Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Posted in Halloween on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 69 stories

“Across the Clawed Barrens” by K R Stanfield

Submitted to Contest #117

The beasts beyond the veil whickered, moaned and trailed their quarry across the floodplain, eager for the shield to break. Five-year-old Juto clung to Mariah’s hipbone near the edge of the dome, anxious. His eyes flitted from one aberration to the next. They were caked in green twilight. “Mama, what if they –“ “They cannot. Never. They can only try, and fail.” She'd seen her fair share of shield breaks. She knew death. This was a necessary lie. “Not true,” replied an eavesdropping traveler, fast-stepping the moist loam. His name was L...

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“A Bridge Connecting Two Worlds” by Lee Kendrick

Submitted to Contest #117

A Bridge Connecting two worldsIt was a difficult time for Brenden. Just a few days ago on Monday he had the heartbreaking task of taking his twelve year old Bichon, Cindy to the PDSA to be put to sleep. She was having problems with her breathing and struggling walking, not long after a successful operation to remove a cancerous lump on her belly. The Vet had warned Brenden that it may spread as there were already signs of it showing on her chest. He had decided to keep her at home giving her all his...

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“Unseen” by Johannes Heinonen

Submitted to Contest #117

The streetlamp flickered a little, and the teenage girl drew her scarf more tightly around her neck. The boy walking next to her glanced at her with friendly concern, but she was staring straight ahead at the ominous shapes of the trees that reached out their branches from the woodland that surrounded the village. Outside of the sphere of the streetlamps, all was dark, but as they came up to the top of the hill, they could see little clusters of lights here and there in the valley below. The street diverged: the paved road led on to the top ...

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“Painting in the Moonlight” by Pako Dunwhile

Submitted to Contest #117

Moonlight basked the entirety of the mysterious, oil painting through the castle tower windows. Its oak-carved, intricate frame towered over Lady Margaret. Her mouth hung in awe at its majesty. Tiny hairs on her neck stood tall. The oil artwork depicted a solid, wooden bridge spanning a broad chasm. A large, handmade sign in red letters indicating DO NOT ENTER had been painted near the bridge’s entrance. The backside of an identical sign stood on the chasm’s far side. Lady Margaret had waited for this moment after obtaining the dead king’s ...

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“The Escort” by Heather Wolverton

Submitted to Contest #117

Trigger Warning: Death and Afterlife I see you teetering in the space between. You are clinging to life and begging for death at the same time. Your body suffers. Your soul suffers. And still, you won’t let go. Is it fear of what lies beyond that holds you in this state of limbo, or is it desperation to hang on to what you had before? Perhaps a combination of both. It usually is. Death is not a simple matter. I know you fear it, Death. Everyone does at one point or another. But I know you’re almost begging for it, too. Your soul ha...

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“The Choice” by Amy Roseberry

Submitted to Contest #117

“Arrgg Alice, you tread on my toe again! And have you drank all the whiskey?!” “Oy, stop moving around so much or you’ll wake her up!” “I want to wake her up, we only have so much time let’s talk to her” “Are you mad? She will think she’s lost her mind! We can’t just start talking to her” The ancestors shifted around the bed in the small room where Anna slept. “Just look at her would ya? She gets that beautiful hair from my side” “As if! She gets it from mine!” They began to argue louder and louder until suddenly they...

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“Hannah and Harley” by Debbie Tillinghast

Submitted to Contest #117

Hannah and Harley I arrived at the Bristol Harbor dock in the October dusk, as the last ferry for Prudence Island prepared to sail. Hectic Friday night traffic had been further hampered by the thick fog blanket that crept into every nook and cranny, slowing the invisible cars to a winding snake with multiple pairs of glowing red eyes. The swirling damp gray obliterated all but a blurred outline of the boat, and I heard the creaking of the ferry gate as it began to close. The ferry was running behind schedule, but still I f...

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“Fuzzy Borders” by Dan K

Submitted to Contest #117

Sometimes the portal manifested itself in mist, other times in a mirror… Charlie was perpetually on the edge. He regularly woke up before the sun and went to bed long after the moon. He worked on minimal amounts of sleep and often was confused between dreams and reality. He wished he had a totem so that he could tell whether he was asleep or not. The sweet feeling of relief one has when they wake up from a bad dream where you nearly die, anger your best friend, or commit some deadly sin was absent from Charlie’s mind when he “woke up” fro...

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“Boundary” by Chuck Thompson

Submitted to Contest #117

Boundary I watch. And wait. And get excited. Few folks imagine I am here. Fewer know that I am here. None know me and what I really do. Your old folklore describes me as evil, a darkness that invades your world. An unsettled soul damned and bent on destruction of all that is good and light. Such a negative image…. I came to be at time naught. I remember that first blink, instant consciousness. There were an infinite number of us at that first blink. There was light and us; that was it.&n...

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Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 69 stories

“Across the Clawed Barrens” by K R Stanfield

“A Bridge Connecting Two Worlds” by Lee Kendrick

“Unseen” by Johannes Heinonen

“Painting in the Moonlight” by Pako Dunwhile

“The Escort” by Heather Wolverton

“The Choice” by Amy Roseberry

“Hannah and Harley” by Debbie Tillinghast

“Fuzzy Borders” by Dan K

“Boundary” by Chuck Thompson

🌟 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 🏆

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