Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 48 stories

“Shortcut” by Alex Sultan

Submitted to Contest #110

For good reason, not all paths and trails are marked on every map. Marko kicked through piles of autumn leaves at the roadside. His parents had refused him a ride, he couldn’t afford the train, and hopping the bus without change didn’t work out. It'd be a three-hour walk back to Moscow.A car drove behind him. He turned. It didn’t come from the end of the road, but halfway as if it drove out of the forest. He waved his hand, slowly, inspecting the vehicle as it approached and stopped.Purple stains, like splashes of wet paint, coated the side ...

16 comments 16

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“The Travelers ” by Daniel R. Hayes

Submitted to Contest #110

(Content Warning: Blood, gore, mild language, some crude humor.) Wallowing through the darkness at sixty-five miles an hour on rural I-79, Bethany’s eyes grew heavy. She had been driving for the past three hours, and fatigue was starting to set in. In a desperate attempt to stay awake, she cranked the radio volume to the max, hoping the noise would keep her senses alert. It helped for a few miles, but Bethany needed something more. She rolled down the window and let the cool air coast over her body. Goosebumps appeared on her arm...

7 comments 7

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“Dangerous Drive” by Jesse Maurer

Submitted to Contest #110

Before you judge me, please know, that i do know it is dangerous to pick up a hitchhiker. I am perfectly capable of making good decisions. So I have ONE flaw. One weakness.. I like to help people. It was raining. I saw him standing out in the rain along the highway, thumb out, trying to find someone willing to give him a break from the rain. This is normal weather for southwestern Pennsylvania. "Get in!" I yelled out the window as i slowed to a stop. The man threw his backpack in the backseat and then jumped up front with me. "Thanks,...

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“Danny and the Tin Snail” by Katharine Widdows

Submitted to Contest #110

I love my tin snail. 29 horsepower, full length roll back sunroof, four gears, fun suspension. She may date back to 1971 but the front inboard mounted brakes are the same technology used in formula one cars. I have to say, I feel more like a rally driver as I throw her round the corners.Speaking of corners, there’s a guy with his thumb up at the bend, heading out of Talby.I’d love the company, I wonder if he’ll accept a lift from a 2CV? Some consider these old Citroens unsafe but, with their built-in crumple zones, almost vertical steering s...

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“Gene's Hitch” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #110

Calum looked at the woman waving to him from the roadside. She wore black on a hot day. Green skin and red hair. “Can I help you? My name's Calum.” “I'm Gene. Any change I could sit behind you on the horse?” she asked with the accent of someone from a private school. “Of course. Where did you walk from? There's nothing back there until long past the horizon.” Calum looked over his shoulder at the woods where he'd come from, hunting rabbits. It was trees, trees and more trees until the mountains. “From the shuttle port. I'm here to ...

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“LAST RIDE” by Jude S. Walko

Submitted to Contest #110

The 1959 Pontiac Hearse skidded to a full stop along the gravely southbound shoulder of State Highway 2A, just south of Reed, Maine. There was a biting chill in the autumn air. Halloween was just around the corner, and it was already getting cold. This was a surefire sign, that Father Winter was not going to play nice this year.Ansel threw down the butt of his 3/4 smoked menthol. He hated to waste the rest, but most people didn’t like smoking in their cars, these days, and he couldn’t chance it. He really needed to make into Bangor by sunris...

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“Picking Up a Hitchhiker” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #110

September 1847 Middle of New Mexico Lost. I looked in all four directions, north, south, east and west and there was nothing anywhere as far as the eye could see. I pulled my rig over to the side of the road, if it was even a road at all. I knew I was screwed. I did not need anyone to tell me that. I was due at the army base at Alamogordo at oh-nine hundred hours to deliver whatever it was in the big barrels Hector had loaded in my trailer with the big old yellow stickers pasted on the sides with that strange b...

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“Freedom” by Hosea Guy

Submitted to Contest #110

Just when I was preparing to face the fact that no one in their right mind would be stopping for a hitchhiker on the shoulder of Highway 63 at a quarter past two on a December morning, a weary looking GMC Sierra, rusty and deteriorating, veered onto the road’s shoulder, its tires crunching through the deep snow as it rolled to a stop. A snowplow was fastened to its front bumper. I held a hand across my eyes, shielding them from the headlights’ blinding beams and from the wind th...

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“Roadside Stranger” by Greg Gillis

Submitted to Contest #110

It was the first time in three years that Sandy and her husband, Danny had been able to schedule their vacations at the same time, so they booked a cottage in the country for the week. It was located on a crystal blue lake far from the busy city. Once they left the highway and began to travel the backroads, Sandy and Danny were in awe of the beautiful scenery that the countryside had to offer. It was nearing Aut...

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“The Hitchhiker” by Vincent McDonald

Submitted to Contest #110

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw her. It had to be fifteen below zero outside, and there she was, shorts and a T-shirt, standing on the side of the road, barefoot, like some crazy person. At first, I thought she was frozen to death or something awful, because she didn’t move a single inch as my ol’ rig Lucille got closer. I told myself to keep going, told myself that this wasn't my problem, but I couldn't just leave her there. I came to a stop, rig...

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“The Fortunate One” by Sharon May

Submitted to Contest #110

The Fortunate One “Hello, sir. Sir!” said the woman driving a new green SUV, as she leaned out the window of the car stopped within a few feet of a scrawny man sitting on the ground. He had been dropped off at an exit off I95 by a trucker who had picked him up in Florida earlier in the day. The trucker had been generous, especially with the ride and conversation, until they reached the trucker’s destination and the hitchhiker asked for a couple of dollars for food. “Don’t pu...

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“SOLDIER IN THE MIST” by Del Gibson

Submitted to Contest #110

Soldier in the Mist by Del Gibson So, there I was, traveling from Auckland to Wellington, on a cold dark night in June. It was the first and last time I ever picked up a hitchhiker. A Winter blast of freezing wind pummeled the car – the wipers weren’t fast enough to keep up with the frustrating downpour, and I could hardly see out into the sea of darkness, devouring my Dodge. I had just left a tangihanga in the suburb of Henderson; one of my mates from Rugby, Wiremu Harrison, had been killed in a car crash. As I made my way along the motor...

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“Let's Disappear” by Alice Richardson

Submitted to Contest #110

LET’S DISAPPEAR She was walking down the road not far from my rented old farmhouse, hitchhiking. I don’t normally give people a lift, but she looked so hot in her little denim shorts and crop top how could I resist? I’m just a man after all. And I’m a nice bloke. Some evil person could have come along, picked her up and she would never be seen again. I was doing a good deed. Protecting her from dangerous people with devious minds. A knight in shining armour, that’s me. I asked where she was going and she giggled. Said she didn’t know. Wh...

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“An Unforeseen Meeting” by Rich Graces

Submitted to Contest #110

An Unforeseen MeetingPart 1:“That was a really great trip! Wasn’t it Dad?” a child’s voice from the backseat said excitedly.Alan Dean glanced momentarily from the road over to his pregnant wife, Louise in the passenger seat. He smiled and rubbed her—now very large—belly. After receiving a warm and encouraging smile in response, he turned his attention back to the road.The Dean family was heading home from a two-week summer vacation at their cottage on Lake Wallenpaupack in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The ride home was always pretty boring. Th...

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“Sara Makes a Decision” by Pako Dunwhile

Submitted to Contest #110

The tall man in the purple trench coat and beige Barcelona sun hat caught her attention far in the distance. Annoyance crept through her calm demeanor at his visual interruption of the sunlit ocean. She expected a distraction-free drive along the winding, mountainside road. Nothing about his presence made sense to her. His lumbering obstruction forced her mind back to the reality of the moment, out of a serene headspace. She hadn't ever seen any hitchhikers until the mandatory exit off the road. Even at her far vantage, Sara could see that h...

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Start your story with a vehicle pulling over for a hitchhiker.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 48 stories

“Shortcut” by Alex Sultan

“The Travelers ” by Daniel R. Hayes

“Dangerous Drive” by Jesse Maurer

“Danny and the Tin Snail” by Katharine Widdows

“Gene's Hitch” by Graham Kinross

“LAST RIDE” by Jude S. Walko

“Picking Up a Hitchhiker” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“Freedom” by Hosea Guy

“Roadside Stranger” by Greg Gillis

“The Hitchhiker” by Vincent McDonald

“The Fortunate One” by Sharon May

“SOLDIER IN THE MIST” by Del Gibson

“Let's Disappear” by Alice Richardson

“An Unforeseen Meeting” by Rich Graces

“Sara Makes a Decision” by Pako Dunwhile

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a roadside diner.

Write about a couple who fall out on the road.

Write about a character on the road — and on the run.

Start your story with the line “We have plenty of time,” and/or end it with the line “We were never going to make it.”

Contest #110

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

210

Contest entries

144

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: