Start your story with the arrival of a strange visitor in a small town.

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 187 stories

“The Hitchhiker” by HBR Patel

Submitted to Contest #96

The sun called it a day and went to brighten up the other part of the globe. The farmers were in the bar for the night. One stranger walked inside the bar. 'Hey, you are not supposed to be there?' 'Oh! I didn't know that. I am sorry.' said the stranger to the overcautious villager. That village faced the problem of hitchhikers intruding on the safety of their village. They came up with a solution to identify and remove the hitchhikers from the village if the villagers found them to be drunk. The solution was simple. They placed a doo...

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“Chuma” by Clinton Siegle

Submitted to Contest #96

I was a Peace Corps volunteer. I arrived as a stranger to a town called Chuma. There I had the most wonderful dream. I had just taken a 19 hour bus ride for less than 101 miles. Note miles not kilometers, Meaning? I was on an alternative reality world. Where pounds, miles, and the sun was yellow not white. I had met some people who invited me to a party. That the party is or was for several days and nights. I did not comprehend. Why? I did not party like that. Nor in my reality did we dance for days on end. So getting off the bus. I wa...

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“Re: New Kid On The Block” by E. H.

Submitted to Contest #96

June 6th, 2012 - 11:43 am.To: Edith Summerland <edithsummer2@gmail.com>From: Tristan Donner <big_city_slicker@gmail.com>Subject: Safe and Sound.Hey Edi,I arrived @ North Falls yesterday. The drive was hell with two car sick chihuahuas, but I was able to make it up before things could get messy.I also I met my next door neighbor yesterday, and get this. I'm the first new face here since 2005. She kept nagging me about something, but I can't remember what that was... Oh! She offered me some tater tot casserole - looks disgusting, t...

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“Bill finds out about his past” by Glenn Etzwiler

Submitted to Contest #96

On a warm summer night in eighteen forty seven in a western town just outside of Texas. A stranger rolls in to town he was wearing a black cowboy hat with a black leather trench coat. The man had his head down as he road his black horse into town the man road up to the bar just on the edge of town hopped down off his horse. The saddle look brand new the sliver on the saddle shined in the moon light. He gave his horse a pet then took the rains leading the horse to the trough. As he tied the horse to a post everyone was watching him in suspi...

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“Mona On The Edge Of Town” by David Zasloff

Submitted to Contest #96

No one was quite sure where the young woman came from. She might have been a native of the planet, but she really looked too human for that – the natives had two heads and three eyes, after all, so they were pretty easy to spot. But the visitor didn't speak at all, so there was no information forthcoming. The citizens of the colony agreed to call her Mona, a name that someone suggested because the one who suggested the name liked it, and set up a schedule of homes where she could stay, one night at a time. After the first month, Mona had t...

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“we have been warned (based on true story)” by Emmanuel Dicos

Submitted to Contest #96

The 1990 Luzon quake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines at 4:26 p.m. on July 16 (PDT). 3:26 p.m. (PST) with an expected second greatness of 7.8 and a most extreme Mercalli power of IX (Violent) and created a 125 km-long ground burst that extended from Dingalan, Aurora to Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija. The occasion was an aftereffect of strike-slip developments along the Philippine Fault and the Digdig Fault inside the Philippine Fault System. The seismic tremor's focal point was close to the town of Rizal, Nueva Ecija, upper east of Cabanat...

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“There Once was a Woman with Hair.” by Natasha Ali

Submitted to Contest #96

The first thing we noticed about her was the hair. Long, silk-like and down to her knees. Too well kept considering it wasn’t tied and left carelessly flowing in a wind the rest of us couldn’t feel or hear. Really, it should have been beautiful, but we were too unsettled to think the inconsistencies were anything but dangerous. We liked that a woman could be dangerous to us. She didn’t seem to notice our group as she slowly walked through one of two roads that lead in and out of our tiny town. Or she didn’t seem to want to make eye...

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“JOEY HITS TOWN” by Margie Rees-Gow

Submitted to Contest #96

JOEY HITS TOWN Very rarely did a new arrival into Vasthills get noticed or even welcomed. Vasthills was a lazy town with quiet residents – the oldies (of whom there were quite a few) were the sort of people who were happy to sit inside most the day after the washing up was done and the tea-towel routinely hung on the front of the oven to dry; or maybe on occasions, if the sun beckoned through the front windows, they would sit outside on the porch to gaze out into the street – maybe some days just checking the autumn or spring or su...

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“The First Mission ” by Madhatter Thawne

Submitted to Contest #96

They looked strange to me, I was told to expect that, but I guess I wasn’t quite ready for it when I actually saw them up close. They had microscopic eyes that I imagined were good for nothing and stuff, they had so many things in their little private boxes they kept themselves in. The town was small, we liked to keep it that way, safety protocol and all. I could smell the scent of their soil and the other animals nearby; dogs, cats, cows and a few chickens. This was my first rotation near their sun as I had just finished my training and the...

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“Recompense Unlimited” by Lukas Dorcy

Submitted to Contest #96

Through the dirty gas station window Cade Wilcott watched the light turn red, then green, then red again while not a single vehicle passed through the intersection. The faded redlight swung in the breeze. Cade wondered how many more times the old fixture would have to swing to and fro before it fell to the ground, shattering the bulbs, sparks flying. What would uphold law and order in Redham if not the only traffic light for 30 miles? The bell chimed as the door swung open. Wi...

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“Tall Dark Stranger on Pawley's Island” by Jean Davis

Submitted to Contest #96

The wind was blowing as I was bringing in my boat, and there I saw him. I know all the people on Pawley’s Island but never saw him before. He was tall dark and handsome. He was dressed in a long shirt with pants to match and had papers in his hand. I thought to myself, “Not Jehova’s Witnesses again.” One thing you can say about them is they are persistent. He started approaching me and asked me did I know Jesus. I told him that I went to the cute little Methodist Church across the bay. I told him that we have all kinds of programs, something...

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“The Death-Dealer” by Mikaela Lewis

Submitted to Contest #96

The stranger seemed to float down the street. Broad shoulders and a tall physique gave him away as a man who was not born on this side of the continent. He was not from this town.His dark cloak billowed behind him like the night, sweeping its soiled hem along the ground.I watched him through the rain-spattered window, curiously, as did the other patrons in the tavern. When he crossed the street toward the pub, we collectively returned to our drinks or meals. A soft rustling of conversation struck up as the door slammed open in the wind, lett...

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“The Mundane Boy” by Ananya Kabir

Submitted to Contest #96

The town was set on the gentle slope of a hill, facing the east. The nearest airport was five miles away, and so it was that he had to fly here on a carpet, trying hard not to pass out. Ian slowed when he saw the little speck of brown that indicated the town, and tilted his carpet. A strong gale told him that he had messed up something somewhere, so he straightened up, eyes stretched wide against the wind. He tried once more, and this time he darted down towards the sloping earth. Benjamin was waiting for him at the landing post, tru...

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“Mysterious Stranger ” by CBB Jayda

Submitted to Contest #96

Trigger warning: Violence I live in a town where the old know the young. Where the kids make up stories of the old man with the creepy house. Where you can't even walk down the street without someone knowing you. Everyone knows you. So when someone new comes to town everybody knows. They were the talk of the town. People rarely come so when he came we knew something was up. This man stayed in our town for one month, and in that one month, he totally destroyed this town. We went from a self-contained, innocent, and happy small town ...

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“The Aparichithan” by Mohammed Sahir

Submitted to Contest #96

Padiyam was a dying town, with no more than its 1205 residents making their way through their depressing life. Electricity was cut off from the city supply for more than 29 years, it wasn't like they had a problem with that, the people of Padiyam weren't new to power outages for long periods of time. But this time it was permanent. They didn't blame the cities though, they knew cities like Tirur and Tanur had died long ago, no communication, no news, no transportation. They just learned to live without them. But a new aparichitha...

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Start your story with the arrival of a strange visitor in a small town.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 187 stories

“The Hitchhiker” by HBR Patel

“Chuma” by Clinton Siegle

“Re: New Kid On The Block” by E. H.

“Bill finds out about his past” by Glenn Etzwiler

“Mona On The Edge Of Town” by David Zasloff

“we have been warned (based on true story)” by Emmanuel Dicos

“There Once was a Woman with Hair.” by Natasha Ali

“JOEY HITS TOWN” by Margie Rees-Gow

“The First Mission ” by Madhatter Thawne

“Recompense Unlimited” by Lukas Dorcy

“Tall Dark Stranger on Pawley's Island” by Jean Davis

“The Death-Dealer” by Mikaela Lewis

“The Mundane Boy” by Ananya Kabir

“Mysterious Stranger ” by CBB Jayda

“The Aparichithan” by Mohammed Sahir

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story about strangers becoming friends, or friends becoming strangers.

Write about someone welcoming a stranger into their home.

Start your story in an empty guest room.

Write about a character who has to rely on the hospitality of strangers.

Contest #96

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

858

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: