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

“Swirl” by Nyla Alimohammadi

Submitted to Contest #221

The mist never took Anood. She walked on the road where curls of the water vapor drifted and swirled - as if alive but going with the flow. Neon blue rune paths - active even this late in the night - set a hazy aura on the vapor. Sometimes the light was obscured. Anood pulled her sleeved vest closer by hunching her shoulders. She pulled the front-facing satin strings of the vest and retied the ends. “Ha.” She tested her voice in this purgatory of half-visible forest on either side of the road. Her voice sounded flat with ...

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“Ending The Nightmares” by Jesus Moreno Jr

Submitted to Contest #221

[WARNING The following story will contain writing and depictions of gore and other disturbing graphic description]It led me here.. it was still after me.. THEY wanted me... I've been running for what felt like hours, I shot a glance back into the forest, only to see nothing but the darkness from the dark night but I can still hear the running footsteps getting closer and closer... I made it out of the forest and I shot a glance back, out of breath and my heart skipped a beat at the terrifying sight of what seemed to be a young boy in the for...

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“Little Boy Blue” by David Knickmeyer

Submitted to Contest #221

Journal, Day One. I'm not sure I buy into this whole journalling thing. I've tried it before and have never been able to stick with it. But hey, doctor's orders, right? Put down my feelings, what I am thinking and maybe something will come out? It seems unlikely. I mean I'm in a good place. Well, except for that one thing. Okay, let's get that one thing out of the way. Six months ago I started thinking about proposing to Dana. (See, I'm in a good place!) But to get the ring I want? Well, no way...

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“The Haunted Minstrel” by Hezr Hodn

Submitted to Contest #221

The Haunted Minstrel &nbsp...

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“It Lurks in the Shadows” by Porche Carter

Submitted to Contest #221

Conner's eyes itched and burned, but he refused to blink. Nothing could make him. He stared at his closet door with wide-eyed anticipation. The white door, old with chipped paint, was left open, and he peered into the darkness knowing something was in there. Cold sweat ran down his forehead, fear exposed by the treacherous water carving its way down his cheek. Deep down in his bones, he knew something was in his room, but hope told him he was wrong. It's not real, Mom said so. I'm just imagining things. But as a soft groan hummed within ...

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“The Bridge” by Laura Johnston

Submitted to Contest #221

We used to come here all the time. It’s where we fell in love, where we got engaged. This was our place, until it wasn’t. I step out of my car, immediately overcome by the powerful smell of the surrounding evergreen trees, their branches gently swaying in the breeze. The first rays of sun are warm on my skin as I cross the dirt parking lot, rocks crunching under my shoes. I pass the trailhead and walk along the densely wooded path in the cool morning mist, noticing dewdrops clinging to the delicate petals of a bright yellow flower. A hawk sc...

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“The Bottom of a Stack Doll” by White Buffalo

Submitted to Contest #221

It was blusteringly cold this November. It was sunny though, and birds and insects weren't buried somewhere out of flight or sight. Todd Wilkinson, still a highschool senior, was walking home with his friend Henry following an early dismissal. The neighborhood where they passed amazed them with their Fall color, short trees and bushes bejeweled with purple and black leaves. Pretty blue lady bugs searched for people to cling on to. Todd shook one off before passing a barricaded yard, fenced in by an oily black railing. A prepub...

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“Whispers Across Time” by Owen Sinclair

Submitted to Contest #221

The estate meandered onto the leafy suburban street at a tender pace. Anticipation took control of Mark briefly, whispering for him to put his foot down. He fought it off with a momentary tightening of his hold on the wheel. The brakes squealed in objection to the slightly overzealous pressure Mark provided as they came to a halt. Sarah glanced out of her window. There it was. On the crest of the small hill sat a charming, if a little dated, Victorian house. Its arched sash windows had seen better days, and the small spots of grime beginni...

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“Extraction” by Syd Carpenter

Submitted to Contest #221

No matter how tightly I squeezed my eyes shut, the fluorescent glare penetrated my eyelids—a relentless reminder of the situation I was in. Frozen with terror, I could feel the drying trails of tears tightening the stretched skin on either cheek. I imagined the metacarpals in my girlfriend’s hands grinding against one another like drunks on a dance floor. I hoped I wasn’t hurting them, my own too numb to be sure. I felt a familiar pinch, hardly worse than grabbing a thumbtack from the wrong end. “There, the worst part is over!” the nurse of...

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“Dying to Escape” by Kim Reeser

Submitted to Contest #221

Samantha was bored. Her mother had always said she needed too much attention. That she should be more reserved and act like a lady, just like her older sister Edith. Her mother and her sister Edith had been dead now for over a hundred and fifty years, and Samantha did not miss them one teensy tiny bit. Even though she didn’t miss her family. She especially did not miss her sister Edith. Samantha had killed Edith on her nineteenth birthday. Samantha had been fourteen. She had thought about killing her perfect older sister since she was aroun...

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“My Mind Ghost” by A J

Submitted to Contest #221

I wander sometimes, along paths not formed, realities not yet real – in my mind. It’s a journey of the real mixed with the unreal and a discovery of my own abilities, in a world already full of superhero's. However, for me, I think I have a ghost. I think it lives inside my mind. Suddenly I woke from a deep sleep and glanced at the phone for the time. Its early, I’m still tired. I can’t sleep any longer, I was welling up with anxiety and I had to be ready. Although at this point, I was not quite sure what...

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“Quotidian Ghost” by Nichola Kowald

Submitted to Contest #221

He stacks the shelves quotidian; clings to monotony in a defence against unspoken accusation— a quote attributed to no-one. He tidies, dusts; his shoes slip and slide on the floor. And briefly sliding like socks on polished tiles, he slips into a quotation of his childhood. Recollection wounds. The spirit of Eli did not speak; there were no whispers from the grave. To be haunted by a ghostly apparition would be a blessing; a mercy. But he is haunted by himself— by his lonesome. He remains; his brother reduced himself to remains. And he is ha...

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“THE HEADMASTER” by Isen Oommen

Submitted to Contest #221

When I think back on my childhood, there is one image that stands out in my mind. When I was in upper elementary school, our respected principal, we call him Headmaster, tried to teach us the ins and outs of English grammar. The teacher towered over the students, and his stern eyes seemed to reach right into their hearts. He was a powerful leader whom we all feared. In our childhood, he stood out from the rest of us because we believed he could think in English. We used the name of our respected headmaster a lot when we wrote Hindi compositi...

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“DEVOUR ” by Walter Bingham

Submitted to Contest #221

Swaying to a carefully selected mix of songs from Toni Braxton, Kenny G, Sade and The Isley Brothers, Camryn Lewis strolled through the mansion, holding a glass of cabernet she had purchased at a local farmer's market. She turned it up loud on the home audio system, the mellow music filling the house with the vibe of a downtown jazz bistro. If she hadn't gone to Yale for archaeology, one might think that she would have been a disc jockey. However, Camryn was distinctly familiar with quality, soulful music. Her pride sprang from that one ca...

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“A Knock at the Door” by Michael Dea

Submitted to Contest #221

The day was a chill winter one, with snow coming down in the steady way that covers a city street in a thick comforter of childhood memory. There were few people outside, with most shoveling or running some errand that couldn’t wait for the storm to clear. I, like most sensible people, preferred to stay inside. There’s something about the cold that always made me happy as a child; it might have been the holidays or the way the cold air allowed a person to swaddle themselves like a baby. I used to think it made one feel more alive, an...

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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

“Swirl” by Nyla Alimohammadi

“Ending The Nightmares” by Jesus Moreno Jr

“Little Boy Blue” by David Knickmeyer

“The Haunted Minstrel” by Hezr Hodn

“It Lurks in the Shadows” by Porche Carter

“The Bridge” by Laura Johnston

“The Bottom of a Stack Doll” by White Buffalo

“Whispers Across Time” by Owen Sinclair

“Extraction” by Syd Carpenter

“Dying to Escape” by Kim Reeser

“My Mind Ghost” by A J

“Quotidian Ghost” by Nichola Kowald

“THE HEADMASTER” by Isen Oommen

“DEVOUR ” by Walter Bingham

“A Knock at the Door” by Michael Dea

🌟 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

426

Contest entries

148

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: