Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

Posted in Dramatic on Oct 25, 2024

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✍️ 72 stories

“Billy Evans” by Vickie Riggan

Submitted to Contest #274

Billy Evans All these years later the images rest clearly in my mind. The winding dirt road leading from the main highway to the old river shack barely wide enough for one car as it cut through tall trees. Deep kudzu vines choking those tall trees, rock bluffs, and anything else in its way. Finally, we spilled out in a clearing on a high bank above the river. Old Jackson lived in what was once the ferryman’s house at the mouth of the Stones and Cumberland Rivers. ...

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“The Legend of Reuben Banner” by Rhonda Smith

Submitted to Contest #274

“Granny” stood not even five feet tall. A petite woman with a twinkle in her eyes and Cherokee in her blood, our great-grandmother could make the hair on the back of a grown man’s neck prickle when she told a scary story. Us young’uns heard this one many times growing up. And Granny told it for the truth … Away up near the mouth of the holler where she grew up, lived a man named Reuben Banner. Now, Reuben and his wife, Betsy, made a peculiar pair. He was a harsh, stingy man and known to drink and gamble. People said crotchety “Ol Reuben’s”...

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“The Visit” by Tara D. Wilson

Submitted to Contest #274

Grief is strange, really. One never knows how one will react. Though, I suppose normal people would probably have cried, maybe even screamed. I, however, have never been accused of being normal. Hence, I felt dazed in my mourning. I got the call at work, when my shift was almost complete, but nobody knew. I made sure of it. Though I only told one coworker, my best friend. I texted him as he sat at his desk a couple rows behind mine. He came to me then, as I knew he would. I told him to wait before he told our boss. “I only have 30 ...

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“The 'Ghost' Writer” by Zivie Ye

Submitted to Contest #274

Sarah stares off into the distance as her computer screen dims into a near blackness. It's cold and awfully quiet. The night seems to have slept through even the sirens from Pratkin's ambulances. Her face distorts into a loud yawn before her index taps on the keyboard once again. The screen seems to jolt as the light flashes on and adjusts to the dark room. Her eyes droop into a slim crescent as her fingers slowly return to the email that seems to delete itself with each word she manages. The darkness of her office seems to deepen into a sha...

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“Great Grandma Visits” by Kathy Hayes

Submitted to Contest #274

Great Grandma VisitsA Short StoryBy Kathy HayesMy father was a change of life baby and most of his brothers and sisters had children when he was born. His nieces and nephews were older than him. Because of this, I did not get to spend much time with my grandparents. I was born in 1958 and dad’s mom died in 1962. Sometimes I think I remember her, but I think it is from stories repeated to me or photos I have seen.My first cousin, Lizbeth, was twenty years older than me and had three children about my age. Lizbeth was grand...

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“On the Road” by Sophia Jowers

Submitted to Contest #274

There were no more doves at Uncle Jack’s house.It was a funny thing to notice. Livvy didn’t care much about birds. Her brother, Kit, was the expert. Every morning he sat out in their backyard and drew every bird that visited the feeder, even though they were just the plain ordinary ones you saw every day, like pigeons and sparrows. He never let Livvy sit out with him—she was too noisy, he said, and never sat still, and scared all the birds away. Not that she cared. Still, when she thought of Uncle Jack’s house, she remembered sunlight s...

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“The Garage” by Chris Cancilla

Submitted to Contest #274

Maria and Carmen DiLilliano had some friends over. They were contacting the dead and wanting to speak to an old friend who recently passed, using a trumpet. They frequently held a séance in their home for various purposes and usually met their goals. Sal, their grandson, was spending the night at their house, and they put him to bed maybe a little earlier than usual. It is not his time yet to learn of these things. He had heard them talking about the cone or the trumpet before but never ventured to see what was happening. However, he got out...

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“The Silent Muse” by Edward J. McCoul

Submitted to Contest #274

“The Silent Muse” By Edward J. McCoul The gallery was buzzing with whispers and the soft clinking of champagne flutes. A crowd had gathered around a single painting—a portrait, stunning and mysterious. But the artist, Gabriel Wright, was distant, his gaze fixed on the doorway, as if waiting for something or someone. In his heart, he knew that tonight would bring answers. It had started years earlier, on a night when Gabriel had nearly given up painting for good. He’d been struggling with creative block for months. Every brushstroke felt forc...

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“The Middle of October” by Theo Brown

Submitted to Contest #274

It happened in the middle, as most defining events do. In the middle of my incoherent divorce, the middle of a major depressive episode… in the middle of October. My best friend Sam and I were almost a decade apart in age, but I was born October 20th and she the 21st. For years we’d marked our birthdays together, but this year it felt almost imperative to celebrate. I was still suffering the aftershocks of divorce after fifteen years and three kids… Sam was in the worst throes of a years-long depressive episode. We were both laughably poor, ...

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“Tammy and John-John” by Shanna Willner

Submitted to Contest #274

John lumbered down the stairs, unable to sleep without Eileen by his side. Eileen, his third wife, had gone to stay with her sister. She was deciding whether to leave him for good. At the bottom of the stairs, John’s head jerked, and he let out a low sound of fear. His first wife was sitting in the easy chair by the sofa. She was smoking. He closed his eyes and reopened them, but she was still there. He realized he couldn’t smell the scent of cigarette. “Are you a ghost,” he whispered. She shook he...

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“Do They Remain” by Lisa Spargo

Submitted to Contest #274

We had moved to a different house, just my mother and I. My siblings had all left home and I was the last one for my mother to shoo from the nest. I was a teenager full of big talk and a cowering fear of the dark (and snakes). Anyway, after shifting our lives into the new house, we couldn’t find a couple of things. One was the strongbox with the important papers in it. It had all our birth certificates, the divorce papers, diplomas, passports and a tiny box with our baby rings. We looked through every box and piece ...

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“The Haunted Trip” by Ellen Talboom

Submitted to Contest #274

So here we are, the three of us, buddies since freshman high school days, standing on the porch of a house, early in the morning drinking coffee and tea. This house is registered on the haunted house list, located in a famous haunted town in the Southwest. "Can't believe we are here. And we have you to thank for this Erin", Sam said, leaning on the porch railing. "Second the motion", Jamie replied. "Third", I said. Sam and Jamie are my besties. Sam now has distinctive green hair. If she were 250 pounds heavier and wearing orange, s...

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“Yellow Eyed Thing ” by Elias Birch

Submitted to Contest #274

There was a hiss of air as the door swung open. She gripped her guitar like a baseball bat. The strings digging into her fingers.Tara heard a noise emanating from somewhere in the house. She crept out of her room peering through the other bedrooms and then into the living room. She entered the kitchen; cold air seizing her body. The door to the carport was ajar. Tara’s shoulders drooped and she leaned her guitar against the fridge. One of her roommates must have come home briefly and not made sure the door latched properly when they closed i...

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“I knew someone was going to die today” by Anaiah Rucker

Submitted to Contest #274

I breathed in the ghost riddled air as we entered the midnight lit schoolI was here to prove I wasn’t a cowardI wasn’t! Wasn’t a coward, just…careful.Yet here we were, on a dare, on a wim, thinking we’d see something on this halloween nightMy stomach turned as Clarise pulled me forward“We must see what resides inside.” She spoke her voice low with excitement “ I doubt the coward would enter 3 feet let alone find anything mysterious.” The words of Darim echoed through my headOf course he wasn’t here sneaking out of bed into unknown ...

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“Patriot and Daughter” by Deanna Kariotakis

Submitted to Contest #274

Nature had put on her party clothes for us as we drove through upstate New York in mid October. Sunshine yellow beech, rusty red maple and cool green Hemlock were knitted a patchwork skirt with a blue topaz blouse. The view kept our attention, so the seemingly endless turns and dirt back country roads didn’t bother us as we navigated our way to Evergreen Hill Cemetery. Our mission was to get a headstone rubbing of my ancestor, Gad Sutliff, Revolutionary War Patriot, and his wife Katherine who passed in 1842 and 1813 respectively. ...

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Use a personal memory to craft a ghost story.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 72 stories

“Billy Evans” by Vickie Riggan

“The Legend of Reuben Banner” by Rhonda Smith

“The Visit” by Tara D. Wilson

“The 'Ghost' Writer” by Zivie Ye

“Great Grandma Visits” by Kathy Hayes

“On the Road” by Sophia Jowers

“The Garage” by Chris Cancilla

“The Silent Muse” by Edward J. McCoul

“The Middle of October” by Theo Brown

“Tammy and John-John” by Shanna Willner

“Do They Remain” by Lisa Spargo

“The Haunted Trip” by Ellen Talboom

“Yellow Eyed Thing ” by Elias Birch

“I knew someone was going to die today” by Anaiah Rucker

“Patriot and Daughter” by Deanna Kariotakis

🌟 Similar prompts

Center your story on a character filled with love and fear in equal measure.

Write a story that includes the line “Fate is resourceful.”

Write a story where a creature turns up in an unexpected way.

Center your story around a childhood fear that – as much as you try to shake it – still resonates in adulthood.

Contest #274

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

406

Contest entries

120

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: