Center your story around someone who’s being haunted — by what or whom is up to you.

Posted in Dramatic on Nov 1, 2024

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✍️ 101 stories

“Sex and Skittles” by Brynn Helena

Submitted to Contest #275

Sure, I’m an addict. But aren’t we all?That there is every sex addict’s favorite string of words. Go to a sex addicts anonymous meeting and you’ll see. I’ve heard them say it millions of times, maybe billions, I couldn’t be sure. Even I had said it. Even I found myself still saying it around mixed company, even though sex addiction was one of those things you could get away with. Sex addiction is like being a bisexual woman (try being both), people aren’t going to look at you much differently once they know, they’ll just start picturing what...

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“The Ghost in the Mirror” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #275

My first thought about dying was the blast that filled the air at the same instant that I felt a sharp, stinging thud to my chest. I’d been shot by accident.Blackness engulfed me. I remember that, like Alice, who fell down the rabbit hole, or someone plunged into sudden darkness, thinking, what is happening to me? Who will look after my son? Then nothing.Gradually, I could see light, first as a glimmer at the end of a tunnel. My legs felt like lead. The light became brighter. A hazy face peered. Whose face? Then, my eyes were ...

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“Stalled” by Derrick M Domican

Submitted to Contest #275

***TW: Inference of Childhood SA*** I’m not gonna take a dump in a public restroom. I’m not gonna take a dump in a public restroom. I’m not gonna…Damnit.I’m not gonna make it home. And it’s RIGHT there. That grim, concrete bunker masquerading as a sanctuary of sanitation. Sickly 40-watt bulbs over twin entrances generating just enough illumination for the beast to be visible in the night. Barely-there beacons of hope guiding desperate travellers to safety. Or to ruin if they function for a siren.Which, to me, they always have done. Late nigh...

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“Mare Tenebrarum” by Max Wightwick

Submitted to Contest #275

When embarking upon our odyssey, none of us would, nor could have foreknown what forbiddance presided over the unpeopled outlands of the cosmos. Our safety was entrusted to the dependable Lucis, a prodigy of modern science, built for the sole intention of travelling into the extraneous. Through parsecs and parsecs we vagabonded, equating to years unreckonable, with not the merest sound or noise. To not be unhinged from the deafening silence, we overcompensated with frivolous conversation, melodies were played as nostalgia, and a general...

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“Club Life” by Helen A Howard

Submitted to Contest #275

Club lifeTW: some swearing and mentions self harm.Aren’t you a bit old to go clubbing?Why do you say that?Well, look at you!What do you mean?You’re hardly love’s young dream!Maybe not, but…But what????But…But, but, but….Don’t be mean.Isn’t it time you started facing facts? You’re too old to be dressing like a…Like a what? What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?Wearing clothes that are meant for the young and gorgeous. Exposing your midriff. Tuck it in for fuck’s sake.Stop swearing! You know I hate it. Mum and dad hated it too. I like wearing the...

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“Where Shadows Dance ” by Hannah Anderson

Submitted to Contest #275

I returned to the stage our shadows haunted, and I closed my eyes. Bringing it all back, but trying not to let the memories take me over, I thought of the last day I spent with her. My sister moved with passion, more than I ever had at her age. The stage lights reflected onto her skin and brown hair creating an almost translucent glow contrasting the stark red of her ribbon. Our minds became intertwined and connected to the music which filled the room with completeness. Before I knew it, our dance came to an end. Her ribbon fell to the groun...

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“A Pocketful of Glowsticks” by Carol Stewart

Submitted to Contest #275

CW: references to drug use/death and attempted child abduction, strong language throughout.With a backward swing of his rucksack, and a purposeful length of stride, Jez Laurie got off the twenty past midnight bus. Lights out behind him and a grudged cheerio from the world-weary driver who thought he knew him from somewhere and had spent much of the two-hour journey grumbling about the state of the nation and a mix of personal and work-related matters. Was it even worth the company’s while to have him carry a single passenger? Did the overtim...

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“Ghosted” by John K Adams

Submitted to Contest #275

Terrance watched the two women enter and tour his house. They didn’t notice him. He’d called it home his whole life. He built it. He only occupied it now. Terrance was a ghost.He’d seen the rental agent, Peyton, over the years. She came on the scene after he vacated the premises. Being an absentee landlord, his son deferred to Peyton.The prospective tenant was a young woman, smartly dressed.Terrance chided himself. “Everyone looks young to you, old fool…”He sensed she was high strung despite her professional, relaxed demeanor with Peyton.The...

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“Cops and Ghosts” by Jack Bennett

Submitted to Contest #275

Cops and Ghosts All the little monsters and goblins have vacated the streets by now. Safe at home, their tricks and treats piled high on newspaper covered carpet or in heaps spilling off the kitchen table. They would be bouncing off the bedroom walls tonight, the effects of a massive sugar rush.Not so for Chuck and Dave, too old for door-to-door candy collecting but not of age to attain a drivers license, they celebrated Halloween in a whole new way this year. Chuck swiped a micky of...

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“Mary Worth” by Kim Olson

Submitted to Contest #275

“I think we should have a seance,” Amber said.“What’s that?” I asked uneasily.“It’s where you talk to dead people, to ghosts,” she replied.“Talk to ghosts?” My voice shook.“Yeah,” Courtney chimed in. “Sleepovers are the best time to talk to spirits. The spirits are more receptive late at night. I hear midnight’s the best time. And it’s almost midnight now.”“Yeah,” Amber giggled. “And we can’t talk about boys all night.”“Why not?” I tried to keep my voice light. I would much rather talk about boys than talk to ghosts, even if boys make m...

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“Revenge of the Crows” by Jack Kimball

Submitted to Contest #275

“You won’t have your internet or TV for three months,” Oscar said to his son.Emily exhaled from the passenger seat. “Can you leave the poor boy alone? He’s only seven.”John ignored his father and continued to stare out the back window of their silver SUV. After turned onto a jeep trail, they rumbled along over rocks for two-miles, the dust trailing behind. Finally, the SUV pulled in front of a falling down rusty sign, “Idaho Rocky Mountain Ranch”. “The Idaho wilderness,” Oscar said. “This will be fun. Those hills over there? I remember ...

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“The Forgotten Hour” by Alexandra Noir

Submitted to Contest #275

***Time doesn’t pass only in hours and days but also in shadows—shadows of those we don’t let go and of those who remain to remind us of what we have forgotten to be. *** The silence of the night began to settle like a thick fog over the old house, and each object seemed to come to life under the faint glow of the moon. The house rose like a relic of a bygone era, with cold, cracked walls, like dry veins preserving the echo of those who had once lived. The windows, cover...

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“The Attaway Curse” by Rebecca Hurst

Submitted to Contest #275

When Robert Marten saw the woman with the calf-skin box, he signalled for an assistant to take the counter as he extended a hand in greeting. She, surprised by this welcome, extended her own. “I recognise the case,” he said, by way of explanation. “It is the Attaway pendant, no?”“I believe that’s what it’s called,” she said, biting her lower lip. Robert led her into his office and offered her tea, coffee or something stronger. She chose the latter, so he poured a single malt. He noticed her hands were shaking when she took the glas...

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“A Pig's Ear” by Keba Ghardt

Submitted to Contest #275

There’s that sound again.Samson quickened his pace. He didn’t look to the left or right, but kept his focus on the sidewalk before him, deliberately placing one foot in front of the other. He clicked up the volume on his headphones, ignoring the uneasy twist in his gut.Just get to the next streetlight, he told himself, fists clenched in the pockets of his jacket. He started counting his steps: fifteen paces across the illuminated equator, then four long strides in the dark. He tried keeping two counts in his head, the rolling tally of steps ...

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“Buried Secrets ” by Cindy Calder

Submitted to Contest #275

Gabriela had known ever since she’d moved into the house a week earlier she wasn’t alone. The home she had purchased was an old one and one she was sure was packed with memories of many. This fact, among many, only added sustenance to her being an empath and a bit of a conduit for spirits. Gabriela could not only sense the emotions of living humans but was also able to receive an understanding of feelings emitted by souls on the other side. It was nothing new and something she’d experienced early in her life since the age of five, a gif...

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Center your story around someone who’s being haunted — by what or whom is up to you.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 101 stories

“Sex and Skittles” by Brynn Helena

“The Ghost in the Mirror” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

“Stalled” by Derrick M Domican

“Mare Tenebrarum” by Max Wightwick

“Club Life” by Helen A Howard

“Where Shadows Dance ” by Hannah Anderson

“A Pocketful of Glowsticks” by Carol Stewart

“Ghosted” by John K Adams

“Cops and Ghosts” by Jack Bennett

“Mary Worth” by Kim Olson

“Revenge of the Crows” by Jack Kimball

“The Forgotten Hour” by Alexandra Noir

“The Attaway Curse” by Rebecca Hurst

“A Pig's Ear” by Keba Ghardt

“Buried Secrets ” by Cindy Calder

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story from the point of view of a witch, spirit, or corpse.

Start your story with a character being led somewhere by a black cat.

Write a story about someone who’s running out of time.

Write a story that includes the line “Better late than never.”

Contest #275

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

389

Contest entries

170

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: