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Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 52 stories

The Devil is in the Details

Shortlisted for Contest #206 ⭐️

I was sixteen years old when they found the six bodies underneath our living room floor. I’m not one to share personal details – mostly because I have a tendency to run my mouth and say too much – but I think about that night often. Usually as I’m just crawling into bed, in that time between hazy wakefulness and deep rest. Which, if I’m being honest, I’ve never been the greatest sleeper anyway. I’m at my most productive at night. And as a result, I spend a lot of time staring up at the ceiling, contemplating if it will be the night I spill a...

76 likes 37 comments 37
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Shimmering Silver

Submitted to Contest #206

And lo, it rained from the sky; ripples of blue echoed through the air akin to the early morning, as if the sun rent the veil of night. Terror enveloped me, but in wonderment that fear fast diminished. The stars of the night sky dulled in its presence as the horizon was engulfed by billowy white clouds, tinged with fiery wisps at their fringes. As the light faded and the celestial gift plummeted to earth, its descent accompanied by a shrill and discordant whistle, the ephemeral day drew to a close and yielded once more to the night. The star...

32 likes 7 comments 7
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Fight, Flight, or Fright

Submitted to Contest #206

           Eight-year-old Nathan hid in the shadows of his parents’ living room as he watched a stranger dressed in a torn jean jacket brutally beat and murder his mother in front of him.            Nathan’s father was out with his friends at the bar having more than a few drinks before coming home. This routine had been happening nearly every work night since Nathan was six. When and if he was able to find his way back home, he woul...

18 likes 12 comments 12
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Monster

Submitted to Contest #206

Monster   Aroused from a deep sleep, seven-year-old Jimmy Daemon’s eyes popped open. He couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not, but he sensed something was not right. Still under the covers, he inhaled deeply, and gagged. Something smelled bad in his bedroom.   “Mom, that smell is back,” he yelled aloud from his bed.   The smell reminded him of the time he found his turtle, dead, under his night table, days after he raced it against his best friend’s tree toad.  The turtle had rotted, its shell smashed to pie...

16 likes 1 comment 1
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The Dark

Submitted to Contest #206

When we look into the darkness, our deepest selves understand that something looks back. Anthony looked out the window as midnight struck.... looked into a dark so crushing, that it felt tangible, encompassing..... stifling.... toxic. The thing looking back at him, its grotesque, teeth filled mouth, scowled more than smiled. Soon, it’s hunger would end. Anthony smiled back and thought “we’ll see whose hunger will be sated this night”. The thing of the darkness, whose very existence had struck a fear so primal into the hearts of such varied c...

15 likes 1 comment 1
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Mother Monster

Submitted to Contest #206

Elyse Hardy couldn’t remember quite clearly the first time her mother had turned into the monster. After all, it had been happening long before she was born, and there were stories she had to hear second hand, from her much older siblings. Her siblings had described to her how she had been a tiny baby when her mother had turned into the monster while driving them to the store, and her siblings had jumped into action, pushing their mother to the side as she snarled and bit, and they managed to get the car to the side of the road, brother stee...

13 likes 1 comment 1
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Blood & Water

Submitted to Contest #206

She let out an ear-stabbing screech and gripped the steering wheel with her soul. But she wasn’t strong enough. The tires of the car screamed as they veered left too sharp. Her leg was forced down onto the pedal even harder as her voice cracked mid-scream, unable to exert any more force. She was terrified, so scared that her life didn’t even flash before her eyes. She shot one last look into the passenger seat, catching a full glimpse of the cause of her tragic end. She had known all along. She knew she could have prevented this exact moment...

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A Request in C-Sharp Minor

Submitted to Contest #206

Warning: Death and Supernatural ElementsMilo gulped, eyes fixated on a single point in the dark corner of his room. He blinked aggressively and rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists, hoping he was hallucinating. In all truth, the nature of what Milo saw was nothing new. But the shape of the horror in front of him was far too personal. Moonlight streamed in through a small window near Milo’s head, providing cold, distant illumination. The puppy shaped night light which should have been providing a comforting orange glow, was as dark as the...

13 likes 5 comments 5
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Foul Play

Submitted to Contest #206

The knee of a disheveled Carl Pinkerton bounced a mile a minute. Carl pulled his dirty old BAMA cap over his grey-blue eyes with a shaking hand. His stomach growled. He checked his watch. The bus he was waiting for was late. He’d traveled two hundred miles from Alabama to South Louisiana, but it wasn’t far enough. He needed a thousand more. His grey hair poked from beneath his cap, and he cursed himself for not having shaved it. Sweat prickled his skin, cooling him down in the thick night air. He desperately needed sleep, but the adrenaline ...

12 likes 8 comments 8
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My Father's Limbs

Submitted to Contest #206

Normally, it would have been locked shut. I had never once seen that be forgotten. The mistake reignited the lingering curiosity I’ve always had towards the white box. Anticipation for the unknown surged up into my chest as my fingers lingered. Finally, this was going to happen. My father’s warnings flew out of my memories as the lid opened. A confusing few seconds passed before my brain processed the sight. It was Horror. Cold and Chilled. Segmented yet Whole. This was a secret horde. At the top of this pile my eyes found a leg. It must hav...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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The Sight

Submitted to Contest #206

Her body trembled as she moved toward me, left leg limping, toes dragging along the tiled floor as she struggled to remain on her feet. Blue veins ran along her cheeks and forehead as her gray eyes stalked me.I backed away, attempting to move faster as she leaned in closer. Her mouth opened. Blood pooled out as her razor sharp teeth reflected off the overhead lights. Her jaws clamped together as she leaned into my neck.I held her back. She attempted to bite me again, opening her mouth wider. Placing my hand on her forehead, I pushed her away...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Legs

Submitted to Contest #206

My head pounds to the rhythm of my pulse and I see dark stars creeping in at the edges of my vision. I try to steady my breathing so that I don’t pass out. My clothes cling to cold sweat. Bile is finding its way up into my throat but I can’t swallow it down because of all the cotton inside of my mouth; I swear it’s lined with cobwebs. I feel the sticky strands pulling my throat closed. I don’t want to die like this…not now.The tangled ball of upturned legs laying in the middle of the bedroom appears motionless. I feel like I’ve been watching...

11 likes 3 comments 3
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Cry for Wolf

Submitted to Contest #206

[Content warning: language, verbal abuse] “Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?” Annie shot up in her bed, pulling her puffy pink blanket around her, waiting for her mother to come through the door. The nightlight beside her was redundant now that the morning sun was illuminating the room. Annie looked around for Queenie, the stuffed unicorn, her trusted steed, but saw her on the other side of her room. She was too scared to go rescue her from the corner, much less question how she ended up there in the night. The sound of Annie’s racing heart...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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Dark Epiphany

Submitted to Contest #206

I remember being terrified. I was the most frightened I’d ever been in my life. Forget the monster under the bed. This was real. Just the thought of it now, it makes my breath catch somewhere in my chest and my heart swells, threatening to burst in my chest, seeking a complete end to everything in preference to what I am yet again confronted with. There had been a build up to this moment, of course there had. It was a culmination of all the components of a life. There was a feeling of inevitability as all the strands led to this p...

11 likes 6 comments 6
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The Phobia rooms

Submitted to Contest #206

The Phobia rooms.Room 1.-Trypophobia.Holes. The holes were everywhere. Turn a corner, make a left, take a right, but she couldn’t escape them. She was trapped in an endless maze filled with the one of the things she most dreaded. Twisted, crooked, deformed spots that ran along the walls of complete nothingness. Her worst nightmare. It had been days since she had arrived there, maybe a week. Why had her parents put her up to this? Bribes and wealth for exchange for their child. The conditions had been crystal clear, she’d overheard her c...

11 likes 7 comments 7
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