Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Posted in Dark on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 87 stories

“The Care and Feeding of Monsters” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #206

Viya Sol looked around the mansion with distaste. She didn’t like being here, and she certainly didn’t like what she had heard about the monster who used to live here. Not that she put much credence in the old tales that some of the more senior members of the Lollipop Guild talked about. Those wizened relics of the past had many tales to tell, all the stories outrageous and all the events sounding just a little too fantastic to believe. Viya poked around the foyer and the living area, marveling at the size of the place and grimacing at the t...

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“Straitjacket” by Oskar Reiss

Submitted to Contest #206

TW: Violence, mentions of suicidal thoughts, abuse and self-harmClick. Krissi Yates pocketed the last of her equipment and squinted her eyes, the way a predator zeroes in on its prey. Oh, come on, she thought, her nervous gaze darting between her watch and the sanatorium door. Impatient, she stood herself at the entrance, which was one of corrugated iron; it was an almost baleful presence, and one that only chose to admit the most intrepid of investigators. Beware ye who enter. Paranormal investigation was n...

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“Trinity” by Chris Miller

Submitted to Contest #206

The thin hiss of a distant ocean rolled around the library’s barrel ceiling. I didn’t have long left to find her. We couldn’t miss our boat. I walked past an iron staircase that corkscrewed through the floor and up to a level above. Would climbing to the upper levels offer me a better view of the library and increase my chances of finding her? The shelves of the upper levels were partially visible from where I stood near the library’s heavy doors; they were empty. The books had been stripped from the age-bowed ribs that had hel...

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“Social Proof” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #206

Ethan reoriented his phone and pushed his stocking cap back to reveal more of his hair before offering his audience a two-fingered peace sign. "Hey-hey, guys! Wazzup?" Aiden raked Ethan’s hand. “Dude, what the Hell?” “What’s gotten into you?” Sam chortled, recording both of them on his phone through a cloud of steamy breath. “Scared?” “No,” Aiden barked, glaring apprehensively into Sam’s camera. “I’m black, moron. Shit like this gets a brother killed.” In response to Aiden’s misgivings, heart, laughing, and smiling emojis floated up Aiden’s ...

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“ Lost to memory” by Kevin Logue

Submitted to Contest #206

How did I get here? The question sounds new to my swirling fractured mind, yet I know I've asked it before. I must have. But how many times? Like memory, time has little to no stability in this place of shifting darkness, it flows as freely as the warm liquid that binds me. I can hear my captors through the constant, unending drumming. Is its purpose to torture me? Perhaps, but for what? What could I have done or know that I could possibly deserve this?They laugh, no doubt mocking my cramped confinement, the sound crashes over my head l...

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“Night Shift” by Chris Campbell

Submitted to Contest #206

It all started one wintry night. I was waiting to cross a busy intersection on Oxford Street in London’s West End. My workday had just ended, and it felt good to be out of that stuffy office. I had been feeling warm all day and hoped I wasn’t coming down with a cold or flu that regularly permeated the office environment at this time of year. Joining the throngs of people heading for the underground trains on their way home, I breathed in the crisp air that usually had a ruffled chill to every month of January, and was looking forward to gett...

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“Faces” by Dan Beattie

Submitted to Contest #206

It was the feeling of being watched in the night that I first noticed. I would awake in the night, the joy of getting older I suppose. The house was silent, but then living out here it always is. I’d stagger through to the bathroom for a pee, and just get the feeling there was eyes on me. I brushed it off as remnants of a dream, or a light paranoia of living alone and someone breaking in. The daytime never bothered me until later. But at night, no matter how hard I tried to rationalise it I couldn’t shake that feeling. I couldn’t hear or see...

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“Nothing” by Marisa Billions

Submitted to Contest #206

It’s dark and I can’t see. That’s a lie. I can see vague shapes. Outlines. Fuzzy out of focus details. There’s a smell. Rot. Decay. Death. Words, mumbled and garbled. “Sinner. Bitch. Useless. Bad, bad girl. You are nothing. Nothing,” repeated like a mantra. The voice is hoarse, sexless. I keep moving. Stumbling. Feeling around in the dark. I can’t breathe. I don’t want to smell that smell. But it keeps getting stronger. The voice is getting louder. There is a dim light ahead. I move to ...

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“Gluttony” by Regina Sara Zalameda

Submitted to Contest #206

Some say that meat is the most delectable gift from God. Mankind has lived for eons, and from the very beginning we have feasted upon meat. We kill, we slaughter, we have evolved from chasing animals with pikes and instead keep them in barns and hovels, all just to taste and savor their flavor. From the thrill of the hunt, to the dripping of melted fat as fresh filets grill upon the fire: Alas! How much does our palate crave for it; the salivating aroma, the smoky taste of meat, meat, meat. This was the philosophy of old Longsaddle, the ...

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“The Asylum” by Ashley Brandt

Submitted to Contest #206

If Veronica knew what I was doing, she’d kill me. That was all I could think about as I snuck around the darkened halls of the abandoned building off highway 138. Jerome and his new girlfriend, Kait, huddled close ten paces ahead, and my best friend Priscilla and I stayed side by side; Priscilla manned the flashlight. The Stewart building was rumored to have been an insane asylum in the late twenties, when doctors used all sorts of abhorrent methods to recondition people society felt weren’t mentally suitable. Most often these were people w...

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“The Paradox of Fog and Smoke ” by M B

Submitted to Contest #206

Night had fallen on the Fog District of Vulane... not that there was much difference between night and day there. The rain pattered against the uneven cobblestones as the sickly sweet “fog” wound its way around the uneven buildings and filled the air. In the back alleys, deranged beasts gibbered and spoke to things only they could see, their minds long gone. The wind howled through the streets carrying the noxious fumes with them.Through the enchanted streets two figures walked, their bodies bundled up against the rain and cloths coveri...

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“At Death's Door” by Bruce Callahan

Submitted to Contest #206

Chapter 1He stood on the edge of the green bridge looking down at the black water, watching the river rush past, a living thing. He wondered if anyone would miss him. The darkness would just wash him away. No more pain, no more sadness, just no more. His grip on the railing was loosening and he thought maybe it was for the best. No more people to disappoint. His ex-wife, kids, and his parents had either stopped talking to him or were headed that way. The cheating, drinking, drugging, and lying hadn't helped...

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“The Ghost of Moonlit Bayou” by Wilbur Greene

Submitted to Contest #206

Nestled along the Southern fringes of Louisiana lies the deceptively serene town of Baywater. At first glance, one would mistake this place for a postcard picture of the quaint southern life—whitewashed picket fences, gentle rolling hills, and the constant chirping of cicadas that punctuated the humid air. However, those who lingered beyond the comforting veil of sunlight knew better. As the day succumbed to twilight, an unsettling aura would envelop the town, stemming from the mysterious Moonlit Bayou. The Bayou, a sprawling swamp area, was...

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“Locked” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #206

**Caution: Curses Ahead, as well as implied malice (severity imagination dependent)**“Jesus fuck…” she thought, as she wrestled with the rusted lock on the oversized metal door. “Can’t they get a new lock? Would that be so terribly difficult?” Dana thought as she jammed the key into the hole. A dim light the color of sulfur struggled to shine above her. With a click and a clink, she managed to tug the lock open. She pulled it from the chains that wrapped through the door handles, pushing them aside. Her fingers had a light dust...

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“The Nightmare” by Ralph Aldrich

Submitted to Contest #206

Where am I? Everything is out of kilter. Is there something wrong with my eyes? I feel as though I’m looking through a pair of tubes, like looking at a TV, except everything around it is dark and out of focus.This room is strange. Maybe it’s my bedroom, but it can’t be because an office desk and chair are in the corner. Am I in a doctor’s office? Why would I be in a doctor’s office? I’m not sick.“Hello?” I scream into the void, but there is no answer. I look around for a way out and s...

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Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 87 stories

“The Care and Feeding of Monsters” by Delbert Griffith

“Straitjacket” by Oskar Reiss

“Trinity” by Chris Miller

“Social Proof” by Russell Mickler

“ Lost to memory” by Kevin Logue

“Night Shift” by Chris Campbell

“Faces” by Dan Beattie

“Nothing” by Marisa Billions

“Gluttony” by Regina Sara Zalameda

“The Asylum” by Ashley Brandt

“The Paradox of Fog and Smoke ” by M B

“At Death's Door” by Bruce Callahan

“The Ghost of Moonlit Bayou” by Wilbur Greene

“Locked” by Nina H

“The Nightmare” by Ralph Aldrich

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone facing their greatest fear.

Write a story that contains a flashback of a nightmare.

Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Write about a character in a situation where they have to be brave for someone else’s sake.

Contest #206

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

373

Contest entries

130

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: