 112 stories

Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Dramatic – 85 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

Short Story – 144 stories

Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Angst – 63 stories

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Short Story – 84 stories

Stories

“Gubbio the Wolf and the Saint” by Aaron Schuck

Submitted to Contest #272

The day I met him, the little man in the brown robes with the big eyes and an even bigger heart. They say Saint Francis of Assisi could charm the birds from the trees, turn wolves into vegetarians, and negotiate a peace deal with your darkest nature. Well, I can confirm at least part of that. Let me set the scene. Gubbio was my kingdom, well, our kingdom, if you asked the humans, but who was asking them? For months, I had been, shall we say, exploring my gastronomic options, which sometimes included livestock, and, yes, the oc...

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“the invisible friends of the lonely” by Marion Hallais

Submitted to Contest #272

The gray weather and low temperature discouraged most residents from going outside. This was more the case when a fog made traffic on the streets more difficult. This fact, on the contrary, suited Sylvester who decided to go out shopping. Not that he was antisocial by nature, he liked humans and other creatures but he didn't know how to interact with them. He therefore avoided them as much as possible for fear of making them uncomfortable with his clumsiness. As he stood in the entrance hall, finishing tying his shoes, a noise caught his att...

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“The Predator” by Ariel Golia

Submitted to Contest #272

I sigh, a thin cloud hovering in front of my face before it vanishes.I've watched Jordan fall over his feet so many times today it's starting to rub. The urge to protect grows a little thin in the light of all the blunders my little brother manages to make. But it's not easy to protect with only hands you can see and feel anyway. I sigh again, my spectral form hovering a few inches above the hallway's floor, bubblegum and dirt lurking in dark corners where the janitor doesn't bother with.Jordan has managed to get through the doors of Harvill...

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“A Werewolf Halloween” by Stacey Cooper

Submitted to Contest #272

A group of werewolves live high in the mountains. They are known to howl at the moon late in the evening. It begins in the fall and continues into the winter months. They tend to be loud and can be heard by neighboring towns. Every once in awhile, they are chased away and relocate to another area. Once the werewolves get situated in a new area, they once again begin howling at the moon. Wolfie, the leader of the werewolves warns the others, “Ssh, not so loud! If they hear us, they may chase us away.”The fol...

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“The Haunting of Alexandra Blackwood” by Dita Dow

Submitted to Contest #272

The moment I died, I knew something was wrong. It wasn't the fact of dying itself—though choking on a piece of brie at my own book launch party was hardly the exit I had imagined for Alexandra Blackwood, bestselling mystery author.No, it was the sudden eerie silence that engulfed Oakwood Manor, my beloved Victorian monstrosity of a home.Hovering near the ornate crystal chandelier in the grand foyer, I gazed down at my lifeless body sprawled rather gracelessly across the antique Persian rug. I felt an odd weightlessness, like I had been freed...

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“Obsession in Darkness” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #272

Discreetly, in the shadow of the crescent moon’s light, he followed her, his footsteps cloaked in fine Italian leather as he moved silently over the walkways. So obscure was he even on a moonlight night, she had, as of yet, taken no notice even though he had followed her for well more than a month. He was undeniably drawn, like a moth to the flame, though she threatened to engulf him in her fire. The tantalizing scent she carried encompassed both his sleep infused days and voracious, hungry nights. He feared there would be no escaping the ar...

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“Lessons in Ghosting” by Caitlyn McKenna

Submitted to Contest #272

Sensitive Content: Death as background, including a description of how somebody looked after they died. I saw my first ghost when I was seven years old. He was very tall, with long, dark hair and clothes that looked funny to me at the time. Looking back, I should have been frightened, but I wasn’t. Once he understood that I could see and hear him, he spoke very kindly to me. He’d listen to me when everyone else was too busy, and he’d play with me. I think he was just happy to have someone to talk to. I remember he also always wore this real ...

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“Moon Monsters Like Me” by Robert Evans

Submitted to Contest #272

“Come on,” Hector calls from ahead of me. “We want to reach the top before sunset.” The trail—and Hector—disappear behind a strand of pine trees. I take a minute to catch my breath. The trail to the top of Mount Misery is only two and a half miles long, but it’s a steep and rocky climb. For two weeks now, Hector has been begging me to join him on a hike to the top to watch the sunset. I finally said yes, forgetting the moon would be full tonight. I really like Hector—a lot. It’s too bad I’m going to kill him. I glance at my watch before foll...

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“Ophelia, my Ophelia. How I adore you. ” by Philip Alexander

Submitted to Contest #272

Dagon searched for a view through a slit of wood. In the grey sky, brooding clouds roared thunderous booms. A tempest laid siege to the Carpeon Sea, a silver moon reflecting in bursts upon the bosom of dark, erratic water. A vulgar wind rolled over the crests of mighty waves, foaming and collapsing onto the shoreline. The waves knocked on the concrete walls of the lighthouse with sodden fists as if the sea were deranged, desperate to find shelter. A sea frightened of its own fury.Dagon sighed while watching the apotheosis of the storm. He wa...

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“The Vagrant” by Robin Young

Submitted to Contest #272

Living is an elusive evil. All communion between human beings is fractured, and I’ve always been on the deprived end. Take eating, for instance; what about the human beings that go and starve on the street? Isn’t ignorance a sin? I’m not benevolent by any means. I eat not because I am starved, but solely because it is what I desire. If it were eating for the sake of subsiding hunger, I would never eat again. That’s a chore, and chores are for children, though I never truly grew into the face of a man. If I were to live a good life, I know I’...

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“Freed.” by Emmy Leigh

Submitted to Contest #272

Sensitive content includes:Mental health and deathSounds and illusions, maybe they were considered delusions, filled Aurora's mind, tormenting her day by day. Her world was split into between what was real and what wasn’t. Visions of those she thought she loved being thrown into the hands of death himself filled her brain with these heinous, irresistible urges, tempting her, ridiculing her. Who was she to commit these horrendous fallacies? Therapy, psychiatric holds, and four, five, six different medications to subdue her thinking. But nothi...

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“Jaws on the Floor.” by Shinga Shinga

Submitted to Contest #272

I wanted nothing more out of his flabby tummy than to retrieve the lion’s portion of my green club sandwich. Nothing more, check; but nothing less either. That and for the incessant bullying the school yard had suffered at the hands of The Gang of Three to stop. The Terrible Trio had swept across the school yard like a swarm of locusts, picking harvests out of takeout containers with victuals prepared for stepchildren and grandkids. Picking clean the lunchboxes of the small and weak of this world. Topsy-turvying the chow of those who dared r...

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“The Magic Bullet” by Len Rely

Submitted to Contest #272

1980 was a good time to be alive because everyone still did what they were supposed to. Parents let their kids disappear for hours at a time, school buses meandered on the road packed with out-of-control miscreants, teens drove home drunk from prom and scout troops showered naked together. But it was a relatively boring time because the world was so safe. The state lottery offices were closed on account that it w...

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“Silent Treatment” by Jessica Chandler

Submitted to Contest #272

Standing in the doorway, I watch my mother pace around the kitchen, a half-empty wine glass in hand and a furrow in her brow. She’s been drinking a lot more the past few nights. I keep thinking there must have been something I did to make everyone upset, which would explain her noticeable uptick in nightly glasses of vino. I just wish someone would break the silence and tell me what I did wrong. Passive-aggressive silent treatments are my family’s specialty. My sister and I learned from a young age how to dish out and deal with some wicked s...

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“The cat” by Nino Perez

Submitted to Contest #272

My mother keeled over at her office desk and died five days ago, I just found out. Apparently, it had taken so long to find her because of the holidays. Workers had barely returned to the office yesterday and by then, the smell had already permeated through the thin walls. My mother always put her work over everything else. She always said that the future of automation was far more important than a birthday, or a graduation, or saying hi early in the morning before disappearing the whole day. I was about to board my shuttle to work when I go...

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$250

Prize money

488

Contest entries

175

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 18, 2024 EST

Won by Mortimer Ridgewood 🏆

Title: Drone

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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