Write a story about someone who is haunted. Whether by a ghost or something else is up to you.

Posted in Halloween on Oct 20, 2023

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✍️ 138 stories

“Racing Shadows” by Rebecca Miles

Submitted to Contest #221

TW: Grief and mourning Hoofbeats thunder across the dark plains of the sky. The clouds toss, revealing the white of the moon’s eye, rolled back in fright. I crane my head out of the window but my hair is flying wildly about my face and I can see little, only the deepest dark. It’s been waiting for me: banished by the city lights, the votive candles I burn, but gathering here: an army of shadows, massing, ready for the assault. Somewhere, in this impenetrable uproar, is our new house; it’s somewhere close, as the car tyres churn on grave...

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“Worst First Vacation” by Michał Przywara

Submitted to Contest #221

Aiden took a steadying breath, downed the double shot of rum in the plastic cup, swiped his key card, and pushed the door open. He tossed the cup on the floor, and grabbed the shovel he borrowed from the groundskeepers, with both hands. Now or never, he thought, as he entered his hotel room. His flip flops squeaked on the vaguely sticky floor, and his heart hammered in his chest. And he was sweating. “Hello?” he said, closing the door behind him. Sweating from the all-inclusive courage, from the three-star buffets, from the three sleepless n...

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“Your Words ” by Livana Teagan

Submitted to Contest #221

T/W: BereavementThose words you said before… they ate at me every day. They gnawed on my bones and swam like sharp knives in my veins. Did you know what you were doing when you said them? How they would hang on my shoulders like a weight dragging me down, down, down. That they would drown me in dark waters while I was awake. Then, how they would suffocate me with heaviness whenever I dared to sleep? They hunted me down in every moment I spent without you. You said them like they were a blessing. Why did they feel like a curse?I can’t even pr...

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“Roses and Thorns” by Hanifah Kaka

Submitted to Contest #221

Fatima stepped out of the bar, giddy. Amidst the drinks and food – they were celebrating her friend’s promotion – , a faint scent of men cologne dragged her mind down the torturous path of her past.The scent was strikingly familiar to that of her ex-boyfriend's. Could they not produce perfumes exclusive to each person? Now, her nostrils flare at every passing smell of Sauvage de dior cologne.“I love this!!” Olamide was grinning and swaddling his girlfriend in a hug. It was valentine’s day and Fatima had gifted him a collection of items, one ...

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“Tattoo” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #221

CW-mental health, substance abuse, cursing, etc“A fucking rose, Michelle? Like in that stupid, fucking movie you’re always making me watch?” his eyes narrowed at me until tiny, paper thin slits remained.I swallowed hard and nodded back at him saying, “Whatever, it’s not my body.” Henry’s eyes widened and he returned to Antoinette’s Look Book filled with various designs and images of beautiful tattoos she’d already created and inked into the flesh of the many clients before us. I pulled my elastic mouth into a smile that reached the corners o...

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“Greedy Gary's Ghosts” by M.A. Grace

Submitted to Contest #221

Content warning: Depictions of animal suffering. Might put you off your next meal.***********It was pitch black when Greedy Gary shuffled out of his house at 6 am one freezing January morning. Everyone knew him as Greedy Gary because he loved his grub and ate massive portions of meat for every meal. Whether it was bacon butties, burgers, fried chicken, or his personal favourite, lamb doner kebab no salad — Greedy Gary lived for meat. Gary didn’t love his nickname, but he’d grown tired of telling people off for using it. And deep down, Gary k...

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“Candy Shop” by Gareth Walcroft

Submitted to Contest #221

‘How can we steal from a place like this? Can’t we just pay someone?’ Alice said. The pair followed as the guide led the snaking procession through the factory floor. Young children and parents alike smiled or giggled as they saw candy extruders with stylized characters placed over their exterior. A group of children pointed in awe as a large pink unicorn shot a stream of rainbow coloured rope from its mouth onto a conveyor belt. Toni slowed their pace, feigning an interest as some workers poured ingredients into a massive stainless-steel ve...

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“Separation” by Martin Ross

Submitted to Contest #221

Kristen’s REM cycle crashed again into the guard rail. The one constant, morning to morning, was the heron.It was symbolic of nothing -- simply the last inhuman face she’d seen before the Miata and Tod simultaneously punched holes in Lake Springfield..Something clattered above Kristen’s head, followed by a disembodied curse. That, too, was part of the morning ritual, along with defoliation, granola, stout deep roast drowned in Hazelnut Coffeemate, the digital Journal-Register, the customized multivitamin, the Zoloft, the daily trailer for a ...

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“Teddy” by Damien Exton

Submitted to Contest #221

My name is Teddy. I’m ten years old and a demon wants to eat me. I can see it but nobody else can. I can talk to it but nobody else can. The demon screams at me at night but I don’t get scared. Even when I see spit drip from its sharp black teeth as it tries to bite my head off I’m not afraid. I’m ten after all. I’m not a baby. I can’t tell my mom or dad about the demon and they wouldn’t believe me anyway. There are rules that you have to obey when a demon owns your soul, and one is that mom and dad can’t ever know. Nobo...

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“Aim High” by Paul Littler

Submitted to Contest #221

*Please note, this story contains adult themes including child death and suicide, please be aware“What is that damn noise?” Council Leader Clive Peters growled to no one. He was the only one in County Hall if you didn’t count the cleaners and Clive Peters didn’t. Jumping up from his desk and leaning through the open door he could still hear it, coming from the main staircase. Voices? Sounds like a kid, maybe? Whoever it was he’d give them something to moan about. He went back ...

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“Red Boots” by Malcolm Twigg

Submitted to Contest #221

The caravan site is almost deserted now. From where mine is sited, I can see the lighting stanchions lining the access way like sentinels guarding the empty pitches, daring anyone else to pitch there this season. This part of the site is actually closed for camping now until the last of us goes - mine is almost the last here. It’s how I like it and why I only come in the shoulder months. There is just one more caravan on this part of the site, as far away from mine as it is possible to get, and not many others elsewhere as the site rap...

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“Halloween Horror” by Abigail Donaldson

Submitted to Contest #221

Joe was a ghost. If you want specifics, he was a poltergeist, but no one ever knew what that was, so, y'know, he just self-identified as a ghost. And he was anxious, because Halloween was coming up, and he had no plans. He debated scaring kids and stealing candy, but then again, he couldn't eat. He had started making a cursed VHS tape, but, heck it, who even had a VHS player nowadays? He even scripted spooky phone calls, but they had no effect, in a day and age where people hung up when they saw an unknown number. There was simply nothing Jo...

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“The Letter” by Leigh Robinson

Submitted to Contest #221

The flames crackled, danced around the logs, blackened the paper’s edges. Lavinia, feeling every one of her eighty years, picked up another log, and fed it to the fire. Lifeline could have her furniture and her china, but the fire would get her photos and her memories. ‘Here you are.’ Lavinia felt her heart skip, then flip, faster than any eighty-year-old’s heart had a right to. ‘Johnathon, I didn’t hear you arrive.’ Her eyes darted to the white cockatoo on the veranda of the old Queenslander. ‘Sarge asleep at his post. Again. Never mi...

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“Haunted” by Mira Hikari

Submitted to Contest #221

I look through the glass that separates us. I see her crawling, her arm stretched forward, calling for my help. Drowning under black shadows. Huge and small. Floating above her and lurking in shadows and corners far away. Black smokey figures, some resemble wings, others resemble fangs, or tails. Some in the shape of people or devils. "Please, I need your help," she wails. "Don't worry, I'm here for you," I raise my arm and channel my power to my palms. A shimmering ball of light erupts from my hand. I aim forward, at the scariest and ...

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“The Fall” by Nina H

Submitted to Contest #221

TW: Sensitive Content, death “It wasn’t supposed to be this way…” Becky whispered as she stood next to Connor’s hospital bed. Connor’s heart monitor beeped in rhythm, as Becky looked at his pale face. Nurses bustled around busily outside the door, and Connor’s parents sat in the room with their heads in their hands. “Why did this happen?” Kathleen asked the air. Dan put his arm around his wife, offering his presence, not answers. “The doctor thinks he’s going to be o...

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Write a story about someone who is haunted. Whether by a ghost or something else is up to you.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 138 stories

“Racing Shadows” by Rebecca Miles

“Worst First Vacation” by Michał Przywara

“Your Words ” by Livana Teagan

“Roses and Thorns” by Hanifah Kaka

“Tattoo” by Amanda Lieser

“Greedy Gary's Ghosts” by M.A. Grace

“Candy Shop” by Gareth Walcroft

“Separation” by Martin Ross

“Teddy” by Damien Exton

“Aim High” by Paul Littler

“Red Boots” by Malcolm Twigg

“Halloween Horror” by Abigail Donaldson

“The Letter” by Leigh Robinson

“Haunted” by Mira Hikari

“The Fall” by Nina H

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story from a ghost’s point of view.

Write a story about someone trying to raise the dead.

Write a story where ghosts and the living coexist.

Set your story in a world where contacting the dead is as easy as making a phone call.

Contest #221

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

425

Contest entries

148

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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