Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Posted in Dark on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 87 stories

“Another heir, another mouth to feed” by David Drake

Submitted to Contest #206

Palazathar, the Dragon Lord, stood tall on the crevice overlooking this seasons’ coming brood. The smell of burning white-stone, the chants of his chosen Priests filling the echoes of the Sacred Breeding Chamber. The Dragons did the work, the Choosing and tending the Eggs, but Palazathar maintained the great spell that kept this Chamber sealed away from the rest of the world. Dragons, the demi-gods that were the anchor of magic in the world, were held as sacred tools of the creator gods. Every Mynian knew that since they were taken as...

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“Demons in My Sleep” by Vladimir 4757

Submitted to Contest #206

Wandering aimlessly, chased by hounds, in a forest of thick witch hazel, you run, you dash, you dart. Breathing, panting, your breath falls as darkness kisses your eyes. You faint, you awake, where are you? In a clearing? Somehow, you’re safe, the hounds gone, where did they go? So far away, they howled in the dark, beckoning to their brothers. But as you stumble, gasping for air, the smell rank, clinging to your lungs. Gasping, breathing, hurrying, blood rushing, you clamber to your feet and there b...

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“Where's Norm?” by Corinne Arrowood

Submitted to Contest #206

Where’s Norm? By definition, they referred to “it,” meaning me, if one were honest, as rare, odd, “special,” psychotic, abnormal, and my all-time favorite syndronomous (maybe a fictitious word meaning with a syndrome, but it sounds like something they would say, and if not actual, I speculate it should be a word, the way it rolls off the tongue, yes?) No matter how it’s been painted, the strokes have been cruel, unkind, and lacking introspection, definitely void of compassion or understanding. Thus, my safe zone remains under the desk, vo...

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“All a Dream - Or?” by Barbara Nosek

Submitted to Contest #206

All a Dream – Or? By Lori Madigan Purse over my shoulder, phone in my pocket, sunglasses on my face. Off to work, and what is sure to be a sweets-laden morning break in celebration of my 30th birthday. I go out the door. And step into my past. Well, what the . . . I should be seeing a street lined with beautiful oaks, deep green lawns, and vinyl-clad two stories. Instead, I’m looking over sun-scarred grass, tropical flowers, and a swamp beyond. This is the scene I saw every day growing up in rural Louisiana. This makes no sense, al...

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“Setting Dawn” by Aurora Martin

Submitted to Contest #206

Imagine a bug zapper and what it sounds like. Now imagine that the sound and light are encircling you and you can’t see anything past it. Ya know what’s worse than that? Add the fact that you can’t remember anything else about yourself, other than your age. In my case? I’m nine and a half. Yep. That’s me. Enjoy the ride. “Move along child, its time to go.” A gruff voice calls as the light finally fades away and the sounds stop buzzing. I blink and am able to see. I look around, though it is hard. The world I am in is bleak, or should I say ...

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“Walter's Artificial Intelligence ” by Mitchell Kaye

Submitted to Contest #206

“The program isn’t crashing, it’s killing itself.” Walter’s face hovered inches from the computer screen, his hands shaking above the keyboard. He waited a moment then pressed the start button to the same result. His assistant was poised behind him. “Sir… I don’t think it’s going to work.” Walter surrendered and tilted back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head and letting out a deep sigh. After a moment there, he took off his glasses and massaged the dark circles under his eyes. The hunched back that he built for himself straighte...

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“The Magical Cottage in The Forest” by Emily Kaufman-Bell

Submitted to Contest #206

“Oh dear, you are far from home,” the gray-haired woman said after just one glance at the young girl who was standing in front of her. “I’m looking for my brother. Have you seen him?” The woman pitied the girl, who was clearly lost and couldn’t have been more than 14 years old. “Not many people come by here. I’m afraid I can’t say I’ve seen him.” The woman extended an invitation into her moss-covered cottage. “Would you like to come in? You look like you could use some rest.” The girl was timid and politely turned down the offer when a man’s...

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“The Dream” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #206

Running through the woods, James kept glancing over his shoulder to check if it’s still chasing him. He wasn’t able to get a look at what was chasing him, but he knew it almost caught up to him several times. Racing for his life he didn’t have time to process anything except the fight or flight instinct in his brain. Seeming like it was taking centuries for him to find the walking trail he detoured from, he began to slow as his breathing quickened. Filling hopeless he began to think that maybe he should face his assailant and accept his fate...

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“Killers of Light (part 1; revised from a manuscript circa summer 2021)” by E Moss

Submitted to Contest #206

Armies of scab-clad blackguards gather in crooked files under dim little exhaust off last skein of light before the one who wrote MOT so was the halcyon thousandfold at a zenith for all varieties of phosphene kiln killers to try and take flight. Behind them, cities and towns and terrain alike all lie razed, ablaze high, outlines of blackened rubble cast low.The mighty Mahmud, the victorious Lord,That all the misbelieving and black HordeOf Fears and Sorrows infest the SoulScatters and slays with his enchanted sword-from The Rubaiyat of O...

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“Have You Seen me” by Clover Pheasant

Submitted to Contest #206

I’m a mortician and I don’t entirely believe in ghosts. I am of the sane mind to believe that once we die we are gone and there’s nothing else to it. I want to let you know, though you do investigate the strange and supernatural, this was not a ghost. And I hope that fact does not make me a murderer. And I hope god will forgive me for what I’ve done. It all started when I got a boy named Malachai Childs. He was young, maybe in his early teens, 14 or 15 give or take. He apparently died in a house fire. I remeber receiving him so clearly bec...

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“A Doll for Mary” by Peter Wyatt

Submitted to Contest #206

Billy was sitting on the toilet doing his business while reading his favorite Spider Man comic book. It was difficult concentrating. The image of his dead sister, Mary, kept popping in his mind. He had looked at her face in her casket at the funeral last week but the face wasn’t right. It was too pale and white. Mary always had rosy cheeks and a wide bright smile. This corpse had small thin lips that would never smile. Mary had died of a very rare skin disease that caused her flesh to rot from the inside out. The doctors couldn’t stop it. ...

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“A Red World” by Logan Wolf

Submitted to Contest #206

Why bother going on? I ask myself that question, every day. I imagine what those around me would say. My mother would say for family. My father would say it was his duty. My sister would say for love. My grandfather would laugh, and say it’s a damn sight better than dyin’. Can’t say I’m too sure anymore. Ken glanced over the map spread out in front of him. Scratches and scribbles covered the worn paper, tracking his movements. He studied his path so far. He had cleared a decent portion of the inner streets, the only areas left to check the ...

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“Edward the Confessor” by Luca King Greek

Submitted to Contest #206

It’s a summer party at the sprawling Lindorf “cottage”, tucked in among the mansions at Stoneport harbor, and Edward thinks he is in his element, slipping through the bait-fish crowd like a barracuda. A fist-bump here, a bro-hug there, his father’s attorney squeezes his upper arm as he brushes by. It’s all a blur of Brooks Brothers and Tory Burch because he hit the brewskies before lunch, and he’s high on weed. Edward snatches a glass from a passing silver tray, splashing prosecco on the sleeve of the white-jacketed server. “N...

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“The Scrapyard” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #206

If I’m being honest, there was a part of me that was kind of excited. I mean, I was annoyed that my car was broken but excited. The middle of a downpour on a Friday afternoon is a hell of a time for your wipers to quit. It was a scary drive across the overpass and through town to see a mechanic. A used linkage was gonna cost me $60 and they wouldn’t get it until Thursday. The forecast called for rain all week and I just couldn’t wait that long. I also couldn’t afford to take time off of work and it wasn’t worth risking my neck cruising down ...

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“The Ware House” by Darsh Mishra

Submitted to Contest #206

It was an old medical hospital used during WWII, but instead of medical tools, there were bloody chains, and the walls were scarred with still-wet blood. Daggers carved into hideous shapes were scattered around the place. Some looked like lizards, others like snakes, and some in indescribable figures. In the warehouse, there were giant humanoids dressed in crimson red cloaks with their faces mostly covered except their mouth. They stood in a square with a pregnant lady in a bathtub full of blood. There was a humanoid next to the bathtub full...

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Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 87 stories

“Another heir, another mouth to feed” by David Drake

“Demons in My Sleep” by Vladimir 4757

“Where's Norm?” by Corinne Arrowood

“All a Dream - Or?” by Barbara Nosek

“Setting Dawn” by Aurora Martin

“Walter's Artificial Intelligence ” by Mitchell Kaye

“The Magical Cottage in The Forest” by Emily Kaufman-Bell

“The Dream” by Misti Silvers

“Killers of Light (part 1; revised from a manuscript circa summer 2021)” by E Moss

“Have You Seen me” by Clover Pheasant

“A Doll for Mary” by Peter Wyatt

“A Red World” by Logan Wolf

“Edward the Confessor” by Luca King Greek

“The Scrapyard” by C. Charles

“The Ware House” by Darsh Mishra

🌟 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: