Write a story that contains a flashback of a nightmare.

Posted in Horror on Jul 7, 2023

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✍️ 63 stories

“Family History” by Kelsey H

Submitted to Contest #206

1.Here’s my grandparents’ house with all of us standing outside. My father is missing; he must have been taking the photo.My great-grandfather built the house himself, with the help of his two eldest sons. Their photo was on the wall inside, nailed to the Rimu planks they’d laid with their own hands. My great-grandfather is in the middle of his six children, no wife beside him. She had died from appendicitis, the way people did back then. My grandad is on the far left, the rest are just solemn black and white figures staring into the camera....

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“Painted Blue” by Steffen Lettau

Submitted to Contest #206

He was back on patrol, and he was anticipating Hunters. Since his fight alongside Lindia against the last group, he was more cautious and had packed more supplies with a few more knives and medical supplies; his transformation could aid him better, but he didn't want to call more attention, so he decided to keep it as a last resort. He chose a different outfit, this time with a hood, and went out. This time, he avoided the river where his last crux was set up, and headed to the mountains. Already, he could feel the air cool down despit...

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“Falling” by Christie McMahon

Submitted to Contest #206

She was falling in her dream, tumbling down and down and down. It was like weightlessness, and it went on and on. The ground, hard and implacable, was in the distance somewhere. She would hit it, she knew, but for now, she just kept falling, falling, falling. Irma woke up with a start, jolting upright in bed. It was pitch black–blacker than pitch, blacker than the devil. Where’s the nightlight? she thought, a flush of irritation creeping up her chest. Harry’s forgotten again, that’s what he’s gone and done. Irma felt for the edge of...

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“Cheddar” by Michael Jefferson

Submitted to Contest #206

The last person Nelson Donovan expected to see at the airport was Carol Austin. Carol still has her dimpled smile, freckled features, and hourglass figure. The girl holding her hand is her mini-carbon copy. Carol sighs with regret. Ten years have passed, but Nelson still has his striking good looks and athletic body. “What brings you here?” Nelson asks. “Gary Banks. I’ve been dreaming about him lately.” “Me too.” “Coincidence?” Carol asks. “I doubt it.” Driving to the hotel, they talk about the circumstances that brought them bac...

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“The Lighthouse Keeper” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

Submitted to Contest #206

Jan Gorshhiemmer was the lighthouse keeper at Kreigh's Landing near Aillik, Newfoundland. The small jut of rock where the lighthouse sat was one of the bleakest places on God's good earth, but Jan had signed the contract and he was good to his word unlike previous keepers had been. Those that knew him, however, sensed that there was another angle on his self imposed exile at the lighthouse. Burt Decker, the town manager of Aillik, suspected there was a tragic story that followed him to this desolate forgotten c...

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“THE PRIVILEGE OF RANK” by Charles Corkery

Submitted to Contest #206

THE PRIVILEGE OF RANK The four sat around the fireplace in the impressive old library enjoying talking about old times; the closest of friends. Outside, the wintry rain was lashing down furiously, trees swaying noisily back and forth in the fierce North Yorkshire gale and it felt good to be a part of this quartet, inside, warm and cosy. The house had been in Freddie’s family for generations and, now, it was Frederick DuBarry Winthrop the 3rd who had inherited the old place and the baronetcy that came with it. His companions had b...

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“My Friend the Broccoli ” by Phoenix Goldman

Submitted to Contest #206

“Come on, Kevin! It’s only a piece of goddamn broccoli!” the middle school cafeteria lady screams. I nod and let out a deep sigh. “Are you crying?” She asks. My head violently shakes as I fight to hold back tears. “Come on, move it!” a classmate shouts from father back in the line. I can barely spot the impatient individual out of the corner of my right eye. They are wearing a red shirt - or maybe it’s blue, then again, who cares? “Kevin, take the broccoli or don’t, I really don’t care. But you need to make a goddamn ...

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“Nightmare in Depth” by Michael Pollock

Submitted to Contest #206

It all began when I went in for float therapy. For those of you who don't know what that is allow me to summarize. I was advised by my psychiatrist to try it. It was formerly known as sensory deprivation, but I think people had a negative connotation being "deprived" of something, so they went to float therapy, even though it's the same idea. You get into your birthday suit and get into a pod filled partway with saltwater. This makes you more buoyant and allows you to relax. You have earplugs and a two-way radio (waterproof, of course) to ke...

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“Day Turned Black” by Sara Sampson

Submitted to Contest #206

Day Turned Black The best part of Izzy's day was admiring the sun as it burst over the mountains. It would be better if she woke up refreshed enough not to doze under the streaks of purple and red stretching out over the sky. Night terrors ruined those moments for Izzy more often than she wanted to admit. The same nightmare she’d had for months left her breathless and her bones buzzing every morning. Izzy shook off the haze it left with farm chores. More potently, the stench of the slop pen and the round-bellied snorkers. The wet smack of ...

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“Bus Ride to Humiliation” by Gloria Dawn

Submitted to Contest #206

Bus Trip to Humiliation (a true story) When I was nineteen, I lived in Winnipeg and worked in an office out near the Winnipeg Airport, on the outskirts of the city. I took the city bus to work and back each day. My stop was the very last one on the bus route before the airport. At five o'clock when I got off work, I caught the bus again for my ride back uptown. I was renting a room in a boarding house, just a few blocks from the Hudson Bay's huge block-square store on Portage Avenue, right in the heart of the city. Each night, there...

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“A Lost Friend” by David D'EttoreUser

Submitted to Contest #206

A LOST FRIEND The last time I saw Marise was in Paris during the spring of 1971. Something happened then that is still not clear in my mind, or at least what I have left of my mind. Something that, to this day, I cannot forget. Winter stayed long that year, reaching well into May, leaving mounds of dirty snow in shaded areas of the city. A chill even pervaded sunny ...

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“Recurrence” by Angie Ashton

Submitted to Contest #206

Jackie automatically reached a hand toward her face to push her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, sure as anything that they had inched down like they always did. Except now, her hand was met by only the beads of sweat rolling down her face. She hadn’t worn glasses since her sophomore year of high school, when the combination of the coke-bottle thick, plastic rimmed eye wear and the metal gleam off her braces had made for one truly horrific yearbook picture. She lowered her hand and shook off the memories. There wer...

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“Echoed Voices” by Trish Collard

Submitted to Contest #206

In the quiet town of Willowbrook, there lived a young woman named Amelia. She had a bright smile and a zest for life, but there was something that haunted her—the vivid nightmares that plagued her sleep. From a young age, Amelia had experienced unsettling dreams that left her shaken and anxious. The nightmares were like unwelcome visitors that infiltrated her mind during the night, leaving her feeling exhausted and fearful during the day. She longed for peaceful slumber, but her subconscious seemed determined to torment her. Amelia's nig...

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“Smell of Vanilla” by Ray Samber

Submitted to Contest #206

Run! Faster! Keep going. Just keep breathing. I don’t think I’m gonna make it! Maybe I should just fall down and let him get me. She can feel her heart racing, the wind blowing in her ears, her legs burning…, her hope fading. She trips on something, a rock, and ferociously scrambles to her feet, neurotically checking behind her for any sight of him. She’s only a couple blocks away from the house and she can’t see him; she starts to think she might make it. Suddenly a hand takes her by the hair and yanks her onto her back. He drags her with h...

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“Chips Ahoy” by Timothy Rennels

Submitted to Contest #206

CHIPS AHOY “Is not!” hissed six-year-old Hannah to her eight-year-old brother. “There is too! I read it on the internet. We’re camping right on the Ice Age Trail and look here.” Ethan held his tablet up for his sister to see. “Ice Age Trail Bigfoot Sightings” read the title of the YouTube video. Uncertainty clouded Hannah’s face. “There’s even one video that shows how Bigfoot,” Ethan leaned closer to his sister in the backseat of their parent’s car, “sneaks into the campground at night,” lowering his voice, eyes widening, “and kidn...

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Write a story that contains a flashback of a nightmare.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 63 stories

“Family History” by Kelsey H

“Painted Blue” by Steffen Lettau

“Falling” by Christie McMahon

“Cheddar” by Michael Jefferson

“The Lighthouse Keeper” by George Georgerfrost@gmail.com

“THE PRIVILEGE OF RANK” by Charles Corkery

“My Friend the Broccoli ” by Phoenix Goldman

“Nightmare in Depth” by Michael Pollock

“Day Turned Black” by Sara Sampson

“Bus Ride to Humiliation” by Gloria Dawn

“A Lost Friend” by David D'EttoreUser

“Recurrence” by Angie Ashton

“Echoed Voices” by Trish Collard

“Smell of Vanilla” by Ray Samber

“Chips Ahoy” by Timothy Rennels

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone facing their greatest fear.

Start your story with a character seeing something terrifying.

Write about a character in a situation where they have to be brave for someone else’s sake.

Set your story in an eerie, surreal setting.

Contest #206

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

373

Contest entries

130

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: