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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

“The Walk to Adilvun” by Joshua Mottor

Submitted to Contest #272

"What do you do if you see Mahaha?" Violent gusts snatched at the taut caribou hide, the reverberations lending wordless echoes to Hanta's deep bass. Stitched wolves hunted elk across the rippling membrane, running rings through the twitching shadows."Ask for a last drink, then push it into the water," Nukak replied absently. His eyes followed the sharpening stone as it sprang from his fingers again, and he sighed. The spear clacked against the sled as Nukak bent to retrieve the tool once more."How about Keelut?" Hanta plucked the stone from...

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“Forgiveness Woods” by Mary Gilbert

Submitted to Contest #272

The sun has gone down. The air is becoming cold. It is dusk and the colors of the trees and the ragged shrubs underneath the trees have begun to dissolve into gray. The afternoon’s palette of lime and mossy greens and the once warm and grounding browns of the barks of things has cooled to my touch as I steady myself against this tree and then the next. The air is clammy. I turn my hot, damp face to the right and then to the left and each way I feel a coolness, like an anxious hand resting on my cheek. I left the lake too late. But the smell ...

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“Petrichor Enchantment” by Ana Palacio

Submitted to Contest #272

Ever since I remembered, everything’s been different. Running away has become a daily occurrence. But as an adult, the only thing you can run away is from your own shame, agony, embarrassment. As I walk, the earth feels off: the damp dirt giving way under my feet; the bright, yellowing full moon; the muggy sky; even the clouds looked menacing. All my life, there’s been a crackling in the air, a tiny pinprick that ran goosebumps up my arms. But after the flashback, when the dam broke and released all those memories descending on me like a tsu...

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“Moving On” by Abby Johnson

Submitted to Contest #272

I find myself grappling with an unsettling question: how long have I been dead? It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact duration—was it years, perhaps even decades? Time feels strangely fluid in this liminal space, where moments blend together in a haze of memories and shadows. Each tick of the clock seems to echo in a void, leaving me to wonder about the life I once lived, the dreams I held dear, and the connections I cherished. The uncertainty lingers like a whisper, haunting and elusive, as I try to reconcile the fragments of my past with th...

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“Betrayal” by J T

Submitted to Contest #272

“Do I have to?” Alexis buckled her secondary firearm around her ankle before ensuring her array of blades were clipped around her belt. “I’ve watched this clan for quite some time, and they don’t seem to be posing any danger to the Board.” She’d never questioned the Master before. The task had been clearly laid before her. Eliminate them all. The Master snarled and snapped at Alexis before answering her through her mind. “Yes, do as you have been commanded. I have spoken.” It was only with great practice that Alexis kept from flinching when ...

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“Blood Like Ambrosia” by Olivia Schlossin

Submitted to Contest #272

All I could smell was a mix of fruit, coconut, and…marshmallow? It was only for a split second, like she was simply passing by, but the scent stayed in my nostrils for days. I’m not sure what she looked like nor do I really care. I just wanted her. Her neck in my hand and my tongue licking up her blood from the bite like a dog. I know, it sounds despicable. How could someone want to see another person like that? It’s almost perverted. That much, I’m aware of. I’m afraid I cannot give you any solace that I am a “good guy.” I was never a good ...

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“Fated End” by Andrea Krist

Submitted to Contest #272

The slant of her chin and cheeks were familiar. The way they caved in the center but were full beneath her eyes sent a spark of recognition through him. He knew what her skin felt like beneath his hands and lips--or rather--he had known... at one time. Despite the familiarity he saw in her eyes, he did not have the same reaction as she did upon seeing him. There was a shine of hope in her dark orbs that he did not share. Clouded with disbelief, her gaze held a knowledge of them together that she struggled to contain. He knew it existed but ...

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“Bite Sized Romantics” by Kamreigh Shelise

Submitted to Contest #272

1 —------------------------------ Amalia couldn’t decide between Madonna or Elvira. Both were bold, fun, and either would probably ruffle the feathers, or skirts, of the nuns that walked by her on her way to campus. Decisions, decisions. She decided on Elvira, the height of the wig made her feel powerful. As she braided her hair back and put the wig on, she looked over at the fake pair of fangs on her table and decided to put them on, it felt right for the occasion. In the first semester of her junior year at Oxford, she volunteered for...

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“Consecration of the Beast” by David Drake

Submitted to Contest #272

“And now, let us pray….” With those words and Father Warren Larson’s upraised hands, the gathered faithful and not-so-much or those putting on a show for the gossips closed their eyes and dropped their heads. He began the familiar liturgy from the time before he came to the Church of the Lord here in Hugo. He spoke the words that could mean something more than simple comfort to those that needed it worse than him. The widowed, the infirmed sick, the nearly-homeless. Not for him, though. He needed his pain. His wound to remain open like a chi...

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“Memory of a Handshake” by Calli Musé

Submitted to Contest #272

I first met Mallory when I walked through a wall and promptly scared the life out of her. Her first reaction was a panic attack. It took a few precious seconds before I realized she could see me. Then I started to panic, and like an idiot, I reached out. She recoiled, “Don’t touch me!” I froze. I had no idea what to do in situations like this, but I sat down slowly, telegraphing my movements. “Hey. Concentrate on my voice or…something. Ground yourself; look at your surroundings. Um, try to breathe?” I got the distinct feeling that if s...

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“That Time” by Lindsay Flo

Submitted to Contest #272

Use the song, Amanda suggests to me, again. This time, she’s flanked by someone else.It’s Me. Past Me. It’s hard to grasp, even in this spirit world. But it’s clearly a younger, more handsome version of my body than I had been most recently acquainted with. He (I?) stands next to Amanda, with his trademark smirk.Remember what you did to get through that time, Past Me says, and the tone of voice carries a hint of pain, so wispy I might have missed it, if not for the speaker being, well, Me.I’m puzzled, because I know this Me well. It is the M...

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“Wolf's Hunger” by Vanessa Vestena

Submitted to Contest #272

I eyed the giant steak, poking from the add on the billboard at the side of the road. A low, painstaking grumble reached the ears of my best friend standing in the passenger seat.“Wow! That is really something.” Eric muses, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips.“Shut up!” I groan, turning the car in the school parking lot. “I am genuinely starving.”“Haven’t you already had breakfast?”“I did. But its like I haven’t. I will stop to grab a bite at the cafeteria before the beginning of classes.”“Damn, man! How do you do? It must be nice eat...

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“In The Darkness” by Mel Kennedy

Submitted to Contest #272

In the darkness of a stormy night, the metallic tang of lightning rests slightly over your scent.Floral, bitter and so alive.So fragile, so achingly human.Your blood is pulsing through your veins and I can hear each beat of your heart as I sit and await the dawn. Your heart, the ever-present clock to remind me of the truth, that one day that clock must stop so we can spend eternity together…or separate us by a veil, when you enter a realm where I can never follow.You want to join me in the darkness, condemn yourself to the cold emptines...

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“The Surgeon” by Tuesday Adair

Submitted to Contest #272

T/W: Sensitive content.Mentions of surgical procedures. It would take no longer than a split second. One slip, one cut.How would anyone ever know?The scalpel rests in my hand, a weighty, tiny blade that I control.The beep of the heart monitor shrouded the room in a terse excitement, thumping in time with pulse of the body lying open before me. The nurses are all focused, trained eyes fluttering about the equipment as they surveyed the patient.They trust me. Fools. The heart is exposed, thumping delicately in the light of the surgical lam...

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“Present, Past and Future” by Robyn Little

Submitted to Contest #272

Present They had nothing left but each other. All that they could do was run to the corner of the world if that’s what it took. His father would beat him black and blue. Her sister would stain her cheeks red. But only if they caught them. They could fantasize about a new life all day but they knew it wouldn’t be cornflakes with rainbow sugar nor cheap beach houses along the waterfront for them to reside in. It would be long nights in the rain with sleep fleeting in the corners of bus stops. It was no life for his Cinderella. She was le...

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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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