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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

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

“You Will Pay” by Joan. J. Victory

Submitted to Contest #96

Every day, Mr. Gorda walks his white poodle from precisely 7:15 to 7:30. When he comes back, Ms. Rony leaves to get to work. When she does, the gardener everyone calls Stanley goes outside to mow what's left of the lawn. The few patches of grass still here died before the American Revolution. Literally. There was a battlefield here, a turning point in the war. All that's left today is a small stone memorial that no one visits. Why should they? There isn't even a museum. The day is still, the sky gray. Not cold, not warm, not dark, not light....

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“Bastien's Blessings” by Belle Arana

Submitted to Contest #96

The coming of the seven-day night, as they called it, was a warning they all took seriously. The news that there would be no daylight for one whole week troubled the people of the small town of Cairns greatly, but not as much as when they learned that the gods would come down from the skies during this darkness. As to why this particular time, the book of knowledge was silent. "They are gods," the people said in defeat. "There is no need for them to make sense." It was to start on the night that any one of their roosters died, so when ol...

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“*Attack in the Mountains*” by Ghost - - Writer

Submitted to Contest #96

The gemstone in the sky shone a lovely milky white appearance. The wind howled as it traveled throughout the peaks. Everything stood calm. Below a leaning pine stood a treen cottage secluded behind the brambles. A family relaxed at the table. The eldest daughter, Serria, sat near the window. Rather than listening to the discussion of her family. She viewed the forest. Her family preferred to be solitary. Not be included in anything that went on in the community nearby. People knew they lived somewhere near here and didn't trust them since th...

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“Dressed in Black” by Rutheanna Chang

Submitted to Contest #96

On a foggy day, a huge volcano erupted at Manies Village. Volcano ashes spread all over the village and destroyed a huge amount of houses. But then, the volcano and the ash clouds disappeared! Then came lightning followed by a booming voice, “People of Manies, I cannot tell you who I am. But I am from the skies and I will be coming down to your village soon. I will protect you from a future disaster like the volcano eruption that happened a few minutes ago, or an attack.”. The voice made the ground shake and the villagers ran for shelter bac...

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“The Replacement ” by Lila Jasmine

Submitted to Contest #96

The Garcia family was sitting down to their routine family dinner. The family, which consisted of four children and their parents, were just about finished with their before-dinner prayers when Mrs. Garcia heard crying right outside their front door. The source of the crying ended up being a two-month old baby girl; she was placed at the Garcia’s doorstep, and sat right in the middle of a wicker basket like it was those past times when people didn’t own factory-manufactured strollers, car seats, or bassinets. Mrs. Garcia, overwhelmed by...

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“Seasons Greetings” by Jason Taggart

Submitted to Contest #96

Jameson pushes the curtain back with the barrel of his gun, he glances out at the sea of white. The snow has stopped for now but it is a stark reminder of how unforgiving this land is. He looks over his family, trying to ensure confidence with his protective stare but the feeling of desperation creeps in like the frigid draft from between the cracks. The tales of the mythical stranger appearing this time of year plagued Jameson's thoughts. How was he to know when? At what time of the night does this demon come. The sun had been down for at ...

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“Pearl fever” by Paolo Henriquez

Submitted to Contest #96

I do not carry a memory, lucid or truthful, of the moment I arrived at this place. Nor of the first time or the ones that came after. And if I had one, it would not be such a prodigious one. Perhaps it was forgetfulness, perhaps it was disinterest; but it slipped away never to return. Thus, the only remembrance that I embrace is a deceit. One that I repeat until it is left aside that, with fatuous mood, only I pretend to cram with grandiloquence this common infamy I am about to tell. It was long ago, in night tainted with dreams. On a shi...

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“A Stranger in a Small Town” by Sharelle Toomey

Submitted to Contest #96

The buzzing of the bees greeted Rosanna as she left the dusty road and turned into the meadow. The busy little workers were already up and about, gathering pollen from the multitude of wild flowers that dotted the field. Her green dress collected a spattering of early morning dew as she passed through the long grass. The heady fragrance of the lavender and the lilies made her feel giddy and euphoric … that, and being far away from home where her father could not tell her what to do or criticize her for what she didn’t do. Her fingers grasped...

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“Dayton, can you hear the stars?” by Nessa Snow

Submitted to Contest #96

Dayton can hear the stars, but only at night, when the world goes quiet.You’d think he’s gotten used to it after all these years, but he has never quite managed to drown out the sound. He has, however, a long list of creative and inventive ideas regarding that need.None of them work, which is why he often travels from village to village, never getting used to the label of the “weird stranger who wanders around at night”.The world is still a fun place for Dayton, and he enjoys meeting new creatures as he notes down another village on his hand...

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“A Town Called Past” by Julianne Baldiga

Submitted to Contest #96

“Did you see who came back in town?” Vinnae states an obvious question slathered with pity. “I saw her.” Bode exhales his answer and looks away. “I wonder if she knows what she’s looking for this time.” Vinnae shakes her head and slams her hands on top of her hips. She starts to jot off but stops and thinks better of it. “What makes you think she’s looking for something?” Bode signals. “A woman knows. You don’t keep turning over the same rocks unless you’re looking for something specific.” The warm late evening ...

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“A Stranger in Boysenberry Falls” by Lyn Carstone

Submitted to Contest #96

Boysenberry Falls was a small town. Well, more of a spot in the road than a town. There was the blacksmith, the stable, the inn, the diner, six houses, and the general store. A few years ago that was plenty. But now more of the families were having children. Children who needed a teacher. Thomas glanced down at the catalog he had been studying. Primers were easy enough to come by. But someone would have to teach them to use their primers. Their parents were busy enough with their own work and they wouldn’t have the time, energy, or knowledge...

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“A Cup of Joe with Sam and the Hand” by Craig Stokes

Submitted to Contest #96

A Cup of Joe with Sam and the Hand            The sleepy bedroom community in northeastern Ohio, just across the border from Pennsylvania, resembles a ghost town without the tumbleweed strolling down an uninhabited Main Street on any nondescript Saturday at noon. The coke ovens have fallen into disrepair, the blast furnaces disappeared at the beginning of the Great Depression, and the Italian Club is the only reminder of the boomtown that it once was in the first decades of the twentieth...

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“Surprise Visit from Tuorafraf” by Mark Bell

Submitted to Contest #96

Walt was setting on his outdoors patio one weekday evening and was just starting his daily evening contemplation of his favor Bible verse from 1 Kings 19:11-12 (Then the LORD said, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD – but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake – but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire – but the LORD was not in the fire. After t...

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“The Hummingbird Cafe” by Amy Sutch

Submitted to Contest #96

           On a hot Wednesday afternoon, with the heat rising off the pavement like fog, a huge RV lumbered into town making a clackety noise as it drove down main street and came to a rolling halt at the Methodist church across the street.            Angie flipped her magazine shut and began wiping down the counter, as she watched a woman emerge. The woman had bright red hair piled onto her head, which had to be held in place b...

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“Brainmania!” by Bric Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #96

Possible trigger: sleezy behavior. A late-night summer storm brought more than much needed rain to the small country village of Broadstone. Just before dawn, while most of the villagers still slept, there was a loud boom that came from the town square. The townsfolk rushed out to see what had caused the noise and were shocked by what they saw. A stage had somehow been setup in the middle of the square. Red curtains with golden tassels draped across the stage. As a crowd formed around the mysterious structur...

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