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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

“History Thaws” by Maxwell Brooks

Submitted to Contest #281

Nils stared uncomprehending at the hide-wrapped bundle at his feet.He could feel a part of him – the cold, rational pilot that sat behind his monkey brain – noting that the tip of his nose and the ends of his fingers were already getting frost-nipped. He knew exactly, exactly ¸what he should be doing: close the door, seal the thermal edges, get in front of one of the great heaters, or better yet the central furnace, and warm his core and his extremities. He should get help from one of the others – he could hear Katinka in the kitchen, never ...

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“Elf Unshelved” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #281

My twisted legs are jammed up into my face, my right arm stuck behind my head, and my hat has been covering half my face for what feels like forever. Darkness surrounds me, with no way of knowing when I’ll get out of here. Will it be today? Tomorrow? The glimmer of hope that it could be any day now is the only thing I have to look forward to. I look to my right and see an equally mangled body, pressed precariously against the side of the box we’re trapped in. “How are you doing over there?...

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“Strangely Unforgettable ” by Chris Baum

Submitted to Contest #281

Strangely UnforgettableIt was a family Christmas Eve party that I would never forget, and not just because it was the coldest day of the year.My family always got together during Christmas Eve. We would each take turns on whose house we would visit. It was an annual tradition that never got missed, save for the first year Covid hit.It was my mom’s turn to host–G.G.’s place. My mom was one of the best cooks out of the bunch, in my opinion, which always made the holidays delightfully tasty. If you left G.G.’s place still hungry, it was your ow...

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“Max” by Anne Perry

Submitted to Contest #281

Max stepped into his neighbor’s garden and peered into the bedroom window. The heater was humming; the inhabitants wouldn’t notice him this time. He saw Darby stretched out on the window seat like little Lord Fontleroy, his nose extended into the lush pillows, and Emma curled up next to her mother on the bed, with a book and a pair of glasses beside them. What a scene! Max rarely thought of class difference, of lifestyle discrepancies. But on this chilly day when his own yard had frost on it, he mused upon the difference in the way crea...

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“The Coldest Day in Kirksville” by Zoe Dye

Submitted to Contest #281

Kirksville, Missouri, February 11th, 1983 I awoke in my bed with my dachshund curled up next to me, shaking like a leaf. My feet were so cold I couldn’t wiggle my toes and my fingers felt like ice bricks. I covered my dog, Poppy, with my heated blanket, along with myself, and turned it on to the highest setting. I reached over to my night stand and grabbed my glasses. I put them on my face which instantly made it colder. I looked over at my thermostat. Forty-seven degrees!?! That can’t be right. I got out of bed, put on my slippers, and trie...

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“Who did you f***” by Omar Scott

Submitted to Contest #281

A stranger wearing a suit at a bachelor party in a hotel suite stood out for some reason. Not that wearing a black suit with a white shirt, red tie, and holding a briefcase is all that odd. I mean he could’ve been a hotel manager or a member of that staff. But this gentleman looked different. His eyes more intense than the usual service worker. The guys at the party barely noticed. They were too busy dancing to Too Short’s song, “Blow the Whistle”. And before that, “Yeah” by Usher and Lil Jon. Their eyes were focused on the ass and titties i...

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“Be Careful What You Wish For” by Sarah Adewolu

Submitted to Contest #281

The next day was a clear, blue Wednesday morning, and when I woke up, I still felt the same as I did yesterday morning… Only this time, I realized I had magical superpowers; yesterday, I had no idea. Assuming that my powers were gone after I flushed that piece of paper down the toilet, my life was going to return to normal after all this. This was just a temporary thing, even if I’d already written in the diary with a pen. No more wishes for the time being. For now, whatever I wished for, I’d type it onto my Google Docs. So far, nothing unu...

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“Whispers of a Wandering Stone” by Noor Khan

Submitted to Contest #281

I am a stone. It’s a strange thing to admit, but it’s true. Not just any stone, but a small, round pebble, lying at the crest of a larger boulder on the side of a mountain. I’ve spent so much time in the same spot, worn smooth by the wind and the rain, that I’ve forgotten what it was like to be part of something bigger. Once, I was just another piece of the mountain—connected to the rock, to the earth, to everything else that made up the whole. But over time, I became separate. I became... me. I have no eyes to see, no mouth to speak, no han...

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“Decay” by Lauren Normac

Submitted to Contest #281

Decay stood at the front of an empty classroom, staring at the empty desks, and the door that stood just ajar. It was too dark in the hallway beyond to see out there.He was allowed to decorate the classroom as he wanted, and he had a feeling he'd do that eventually. This skeleton of a room wasn't interesting. But he hadn't yet. Didn't know what he'd want.It didn't stay empty for long. Two students filed in, one looking at him with skepticism, the other looking at her shoes and fumbling with her books.Secca? Any advice? Decay asked, internall...

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“The Last Wave” by Lindsay Marshall

Submitted to Contest #281

It was the coldest day of the year, in Southern California, which meant I put away my 3/2mm Rip Curl wetsuit for a few months and pulled out my 4/3mm. Cold meant we stowed our shorts in the closet for a few months and resurrected our long lost jeans. Everyone started wearing their Patagonias, but let’s be honest, it wasn’t because we needed them. It was only because Patagonia was based in downtown Ventura and the small group of people who worked there had somehow made it trendy to wear the snow-grade jackets in our small surf tow...

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“Hunger” by Krystian Maj

Submitted to Contest #281

Eternal Winter. Eternal white. The deafening hurling of the wind. It’s all that was left of the world. Snow and ice, covering everything an eye can see in this grey atmosphere that hasn’t witness the sun since the Last Summer. The freezing blades of air piercing through not so warm fur Lucas wore were a painful reminder of what everything has become.The sharp crunch of snow under his boots. One, after another. He was marching through this white hell, going forward. Looking for food. Looking for survival. His and of his family. Struggling thr...

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“A Few Quiet Moments” by Sophie Goldstein

Submitted to Contest #281

Since I have been alive, it has snowed twice in Los Angeles. The first time, I was fifteen years old, taking the bus to school and the white flakes began to fall. I remember how the world stood still for a few quiet moments. Everyone stopped. People got out of their cars. We couldn’t believe it. Snow in LA? Impossible. Yet there it was. It was so incredibly magical.The second time it snowed, I was thirty. I remember the flakes grazing the top of my head, falling onto my nose like soft kisses. I remember looking up and being dazzled by all th...

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“The Sweet Spot” by Lily Finch

Submitted to Contest #281

"Happy Birthday, Mack.""Thanks, Dad.""Since you're 21, I wanted to give you something you'd enjoy. I rented a cabin for you on a lake where there may or may not be other campers for a week.""No way! That's awesome. Thanks, Dad.""It's just for you. Nobody else. Understand?""Sure. Got it.""Okay. The map and the keys are in the glove box of the Jeep. I've also packed some groceries and drinks.""What? I'm leaving now.""Yup. See you next week; bye and enjoy.""Okay then. Thanks again, bye."Mack blasted his music to Lake Wannogonkin, which must hav...

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“An Overcoat, a Flask, and a Crossbow” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #281

The sidestreets of Vulane were a tangled web of alleys and forgotten passages, a perfect maze for those who thrived in the shadows. Here, amidst the flickering glow of lanterns and the distant hum of the city’s opulent districts, sat a modest office between a baker and below an apothecary. The worn wooden slab above the door simply read: “Uresh Greystone: Investigator.” Being an investigator in the City of Lies was like being a captain on a ship that had already sunk three times. Uresh was busy relighting candles in his shop when he st...

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“For Holly” by Amanda Wisdom

Submitted to Contest #281

I’ve never been one to play with dolls. Can’t say the same for my little sister Holly, though. She’s just five years old, about to turn six tomorrow, and always has a Barbie tucked under her arm. So of course she’d be thrilled to clean our late Great Grandma Nellie’s attic. It’s practically filled with her collection of vintage, glass-eyed, porcelain dolls. You know. The creepy kind, dressed in Victorian gowns with eyes that seem to follow you, no matter where you are in the room. And me? Well, with Christmas just a few days a...

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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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