Set your story in a Gothic manor house.

Posted in Horror on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 133 stories

“The Inherited Gothic House” by Anne Hansell

Submitted to Contest #64

When Grandma left me an old Victorian house, I looked up at it, and it resembled that of the Addams family's home. Its colors were gray and white with black shutters. It was early winter so trees stood, bare and forlorn. Cardinals and black birds landed on them, turning to chirp at me as if teasing me. Squirrels ran to climb up the bark, carrying food in their swollen cheeks. Something about the house caused goosebumps on my arms. People warned me that it was haunted but I didn't care. I arrived there, planning to convert it to a bed and b...

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“Rotting House” by Kendra Dantes

Submitted to Contest #64

I’ve decided that only one thing in life is true: parents don’t know anything about kids and kids really shouldn’t try to understand parents. In all my fifteen years of living, I’ve realized that it isn’t a wise choice to pry into adult affairs; rather, when you hear your dad say things like “we can’t afford the funeral that my sister wanted” or when you hear your mom bite back “well she’s dead, so it shouldn’t matter anyway”, you should probably stick your nose back where it was before you tried to overhear an important conversation. O...

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“The Velvet Portal - Part 2 - Flames and Fire” by Mary-Claire Hanlon

Submitted to Contest #64

After the great bushfires of 2020, I spent a lot of time just trying to recover. I didn't have the energy to rebuild my home. I didn't even have the energy to fill in the insurance claim forms and take photos to add to them. Thank God my sisters were there to help me. One had come over from New Zealand as soon as she heard there were fires in my area; she just drove straight to Auckland and got on the first plane here. The other set up her spare bedroom, so I could live with her when I was discharged from hospital.Sometimes, it took all I ha...

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“Lyvia my Love” by ⭒ 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛 ⭒

Submitted to Contest #64

The place itself wasn’t particularly bone-chilling, in fact, it just looked like any other 19th century Gothic Manor, but just thinking of its contents made me shiver. The house emitted a musty odor that could be smelled even from where I was standing, making it seem ever more terrifying and ominous. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a house this torn and tattered before, which only made it seem even more mysterious and ancient. It seemed to grin an eerie, sinister grin that became even more menacing as I continued to stare at it. It almost fel...

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“Unheard” by Clara Waters

Submitted to Contest #64

I stepped off the plane into the unknown land of New Orleans. I took a deep breath of polluted air and coughed out sharply."Big mistake," I murmured under my breath, unheard through the sound of all the suitcases rolling across the bumpy tarmac. I checked my phone. It read 10:58. The plane had landed thirty two minutes ahead of schedule. My host family was expected to arrive at 11:30 too, to pick me up and bring me to my new temporary home.I waited at the baggage claim for ten minutes watching the same bags of all sorts go around on repeat u...

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“Dream Mansion” by George Davis

Submitted to Contest #64

Mom with her two young adult, unmarried children, ride along the interstate in her new purchased SUV. She drives off the interstate onto the state highway. “Mom you never really told us how you got that winning lottery number,” William says. She sighs then says, “I got it from your father.” “Before he died?” Jill asks. &nbs...

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“The Young Ghost of Montgomery Manor” by Katharine Johns

Submitted to Contest #64

My name is Ellie Greer. I died in 1927 of the Spanish Flu. I was only eight years old. I lived with my uncle, William Montgomery, at his manor house, aptly named, Montgomery Manor. He took me in after my parents died and raised me like his own daughter. Uncle William was a rich and successful businessman but also a widower. He lost his own wife and the child she carried shortly after delivering her. Uncle William and I were all each other had until illness left him alone once again. To my dying breath, I could not stand that thought. So e...

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“Murdered by accident” by Jeffrey Pope

Submitted to Contest #64

“We’ve been on this road for almost an hour.”Reeves snorted at his complaint. “You’re even drunker you look. It’s only been twenty minutes since we left the bar.”The old pot-holed, cracked tarmac road winds through a large field of dead, yet tall grasses, unwilling to surrender the surrounding dryness. Maurice kept his eyes bulging as he stared wordlessly at the road ahead which appeared to be whirling. “These damn grasses are getting in the way.” Reeves cursed under his breath, eyes on the road. “Heck, how can they be this damn t...

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“The Magician” by Bronze Nova

Submitted to Contest #64

The Kingdom of Hypocrisy is in political turmoil The Marshal commits the crimes The Tax collector pays tribute to his king The High Priest lives in decadence Only the Magician can fix the kingdom “NYPD, OPEN UP!” “You have no warrant, I know you don’t” With that short conversation, a temper just as kicked the door down. Sergeant Isaac Shields strode into the room confidently, a pistol in his left hand and a warrant in his right. He smiled as three other officers entered the room and began to search it. “You know what, exactly...

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“Got you. ” by Lee Doe

Submitted to Contest #64

"This is stupid, Jack," "That's exactly why I am doing this," "Those are famous last words," "At least I can say something cool before I die," "No, Jack, that is not ‘something cool’," "Speak for yourself," "I am, and I'm speaking for you because lord knows that if I don't, no one will," Jack knocked loudly. "Jack!" I said, alarmed. "What?" He asked innocently, "It would be rude not to," "In this scenario, I'm fine with being rude," I nibbled on my lip, “Plus...its supposed to be ...

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“Gaining The Family Trust” by Zane Dickens

Submitted to Contest #64

Mary dreaded the drive. The scenery swept by in an endless blur of flat, beige and brown sameness. The kind of landscape a painter would render in the hastiest of brush strokes. But the leaden knot in her stomach had far more to do with her decision to head up to the house today.Even as she sped down the freeway, the sun hung above the horizon. Mary gnawed at a fingernail as she drove, while her other hand tapped out the seconds. She ignored the diamond on her finger.George and Mary were off. Their relationship was broken, and now she saw it...

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“Lights out” by Vaishnavi Singh

Submitted to Contest #64

A yellow vintage car stopped in front of a huge, old but beautiful mansion, and Ava Brown stepped out of its backseat. Dressed in an orange, knee-length crepe dress, her hair bouncing off her shoulders, she walked towards a tall man in an office suit. “You must be Miss Ava Brown,” The man offered his hand for a handshake. Ava took it graciously. “And you must be Mr. Wilson,” Ava didn’t know his first name and thought it was none of her business to ask for it, “Glad to meet you.” She followed Wilson inside the house through its poin...

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“The Whistle” by Matt Render

Submitted to Contest #64

This old house—chips from the ceiling fall and scatter like rain clouds of dust; the floorboards cry in ache; the pipes squeal like a rusted train car. Between his slowly decaying house and the thoughts racing through his mind, There is no silence to be found for Robert. He lays in his bed with a deep longing—a longing for the quiet peace of death; to be buried beneath the rotting floorboards; to be one with the mounds of dust in the cobwebbed corner of his bedroom. When he is not being tormented by his own mind, it is by the soun...

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“In and Out” by Thea Brown

Submitted to Contest #64

Why in the name of Saint Peter was it so cold in here? Distressed, Alexander blinked his eyes open again. What was going on? How long had his eyes been closed? Stiffly, he turned his stomach over, attempting to get up. A piercing pain in his side denied him; he was sent back on his spine, which was now throbbing from the impact. His pulse heightening by fear, he felt his body - his torso, to be specific. His fingers met no substance, or any that he could feel, rather - bringing them back up to his eyes, he say that they were thei...

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“Le Palais Hindou” by Sarah Elkashief

Submitted to Contest #64

As I pass by the city of Heliopolis, my fascination of the famous Baron Palace grows more and more. It is a place where you can find the meeting point of the east and the west. It is the mixture of two different architectural types; the outer statues and the fence belonging to Renaissance style, and the château, with a high dome decorated with statues of the Buddha gilded with gold and platinum, inspired by the Hindu temples of Orissa in India and Angkor Wat in Cambodia. On the outside, the palace is carved with the reliefs of Hindu gods lik...

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Set your story in a Gothic manor house.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 133 stories

“The Inherited Gothic House” by Anne Hansell

“Rotting House” by Kendra Dantes

“The Velvet Portal - Part 2 - Flames and Fire” by Mary-Claire Hanlon

“Lyvia my Love” by ⭒ 𝚆𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚆𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛 ⭒

“Unheard” by Clara Waters

“Dream Mansion” by George Davis

“The Young Ghost of Montgomery Manor” by Katharine Johns

“Murdered by accident” by Jeffrey Pope

“The Magician” by Bronze Nova

“Got you. ” by Lee Doe

“Gaining The Family Trust” by Zane Dickens

“Lights out” by Vaishnavi Singh

“The Whistle” by Matt Render

“In and Out” by Thea Brown

“Le Palais Hindou” by Sarah Elkashief

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a ghost story where there’s more going on than it first appears.

Write about someone who’s been sent to boarding school.

Write about a family attempting to hide their secrets from someone new.

Write a romance that involves one partner saving the other from a fire.

Contest #64

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

753

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: