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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

“Paranormal Pals and Predicaments” by Cecelia Annan

Submitted to Contest #272

“I’m calling a meeting!” Andrew announced, letting his voice carry down the hall to his roommate’s doors. Violet threw her door open, rubbing her eyes and yawning widely. “It’s so late, why are you shouting?” she groaned. Andrew frowned as she yawned, revealing her pointed canines. “I know it’s morning, but this is important. We need to discuss the apartment inspection; he’ll be here any minute.” “What’s to discuss?” Amy asked, her incorporeal form floating through her door. “I’m in the middle of educating some idiot on just how amazin...

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“Dreaming” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #272

The boy woke up with a shudder, sweaty and scared. For the last few months, at least once a week, he had been having the exact same dream: a cabin; a light; no one else around. Why was this happening to him again?He turned on a small lamp beside his bed.“Mom!”He shouted at the open door and waited. She was a patient woman and knew that something like this was bound to repeat itself. She woke up from her light sleep, put on her slippers and trudged down the hallway. Her perfume entered the room before she seemed to float inside.“Another one?”...

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“Shadowed Intentions” by A K Littler

Submitted to Contest #272

Three women missing, so far. Three women in just six months. The daily news has become obsessed with the narrative, smothering us in stories from every angle. It’s all anyone is talking about, since everyone has an opinion. “It’s always the husband,” the shopkeeper says matter-of-factly, crossing her arms. “Did you hear that she turned down a colleague for a date? Sounds like he was bitter about it,” murmurs the waitress at the local café. “Maybe if she didn’t sleep around so much, she wouldn’t have gotten herself into trouble,” says the bar...

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“Halloween came early this year.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #272

Halloween came early this year.For the history on Miss Abigail Forrest and Captain Jonah Heisson, please see "The house with five doors" Contest 251.Behind the old Victorian house I bought last year is a small one-room church with a Civil War era cemetery. There are twenty-eight gravestones in the yard. Three of the graves are empty.It didn’t taken long before I met Abigail Forrest, a lady, or more precise, a lady of the evening who had lived in the house soon after the Civil War. She had allowed me to read her diary and the letters to the s...

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“The Thrill of The Chase” by Thomas Wetzel

Submitted to Contest #272

It was already too late. I was a dead man, and I knew it.Her teeth were out and she was coming for me at a full sprint with that insane glazed-over look in her eyes. There would be no reasoning with her. No negotiations. No quarter given. I knew all this and I also knew it wouldn’t be long before she overtook me. Still, self-preservation is a basic human instinct so I ran and I ran hard. I ran for all I was worth.When I reached the fence I had just enough time to slam the gate shut behind me, and I’m sure if I had not she would have taken me...

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“Forever Haunted” by Susan O'REILLY

Submitted to Contest #272

I know, I have to run, get away but as yet have't the courage. I am in the corner huddled, naked. I’m more colorful than any clothes I could wear. I’m red, black, purple and blue. Battered and bruised, my crime inquiring about his whereabouts. Together for 6 years now, our beautiful son asleep upstairs and I’m not entitled, according to him, to ask him anything. I am not and never will be the boss of him.I’m replaying my actions and conversation over and over again. He’s never raised his hand to me before, verbal abuse yes, threats yes. but ...

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“Psychography of Fear” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #272

May 25, 2024Lieutenant Michael DonavanHomicide DivisionHarrison Police Department465 Avenue AHarrison, Michigan 87078Lieutenant Donavan,Should this letter reach you in time, you will find me entombed within the Bartholomew family mausoleum at the Bayview Cemetery. Buried in the floor near the north wall is a crypt covered with a clear quartz-like stone which forms the lid. Depending on when this letter reaches you, I may still be alive.Now, before you judge Clarisa, know I loved her dearly. My wife enjoyed a generous trust and she gave back ...

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“Ghost” by Chelsey B

Submitted to Contest #272

Ghost shuddered as the woman draped his wet form over the clothesline. At least, he would have shuddered if he had a muscular and nervous system. He winced as she secured three clothespins to his middle, but the pain was only imaginary. The wind blew. Ghost would have shivered from the chill as his sides billowed in the breeze, again, if only he had a nervous system. The woman sighed and moved down the line. She pinned a row of socks, and then a row of underpants. The autumn sun shone bright, but it lacked the warmth of sum...

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“Gardeners' World” by Chris Miller

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #272

You’ve chosen a good time to pay me a visit. I’ve pulled up some pretty decent leeks this morning, got some lovely onions in the store and a rosemary bush that is totally oblivious to all the nonsense that seems to have befallen our world. My garden really has been my saviour, my little farm. I can grow what I need and get by very nicely on what my garden supplies.I do wish I’d had a better crop of carrots. I used the finest bone-meal fertiliser, but they were a total bust this year. My soil is a little too heavy for them, too much clay, but...

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“life in death” by Emily Lees

Submitted to Contest #272

I could do nothing but watch. Most days, I saw cars zoom past in a dizzying blur of red, silver, and blue. Animals hesitated at the road’s edge, bodies tense, eyes calculating the perfect moment to dart across the asphalt. I watched weary truck drivers lean forward, faces etched with exhaustion, their bloodshot eyes fixed on the glowing blue and yellow lines guiding them through the night. Occasionally, cop cars raced by, sirens blaring and lights slicing through the darkness, forcing other drivers to swerve aside in relief that they weren’t...

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“October Surprise” by Robert Egan

Submitted to Contest #272

"Oy choi, show me your tongue!" That's what you got to say to a suspected serp. They can't hide their forked tongues even if they've gotten better at copying just about everything else. Ask anyone, and they'll tell you. I mean, it was all over the feeds, this little old man, he could've been anybody's Grandpa, except he was living under a stolen ID and preying on small critters near a school zone. But luckily some Final Front guys caught him, and when they backed him into a corner, out came that freaky serp tongue. And that's just one exampl...

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“The Trouble with Being a Kindly Spirit” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #272

*** TW: death by sky-diving ***No rest for the wicked? You’re having a laugh. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt since (quite literally) crash-landing on the ‘other side of life’ so to speak, it’s that while the truly evil spirits might have their work cut out when it comes to the number of guest appearances they’re obliged to make in the minds of the living (and which, let’s face it, only serves to boost their already over-inflated egos) it’s rarely the case that us run-of-the-mill, inherently good, peace-loving souls are compensated in kind....

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“Bad Reflections” by KA James

Submitted to Contest #272

I am not a well person. That isn’t easy to admit, even though I understand that it is important to acknowledge that as fact. I am convinced that it all started the night of the storm.After the lightning strike and subsequent power surge from the night before, both washing machines at my apartment complex were on the fritz. It was a minor miracle that we had lost power for only a few minutes. And thank God my expensive surge suppressors did their job. As a combined freelance writer / web designer, I rely heavily on my computers for my livelih...

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“Phenomenal” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #272

I knew the other three who’d come on board, but had never made the formal acquaintance. Nor from what I’d learned, would have cared to.The other guys, no idea. I use “guys” loosely, without gender assignment. Which isn’t a horrible thing — people more than ever are just kinda people, despite the plucky can-do dementia of the Proud Boys and rollers and Florida and guys like my two new “friends” who seemed to swing dicks with random glee. Today’s vast uncertainty liberates me from the subconscious “rules” of attraction or aggression and the tr...

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“Administering the Mark” by Ty Warmbrodt

Submitted to Contest #272

TW: GORE & SEXUAL VIOLENCE Hellkite: I start with a cut in the shape of an upside-down T just above his ankle. “Admit that you teach lies. Admit that there is no God, let us administer the chip, and you will be spared,” I tell the old priest. “I will not deny my father in heaven.” They are always brave before the pain. With a thin, flexible knife, as sharp as a razer, I peel one of the corners inside the T up and grab it with my pliers. “One more chance father.” He looks me straight in the eyes. He’s preparing himself physically and ment...

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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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