Set your story in a Gothic manor house.

Posted in Horror on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 133 stories

“Dancing Leaves” by Shelle Sims

Submitted to Contest #64

Dancing Leaves Maybe it was because of the rustling leaves chasing one another across the lawn like curious, playful children. I’d always been inquisitive, but tonight more so than ever before. The last night in October. Shadows from the old, weeping willows cast an unnerving, sinister light on the lawn of the grotesque mansion, lights glittered brilliantly in most of the downstairs windows. The rusty, iron gate was ajar. A frosty chill was in the air-November was right around the corner. “What the heck?” I found myself saying as I s...

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“Permanence/Impermanence” by Kevin Leonard

Submitted to Contest #64

1854 Albert hitched the wagon to the makeshift post that had been set up out in front of the house before coming round to help his wife step down out of the carriage. She squeezed his arm tightly with her right hand, her left resting defensively around her swollen belly. Her feet crunched against the dry earth and her head swam for a moment with the change in posture. She felt the baby kick, sensing the instability, and she gripped Albert’s arm tighter until the moment passed. She looked out into the cornfields and took a deep breath of the ...

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“Idle doddles ” by Beth Lawrence

Submitted to Contest #64

They think I don’t know. But I do.I shall not disclose my name. As I despise it. Whatever prompted my dearest mother to afford me such a wearisome name I shall never understand. So I will just wish a good morning to you. I’m not entirely sure why you felt the need to pick up my story today, but I won’t be ungracious and refuse to tell it.I live with Pappa, a profoundly intolerable man, of whom I have nothing whatsoever in common. He is barely home, and when he is, I can hear his bark from all the way down in the parlour. He’s a Mutton Shunte...

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“The Painting” by Allison Magnus

Submitted to Contest #64

The trees hung bare, their lonely branches reaching out towards the ominous moon. A cool wind storms past me, leaving me off balance. I look up at the moon longing for something, but not knowing what, perhaps for the absence of my grievous state that makes me walk alone on this dark night. I wandered down a small path, the fog surrounding me made it impossible to see where I was going, but my melancholy state made me drag on. The perpetual path stretched far beyond one's sight. A weakness crawled over me making me stop and rest along an old ...

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“A witches brew” by Julie Adamson

Submitted to Contest #64

Stevie Nicks Gold dust woman blared out of the stereo speakers. This song had such a witchy vibe to it. It was perfect to listen to while I concocted one of my brews. Especially since my brew was to ease heartache. I threw in the cinnamon stick, which created an amazing smell. I stirred the brew, simmering away in my caldron. I like to use my athame to stir, I felt it gave a magical sharpness to the brew. The brew simmered away for five minutes and it was time to remove it from the fire. I grab...

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“The Barnabas family” by Angela Sokolova

Submitted to Contest #64

The day was Halloween, the children were preparing for the long midnight tour of the houses, ready to collect all kinds of treats. We are at Laila Kenneroad’s house, where her little sister was dressing in Princess Aurora’s clothes. She, on the other hand, didn’t like Halloween. It seemed pointless and silly for her to dress like a superhero, a princess, or a villain, and to go from house to house saying “Treat or mischief?” Laila was getting ready for a movie night she would spend in her warm, soft bed. But it didn’t happen that way. Her ph...

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“Empty Eyes” by Amanda Jimenez

Submitted to Contest #64

Undoubtedly, I’ve always been fearful of my parents, my own flesh and blood. Perhaps it was the innocence that they had chosen to wield as their outerly persona, the charming personality of a person that was once there, that was once cognizant of their own actions.Perhaps it was the silence that they had decided to make; the cold demeanour that they now utilized as a way of escape from who knows what.I was fearful of the secrets and dark mystery that roamed the halls of our dark, vast manor. The dry air in which I breathed in daily...

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“Our Big Break? or a Big Mistake? ” by Mercy Langley

Submitted to Contest #64

Creeeeeaaaack. I slowly opened the door to the creepy, abandoned gothic mansion. My three friends and teammates Adarue, Seth, and Sam were behind me, armed with flashlights and a video camera. I turned to my friends saying with way more confidence than I actually felt, "Come on guys, don't be chickens, this is going to be our big break. All we have to do is video us exploring this house for the contest, and we're golden!" Me and my friends had entered a movie contest for Halloween, the winning person or team of up to four people would receiv...

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“Morton Hall” by Peter Gray

Submitted to Contest #64

There was a certain foreboding that evening, a foretokening chill to the autumn wind that streams across the empty plains from whence I stood. A large tree loomed over me, its golden leaves waxed and faded away with nothing but a few droplets of rain weighing it down. There was a stillness to the air, a quiet desolation that struck me to the core.Still, he said that he would come.The sky once blue had turned a stormy grey, shadowy and temper driven as it steadily eclipsed the last of the sun’s ray; in this tumultuous weather I found myself s...

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“DOMU, Steven” by Bogdan Kross

Submitted to Contest #64

Steve closed his eyes just for a moment. Last days, weeks, and months were marked by constant pain permeating each of his muscle and every molecule of his weakened body. Disease took away and devoured every inch of his physicality and left nothing in return, not even a bleak shadow of rising basketball star. At first it was a stealthy enemy, leaving no visible traces, moved silently, almost imperceptibly, but over the time Steve could not ignore the growing almost never ending fatigue , shortness of breath, which grabbed him by the throat a...

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“The Curse” by Silvia Skye

Submitted to Contest #64

Standing in a vast courtyard of a huge manor house Cassie strained her neck she trying to see everything. The huge house was forbidding, with multiple torrents and parapets, ivy clung to the ancient grey stone walls and terrifying gargoyles were perched throughout. Some had wings others did not. She was there to meet up with a man she hadn't seen in a year, they had been dating but it ended when he had to go home. He had just reached out to her after a year of silence, asking if she could come meet ...

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“Arches” by Nat S

Submitted to Contest #64

Gothic architecture had always been an interest of Darcy’s. She absolutely loved the ominous, deserted feeling one got from such a lovely home. The arches were her favorite though. Something about them seemed to absorb her attention. This was how Darcy found herself staring up at the Gothic mansion she had found in the middle of the woods. You see, mansions were quite a common sight for her (she lived in one), but this one was out in the middle of nowhere. The only reason she had ventured this far into the...

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“Easy crime” by Fay Winter

Submitted to Contest #64

A body has been found inside a Gothic manor. Looks remarkably like Bruce Wayne's mansion, except the people who live here have no regard for gardening and there are vines and thorns swarming the walls, giving it an eery look in the cold morning. Honestly, the people who live here match the house quite well. Both of them are old and have wrinkles at their eyes and mouths, and they seem to wear nothing but black and white. I wonder what century they think they're living in. "So tell me again what happened here last night," I say, shoving my ...

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“The Middle Ages” by Amanda Kelly

Submitted to Contest #64

Twins Ellie and Ayesha Sawyer stepped onto the crowded sidewalk in front of the Witches Gallow manor. Ellie grinned behind her halloween mask, giddy with excitement. “Ayesha, I’m so excited!” Ellie squealed. “Aren’t you?” “Uh,” Ayesha murmured. “I’m a little scared.” Ellie harshly rolled her eyes at her skittish twin. “Don’t be a pansy, Ayesha! I swear, nothing bad is going to happen. I’ll be right here.” ...

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“Trying to Get Her to Care” by Christine Hungerford

Submitted to Contest #64

I walked up the rickety, creaky front porch stairs, each step a groaning sound reserved only for stairs so old they would have to actually make a sound for them to prove themselves rickety and creaky. Anyway, I grabbed the brass doorknob and turned it, it whining and squeaking. Any second now, I almost pulled my light blue bracelet hand away—it would probably come off its connection to the huge brown wooden door if I turned it any more. This house, so-called a Gothic manor house for historical purposes, was so intriguing and worth searching ...

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Set your story in a Gothic manor house.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 133 stories

“Dancing Leaves” by Shelle Sims

“Permanence/Impermanence” by Kevin Leonard

“Idle doddles ” by Beth Lawrence

“The Painting” by Allison Magnus

“A witches brew” by Julie Adamson

“The Barnabas family” by Angela Sokolova

“Empty Eyes” by Amanda Jimenez

“Our Big Break? or a Big Mistake? ” by Mercy Langley

“Morton Hall” by Peter Gray

“DOMU, Steven” by Bogdan Kross

“The Curse” by Silvia Skye

“Arches” by Nat S

“Easy crime” by Fay Winter

“The Middle Ages” by Amanda Kelly

“Trying to Get Her to Care” by Christine Hungerford

🌟 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: