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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 – 111 stories

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

Dramatic – 84 stories

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

Short Story – 143 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 – 83 stories

Stories

“Mallory's Haunting” by Rune Stigandr

Submitted to Contest #272

The worst part of camping alone was arguably the shadows.You make a campfire, the fire dances and the shadows move.It always make you think something’s there even when it’s nothing. The only way to stay sane was to ignore them.Mallory had struggled with that logic a lot in her early days, turning at every shift, looking over her shoulder after every creak and groan from the forest.Nine times out of ten, it was nothing. The one time she could remember it being something was just a deer that’d turned tail and run as soon as it had spotted her....

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“The Vessel” by Kepler Law

Submitted to Contest #272

I need to wash the blood off. I need to get rid of her. I need to forget that any of this has happened. I stare down at her. Her body awkwardly sprawled, as if it had fallen and never found peace. Her once flawless skin had taken on a bluish-gray hue under the fading light, giving her an otherworldly appearance. What looked to be blacken roots began to engorge her skin. A once-vibrant face was now hollowed and slack, lips slightly parted, as if caught mid-sentence. Tendrils of a black mist enveloped her body. Covering her until s...

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“Third Date” by Simon Ireson

Submitted to Contest #272

It was an amazing evening. Isobel’s third date, since joining ‘Find Your Mate’, was going well. Being honest, she would admit this was the first time she had been relaxed enough to enjoy herself. Equally, her dinner companion was a huge improvement. He was a little energetic, but great company. She thought his eagerness to please was likely due to him being as nervous as her. Tom, as his profile named him, claimed this was his first time trying internet dating. Isobel was unconvinced. He seemed quite at home with the ins and outs of a nice m...

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“The Quiet Words” by Dan Coglianese

Submitted to Contest #272

Dear Reader,Some of you are familiar with one or more of my stories. Many of them feature a character by the name of Samil. He’s a trickster of sorts. Sometimes he is mischievous, and sometimes he’s pure evil. Today, I want to tell you another Samil story. A true story. Hae verba legendo, ianuam obscuritatis aperisCurses are real, but so are counter-curses. By reading these words, you are protected from him. But he insists that you know him. This is the story of how Samil cursed me. A cautionary tale. I first met Samil when I was...

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“Becoming” by Alessan Perez

Submitted to Contest #272

The sky held an eerie hue as Sarah navigated down the wooded path. It was reminiscent of the bloody ooze of an infected cut, a sickly beige with streaks of crimson along the edges. She heard the crunch of dead leaves beneath her feet with every step. Behind her, she sensed a presence, the only sign of it in the form of a subtle electricity buzzing through the ground. An uneasiness over came her and she suddenly had to fight the urge to run, desperate for the safety of her living room. “Keep your cool”, she said to herself as she stoppe...

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“Bhayya, won’t you play with me? ” by Ramesh Matham

Submitted to Contest #272

He wouldn’t have discovered the cave but for the python. The python slithers down the rocky crevice of the mountain and disappears into the bushy vegetation, its skin winking against the moonlight. “Don’t go away, dinner,” he mumbles and climbs down the crevice. He finds the python trying to hide itself under a boulder. He grabs it by its neck and smashes the head on the boulder. That’s when he finds the cave—an inviting opening, a meter-wide at the widest. Wow! Nice place to stay hidden, for, say a week, until the heat subsides. He w...

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“Blood and Bramble” by Spencer Salokar

Submitted to Contest #272

Blood and BrambleBy: Spencer Salokar Gabby was eating dinner one night when her friend Nancy called her. She was sobbing, and through her tears she told Gabby that her and her boyfriend Daniel had gotten into a fight. He had just snapped, hit her, and then left after she had refused to go to bed with him. It made no sense, she told Gabby. They had both agreed to save themselves for marriage, and he had always been nothing but patient. Gabby called her husband, who was on a business trip in D.C., and he agreed that she should go stay with Nan...

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“Mom?” by Levi Michael

Submitted to Contest #272

Susan rushed into the bathroom, closed the door behind her and rested her back against it. She took a deep breath and combed her hair out of her face. Everything's fine, Susan. She nodded, agreeing with herself and took another deep breath. She pushed off the door and straightened her cardigan. She pulled her shoulders back and marched the two steps to the sink. She reached for the medicine cabinet and clutched the edge of the mirror. Before she could open it, she caught a glimpse of herself. It was only day five and she looked like he...

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“Jane Who Had It All” by Ally Gutierrez

Submitted to Contest #272

In her freshman year, Jane had to read that story about the woman who goes completely mad because of the hideous wallpaper in her room. Ok, that isn’t exactly the reason, but as they say, If you know, you know. The story scared the absolute hell out of her. She wasn’t sure if it was the bulging eyes of the nightmare women rattling the bars that trapped them in the wallpaper, or the crouching women creeping around in the darkness outside the window, or, no—it was definitely the bedpost, the gnawing on the bedpost—this woman in ...

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“My Bruja, Carmen” by H.e. Ross

Submitted to Contest #272

It lay across my chest like a moist log and I knew it was just her arm but it seemed to push down on me as I inhaled and made me gag. I sat up quickly as the bile rose in my throat, singeing the sides, forming bitter spots in my mouth. It was coming up and I could not breathe. My eyes searched shadows with moonlight hard against walls and still curtains. A little air, then a little more and more came, the bile subsiding, the throat relaxing. I knew I should not lay back down; that I should get up and get dressed as her words rang clearly bes...

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“Creature Unknown” by Ashley Shafer

Submitted to Contest #272

Creature UnknownI’m running as fast as I can. I’m running so hard that I think my chest will explode, my lungs ripping to shreds. I trip over my feet, stumbling but not hitting the ground. I’m running through a very dense forest. You can only find game trails in the region where I decided to hike. This area of forest is raw, wild, and untouched. Normal people would not go this deep into the forest, hiking these massive hills with little valleys that hug the steep inclines. Why, oh why, did I decide that this was a good idea?! Curiosity?...

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“When He Found Us” by Rylinn Kemphaus

Submitted to Contest #272

*TRIGGER WARNING - MENTIONS OF GUNS, BLOOD, AND DEATH* July 4th, 2024. Three months ago, they started watching us, specifically watching me. I had assumed they wanted our wealth, but instead, they were after lust and desire. We had no idea until the night they decided to tear our family apart.We put the girls to bed hours prior, finally relieving ourselves of the day's work. We had a long day of celebration with our family. There was a faint burning smell of sulfur that still lingered in the air. Gabriel had fallen asleep minutes a...

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“The Chase” by Mark Winter

Submitted to Contest #272

The night was misty with a light fog, and Will’s breath came in ragged bursts as he stumbled through the darkened alley. His shoes slapped the slick pavement, the sound swallowed by the oppressive silence of the city’s backstreets. The streetlights flickered weakly, casting pools of light that barely pierced the gloom. Every few seconds, Will risked a glance over his shoulder, and each time, his stomach dropped into his shoes. There it was, never far behind—tall, impossibly tall, the figure that had been following him for a while now. A vagu...

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“The Imp” by Kieran Wilkins

Submitted to Contest #272

(CW: implied suicide and abuse. Substance abuse, fire, religious trauma and physical violence) The boy prayed alone in the woods. The popping of his fire had kept him from sleep, so the boy knelt alone and prayed at the bases of the spruce trees. It was nights like these when he missed his old bed. He missed many things. Walls to shield him from the cold, a roof to shield him from rain and those caretakers who made him warm food. Food. The boy eyed the half eaten mushroom he’d dug up for dinner cast astray. His stomach gurgled an...

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“Refuge” by Trevor Ogden

Submitted to Contest #272

I awoke to the smell of something like burnt rubber. Slowly, objects around me took shape, their edges fuzzy and indistinct. Everything blurred together like an abstract soup. The carpet, red, wove snake-like through the hardwood. Coats hung from the wall. Shades of beige and brown and black bled into one another, filling the gaps between them, each spilling over into its neighbor. For a moment they seemed to breathe—rising, falling, rising, falling—until I realized this effect came not from the coats, but from the glow of a candle flickerin...

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$250

Prize money

484

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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