Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 53 stories

“The Blanket” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #206

I wanted to arrive at my friend Carol's cottage in the wilds of northern Michigan before dark. I'm not an outdoor or woodsy person and feared driving there, mostly because of the suicidal deer. She'd invited me several times, and I made excuses, so this time, I said yes. However, road construction detours and lane closures cost me an extra hour, and I drove the last twenty miles in the dark. In the dark in rural Michigan means total blackness, no street lights, Fast Food signs, or Gas Stations. I had a cell phone, but who would I call?Her lo...

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“Pioneer Dreams” by Nick Baldino

Submitted to Contest #206

It all happened quite quickly, actually. First there was a snap from ahead. Then, screaming, loud and fierce. It woke Wyatt Slade from his trance of metal shoes and hot sun, and he made his way to the jockey box where Aaron sat attentively. “What was that?” Wyatt said. Aaron looked over. He’d grown so much in those last few years- ridges in his jawline, a speckling of brown on his upper lip- but when his eyes bugged up like blossoming Hawthorne, he knew he was seeing his little brother again. Wyatt put a hand on his shoulder, and with...

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“First Steps” by Keith Geaney

Submitted to Contest #206

TW: Alice had been formal on the subject: there was no question of them buying anywhere even within an hour's drive of their old place. Edgar had wheedled and grimaced and negotiated at work, but had been forced to accept reality. Either he consented to yank out the roots sown by five generations of his family and move to the other side of the country – which might as well have been another planet, in his heart – or he could wave goodbye to the gorgeous, mesmerising and compassionate woman just as life was running a wetted finger around t...

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“Quiet Hours” by Reginald Span

Submitted to Contest #206

You ever get that feeling like you’re being watched? Even with your eyes closed the tactile heat from their glare makes the hair on your body stiffen and stand up. When you move into a new house you get a bunch of strange feelings like that, especially if it’s a much larger space the you were used to. This time however, as I lay in bed trying to force myself to go to sleep I got the feeling much stronger than before. I would have normally just ignored it and gone to sleep but for whatever reason I opened my eyes. It takes the brain milliseco...

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“The Fridge.” by Anisa H Sambi

Submitted to Contest #206

They say death makes us narcissistic. Selfishly thinking about our own morality under the pretense of grieving for someone else, when will I be next? The thought played like a loop in my mind as I stood there in our brand-new kitchen and stared into the refrigerator. One hand held the door open, gripping it so tightly my knuckles started to resemble our sparkly white cabinets. The other was clutching my abdomen. Baby pink nails curled around a silky ivory dress in hopes of quelling the contents of my stomach to stay there. A decapitated ...

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“Hypnotic Echoes” by Fryashti Mishra

Submitted to Contest #206

“Ready for ninth grade?” Anna Goldman asked her daughter as she wiped the counters. What kind of question was that? Nobody could be ready for their first year of high school, even if they didn’t feel the jitters yet. Isabella looked up at her mother, considering how to answer that question. The thought of navigating the vast hallways and interacting with people she didn’t know terrified her. She mustered a faint smile for her hopeful mother, praying her emotions didn’t show. &...

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“It's There” by Archie Wolf

Submitted to Contest #206

“I’m telling you, he’s right there. I don’t know why you’re not freaked out about this!” Lilly said, poking her eyes through the venetian blinds and stretching them wide with her fingers. Across the street in this dark and chilly night was a man whose stature was unfazed with a presence chilling to the bone. “He’s been standing there for the past hour and hasn’t moved an inch.” Her eyes ever so mused by the man and kept trained on his silhouetted shape underneath the dim light post. “It’s like he’s planning something.” She bit her nail...

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“Girl, Georgie...and Archie” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #206

Georgie stared out the window but in her zoned-out state she was as blind as a person born with no corneas. The lights in the cavernous subway fuselage flickered and dimmed, alarming her from her reverie, for the light was an odd reddish amber, much like the embers in a dying fire. She had been drawn to the subway. It seemed more comforting than the cold, agoraphobic, openness of the streets. She blinked as she took in her reflection. Her skin so pale, her face was a moon, and her brown eyes huge and darkly shadowed. She was horrified ...

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Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 53 stories

“The Blanket” by Patricia Merewether

“Pioneer Dreams” by Nick Baldino

“First Steps” by Keith Geaney

“Quiet Hours” by Reginald Span

“The Fridge.” by Anisa H Sambi

“Hypnotic Echoes” by Fryashti Mishra

“It's There” by Archie Wolf

“Girl, Georgie...and Archie” by Tanya Humphreys

🌟 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: