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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!

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

“Guide my steps” by Alan Hancock

Submitted to Contest #281

Guide my stepsAlan Hancock 2024 I watch him as he walks in the rain. If only he knew, how close I am, always, how much I care. He would be surprised, frightened maybe. And I don't want to frighten him. Not now. So close I can feel his poor heart. He thinks he is a poet. He notes things down in the special notebook that he bought at the bookshop by the harbour. He goes there often, when he is lonely, when he wants to leave his lonely house and be part of the big world. I've followed him down there, watched him walk up and...

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“Amber” by Kenneth Penn

Submitted to Contest #281

You’re awake now. Good. I was beginning to think I’d put too much Benadryl into your juice, but I had to be sure you’d sleep long enough for me to tie you to the bed. Shhh! Don’t struggle, dear one. It’s pointless. Harry Houdini himself couldn’t slip out of these knots, I assure you. You’re probably asking yourself if you’ve gone bat shit. You haven’t. Maybe you’re wondering why you’re tied up in bed or what I’ve gagged you with. Don’t worry. It’s just a sock. A clean one I pulled from your dresser. As to the other question, I’ll get to ...

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“The Christmas Murders : A Story Through A Cats Eyes” by Emily Housman

Submitted to Contest #281

Part One "It was a dark, snowy night, Christmas Eve they called it ...a night I'll never be able to forget." The street lights were dimly lit as I wandered around the sidewalks. I was beginning to lose hope. I'd be out in the wind and snow for days with nothing to eat. Belly growling, I took one last look up and down the sidewalk, my feet slightly sticking to the frozen concrete, nose red and sore from the wind, when she scooped me up. "Look Honey, I found this little guy outside on the sidewalk." she said as she carried me th...

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“Roots of Love and Loss” by Sean Wilson

Submitted to Contest #281

For two decades, nobody dared to buy or enter the house. The town whispered tales of how they always knew something was off with the past owners. That they simply never voiced their opinions. But those people only know the partial truth. The snippets of information they could drag out of the police reports, some drama passed on by the nosy neighbors. Every person has their theories about what happened. I am the sole one who knows the entire story. Four hands planted me with the promise of a love ever growing. As my seeds fell into the b...

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“The Lucky Pencil” by Julia Chen

Submitted to Contest #281

I am a boring old pencil. The long, yellow, bland kind. The one with a normal-shaped graphite piece. The one with that cylinder-shaped eraser that’s pink and not shaped like something cool, or colored something awesome. The boring kind. I am so unlucky. All the other pencils get taken away to be heroes, to be treated like they’re queens, to be shown off. They’re the ones with cool designs printed on them, heart-shaped graphite pieces, and erasers that sharpen to a point. They’re the chosen ones. They’re th...

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“The Adventures Of Frank And Susan, Zombie Janitors” by Jeff Pfeiffer

Submitted to Contest #281

Frank the zombie was a janitor in his former life and as it turned out, he was raised from the dead to continue his former profession. He was really hoping that after he died, he would be in paradise or at the very least resting in peace for eternity. But karma or fate or whatever, had other plans. Manzoor the necromancer who summoned him from the grave, was apparently also an entrepreneur. He created a startup company he called NecroSource that not only used the undead as a cheap source of labor, but also provided a clean alternative source...

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“Silver linings.” by Africa Rodriguez

Submitted to Contest #281

The house was gleaming with Christmas smells and textures: cinnamon, cookie dough, shiny bells and a slightly dusty Christmas wreath hanging from the door. The Christmas tree was in a corner close to the window, so the colorful lights were visible from outside. -Look mom! I found the angel! – said Tammy as she lifted the ceramic angel above her head. She was 8 years old and since she remembered, his father was in charge to put the angel on top of the tree, the angel was white and silver and had a star on his right hand. This year though, ...

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“Poor Shirley has a Very Bad Christmas” by Ethan Zimmerman

Submitted to Contest #281

I was walking home from the playground at school when it happened. My friends and I had stayed late to play tag. I was ten years old. It was mid-January and the coldest day of the year. A recent snowfall and a sunny morning left a sheet of black ice on all the sidewalks. Darkness began to fall. Eager to make it home before my mother got mad, I ran down the stairs next to the playground, hit a patch of ice and fell to the ground with all the force of a falling tree. I lay there for a few moments, unable to move and attempting to assess my sit...

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“Snow Days” by Dory Nicolas

Submitted to Contest #281

Snow Days by Dor’y Nicolas Minnesota kids grow up ...

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“The Coldest Day of the Year” by Lara Sgouridis

Submitted to Contest #281

“I’ve never wished to be sweating more than today.” I mumbled to my darling child, Bartholomew, my tabby cat. I trudged my way into my kitchen, checking the thermometer on the wall. -10°C. I don’t think I’d ever seen it so cold. I made my way over to the coffee maker, turning it on. If I was going to make it through the coldest day of the year, I knew I would need some coffee to keep me warm. While the coffee brewed, I leaned on the counter, flinching away once I feel how cold the marble is. I stood in the kitchen, half asle...

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“The Umbrella Brigade” by Sonia So

Submitted to Contest #281

The Umbrella Brigade Picture this: Mei Mei and Leslie step out of their tent, and suddenly, the world bursts into a riot of color. Rain falls gently, hinting at the chaos that’s about to unfold. They raise their umbrellas high, determined guardians against the encroaching silence that surrounds them. That day, September 28, 2014—how vividly it remains in their minds! The movement erupted like a living, breathing thing, fueled by the dreams of countless souls. Students emerged, fierce and resolute, their faces aglow with urgency, ready to cha...

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“What's on my mind when I toss in my sleep. ” by Joseph Lucero

Submitted to Contest #281

The night was freezing, it was the coldest it’s ever been in the desert. There was me, and there was Julian. On this night, Julian killed someone, the clerk it was. And he was killed when he failed on his promise to give us everything. Julian shot him twice in the chest and the radio an hour later was shouting that he had been killed. The clerk’s name was Sam and he was our age. A mere twenty-two. I remember when we left, SoCo was dripping off my lip like spit after a sloppy wet kiss–I thought– what a damn shame, that boy was kinda cute. But...

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“Snowed In Lovers” by Fray Crowett

Submitted to Contest #281

Beverly was awoken by the scent of hot chocolate wafting through the room. Followed shortly by an Angel moving the bed sheets out of her face. Or at least someone who looked just as divine. Her girlfriend spoke in a soft voice, “Good morning my love, did you sleep well?” Beverly couldn't help the dopey grin that appeared on her face, “Why yes, yes I did. It also got a whole lot better when my gorgeous girlfriend joined me and I could sleep cuddled against her.” A cute blush crept up Livvy’s face,“Well just so you know, you’re gor...

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“Cold Feet” by Lindsey Vanthorn

Submitted to Contest #281

Death was cold. Death was still. Death left rot in the air and a chill in anyone’s veins. That was why the Congregation of Tenebrous Warlocks chose Dies Nivalis, the coldest day of the year, to present the newest Congregation inductees to the horde. “It’s fitting. Nothing says ‘Death’ more than the sub-zero temperatures of Dies Nivalis,” Maman had said to Odette that morning as she helped tame her hair for the ceremony. Odette’s inherited curls were particularly unruly, as if they’d sensed her unease and balled up into a rat’s ne...

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“Saturday Is The Coldest Day of The Year” by Cordelia Ng-Christopher

Submitted to Contest #281

Monday. I am freezing. My hands are stiff, tight, and red, nearing purple. I’m walking forward. One foot in front of the other. What else did I do but continue to walk forward on Monday? Just going forward isn’t enough to keep my blood moving. I feel it thicken with every step.Saturday…Tuesday. My girlfriend has been texting me, and I just feel bothered. She says that I’ve been distant and she wants the same amount of effort. That’s not right. It’s Tuesday, and my girlfriend is texting me. I’m trying to respond, but my hands are ...

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$250

Prize money

309

Contest entries

153

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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