Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 53 stories

“CREATURE OF THE NIGHT” by Melinda Madrigal

Submitted to Contest #206

I hate the night especially when there's no light. Bad things happen at this time. Midnight is the witching hour, I need to get to my car as fast as possible or else. Shit! What is that? Growling, low menacing growling. Oh God! something is out here with me, watching me. Keep it together Kat. Keep walking don't look back. There's that growling again. It's behind me. Don't you dare look back Kat. I take out my car keys and run to my car. I hear it behind me. Run Kat, run fast. I see my car. I made it to my car. I press the turn on button....

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“Endless Deep” by Gregg Voss

Submitted to Contest #206

At first, the bite felt like a mere pinch near his right elbow, how a mosquito might make its presence known to an outside reveler on a sultry summer’s evening. Here and gone as suddenly as it came. Like a mosquito, or perhaps a biting fly or ant, and Helm’s instinct was to brush the creature away. Go bother somebody else outside. But there was always the possibility it was a wasp or a hornet. He’d never been stung before, knock on wood, but pop, God rest his soul, had had to deal with anaphylactic shock, and wasn’t that a genetic thing?&nbs...

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“Who are you?!” by Falynn Almeda

Submitted to Contest #206

I was walking to my black sedan, using the fob to unlock it, after a Friday night class to go to my job. It was a rainy night, making everything look sleek and more muted behind the steady drops. The double-glass doors had splattered drops blocking reflections. The motion-activated light of the foyer had gone off. I pulled my hoodless jean jacket on as my only defense against the wet, cool air. The streetlight at the corner gave off an orange halo as the only light source. I was the only car that parked in the back lot because it w...

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“The basement people” by Hassan Azi

Submitted to Contest #206

There are people down in the basement, but they're not regular people. For starters, they only show up at night. But I'm getting ahead of myself.Everything started with a bet. My younger brother bet that I couldn't spend the night in our cold gray basement. Not one to back down from a challenge, I accepted the bet and we shook on it. What my brother didn't know was that I had a deep seated fear of the dark. None of that mattered though because I had a plan. I was going to do things progressively. Up until the promised day, I consistently mic...

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“The Home” by Joshua Murallon

Submitted to Contest #206

Content Warning! There is some body horror and graphic imagery. The Home Clara stood petrified in the doorway. Before her was a monstrosity. An amalgamation of bodies and appendages collected from the tens of victims the beast had taken. Faces fused to its sides cried out in agony, pleading for help that would not come. Clara trembled, unable to move. Sweat dripped down her back and her heart beat through her chest. This was it, the monster was going to take her too. It turned toward her. Clara did not know how she knew, a...

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“Hell” by Jayde Trilo

Submitted to Contest #206

Warning: Contains mention of mental illness, gaslighting, and abuse. Potentially suicidal thoughts are hinted at. Also contains violence, gore, profanity, and pseudo-religious imagery.You’re lying. It didn’t start with decrepit hands tapping on door frames and slithering away at my glance. Or the bloody handprints that only I can see. It started with that terrifying ten-foot-tall demon-thing that appeared in my bedroom that night when I was eleven. I looked up from my book and bam! A demon looming over me like an angry cloud. Sooty coat with...

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“Pine Barrens” by Mungo Beans

Submitted to Contest #206

"No, no– ma'am– ma'am please–" I shift the phone to my left hand and peek through the blinds again, scanning the line of trees that mark the edge of my backyard. "It was not a coyote– and no, it was not a bear either. We have a lot of bears out here, I know what a bear looks like, so if you would just listen to me– I'm telling you– ma'am– the thing had– it had too many legs. And– yes I know I sound crazy– too many eyes." I let the blinds drop and pace into the kitchen, peering out the window there. "Well, I know that might not sound very b...

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“Soft Hands” by Ex Dez

Submitted to Contest #206

CRACK. Charles couldn’t tell if he heard the noise first, or, saw the wrist snapping. It must’ve been the sound because his brain couldn’t register what his eyes were seeing. Charles stood, rooted next to the massage table. The crimson-soaked rag in his hands fell to the floor, giving a tiny splat. He stared at a hand that was facing straight into the air, wrist bent at a ninety-degree angle. Fingers reaching for the sky. Almost quivering from pushing upwards so aggressively. Charles stumbled back, just a bit The crumpled towel was leaki...

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“Maybe A Hell Would Be Better Than This?/I don't want to wear this shirt” by T.L. Starling

Submitted to Contest #206

And that day will come when my heart stops providing my organs with the required blood, and my lungs cease to inflate and deflate, and the command system of my brain logs off permanently, and I'm about to close my eyes for good, but a man comes and says: "you're not allowed to do that yet. do you meet all the qualifications? let me see your degree, social security card, and identification" then a woman says "please make your way over to the line on the left and have your papers ready" then after the line there is a ticket numbered 926 and th...

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“Vaya Con Dios” by Douglas W. Carr

Submitted to Contest #206

Diego – or Chico by his friends – hadn’t lived his best life and found himself mixed up with the wrong crowd ever since he’d moved to Las Vegas. He struggled finding work – or good work – and quickly ended up on the streets with a group of thirty-something vagrants and outlaws, but he called them friends. He had never gained status with said friends nor had he risen in the ranks. He was mostly reduced to driving everyone else around in a vehicle that he first had to steal. On a most recent occasion, Diego had been preparing to steal a vehi...

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“Midsummer night of horror” by Katriina Kuusela

Submitted to Contest #206

“Kate??” - Sarah asked with a little doubt in her voice. Sarah walked closer as Kate turned to her. "Kate?! What is going on?!” “Kate!! What in the world is happening!! KATE!! YOU ARE FREAKING ME!! KATE!!” - Sarah was in deep shock and panic. What was happening to her little sister? Was she dreaming? What IN THE WORLD was happening?!!!” ….Alright, lets back up a little bit in the story. Lets not get ahead of ourselves. We will start by going back exactly 36 hours. It was a rainy afternoon in LA, USA, and...

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“HellHounds” by Gabriel Garcia

Submitted to Contest #206

June 1918 The Belleau Woods was the last battle of the Great War. American and Allied forces pushed against the German might as the Allies advanced toward Berlin. Both sides were locked in a stalemate, and neither knew that taking the woods would be a game-changer. History says the Marines defeated the Germans in one of the bloodiest and most ferocious battles U.S. forces would fight in the war. What they don't tell you is how. The German soldiers dug a defensive line between themselves and the Americans deep in the woods. The men waited for...

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“She” by Chuck Thompson

Submitted to Contest #206

Ever been eye to eye with a rattlesnake? Ever realized the rattlesnake was on its tail looking you in the eye? Ever been so close to a rattler that you can hear it breathe? I live in the desert; have all my life. On a hike or just a walk through the land, I’ve met every kind of desert creature. One creature always scared me: rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes come in a variety of colors: green, blue, brown, black with silver diamonds, red or a combination of colors. It does not matter to me; they all scared m...

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“Cinyras and Myrrha” by Caroline Snodgress

Submitted to Contest #206

Content warning: this is a retelling of the myth of Cinyras and Myrrha from Ovid's Metamorphoses. As in the original story, it deals with some troubling material, namely incest, and a coupling which would nowadays be considered statutory rape. This is not described in graphic detail, but does serve as the backbone of the plot, and thus may not be suitable for all readers. Let it be a dream, Cinyras prayed. By the gods, let it be an awful, loathsome dream. He wanted to drop to his knees, to feel the reassuring texture of the wooden boards...

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“Blood Roses [LoE]” by Fern Everton

Submitted to Contest #206

CONTENT WARNING: Blood, physical violence, mentions of gore, some light profanityIt’s like watching the opening scene of a horror movie. Dark crimson blood pours down the side of a tree trunk and falls onto white roses at its base like raindrops. They’re already completely doused in the distinctive liquid, and as more accumulates on them, the petals bend, and the blood falls into the once-green grass. The rest is a watercolor blur; the backdrop may be a forest. A strange darkness hangs over everything, and as much as I love the dark, it...

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Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 53 stories

“CREATURE OF THE NIGHT” by Melinda Madrigal

“Endless Deep” by Gregg Voss

“Who are you?!” by Falynn Almeda

“The basement people” by Hassan Azi

“The Home” by Joshua Murallon

“Hell” by Jayde Trilo

“Pine Barrens” by Mungo Beans

“Soft Hands” by Ex Dez

“Maybe A Hell Would Be Better Than This?/I don't want to wear this shirt” by T.L. Starling

“Vaya Con Dios” by Douglas W. Carr

“Midsummer night of horror” by Katriina Kuusela

“HellHounds” by Gabriel Garcia

“She” by Chuck Thompson

“Cinyras and Myrrha” by Caroline Snodgress

“Blood Roses [LoE]” by Fern Everton

🌟 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 🏆

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