Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 53 stories

“The Phobia rooms” by Sravanti Raviprakash

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...

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“Alektorophobia” by Josh Trosclair

Submitted to Contest #206

Its presence was hard to ignore as it crept its way into the bedroom. The old wooden flooring under it creaking with every step. I pulled the wool blanket up over my face in hopes to hide myself from the beast that had just entered. If I can’t see it then it can’t see me, right? At least that's what my mama taught me when I was a little girl. After a couple seconds, the floor stopped creaking. Did it see me? Did it leave? Was it even real? My mind raced. I slowly lowered the blanket so that only my eyes peered over it. The room was dar...

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“Pregnancy Craving” by Lunar Moon

Submitted to Contest #206

In the Neolithic period of the Mediterranean, on the north coast of the African continent along the sea, a 19 year old woman named Basha lived. She had one child and was pregnant with the second, although both fathers were gone, one died of infection from a broken leg, and the other never returned from a fishing voyage. She lived in a medium-sized community with about 100 other people. Their main trade was fishing, but they also grew wheat and even had some olive trees, and a storehouse was guarded by their local chief. Basha lived with...

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“Josephine & The Snake” by Courtney Caruso

Submitted to Contest #206

In the treacherous landscape of the Wild West, there was a man known as The Snake, a gangster whose wickedness spread fear through the hearts of those who crossed his path. Born with a name long forgotten, he earned his infamous moniker through his cunning and venomous nature. With an eye patch covering his left eye, a constant reminder of a past shrouded in darkness, The Snake struck fear into the hearts of even the most hardened outlaws. The Snake's journey into a life of crime began as a young boy, growing up in a destitute mining to...

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“Sophie” by Dan Foster

Submitted to Contest #206

Lisa returns from an evening stroll interrupted by rain and stumbles upon a line of fire ants carrying a copper cicada molt into the woods.She walks into the cabin longing for a bath and hears dull breathing coming from a sunless corner under the stairway, and resists the urge to walk away when their eyes meet. The trembling bone-thin shape limps back to her own dark room like a maimed flesh puppet holding a ragged, stuffed giraffe called Captain Rufus by its hind leg, dangling loosely from a thread. An object hangs from the creature's flaye...

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“She Tries to Run Out ” by David B Fraser

Submitted to Contest #206

Marcus Tomlinson judged the house to be at least a hundred years old. It was not likely to have had yard work done in living memory. Carly Whitby unlocked the front door. Marcus observed the curves of her cheap rhinestoned, black dressed, figure. She looked back and blushed at him. “I’m sorry, I meant to do this before our date but I had to get the kids back to my ex. He’s a psycho creep, and a pain in my ass if I’m late on the custody times.” The door opened to reveal an elderly woman b...

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“Waiting in Vain” by Daniel Fore

Submitted to Contest #206

(Dedicated to the Spirit of Robert Nesta Marley) The onyx-shaded chapel towered to the heavens; the steeple silhouette eclipsed the nearest roadway and beyond. NewFoundBelief Church. Location: Hope Road. Their motto was “Change the way your mind thinks about Religion”. The phrase sang from every billboard within a twenty-mile radius. These folks were proud of their establishment, Bob thought. The church architecture mesmerized the mind. Business appeared lucrative. Bob paused to check for sweat stains under his cream Dune t-sh...

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“Tooth” by Marleze Kruger

Submitted to Contest #206

It was so out of place. That's what drew my attention to it. There it was, to the left of the Max's drawing table. A tooth. Hesitantly I entered his office. It gave me chills when I picked it up and noticed that it wasn't a clean tooth. It was stained with dried blood, and was that part of a root? I shuddered again and dropped it onto my cardigan pocket. As hard as I tried to reconcile such an odd thing, I just couldn't wrap my mind around it. Returning to Max's workroom makes me feel guilty. He's made it abundantly clear that it is 'his' s...

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“Wolf” by Robert Sowers

Submitted to Contest #206

Even amongst the shadows of the tree line, the creature appears blacker than the forest - a mere fleeting glimpse of a shadow lurking within the shadows. It has been many years since I hunted for deer in these woods as a child with my father, and the demands of my career don’t allow for much time in the outdoors. My communion with nature ended long ago, and my natural senses and instincts have been severely blunted. But there can be no mistake about what I just saw dashing through the tree line - it was a wolf. Contrary to popular belief, th...

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“Nothing To Fear My Dear” by Ashley Sawh

Submitted to Contest #206

Contains language usage.I was terrified. I had never seen my dad so helpless. I felt a wave of terror wash over me when I saw the pain in his eyes. I had never experienced such intense fear before. I was frozen in place, unable to move or speak. I was scared of what might happen next, to my dad. There was a part of me that wanted to help him, but I was too overwhelmed and too scared to do anything to help him. I saw the light dwindle out of his eyes and my heart sank. He seemed to have given up hope, and I felt helpless and powerless to do a...

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“Mimir” by The Rainbow Lorikeet

Submitted to Contest #206

Hi, I'm not sure if trigger warnings are applicable, but there's a bit of implied physical violence at the end __________________ It was 8pm on Thursday afternoon, Valentine’s day in the year 2050. Outside, it was raining. I liked that—my biobot Bast had told me to have an umbrella ready to go. It was also windy. I didn’t bring a windcheater, so I did not like this as much. I was cursing the wind, cursing the terrible weather forecast models and ready to drag myself through the 500 meter gauntlet from Minerva tech to my apartme...

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“Birding in Idaho” by Carolyn Fenzl

Submitted to Contest #206

I was reminiscing about the Hairy Woodpecker I’d seen just up the mountain last week as my snowmobile sped through the newly fallen half foot of snow. I’d forgotten my camera that time, a rookie birding mistake, and I hoped the bird would still be in the same stand of trees. The dry air was making my throat scratchy, and I needed water or I’d start coughing and upset my already shaky driving skills. My wife had warned me against buying a snowmobile, calling it a death trap, but it was an early retirement splurge and made winter birding on th...

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“The Caretaker” by Alysha Davies

Submitted to Contest #206

*TW - Themes of sexual and physical violence*In the shadows, I watch as he stares and grinds the gummy remains of his teeth. I meet his yellowed eyes and watch a dark stain grow across the quilt. His gnarled knuckles clutching the bars of the bed. Gasps rattle through the collapsed caverns of his lungs and escape with what words he can still stammer.Maura MauraWhispers barely audible over the pounding of his heart, staccato percussion against his brittle ribs. It’s a taxing performance, as I watch fear possess his body. His mouth will ...

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“Arachnophobia ” by Rose Lind

Submitted to Contest #206

It was a long time ago. I think the Australian Southern Cross is good at yoga, taking eight legs and pressing two legs at each corner of the perimeter of imaginary square forming a stick and hook like cross. It's body having yellow curved stripes, probably to warn off predators and its orb with gossamer stretching out to a post in the group carport, whilst other supporting threads catch the clothes line and if not careful will extend to the car's side mirror. My friend was scared when she arrived late after an appointment at the doctor's sur...

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“Everything is Ok” by Halle Simmons

Submitted to Contest #206

It was a Wednesday night when I saw her. I was taking a relaxing shower, trying to clear my mind after a long day of school. I breathed in the clean air and listened to the sound of water falling. The silence was suddenly cut short by the sound of the bathroom door creaking open. It was probably just my roommate Britany, I assured myself. Maybe she didn't realize I was using the shower. "I'll be out in a second!" I yelled out to her. I hopped out of my shower and threw on my pajamas. Looking back, I should have realized s...

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Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 53 stories

“The Phobia rooms” by Sravanti Raviprakash

“Alektorophobia” by Josh Trosclair

“Pregnancy Craving” by Lunar Moon

“Josephine & The Snake” by Courtney Caruso

“Sophie” by Dan Foster

“She Tries to Run Out ” by David B Fraser

“Waiting in Vain” by Daniel Fore

“Tooth” by Marleze Kruger

“Wolf” by Robert Sowers

“Nothing To Fear My Dear” by Ashley Sawh

“Mimir” by The Rainbow Lorikeet

“Birding in Idaho” by Carolyn Fenzl

“The Caretaker” by Alysha Davies

“Arachnophobia ” by Rose Lind

“Everything is Ok” by Halle Simmons

🌟 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

373

Contest entries

130

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: