Start your story with the words “Everything was ready for the ritual.”

Posted in Horror on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 48 stories

“In His Hands” by Michael Martin

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual… everything except me. He would soon fix that. The sensation of his hand sliding to the base of my neck wakes me from a deep slumber. He cradles my head, his fingers wrapping around the back of my neck as he’s done many times before. A gentle squeeze later, he has me exactly where he wants me. How I’ve longed for his embrace. His hands are home, they’re safety incarnate – like reinforced walls, impenetrable. I’m where I belong. It’s time again, isn’t it? I’m yours to command. Use me. My...

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“Perfectly Almond-Shaped Eyes” by Katharine Widdows

Submitted to Contest #117

TW – animal cruelty, death.Everything was ready for the ritual. I had counted down the days, or more precisely, the nights - since I turned eleven.Looking out over Delltree town, I stood back a little from the sandstone cliff. Holding my torch in one hand, I pulled newspaper and twigs from my rucksack. I roughly fashioned the base of a small fire behind the concrete trig point, partially sheltered from the breeze. Larger sticks and bits of branch from the tree line behind completed my construction.Unpacking the ornate wooden boxes from my ru...

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“Slumbering Horror” by Mark Shoe

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the Ritual of Slumber. A stone pillar sprouted from the center of a dome circle of a room. Flickering candle light hummed a warm glow of light, but warmth was scarce. On the pillar, canal grooves spiraled into a single path which fed into a black hole. Stood around this single feature were a dozen human silhouettes with silver masks and white robes. One man wearing a golden mask stepped into the crowd. “Come, Lily.” his bellowing voice echoed. Barefoot, she stepped forward, and removed her mask. Light fli...

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“Teen Creatures” by Charlie Murphy

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. Except for one thing."Come on, let me shave it!" Mimi begged."No!" Lori said, clutching her head."It will grow back.""No! You aren't shaving my head!""Alright, but everybody's going to think you're lame."“I don't care.”"Suit yourself." Mimi shrugged and passed the razor over her head."The only reason I'm going is that Jessica will be there.”"She will be bald.”"I don't care.”"Party pooper." Mimi stuck her tongue out at her."I can't believe you're shaving your head," Lori said, grabbing her blond hair....

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“Root and Branch” by David Brown

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual; the five clerics of the vengeful and unforgiving Xyagii, greater god of slanderous lies, encircled an oblong, obsidian altar upon which was sprawled a naked and pregnant figure. With her back to the rigid polished stone and her wrists and ankles bound to the floor by taut and stout steel chains, the woman arched her spine in terror and dismay as the red-robed high priest in his snarling obsidian mask raised a viciously curved ceremonial dagger and chanted his perilous, guttural incantations to the deity o...

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“Fool Me Once...” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual, or so Deborah thought. As the sun rose in the east, she began to clean her room from the previous night’s escapades. I can’t believe that drunk did so much damage in such a short time. She righted an upturned table in the center of the room. I need to be more careful next time. I don’t want to be caught cheating customers while conjuring spirits. If some drunken old fool could see the thread attached to my lamp, then who knows who else could have seen it? She placed the lamp back on the table and inspecte...

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“Beautiful” by JanetthePlanet 66

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything is ready for the ritual; me, the nurse with the silver tray, and Dr. Edmund Powers. Everything is ready, but I have been waiting a full two hours to get inside the doctor’s office and get started. The nurse is bustling around, a crisp white vision of medical efficiency, carrying small metal trays, whose contents defy gravity and rattle without sound. She darts across the room and scurries into the labyrinth of unblemished walls the colour of lightly suntanned angels, and enters through a pristine, heavy glass door, then disappears...

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“When Love is Sin, Become the Heretic” by Vince Salamone

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. The incense was lit, Binding wraps anointed in the proper oils and dusted with unfirth bone-ash. She’d taken care in preparing the room, clearing it of furnishings before drawing out the containment channels with the strange metal shavings she’d taken from the Belfrost mines—what felt like a lifetime ago now, though only a few years had passed. Mounds of marrow candles fought to hold back the darkness suffocating the corners of the room; unnecessary for the binding, but paramount to Ahmelia’s peace of mi...

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“The Last Of Us” by Evan Jackson

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. Elijah had been up all morning checking and double checking the preparations they made for this night. It was just after sundown when he woke her up. " Are you sure about this?” Elijah asks his wife. " I’m sure” Miriam yawns, still waking up. She searches her husband’s face in the failing candlelight. He looks afraid even though he’s trying not to. She reaches a hand up to caress his worried face. He responds by kissing her hand and then her forehead. He pulls her into an embrace and says. " Well I’m not ...

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“Trick or Treat” by Gabi Coatsworth

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual of Halloween. The doorbell rang at intervals, as tiny dragons, gangsters, and princesses giggled their way up the porch steps looking for candy. Inside, she and Rick had been talking, yet again, about their marriage. Twenty years moving at speed, to begin with, but now as exhausted as a patient dying of cancer. Perhaps the reason she’d brought the subject up was that they were bound to be interrupted, and each hiatus would give her time to consider her tactics. As the evening wore on, the debate had st...

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“The Blood Moon's Other Side” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything is ready for the ritual.”Four Blood Demons surrounded a figure in a desolate room, abandoned by its inhabitants, left for decades to the forces of entropy, decay, and chaos.Thresh, tall, pale grey, and skeletal with six horns atop her head, another set on her shoulders, used a talon to slice the burlap sack from the person’s head.Teegen winced, biting her lips to keep herself from screaming. Her eyes adjusted to the faint light—and wished she could crawl back inside the safety of the bag.Thresh opened her Jack-o’-lantern peaked j...

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“The Curse of Abbadon” by Ava Martin

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything is ready for the ritual, Ms. Cozbi,” Egill avoids looking Ms. Cozbi in the eye as he informs her of his success. He shivers as Ms. Cozbi pats him on the back and walks towards her cauldron. The dark enchantress hasn’t informed him of her plan, but Egill wouldn’t ask questions or he would be putting the lives of his loved ones in danger. Egill begins to back away from what Ms. Cozbi is doing. She stands in front of a cauldron with a book that's bind is peeling with age. In front of Ms. Cozbi is a circle of six sharp triangular st...

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“Seeing Further Blind” by Mahlia Toffoli

Submitted to Contest #117

TRIGGER WARNING: Please note that this story contains gore and some scenes that may not be suitable for young children.‘Everything was ready for the ritual’ was the email that Mary Sullivan received that morning, and a chill ran down her spine in anticipation. She remembered smiling and almost dropping her coffee mug into the sink at the sheer thought of tonight. But, instead, she made sure to double-check her belongings before leaving at dusk, saying that the ritual would work best without the glare of the purity of light. Children shr...

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“The Dying Grass.” by Ben Cerasi

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything was ready for the ritual.” The Dying Grass Moon burned red as it set itself upon the land. As the seeds and the green broke through the dire earth, The valley was kind to its tenants. But it asked for a tithe in kind. The canal passageways once nourished the roots, the hoofed beasts and the tiller . The ripples shifted from black to red alongside the night fires. Smoke and ash danced across the twilight. old almond groves had to be purged and returned to the soil. The charred haze from brush fires in Sonora and Nap...

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“The Seance” by Stevie Bartley

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. It was Halloween night and a thunderstorm raged outside. The wind was howling and the chill in the air provided the perfect ambiance for such a night, as though it was conjured. As Victoria Randolph got ready to cast the large circle of salt she took a deep breath and contemplated what she was about to do. Just eight months ago Victoria would have said she was as happy as she could be, but that had changed literally overnight. At twenty-five, she had been dating the love of her life for nine years. She an...

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Start your story with the words “Everything was ready for the ritual.”

Submissions are closed

✍️ 48 stories

“In His Hands” by Michael Martin

“Perfectly Almond-Shaped Eyes” by Katharine Widdows

“Slumbering Horror” by Mark Shoe

“Teen Creatures” by Charlie Murphy

“Root and Branch” by David Brown

“Fool Me Once...” by Howard Seeley

“Beautiful” by JanetthePlanet 66

“When Love is Sin, Become the Heretic” by Vince Salamone

“The Last Of Us” by Evan Jackson

“Trick or Treat” by Gabi Coatsworth

“The Blood Moon's Other Side” by Elizabeth Fenley

“The Curse of Abbadon” by Ava Martin

“Seeing Further Blind” by Mahlia Toffoli

“The Dying Grass.” by Ben Cerasi

“The Seance” by Stevie Bartley

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about a character who uses a night where everyone’s in costume as cover for something sinister.

Write about a missing person nobody seems to know or remember.

Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Write about someone whose busiest night of the year is Halloween.

Contest #117

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

226

Contest entries

153

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: