Set your story in a haunted house.

Posted in Horror on Sep 8, 2023

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✍️ 70 stories

“Hades' Dustbin ” by Paula Mcewan

Submitted to Contest #215

Hades’ Dustbin 1 This is Hades’ Dustbin. It holds the exit from Hell’s Gate. These are its guardians; Olly and Frank. They secure the gate. Well, that was the idea anyway. In her youth, Security Officer Olly, had been the proud owner of a lustrous Fire-Red mane. Now in her middle years, Burnt-Orange clumps grew between her broken, stubby horns. She had also developed a disconcerting resting snarl-face along the way: Frank, or Francis! when Olly had really had enough of him, liked to spend his Hades’ Dustbin nigh...

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“Hostility House” by Ari Loden

Submitted to Contest #215

tw // verbal, emotional, and physical abuseCarol jerked awake. The sudden movement caused her dog, Hamster, to topple from the foot of the bed.Her husband shifted. His voice, tired and bearish, was low. “God, Carol, what is it?”Her own voice, panicked and high-strung, contrasted his. “You didn’t hear that whispering?”“What whispering?”“It was right in my ear! Mike, that wasn’t you?”“No. Did it sound like me?”“Well… no. I guess not.”“See, wasn’t me. No whispering. Only sleeping. Or trying to.”“Where’d Hamster go? Hamster!” Carol called.“He’ll...

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“The Darkness Within” by Roxanne J. Black

Submitted to Contest #215

And the morning came. The sun peeked over the ancient roofs of Northon House, glowing with pallid shyness as it rose lazily over the first day after the full moon. The sun rose dragging away the shadows of that horrifying night, and although we all knew that the nightmares would never really leave.As the morning came, I squeezed Amy’s hand in mine. I could still hear the screams, ringing like the echo of thunder in my ears and when I briefly closed my eyes—hoping that sleep would chase the ghosts away—I still saw the terrifying yellow, wicke...

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“What Gets Left Behind” by David O'Mahony

Submitted to Contest #215

It was a hard thing, being dead. Watching the rise and fall of the seasons without the heat of the sun on your face or the chill of a winter storm. Seeing the world change in flashes and cutscenes but with time standing still. Growing attached to the people living in your house (he always thought of them as lodgers) only to find them suddenly grown or gone. Most of all, Art just felt so very, very tired. Whenever he manifested, it was with a feeling of immense sadness, and with the basement door at his back. He could go anywhere in the...

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“The Mansion ” by Misti Silvers

Submitted to Contest #215

Passing by the old mansion Carol felt the eerie vibes that radiated from it. Checking behind her to make certain that her little brother was still close, she looked twice. Glancing over at the creepy building, she remembered the stories she had heard about the witch that used to live there. As she walked closer to the corner she felt like someone was looking at her so she checked the house and saw no one. She was drawn to a window on the top floor where she thought she glimpsed an old woman looking at her. Trying not to scare her brother, sh...

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“Hide & Seek” by Ryder Blow

Submitted to Contest #215

The clock struck twelve and chimed out an eerie trill of notes. The song that played on the clock sent shivers down my spine. Each note slightly out of tune and overlapping with one another in some sort of chaotic melody. 'Midnight has come, the moon has risen. The time is neigh. The rules are simple,' I heard a voice boom out throughout the dusty old house. The walls looked as if they were falling apart, the flood boards curled and peeling up. 'Just don't get caught. Have fun.' Each syllable was just as long and drawn out as the last to add...

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“Grass” by Josh Vogt

Submitted to Contest #215

Belmont was a town from the movies, but the movies just hadn’t found it yet. That’s what people would say. Three stoplight downtown kinda place. Football at the high school on Fridays was required attendance. Everybody - all the adults, anyhow - worked at the factory. Either that or one of the shops.You move in, they bring you pies. You move out - well, you don’t. There’s no reason to.But Belmont had its legends. That’s what you’re asking me about, right?It’s typical. For one, they always brought a goat onto the field before the Tigers games...

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“Far Too Far Down” by Jake Fordyce

Submitted to Contest #215

Aubrey’s first thought upon seeing the house was how desperately lonely it was, like desert rain. There was nothing else as far as she could see between the mountains on each side of the valley, and even the mountains seemed to be trying to lean away from the house. Four people, a house, and a nervous moon peeking out from behind its dark cloud quilt. Her second thought was how small it was. She watched it approach for miles, waiting for it to grow into one of the large, foreboding manors that she had come to expect from these yearly trips. ...

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“The Manor of Hell” by Christyn G.

Submitted to Contest #215

The night was engulfed in a brewing storm, as the daunting house shrouded in darkness. A whirlwind of flickering blue and red lights cast eerie silhouettes within, dancing through the wide-open front door. In the distance, thunder rumbled, and the footsteps ascending the porch steps caught the attention of a man with a buzz cut. He was dressed in a sharp black suit, and he stood by the door, swiftly turning his head at the sound of his name.“Detective Saar, you need to see this,” a middle-aged police officer urgently informed him. Detec...

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“The Haunted Ride” by Christine Van Zandt

Submitted to Contest #215

September 12, 2023 Historical Fiction Horror Middle School The Haunted Ride By Christine Van Zandt 1,262 words 1976 Benjamin Clyde Miller did not believe in ghosts. And he wasn’t sure how he felt about California, but, for the first time that Ben could remember, he had a room of his own, in a home that wasn’t rolling down the highway. He’d crisscrossed the US with his dad who worked at one carnival or another, until finding this job operating the legendary Laff in the Dark. “Are you ready to meet our ghost tomorrow?” Dad asked, sprawled...

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“Bloodwind” by Michael Novak

Submitted to Contest #215

“Hurry up! The sooner we start, the sooner we can make it to the next inn and I can get out of the cold!” The frozen Alpine wind stung the coachman’s face as his breath turned to mist in the freezing January air. He sunk his head as far into his high-collared wool coat as he could, waiting impatiently for the coach to finish loading. Granted, he was being paid handsomely for this job, almost double his usual fare. Even so, transporting passengers over the Alps in January was a hard burden to bear. Soon after, an elderly, balding man emerge...

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“The Staircase, A Memoir” by Karen Etter

Submitted to Contest #215

The sun was beginning to set, a cascade of reds and golds creating a vibrant backdrop to the statuesque three story, Second Empire home. I eased my car down the long driveway, pulling up to the side of the residence at 1515 Jackson, noticing for the first time how isolated the house was from the rest of the homes on the block. Stationed like a watchman, the structure was situated on a large wooded lot at the entrance to the historical district in town. A low iron fence with spiked picket castings surrounded the perimeter of...

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“The Betrayal” by Isabella Cook

Submitted to Contest #215

I had never believed the phrase “the people closest to you could be your worst enemy” until now. As I lay here, blood oozing out of my chest, my life played in pieces before my mind, like a rerun of an old movie. I started to realize, maybe she had never been my friend at all.Like the one time she kissed my boyfriend while she was drunk or the time everyone had found out a secret I had only told her. She played both of those instances off as if I were the one in the wrong, and I believed her. But what she’s done this time...

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“Night Terrors” by Benjamin Boxer

Submitted to Contest #215

The child's laughter was the worst of all. With her red hair cascading down her rotting face, she laughed, always facing Charles, looking dead into his eyes. The wind blew through her tattered dress and tattered torso, the ripped flesh at one moment seeming like a terrible injury and at another like a part that had fallen off naturally. She opened her mouth wide and wailed a screeching laugh that pierced the drums of Charles Wallace's ears. The child did not walk but appeared and disappeared and re-appeared as a random apparition in the d...

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“Haunted Memories” by Logan Hessek

Submitted to Contest #215

The one thing I can’t stand more than anything else in this world is the smell of rotting corpses, and that foulest of stenches consumes every part of my nose. This is supposed to be a haunted house, not a graveyard. Or did they simply up the scare factor by making things all too real? I can’t see anything. I tiptoe through what feels like an endless underground tunnel, each step inviting a new level of uncertainty. Sometimes I imagine I’m on a railroad track because a hard metal digs into the soles of my feet. Other times it’s a squishy m...

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Set your story in a haunted house.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 70 stories

“Hades' Dustbin ” by Paula Mcewan

“Hostility House” by Ari Loden

“The Darkness Within” by Roxanne J. Black

“What Gets Left Behind” by David O'Mahony

“The Mansion ” by Misti Silvers

“Hide & Seek” by Ryder Blow

“Grass” by Josh Vogt

“Far Too Far Down” by Jake Fordyce

“The Manor of Hell” by Christyn G.

“The Haunted Ride” by Christine Van Zandt

“Bloodwind” by Michael Novak

“The Staircase, A Memoir” by Karen Etter

“The Betrayal” by Isabella Cook

“Night Terrors” by Benjamin Boxer

“Haunted Memories” by Logan Hessek

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about someone trying to resist their darker impulses. Whether they succeed or fail is up to you.

Write a story about a monster trying to become more human. Or about a human trying to become more monstrous.

You confront the monster you’ve spent many long years hunting. Except they’re not exactly what you thought they’d be…

Write a story about someone making a deal with the devil.

Contest #215

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

387

Contest entries

135

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: