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

“Sorrowful Wolves” by Phoebe DeNeve

Submitted to Contest #92

Trigger warning of suicidal thoughtsCreak!The sound was followed by the booming noise of thunder, as I nudged the door open. I was soaked from head to toe with rain water.I barely had enough energy to get to the kitchen table, and slump into the old wooden chair. "Daddy, don't leave me. I'm scared." my 13-year old daughter's dying words rang throughout my mind, and I rubbed my face with my sweaty palms.Sophie, my daughter, was all I had left after losing my wife 10 years before. "What am I supposed to do? My love is gone, my only source of h...

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“Silent Shadows” by Colin Devonshire

Submitted to Contest #92

“Come on, don’t be a scaredy-cat,” said Bobby. “You think it’s a good idea to break the law?” said Gemma. “It’s not breaking the law, I’ve got the keys,” he answered. “Yeah, right, and that makes it okay?” “I want to buy this house.” “You are fourteen.” “I know, my Dad is selling this place, and I want to have it.” “Your Dad is a sales agent, that doesn’t give you a divine right to own. Not now, nor in the future,” she said. “Come in and you’ll understand.” Bobby unlocked the front door and pushed it back. “Look at that,” he said. “It is nic...

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“Legs” by Eric D.

Submitted to Contest #92

The sounds of the seagulls crying out wake me every morning and the alarm of old rusted bells ringing and waves crashing on concrete shores call out to me to begin my day. They are beautiful sounds that I've grown accustomed to living by the sea. I love to run through the large green hills every morning and wave at the ships leaving the docks. "Aurora, don't run off too far" my grandpa says as he walks me through the fields. My grandpa named me Aurora from the northern lights he observed once during an expedition out to sea when my mother ...

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“Strings Attached” by Deborah Mercer

Submitted to Contest #92

Viola (her parents had loved string quartets, and she wondered if any brothers or sisters may have been called Violin or Cello) had been delighted when she won the first prize in the Short but Sweet writing competition. Well, okay, she might have been more delighted had she won the second prize, which was £250, as there were plenty of free creative writing courses online and she was borderline broke. But she told herself that would be ungrateful, and as transport and meals were included in the prize, it wasn’t going to be one of those infamo...

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“Shadows of the Past” by Katelyn T

Submitted to Contest #92

When Jillian moved to the small town of Smithville, she was hoping for a new start. The house she moved into could only be described as having charm. She had rented it cheap. The home had two bedrooms, one bath, a small living room, a kitchen, and an attic. Since it was just her, it was more than enough house. The paint was chipped in places, the wooden floors creaked and were hazardously uneven in some places, and who knew the last time the foundation, electric, or plumbing had been looked at. Jillian knew the first time it rained, the roof...

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“Blood Stained Emeralds” by Moon Mason

Submitted to Contest #92

“Shit,” I yell. A bump in the road causes my coffee to spill over my legs. The burning is bad enough, not to mention that my favorite pair of pants is ruined with stains. I slam on the brakes in frustration. Normally this behavior would get me rear ended, but here in the middle of the woods, the only thing there is to hit are deer. I climb out of my truck and in a fit of anger, throw my mug to the ground smashing it. I rake the hair out of my face and hold my head in my hands. I let out a deep sigh. This trip has already been exhausting. I j...

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“I'm Sorry, Jessie” by Paige Winters

Submitted to Contest #92

I watch my little girl chase a butterfly in the front yard, her new boots tramping through the fresh mud from last night’s rainfall. Trees sway in the wind, sending shadows dancing crazily across the yard. I stand in the shadow of the house, the only relief from the boiling sun. I inherited the old farmhouse from my parents when they died in a car crash three years ago. There’s a lot of memories in it, from when my older brother shoved me into the stone walls to when Mom and I used to work on the flourishing garden outback. I’ve never had a...

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“Just As Always ” by KENNEDY PLANT

Submitted to Contest #92

“Boo!” Said Claire, for the thousandth time today. James turned around and hit her on the head with his newspaper. “Would you stop that? I’m trying to read.” James showed Claire the inked piece of paper, with the same date on it as always: 1951. “After all these years, do you really need to read that again?” Claire said, grabbing the newspaper from his grasp. “It’s the only thing to do around here anyway.” James said, with a hint of boredom in his voice. “No! You could always play with me!” Claire screamed in his ...

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“The Dove and the Raven” by Blue Green

Submitted to Contest #92

I can feel the house mocking me long before I see it. Its presence seems to infuse the landscape, tainting the bleak heath with tendrils of ink seeping deep into the roots of the trees. It whispers to me in the long grass swept to and fro by the same wind which sends the dark clouds scurrying across the gloomy sky, as though they too don’t want to linger long in this dismal place.I look across at my mother. She doesn’t seem to be affected by the landscape, or the prospect of being cut off from the outside world for two long weeks. She keeps ...

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“Twisted Shadows” by Kate Gratton

Submitted to Contest #92

Natasha flung open her old, wooden shutters on her bedroom window. She used the thick white satin ribbons hanging uselessly by the side to tie the red-blue-and-black gingham curtains back so she could see outside. Smiling at the sunny bright blue sky and the light breeze, the perfect weather for her plans that day, she walked over the newly polished hardwood floor panels and gently tugged open her mother’s old armoire. She sighed and ran her fingers over the rough carvings of letters and digits - the names and phone numbers of Natasha’s mom’...

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“Something in the Woods” by Taylor Ann

Submitted to Contest #92

“Make sure all the windows are covered at night.” She turns to the rental host, a tall woman - sturdy but weary - with a polite smile. The host does not smile back. “There aren’t many windows to begin with,” she hears her partner say, muffled, from the other room. She coughs like that will cover up his words. They’re thinking about getting married. Sometimes he doesn’t realize his bluntness makes people uncomfortable. The host does smile now, but it looks a little sardonic. “Easier to cover ‘em up,” the host states and walks toward t...

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“A Gentleman Mortician and a Vespertine Visit” by Alex Gray

Submitted to Contest #92

Around five years old, when he first started hearing them. Soft, muted weeping echoing lightly through the cavernous halls just beyond his bedroom door, and by ten he was accustomed to sliding out of bed, yawning, padding to his doorway to step out into the endlessly shadowed maw veining through the upstairs of his family’s home. The moaning creak of the floorboards was easily avoidable if you knew where to slide your feet, which by then he did, and he’d whisper into the dark: “You’re okay. It’s all over now, but stay as long as you need to....

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“memories of a house once upon a time” by Clinton Siegle

Submitted to Contest #92

People forget I have lived elsewhere. What is more astounding are some of my memories of people and places? Take, for instance, an old country house that people say is so wonderful. I remember it in a parallel reality. The story there was more shadowy. Less wonderful. The country house was right behind Club Missouri in Williston, North Dakota. That Club has or had or will have no less than fifteen ghost stories. Why? Some twenty or twenty-two people had died there over the past thirty years. Bars in the country are mysterious. But this i...

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“Southern Gothic” by Chris Buono

Submitted to Contest #92

The car dropped me off at the gate to the house. It opened right as I approached the iron bars that ended in spikes with a soft creaaaaak. It was hot outside, the humidity hung around the air in a tangible manner that made one feel like walking through a cloud, the swampy ground along each side of the walkway didn’t help even as the tree cover made me feel like walking into nighttime rather than my watch indicating that it was only noon. I looked down at the invitation one final time....

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“Shadow on the Wall” by Shannon Ethel

Submitted to Contest #92

Houses carry echoes of their pasts. Shadows of the people that lived there before, clinging to the corners like spiders’ webs. Every creak, groan and whisper reminding you that you were not the first and assuring that you will not be the last. Janie came to Penrith Cottage as a widow. Its grey stone walls and overgrown garden greeted the weary woman with as much enthusiasm as she felt. “Are you sure this is the place, love?” the taxi driver asked, pushing up the brim of his cap to peer up at the solemn structure. The nearest neighbour was a...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 170 stories

“Sorrowful Wolves” by Phoebe DeNeve

“Silent Shadows” by Colin Devonshire

“Legs” by Eric D.

“Strings Attached” by Deborah Mercer

“Shadows of the Past” by Katelyn T

“Blood Stained Emeralds” by Moon Mason

“I'm Sorry, Jessie” by Paige Winters

“Just As Always ” by KENNEDY PLANT

“The Dove and the Raven” by Blue Green

“Twisted Shadows” by Kate Gratton

“Something in the Woods” by Taylor Ann

“A Gentleman Mortician and a Vespertine Visit” by Alex Gray

“memories of a house once upon a time” by Clinton Siegle

“Southern Gothic” by Chris Buono

“Shadow on the Wall” by Shannon Ethel

🌟 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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