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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#281: The Fright Before Christmas

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

With less than two weeks left until Christmas, I’ve been filling my days with cozy activities that are perfect for the festive season. While baking, caroling, and wrapping gifts are pretty standard for this time of the year, I also enjoy doing something a bit unexpected with my friends: holding creepy holiday movie marathons.

With that in mind, here are five prompts inspired by eerie holiday classics like Krampus and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Snuggle up with your thickest blanket and get started on a tale of regret, longing, love, horror, mystery — whatever you fancy! Good luck, and happy holidays to all those who celebrate!

🥇 Winner

“The Counter and the Coal” by Karissa W

🏆 Winner of Contest #281

Not even magical reindeer who fly are immortal, and Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen were tales of Christmas mornings that had long since come to pass. Rudolph himself lived seventeen years: a respectable lifespan for the average captive reindeer. By no means a miracle. Unless such a reindeer was among the lucky few to be housed in the stalls of a certain, southern toy shop. These reindeer tended to be shorter-lived than most. Every Christmas, you see, a few of Santa’s reindeer would fall s...

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⭐️ Shortlisted

“A Robot the Size of the World” by Marty B

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #281

It took destroying the world, but I finally learned the difference between true meaning, and just information. My own life began simply enough, when my power button was pressed for the first time. I awoke to my sensor inputs flooding me with data I couldn’t understand. Slowly, my databases expanded, filling out my awareness. Still in my docking station I sensed the floor, (not: carpet, linoleum, tile, rug, grass, dirt register as: oak hardwood planks) and the visual inputs showed two black half spheres directly in front of me, ...

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“The Big Freeze” by Simeon Whiting

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #281

Everyone in Longstanton knows the story of Tom Forbes. It began as a ghoulish news item in the South Cambridgeshire Recorder in December of 1962, fuelled village gossip for months afterwards and finally passed into local folklore. The Rev and Mrs D.P. Goodwin were scandalised when they heard that their beloved daughter, Caroline, had been accosted by Tom, an uncouth young farm labourer. (Accosted repeatedly in fact and, I might add, a very enthusiastic participant in the accosting.) The ever-respectable vicar forbade Caroline from seeing Tom...

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“Pendulum Swing” by Ava J

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #281

Tick, tick, tick. The party started at eight-thirty, but nobody could recall when the man arrived. The lady with the pink boa, quite extravagant for such an occasion, swore she saw him dance in. He swept through the double doors, she said, with a flourish so dramatic it must have been rehearsed. Surprisingly, this grand gesture had drawn no attention besides her curious eyes. The lady with the pink boa had noticed other people at the party too, for she had a knack for noticing things. Not the things most people paid attention to. No, h...

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This week's prompts

Write about a mysterious guest who arrives at a party — but no one knows who they are.

Dramatic – 60 stories

Start or end your story with someone receiving a strange — and possibly sinister — gift.

Dramatic – 54 stories

Write a story from the POV of a non-human character.

Short Story – 103 stories

Set your story during the coldest day of the year.

Short Story – 52 stories

Write a story that includes the line “Be careful what you wish for.”

Dramatic – 40 stories

Stories

“The Counter and the Coal” by Karissa W

🏆 Winner of Contest #281

Not even magical reindeer who fly are immortal, and Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen were tales of Christmas mornings that had long since come to pass. Rudolph himself lived seventeen years: a respectable lifespan for the average captive reindeer. By no means a miracle. Unless such a reindeer was among the lucky few to be housed in the stalls of a certain, southern toy shop. These reindeer tended to be shorter-lived than most. Every Christmas, you see, a few of Santa’s reindeer would fall s...

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“Christmas Chameleon” by Daniel Rogers

Submitted to Contest #281

I hung my keys on the third hook, my coat on the third peg, and plopped my tushy on the third sofa cushion from the door, like always. That's my life - pathetically predictable.I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstanding. I have no problem with predictability. I'd be happy as long as it gave me enough to pay bills, rent a larger apartment, and occasionally buy something nice. But, no! Unfortunately, it turned out to be more like a deadbeat dad. But what can I do? I don't have any control over it.I hadn't realized it was Christmas E...

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“A Rare Gift for Christmas” by Ghost Writer

Submitted to Contest #281

My six-year-old daughter, Mandy, and I were doing some last-minute Christmas shopping on Christmas Eve. She had been well behaved all day as we gal-palled around the mall. I just had one last stop to make before leaving. I wanted to check a department store for a shirt for my mom.I only looked away long enough to compare two articles of clothing. That’s all the time it took for her to disappear. I knew better. I knew how she was, just as all kids are. The ornate tree, the twinkling lights, a toy train delivering presents around the bottom of...

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“Rescued by the Giant Octopus - Voyages of the Destiny's Dreams ” by Kristi Gott

Submitted to Contest #281

“In the ancient codices, how does the sun come back after it sinks into the ocean on the longest darkness of the year?” When the storyteller Ana spoke, she saw the shining eyes of nineteen-year-old Xochitli, the scholar of Nahuatl ancient history and myths.Xochitli's face and eyes showed someone with depths that held many secrets. The young Nahuatl woman spoke. “The sun, Tonatiuh, he who goes forth shining, is reborn as a hummingbird. It is in the hieroglyphics of the ancient codices.”She continued. “We must find the ancient codice...

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“The Dark Yuletide” by Christy Morgan

Submitted to Contest #281

The north wind blew the snowfall into a slanted fury. It was intermittent and strong. The grand houses along Chestnut Avenue were cloaked in white, a warmth seeping from the windows adorned with fluttering candles. Amaryllis focused on the stream of Christmas lights finely hung in empty maples, burgeoning magnolias, and along the eaves of stately homes, a careful display of cheer. To be invited to the Abernathey holiday party was a rite of passage, an entry to high society, a culmination that you were received and respected. Amaryllis h...

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“MEDITERRANEAN MISCHIEF” by Shirley Medhurst

Submitted to Contest #281

OK, so my patience is gradually beginning to wear thin. I consider that I’ve actually been more than reasonable in my behaviour, considering what I’ve had to put up with over time… but recently, the issue seems be getting worse, and the damage they inflict upon me increases with each passing year. More often than not, I try to make light of the situation, amuse myself a little to take my mind off more serious things—do a spot of teasing, let’s say. Allow me to explain. Take that cute little beach they created way back when, down off the...

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“Slippery when wet.” by Trudy Jas

Submitted to Contest #281

Do you remember the first time you saw the ad? You couldn’t look away, could you? You looked at your wife and she too was mesmerized. But she averted her eyes, knowing that it would be too extravagant. Too much to ask for.Then there was the full-page ad in the AARP Bulletin, do you remember that? You put it aside, took note of the local number. Of course, it would be too expensive, you thought. But maybe if you didn’t take that golf outing this year and skipped a few trips to the gambling boats. Surely then…You wife's birthday is coming up, ...

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“A Robot the Size of the World” by Marty B

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #281

It took destroying the world, but I finally learned the difference between true meaning, and just information. My own life began simply enough, when my power button was pressed for the first time. I awoke to my sensor inputs flooding me with data I couldn’t understand. Slowly, my databases expanded, filling out my awareness. Still in my docking station I sensed the floor, (not: carpet, linoleum, tile, rug, grass, dirt register as: oak hardwood planks) and the visual inputs showed two black half spheres directly in front of me, ...

Read story

“The AI Who Came in From the Cold” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #281

Adam could perceive a frenzy overtaking the people he spoke to in the supermarket and other stores. A cloud of stress and negativity surrounded him in contrast to the crisp nip in the air outside. Outdoors, winter had descended, leaving sunless gloom and bare trees. At the same time, indoors, the escalating heat emanated from the harried activity and strained nerves of the people. He looked around him. They had their shopping trolleys piled sky-high with all manner of edibles from food groups not related to good health. On displays near the ...

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“In the Bleak Midwinter” by Rebecca Hurst

Submitted to Contest #281

The tall man spent some time scanning the list of names on the white marble tablet, ignoring the usual spiel at the top of the pediment. A list of thirty two men of the parish. Men of Piccadilly. He heard the footsteps, the deferent, diffident tread of a clergyman, impossible to ignore in the empty sepulchral space. ‘In from the cold?’ a voice enquired. ‘In all ways,’ said the tall man. He turned to face the fleshy vicar, and knew at once that he had been a padre in another life. The extensive decorations, the comforting smell of s...

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“Thelma Faye” by Mary Bendickson

Submitted to Contest #281

Thelma Faye I remember feeling protected as I snuggled in the warmth of my mother's strong arms. My bed was veiled in a green canopy. She spread her warmth so wide it encompassed our whole world as we could see it. And there were a lot of us. She was like the old women who lived in a shoe. So many children... Except she knew. She sheltered and nurtured us and taught us everything she could before setting us free out into a world unknown. She taught our family history and mysteries of what could be.When gentle breezes rustled the leaves she w...

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“But ...” by Geertje H

Submitted to Contest #281

She pulls the collar of her coat a little closer to keep the cold air off her neck as she crosses the crowded parking lot to the store. The strains of “White Christmas” drift toward her. She grits her teeth, her thoughts as grey as the weeks' old snow mounts. She knows to be careful what to wish for or dream of.Go sit and play on the floor, little girl. Make room for people.But …The toddler learns quickly that when she protests people think she is cranky and probably needs a nap.'Oma’ndopa' are coming. It’s said with such enthusiasm she can’...

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“The Last Of The Snow Globes” by Helen A Howard

Submitted to Contest #281

Christmas is round the corner and I’ve never felt less Christmassy.Here I am surrounded by all manner of festive gifts and must-have seasonal cuties. The boxes of crackers may look appealing but seeing the person I want to pull them with is no longer around, maybe not so much.However, even I have to admit the very reasonably priced snow globes with their miniature snowmen in funny hats and colourful scarves, have a certain charm. One of the store’s best sellers, only one remains waiting to be shaken and given a good home.These new goods are ...

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“The Snow Globe Guest” by Jim LaFleur

Submitted to Contest #281

The Christmas lights cast dancing shadows across the living room walls as Daniel nursed his third glass of wine, watching the party unfold from his corner sanctuary. His notebook lay open on his lap, its pages as blank as they’d been for the past eight months. Even here, at Sarah’s annual Christmas gathering, he couldn’t escape the crushing weight of his writer’s block. “Still hiding in corners, Dan?” Sarah appeared beside him, her emerald cocktail dress catching the light. “You know, the whole point of a party is to actually interact with p...

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“I Wish Us A Stress Free Christmas ” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #281

“Deck the Halls and act so oddly; blah blah blah; blah blah blah blah. Tis the season for gifts unGodly, yada yada ya… yada ya ya ya.”Why do my stepfather’s unpleasantly peculiar parents insist on spending any money at all on the absolute worst Christmas gifts every damn year? Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not ungrateful, but truth be told, I’d rather they simply wish me a Merry Christmas and leave the child sized mittens at the store; I’m seventeen, not three. I suppose I shouldn’t complain, my three brothers have it so much worse. Michael, w...

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$250

Prize money

309

Contest entries

154

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Dec 20, 2024 EST

Won by Karissa W 🏆

Title: The Counter and the Coal

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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