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

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 47 stories

“Detour in Texas Hitchhiker” by Cyntra Pinhorn

Submitted to Contest #110

Charlie“Oh, for crying out loud, Charlie!” she berated herself as she steered the old Harley off the side of the road. “You couldn’t possibly have chosen a worse vague-out moment!” To backtrack or take the scenic route for a bit, she thought, tugging the map from her pocket. She didn’t know why, but something deep within Charlie’s soul urged her to keep going forward. She looked at the map again, thinking aloud, “Pretty straightforward, woman; you’re now on Highway 287, so take it to Claude, turn left on 207, and follow it back to I-40!” She...

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“An Unusual Hitchhiker on an Uncommon Path ” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #110

An Unusual Hitchhiker on an Uncommon Path Elizabeth Fenley Serdwynne slowed Loki to a walk when she caught sight of a figure trudging alongside the dirt road. Instinctively, she pushed her cloak back over the hilt of her sword and pulled her hood off to scan the landscape for others. Loki remained steady, unspooked. The stretching time of the gloaming cast uncertainty on her surroundings. As Loki slowly closed the distance between Serdwynne and the stranger, she observed its di...

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“'I' is for Imogen” by Kerry Goldsworthy

Submitted to Contest #110

The silver sedan was waiting for her on the road up ahead, its blinker flashing faster than most cars, as if impatient for her to get in. The woman approached the car hesitantly, then opened the front passenger door and slid gratefully into the seat. She briefly made eye contact with the driver, a woman in her late twenties or early thirties; a similar age to herself. ”I’m Courtney,” the driver said. “Hannah,” the woman responded, pushing her sunglasses up, and fussing with the curls that framed her face, a gesture she was known for. Courtn...

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“A Walk in the Desert” by Holland Wells

Submitted to Contest #110

Lance could not believe his eyes when he saw an older white ford pick-up truck pull over. The heat was sweltering and the sun had been blazing down on him for hours. Still he was not for sure if it was real. The last two times a vehicle stopped the drivers waited until he got close to the door and then took off. Lance realized that this was because he was dirty and hadn't shaved in over a week and most likely looked like a serial killer that hitched hiked through the Mohave desert only to find his prey.Lance approached the vehicle and reache...

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“It was Doomed From the Start” by Sophie Smith

Submitted to Contest #110

If you knew how you were going to die, would you try and stop it from happening or just accept the inevitable? I wouldn’t have run away. I wouldn’t have gotten in the car and drove. I would have picked up Ezekiel. After all, he's still here. I started on the doomed journey two days ago. I had had enough. I just needed to get away. The pain had become too much. So I did what I always did. I ran. I quickly packed my backpack full of clothes, and also grabbed my phone and car keys. Within a matter of minutes, I am out of my hometown a...

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“The Hitchiker” by Alex Holub

Submitted to Contest #110

The Hitchhiker A 1987 red Cobra convertible, with its top-down, slides to a stop in the loose gravel alongside the highway. Brady looks back and sees a man with long black hair held back with a red cloth headband standing next to the road. Brady seldom picks up hitchhikers, but the drive from Tucson has been long and monotonous, and the man is the first person Brady's seen since leaving the workshop. Why the hell did he listen to Josh? "There's a shortcut that'll save you twenty miles," Josh said. "It's called Highway 66. It used to be the m...

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“Good Women Can be Hard to Find” by Kieri Zink

Submitted to Contest #110

I hit the break a bit too hard and the car lurched forward before and backward before coming to a stop. I rolled down my window to give the man an opportunity to approach. He kept his eyes down as he approached my car. Another hitchhiker I thought, this should be fun. “Thanks for stopping miss,” he said. “I’m headed to Westwood, the South Avenue area. Can you…?” “Sure,” I said. I unlocked the car. He swung his khaki colored backpack across the back se...

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“UNBELIEVABLE, ISN’T IT?” by Subhomoy Gupta

Submitted to Contest #110

After having a smashing time at my friend Rohan’s house, which is nearly 23 kilometers from where I live, a slightly heavy and rather drowsy myself staggered towards my car to prepare for the journey ahead. He convinced me to stay for the night, but I was quite adamant on returning to the coziness of my own home. “And anyway, if I agree to stay, promise me you are going to take all the phone calls from my parents” I said, chuckling, raising an eyebrow. “You know them” I said in a dark and sinister manner. That certainly spooked the wits out...

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“I Don't Recommend Picking Up Hitchhikers.” by Izzi B

Submitted to Contest #110

I don't recommend picking up hitchhikers. Just for future reference. It was a pretty sunny day. I had decided to go to the beach, which I hadn't done in awhile. I left after an hour because it started to get cloudy and chilly, and I grew bored. I live in a relatively secluded town, with a lot of water and tons of trees. A lot of the roads have proud trees surrounding the sides. I drove down one of those roads, going nowhere in particular, finding new paths since I didn't have anything else to do that day. Driving slowly, looking at some ho...

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“Fraud and the Samaritan” by Jay Hurst

Submitted to Contest #110

He stank. Late June in Virginia, minutes before an afternoon boomer, and the yellowish veil of humidity made everything damp. Dark, clammy rings hung under his arms. The navy oxford’s shoulders and back were also soaked, under the carry-ons’ straps, and splots of mustard and coffee squawked from his breast pocket. His hand-me-down jeans, six inches too small just seven months ago, clung to his chafing legs. And his heels were bleeding from those goddamned Doc Martin’s – comfortable shoes my ass. At least he’d made ti...

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“Summer Breeze” by Kerry Williams

Submitted to Contest #110

We’re passing through Airlie Beach when we notice her. A young woman who looks to be in her early 20s stands at the side of the road with her thumb out a few metres ahead of us. Her waist-length brunette hair is fashioned into dreadlocks. She has dirt on her face, and she wears a pair of torn floral shorts, a vest, and a baseball cap. She does not wear shoes yet her feet, like many other parts of her body, are covered in tattoos. My mother would have called her a hick, or a bogan, or a hippie. My mother likes to remind us how lucky we are th...

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“Ride” by Gordon Smith

Submitted to Contest #110

Ride It was the rain that caused the whole thing. It was coming in sideways, hard. The wipers on Clay's Civic were new, but they couldn't keep up with that driving, sideways rain. The cold, and the God damned rain had triggered Clay's sympathetic soul when he saw a figure holding a sign, just inside of an overpass, while heading west on I-20. Well honestly, it was the January deluge, and guilty that guided Clay's hand that morning. Clay had just screamed at his mother and father, and stormed out of his childhood home, in the mids...

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“Mercy Driver” by Day Parker

Submitted to Contest #110

MERCY DRIVER By Day Parker If Steve could get one more ride, he could get to Smithville, and be home in another hour. It was August in Texas and hot. The sunshine beat on him with no mercy. He could feel its rays cutting through his jacket like a knife. It was his favorite denim jacket. He had to wear it, carry it or lose it. Losing it was not an option. In the last town he had soaked it so he could wear it in this heat. But now it was dry and did nothing to alleviate the UV rays constantly attacking him. Steve stu...

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“Hitcher” by Terrye Turpin

Submitted to Contest #110

CW: child sexual abuseThey picked up the hitchhiker outside Salado, Texas. Twelve-year-old Kenny, his head hanging out the window like a dog’s, was the first to spot the blind man. He stood on the gravel embankment at the edge of the highway, nothing around him—no gas stations, no fast-food places, no buildings—just the flat expanse of fields dotted with scraggly trees. The last rest area had been three miles back, on the other side of the interstate.“A hitchhiker!” Kenny whooped, delighted by the unexpected vision, as if he’d spotted a flyi...

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“Yoru Village” by Jihan Qanita

Submitted to Contest #110

Summer break was what every student liked and waited for. They were freed from their study and assignment and could rest their brain for a short while. Some took advantage of this time to earn some extra money from their part-time job. Some would also visit back home and enjoy quality time with their family in their hometown away from rowdy city life. But for Yuuga, it was exactly because of this he hated summer break. Driving along the empty road, pop music tuned in from the radio connected to his phone. He already downloaded many music...

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

Submissions are closed

✍️ 47 stories

“Detour in Texas Hitchhiker” by Cyntra Pinhorn

“An Unusual Hitchhiker on an Uncommon Path ” by Elizabeth Fenley

“'I' is for Imogen” by Kerry Goldsworthy

“A Walk in the Desert” by Holland Wells

“It was Doomed From the Start” by Sophie Smith

“The Hitchiker” by Alex Holub

“Good Women Can be Hard to Find” by Kieri Zink

“UNBELIEVABLE, ISN’T IT?” by Subhomoy Gupta

“I Don't Recommend Picking Up Hitchhikers.” by Izzi B

“Fraud and the Samaritan” by Jay Hurst

“Summer Breeze” by Kerry Williams

“Ride” by Gordon Smith

“Mercy Driver” by Day Parker

“Hitcher” by Terrye Turpin

“Yoru Village” by Jihan Qanita

🌟 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

209

Contest entries

144

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: