Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Posted in Halloween on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 69 stories

“Dark Guardian ” by Marley Monroe

Submitted to Contest #117

The boundary between our realms was meant to protect and shield us from heartache. To give both sides, humans and succubi collectors, the space they needed in order to keep from growing attached. We enter the human realm, collect what we are owed, and return home. That is the order to things. Only love doesn’t care about rules, regulations or traditions. Love cuts through boundaries, finding its mark on the hearts who need it most. I had no idea how much I needed her, until her cries reached my stubborn ears. I spent months attempti...

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“Group Therapy” by Hugh Thakkar

Submitted to Contest #117

A rough day at work had me walking aimlessly in the rain. I was soaked through, it was dark, and I did not even begin to think about where I was. I wanted to be home, and I kicked myself for not having taken the bus straight from work. I felt numb and defeated, like nothing could faze me further. Still, when I saw the only café-bar I’d seen in miles, with warm lights that leaked into the cobbled streets, it looked inviting. Maybe an evening coffee would do me some good. The door met me with the soft ring of a bell. It reminded me of the o...

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“'Neath Sleep's Sweet Veil” by Ardaschir Arguelles

Submitted to Contest #117

Next time you catch yourself at the point of slumber (suppose it’s midterm season, and you’ve been getting late nights) — next time you’re alone and reading of an autumn morning and feel your eyes closing and your head nodding at intervals — try and hold yourself there, in that pitching forward, in that interim before you jolt back to alertness. Turn the fall into a flight, if you can; for as long as possible avert the inevitable moment of hitting the ground and falling awake. You’ll find it’s like diving for pearls — you can go progressivel...

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“Daughter of the Mountain Star” by Mikyal Martinus

Submitted to Contest #117

Lexi stood at parade rest before the Elven Elders of the Council of Twelve to receive their verdict. The elven audience in the Grand Grotto amphitheater behind Lexi became silent while she shivered because of the mountain night air that swished through the pine forest. The Queen arose. Torchlight flic...

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“Night Music” by Wayne Scheer

Submitted to Contest #117

Night Music It was just after construction began on our house that we discovered our new home was haunted. No, we don't see ghosts in white sheets or little girls in flowing nightgowns carrying candles down narrow staircases. But our house is haunted nonetheless. Although our house is made of brick and mortar and is as real as a baby's cry, I'm convinced it also exists in a supernatural world. We hear music, beautiful music. It's taken us a while to accept the soulful cry of what sounds like a cello coming from somewh...

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“Mr. Bear” by Jarrel Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #117

tw: violent contentLouis the Man could not have possibly stood more still or been more quiet inside of her closet if he were to have turned into stone. He watched, with the patience of a saint, as Cynthia the Woman tossed and turned, the bedsheets over her body flowing like restless ocean waves. He watched, through the crack in her ajar bi-ford closet door, as her body began to calm until it stopped moving entirely. He watched even still until her breath settle into a little snore, when the night drifted her away into dreamland. Only when he...

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“Grazed the mazes” by Perillai Perillai

Submitted to Contest #117

“Basement 4 to Gate 4! Basement 4 to Gate 4! One infiltrator got stuck in maze 42. Let me repeat. One infiltrator got stuck in maze 42!” the walkie-talkie of Arthur blared.“Gate 4 here. Proceeding to maze 42. Over!” Arthur barked back into his walkie-talkie. Arthur then latched the device onto his pants and walked out of the door. Arthur is the head of security for Gate 4 and he had Connor and Elijah as his assistants. He had been guarding gate 4 as an assistant for eight years and he got promoted to head of security last year. “On...

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“Abby's Imaginary Friend, Hugh” by Brittany Lieteau

Submitted to Contest #117

My sweet precious Abigail has trouble sleeping some nights. Her twin sister can sleep through the night, but for some reason, she just can't. It's not uncommon for young babies to have night terrors, but I didn't think I would have front row seating for them. Each time, her cries of agony pierce my heart which thrusts me out of my sleep no matter how deep I think I am into my rem cycle. My husband, Craig, sleeps through the whole thing, which is why now, she only cries out for me. “Mommy!!! Abby shrills!” I whip back my covers and in...

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“The Afterlife of Theodore Gibbs” by Marlee Brooks

Submitted to Contest #117

Case File: Intermediate Soul No. 7593 Novice Assessor Report Completed By: Francine The job of an Assessor at Existence INC, as we all know, is to ensure an intermediate soul is ready to leave their old life behind and begin their new assignment on Earth. I knew Theodore Gibbs was not ready to leave his old life behind the second his soul walked into my office. I first learned of Theodore Gibbs in the monthly Revitalization Department meeting just a few days prior to formally meeting him. The agenda was not out of the ordinar...

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“The Little Ones” by Bryce Block

Submitted to Contest #117

Not many of us are left in the small town of Bramble, but the few who remain know what needs to be done each Halloween. The Little Ones will be coming by for their treats, and we have to be ready. The preparations aren’t too different from what you might expect in any other town. Each house is decorated in a festive yet unsettling way. Impossibly large spiders crawl up the walls, jack-o-lanterns grin in glowing candlelight, and skeletons line the yards. All of us get extra-large bowls of candy and set them by the door when the sun begins ...

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“The Hummel Cannibals” by Ashley Workman

Submitted to Contest #117

Everyone in the small town of La Arbolita, NM knows the urban legend of Hummel Park. It has been said that a group of cannibalistic albinos inhabit the park and if caught alone at night, will attack to drag you away for dinner. Though no one has ever seen one of these cannibals, many eerie happenings have taken place in the park to cause enough alarm. Stories of shadowy figures appearing between the dense foliage have been reported but never confirmed, and numerous people have entered the park never to be heard from again, their bodies never...

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“Home” by A.M. Yura

Submitted to Contest #117

As soon as she steps outside, a number of fallen leaves on the driveway caught on fire. As she got closer the fire smolders down, leaving a single circle of ashes on the grey pavement. She has one day left it seems, not that any reminder was needed. One life exchanged for the other. To be honest, she has been putting this matter off a bit longer than she should, but she has her own reasons. Kiera came from a long line of faery law keeper, it was their household duty to ensure everyone follows and upholds what little law they have ther...

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“The Old World” by Carlen Hultgren

Submitted to Contest #117

I had hoped for French wine country. But swayed by my husband’s whims, and an enthusiastic neighbor, we are instead, in the land of leprechauns, fighting for our lives. The incessant scratching at the door and shutters, the mangled mixture of screech and growl, from creatures on the other side of the walls, horrific, more than any rational person could have foreseen. Knocking, banging, scurrying on the roof towards the peak, the chimney…. did we block the chimney? A lifetime ago, my husband Gene and I met Tom and Nancy Clancy at the Bowl-o...

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“Another Successful Dinner in which Two Lovers Form a Plan” by Virtual Chesse Emporium

Submitted to Contest #117

(Sequel to "An Extremely Successful Dinner Where Nothing Bad Happens")"You are absolutely forbidden from associating with those disgusting river creatures. If anyone in the royal family were to be seen being friendly with those creatures, we would be ruined." I laughed to myself as my father’s words swam through my mind. Despite the threats of disownment and shame, I would love to see the look on his face as he saw me and my maid Amira sneaking past the guards to the forest. Ever since that disastrous dinner with the Riverside Tri...

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“Let the night come” by Lauren D'Alessandro-Heath

Submitted to Contest #117

[Trigger warning: violence, mentions of distressful deaths]Oh, let the night come!Mania stood in the centre of the wide, empty field and rubbed her hands together. Her long fingers with their extra joint slid over each other like dead eels. All Hallows’ Eve was her favourite night of the year, the truest of nights, the only night. It was an unboxing of freedom in the endless sprawl of unnamed years, unfolding and deep, she could feel a scream well up in her drainpipe of a throat and gurgle its way from her sharp and ruined mouth. Leaning bac...

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Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 69 stories

“Dark Guardian ” by Marley Monroe

“Group Therapy” by Hugh Thakkar

“'Neath Sleep's Sweet Veil” by Ardaschir Arguelles

“Daughter of the Mountain Star” by Mikyal Martinus

“Night Music” by Wayne Scheer

“Mr. Bear” by Jarrel Jefferson

“Grazed the mazes” by Perillai Perillai

“Abby's Imaginary Friend, Hugh” by Brittany Lieteau

“The Afterlife of Theodore Gibbs” by Marlee Brooks

“The Little Ones” by Bryce Block

“The Hummel Cannibals” by Ashley Workman

“Home” by A.M. Yura

“The Old World” by Carlen Hultgren

“Another Successful Dinner in which Two Lovers Form a Plan” by Virtual Chesse Emporium

“Let the night come” by Lauren D'Alessandro-Heath

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with the words “Everything was ready for the ritual.”

Write about a character who uses a night where everyone’s in costume as cover for something sinister.

Write about a missing person nobody seems to know or remember.

Write about someone whose busiest night of the year is Halloween.

Contest #117

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

226

Contest entries

153

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: