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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

“Don’t Abandon Me” by Daniel Taa

Submitted to Contest #272

“Don’t Abandon Me”Daniel Taa Running away from the feeling of abandonment, he sat patiently for his first love to come back. He sat at the park bench, hoping that she would realize that it was him who she truly loved. Joe Bronzeman knew that the very spot where he last saw his then girlfriend should be the very spot where they would meet up again at last. He was sure that this was nothing further from the truth, that she simply would go to college until she realized ...

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“Church Street After Dusk” by Bailey Skater

Submitted to Contest #272

I’m running—hard, fast, lungs burning. My heartbeat pounds in my ears, drowning out the chaos of Halloween night in the Village. Behind me, the crowd is still oblivious, their laughter and music spilling into the streets like everything’s normal. But I know better. I know what’s coming for them. For me.I vault over a fallen trash bin, my feet slipping on the wet pavement. It’s started to drizzle, and the ground glistens under the glow of neon signs. My devil costume clings to my skin, drenched in sweat and rain, but I don’t stop. I can’t. No...

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“Leviathan Lurks” by Scott Burkhalter

Submitted to Contest #272

It took my breath away everytime I drove this stretch of road even though I had driven it a million times. Behind a curtain of trees the sun danced in the wind with bursts of light across the asphalt. Occasionally a blinding light would break through and force me to gaze on the seas’ unwavering expanse. Yet in solitude, fear enveloped me. I kept the windows down to dampen the sweat and soothe my heart. I kept soft instrumental music on the radio, free from the threat of lyrics inadvertently stirring my emotions. My daughter’s home, once my h...

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“When No One's Watching” by Amanda Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #272

It was just a game Krissy had made.Looking back, I wish I never went into her basement, wish I never saw that painting on the wall.Looking back, I wish I never played her game at all.But Mom and Dad had a work party to go to, so last Friday night they walked me next door to Krissy’s house.I remember it being cold outside, so cold, I ran back into my house to grab a warmer coat. It was dark too, and only the streetlamps dotting the sidewalk offered any kind of light. The space between my house and Krissy’s was long enough to make me think twi...

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“Starqueen” by Carmen Friesen

Submitted to Contest #272

Miriam stepped on the gas and screamed as another wave of pain ripped across her abdomen. She was running out of time. “Faster,” she urged her vehicle. "Faster."Anxiously she scanned the horizon ahead: an unbroken line of red sand that faded into the sky in a rusty haze. She glanced at the compass, then at the rearview mirror. Behind the cloud of dust her own desert rig was kicking up, the much larger dust cloud that followed her had gotten bigger. They were gaining on her.She grabbed the radio, almost dropping it before securing it in her s...

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“EXIT” by Kara Niccum

Submitted to Contest #272

“That was our exit.” Abby watched the sign zoom by, and stopped wiping sweat from her neck to turn to her sister. “No,” Jade said, foot still heavy on the accelerator, “it’s the next one.” She was leaning forward to try to dry the sweat on her back. “No,” Abby said turning her phone to show the proof, “it was THAT one. Honestly, why do you have me navigate if you’re not going to listen?” “As your older sister, I’m trying to help you make the correct decisions.” “Listening to GPS isn’t? This is literally a map telling me specifically where to...

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“Tilt” by Faye Wikner

Submitted to Contest #272

Please see the special formatting for this piece HERE:https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:04faa467-e197-447a-ba7a-dcdf66bb2d41(It's part of the experience.)_______Your mother takes your blanket out of the laundry basket and puts it back on your bed. It’s pink and old and loved. She sits there, wondering what to say to you, the same way you are right now. Her eyelashes weigh heavy against her cheeks, so downturned recently. What about the sky? What about all of the people who come to meet with her? Just more looking at t...

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“A mother's thoughts” by Brian Carney

Submitted to Contest #272

Jenny leaned against the doorway leading to the kitchen, lost in thought as she looked at her son, Lex. His name is Alexander, but he shortened it to Lex when he was twelve. “It just sounds smarter than Alexander.” Lex told his parents; they agreed and began using the new nickname. As Jenny gazed at Lex, she began to reminisce about the pains she had seen Lex through. In two months, he will be 22. He was such a painful birth. She remembered her mother and friends tell her that she will forget all the pain...

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“Ghost Hunting” by Nico Van Der Berg

Submitted to Contest #272

Jimmy was out hunting ghosts. How do you hunt ghosts? Well, that’s easy, if you know what to look for.Unfortunately, Jimmy did not know. Were they represented by a glowing ball of light, a transparent afterimage of what the person used to look like, a feeling of coldness in their presence? He had gotten these ideas from movies but had not been able to confirm or disprove any of them.He was not deterred though since he had come up with a plan. As far back as he could remember people were having accidents on the corner of Booker and Grove Stre...

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“You're dead, not lazy” by Marie May

Submitted to Contest #272

“Hi, I am Virginia McWowski. That’s M-c-Wow-s-k-i, and my ghostly self will be your workout instructor for the afterlife. Because, having a good figure never dies. Follow me as I show you our amazing facilities. As you have already noticed while walking in our aged car park, it contains just enough chasms and potholes to send any living person into a lifelong coma. Keeping our gym for the dead is very important to us. Our state-of-the-art broken glass entrance is covered in 5-star moss and vines. Keeping the seasons inside year-round. Yes, ...

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“Willful Soul” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #272

Corry put on a bed sheet. It fell through him to a crumpled heap on the floor the first time or two. He concentrated, and got it to stay though. He dropped lower, feet on the ground, so the sheet was on the floor. No floating here. Then he stepped outside.It was Halloween. The sun was setting. Pumpkins and porch lights were lit. Children ran around in costumes, sometimes with parents, sometimes in groups. They went from house to house, knocking and asking for candy.Some of the houses were lackluster. They gave candy if someone knocked, but o...

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“The Beast” by Kade Baker

Submitted to Contest #272

Fifteen bus journeys into the sticks, thick mud and green pastures. Fifteen bus journeys and all Isaac had for company was a light backpack and his CD Walkman, fully loaded with whatever. The Jesus and Mary Chain scratched at his eardrums, and the cows laying in the field next to the road looked like tiny toys from the second deck of the bus. He started to wonder what was stopping them from walking into oncoming traffic, or why the Dairylea cow was red. None of it really mattered. Isaac had been living in London for most of his life, and th...

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“A Secret” by Sara Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #272

Today she got in earlier than normal. And she was not alone. Good. He, if he was something close to a he, a human living breathing he, didn’t like to see her alone. Even though she always talked about how she loved it. Her nails were brown like the leaves in the ground, her socks fuzzy and hot pink that seemed to appear every autumn and her smile crooked from the years that passed without using her retainer. She was eclectic in a way that only a frigatebird can be. The woman could be in a fucking funeral and there was some pop of color in he...

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“Madeline” by Michael Darcy

Submitted to Contest #272

“Maddy!” Papa cries out. I hate that name. It is so childish and I’m not a child anymore. I wish he would use my given name, Madeline.Papa told me not to go out in the storm, but I showed him. I’d be fine, just the slightest cough. I could barely feel the fever, a little rest and I would be fine. When I was young, I would sneak away from my chores and wander the fields, collecting flowers the sheep had overlooked. Sometimes I might slip off to the pond and dangle my feet in the icy water and let the minnows nibble at my toes. Life was easier...

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“Madame Vampire” by Avery Feyrer

Submitted to Contest #272

The setting sun transforms the bustling, regular city into a wild creature. The glimmer of bright lights and the cleansing of walking suits from the streets are just the beginning of the newfound shroud of mystery the city experiences as it gets swallowed up in darkness. The city came alive in ways you couldn’t imagine from the night dwellers. Nocturnal souls seeking pleasure, power, adventure, and sometimes danger took dominion—the blood coursing through the city’s asphalt veins. Until the disappearances started, that is. People were vanish...

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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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