Set your story in a countryside house that’s filled with shadows.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 170 stories

“Guardian” by Arya ...

Submitted to Contest #92

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicidal thoughtsThe dark and loud raining thunderstorm outside the glass window contrasted with the quiet reflection of the burning amber from the candle-light dinner inside the Marianne Hotel's solemn but cosy dining area. The wind escaped into the room from the open door, disrupting the already flickering candle and casted a sweet orange shade on the faces of the pair of a man and a woman seated closest to the window. "Why are you following me? Who sent you?""Miss. I'm your new bodyguard. Your father hired me to...

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“Moonrise” by Rachel Loughran

Submitted to Contest #92

At the top of a hill, reachable only after a slow, bumpy drive through dense and shadowy woods, sat a house. A grand one. Well, once. Built in the 1870s by a wealthy landowner, the house was designed in the popular Queen Anne Revival style, with warm red brickwork and an asymmetrical front. It had a wide porch and corner tower which was throttled with ivy by the time the young man and his pregnant wife bought the place, 140 years after the last brick was laid. A strange and oddly beautiful place, it had struggled to attract owners for years ...

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“Shadows of People Past” by Svara Narasiah

Submitted to Contest #92

On the thirteenth day of May, a shadow escaped Trotter Home. It found a tiny crack in the window, not wider than a hair. But it was enough for a shadow to seep through, and seep through it did. Rejoicing at its freedom, it wove around the little house, leaving a faint trail that smelled of smoke and dust. It brushed the green grass, yellowing the tips, and expanded so that it filled the backyard entirely, wilting the flowers and drying up the marble birdbath. The shadow smiled to itself in satisfaction. But it wasn't done. Shadows are ...

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“Avelina” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #92

Aveline lost the sight in her left eye first. It happened while she was out in the yard, checking on the vines sniveling up towards the second floor window, when a crow called and her vision split. She fell back against the back wall of her cottage. The force of the loss was such that, for a moment, she thought perhaps she’d been struck by something. But then there was no pain, no trauma she could sense, just the immediate absence on her left side. Assuming it was some sort of temporary condition, she made her way into the house to lay d...

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“The House in the Country” by Larry Rhoton

Submitted to Contest #92

The back door to the house was locked, but a swift kick to the jam popped it open. Six teenagers walked into the dimly lit dwelling. The air was stale and musty; it was offensive to the senses. At one time, the old home sat on a manicured yard laced with roses, dogwoods, and hydrangeas. Flower beds lined the edges of the foundations, and flowers burst forth with an array of colors. Mother Nature dipped her brush onto her pallet and painted each flower with various spectacular hues, tints, and tones. Some were luminous, while others were d...

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“A place of shadow” by Ron Arthurs

Submitted to Contest #92

A massive place, this historical building. It was originally owned by the church, now it is a boarding school for naughty boys. A place where parents can safely ignore their responsibility to their offspring, and then, later in the child’s life, blame the school for all his faults, crimes and whatnot. The main block has 2 floors and an attic level, converted to bedrooms for unruly boys. Each floor has 6 to 8 rooms. It is situated in the English countryside, not far from the border of Wales, in Herefordshire. The surrounds are 26 acres of...

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“Willow Vineyard” by Kat Sencen

Submitted to Contest #92

I look out the window, staring at the vines arranged in colorful green alleys. Grapes are growing from them. Grapes we’ll use to make our famous wine. Wine the young people will drink. It doesn't make any sense to me- everyone knows what alcohol does to you. Why consume it?It’s the late summer, meaning the vines are at the most vibrant stage of the grape season. Yet soon they’ll get duller. And by the time winter comes around, the grapes will start to go bad and they won’t produce good wine. Near the beginning of school, they’ll be completel...

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“The Witch at the Top of the Hill” by Hannah Brown

Submitted to Contest #92

TW: abuse, stalking The farmhouse on the hill was a lonely place. It had once been a bustling farm. Many years hence. Now however, the dark stone building stood like a headstone in the hills. Alone. There were still chickens. A handful of sheep. One old belligerent mare. And a barn cat of midnight black. And, if you believed the rumours, a solitary witch. A thriving herb garden. A brackish pond with geese in the summer. The house itself was as old as the hills. Still standing by some act of nature. The stones used to build its spine fossilis...

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“An Ancestral Spirit Calls ” by Sandra Morrical

Submitted to Contest #92

There was something cold in that room. You could feel it. It was a cold that chilled you to the bone. The cold of the unknown, the supernatural and yet it felt as real as touching ice or snow. Then I saw it or her. I don’t know which. I caught it out of the corner of my eye and I felt my heart and soul turn to ice. I saw it or her for only a second a shadow, and yet, I knew there was something there, something not of this world. The cold took a hold of me until I left the room. That room, where she spent her last days. That room they say s...

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“Shadow Gazing” by Rahu Ketu

Submitted to Contest #92

Shadow Gazing For over few months, I have been trying a strange experiment called shadow gazing. I would go to the terrace each morning, stand against the sun and stare at my shadow for a while, after which I would shut my eyes and look at the sky. Each time the impression that I had of the shadow in my mind’s eye was of a different colour or shape. I kept practising this for a while, each time when I closed my eyes and saw the impression in my mind, I could sometimes see my shadow would be full, sometimes part, sometimes headless, sometim...

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“On That Back Road” by Molly Leasure

Submitted to Contest #92

“They won’t understand the history,” he rasps over the line. “If something starts happening, they’re not going to understand it.” “It’s not as though the house is filled with ghosts,” I answer. “For anyone else.” His tone softens, pity easing into his words. “But for you, they’re in every doorway, every room, every corner. And you want to walk back in there on your own? Are you sure you don’t need me with you?” “I’m sure. I don’t need a bodyguard scaring them away,” I joke, but it doesn't bring any laughter forward—from either of us. He c...

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“Cynthia” by Helen Ross

Submitted to Contest #92

Sadie was beyond tired of London. I know, I know, 'if you're tired of London, you're tired of life'; honestly, she was tired of life. The trees didn't seem so green these days, the birds seemed to sing less and less, and the things that had once made London perfect - noise and chatter and people and places and things to see - suddenly seemed overwhelming, almost impossible to cope with. The underground was crowded. Her flat was tiny. The streets were busy. Work was hard, and long, and she was tired all the time. Ever since the funeral, she h...

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“You Can't Draw in the Dark” by Elizabeth Atkin

Submitted to Contest #92

TW: violence, murder It was so, so dark. She couldn’t remember the last time it had been light. Not here, never here. Yet it was here in this house that she was stuck, with its creaking stairs that groaned and its peeling brown walls that sighed whenever the wind blew by, and its beautiful paintings made blurry and indistinct by their thick coating of dust. Here, in the shadowed room with heavy curtains closed, painted with pain and memory, she couldn’t imagine it holding anything but darkness and scars. Yet, it had held light, a long ...

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“Alice and Patricia” by Iona Cottle

Submitted to Contest #92

Mum opens the door and clicks the light on, but the bulb doesn’t look like the ones at home. At home the lights are bright and white, except the night-light, which is warm and shaped like a bunny. This light is orange, and makes everything in the room look like it’s been covered in orange pop. If anything the shadows are stronger than they were before the light was on, stark dark contrasts to the sickly orange. “Here we are,” Mum says. “You get the whole room to yourself this time. A whole double bed! What do you think of that, Alice?” Mum...

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“The House Full of Shadows” by Kylee Haverty

Submitted to Contest #92

¨ Ooh, look at this house?¨ Amelia shows me a huge, gray house. ¨ It´ s big.¨ I say and she laughs. ¨ I know. I love it.¨ ¨ Ok Amelia. So, you want this house?¨ ¨ It's as good as any, so yes.¨ ¨ Then let´ s go check it out.¨ I say, and she smiles. ******** I slowly walk into our new home. ¨ What do you think?¨ Amelia asks. ¨ I think that it´ s...creepy ¨ I mean what wouldn't be creepy about a house in the middle of nowhere that looks abandoned-and probably is. ¨ It´ s different.¨ My best friend Amelia says. ¨ It´ s creepy. And you...

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Set your story in a countryside house that’s filled with shadows.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 170 stories

“Guardian” by Arya ...

“Moonrise” by Rachel Loughran

“Shadows of People Past” by Svara Narasiah

“Avelina” by Story Time

“The House in the Country” by Larry Rhoton

“A place of shadow” by Ron Arthurs

“Willow Vineyard” by Kat Sencen

“The Witch at the Top of the Hill” by Hannah Brown

“An Ancestral Spirit Calls ” by Sandra Morrical

“Shadow Gazing” by Rahu Ketu

“On That Back Road” by Molly Leasure

“Cynthia” by Helen Ross

“You Can't Draw in the Dark” by Elizabeth Atkin

“Alice and Patricia” by Iona Cottle

“The House Full of Shadows” by Kylee Haverty

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that begins in the light and ends in darkness, or the other way around.

End your story with a truth coming to light.

Write about a character who thinks they have a sun allergy.

Write a story set in a city where the power suddenly goes out, leaving everyone in darkness.

Contest #92

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

1051

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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