Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 55 stories

“The Devil is in the Details” by Victoria Shellady

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...

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“Shimmering Silver” by Greydon Blight

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 s...

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“Shadow Self” by Katharine Widdows

Arthur Drake coughed a breath of acrid smoke from his lungs and took a few steps backwards, away from the heat and the stench and the shrieking. His stomach churned with bile and his eyes filled with tears. Tension dragged its way through his muscles, pulling his ribs tight around his lungs and his shoulders high up to his jaw. Might this happen to him one day?The jostling crowd shuffled backwards with him, expanding their circle away from the pyre as a wave of searing heat emanated from the burning wood. Evelyn Crow’s p...

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“Monster” by Joan Fiddle-Ferder

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...

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“Fight, Flight, or Fright” by Greg Gillis

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 ...

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“The Dark” by Anthony Booker

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 sate...

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“Mother Monster ” by Samantha Jones

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, pus...

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“A Request in C-Sharp Minor” by Kara Heisler

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...

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“False Awakenings” by Ty Warmbrodt

Helplessness is like having the world turn you inside out and dip you in salt. That was how Jack Simms felt as he watched a ravenous grizzly charge his lifelong friend, Cory Marx, from the brush, mauling him. Just a split second ago they were acknowledging a cute cub who had come wandering their way and were getting ready to head back to camp. Now, Jack knew he needed to do something but was frozen, shocked, his eyes bulging, his breathing short and quick, sweat pouring down his face although he himself felt cold.The bea...

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“Foul Play” by Robin Owens

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 sh...

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“Blood & Water” by David King

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 ...

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“Legs” by Brian Adams

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 li...

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“Cry for Wolf” by Allan Bernal

[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...

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“Dark Epiphany” by Jed Cope

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 ...

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“The Phobia rooms” by Sravanti Raviprakash

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 ...

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Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 55 stories

“The Devil is in the Details” by Victoria Shellady

“Shimmering Silver” by Greydon Blight

“Shadow Self” by Katharine Widdows

“Monster” by Joan Fiddle-Ferder

“Fight, Flight, or Fright” by Greg Gillis

“The Dark” by Anthony Booker

“Mother Monster ” by Samantha Jones

“A Request in C-Sharp Minor” by Kara Heisler

“False Awakenings” by Ty Warmbrodt

“Foul Play” by Robin Owens

“Blood & Water” by David King

“Legs” by Brian Adams

“Cry for Wolf” by Allan Bernal

“Dark Epiphany” by Jed Cope

“The Phobia rooms” by Sravanti Raviprakash

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone facing their greatest fear.

Write a story that contains a flashback of a nightmare.

Write about a character in a situation where they have to be brave for someone else’s sake.

Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Contest #206

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

390

Contest entries

134

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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