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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write about a mysterious figure in one’s neighborhood.

Posted in Horror on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 205 stories

“AND WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” by Shelly Wota

Submitted to Contest #102

           I have lived in my neighborhood for over 20 years. During that time I have seen for sale signs put up, and then taken down, families coming and going. Since I walk a lot, I have gotten to know, mostly by sight, many of the people who live in my neighborhood. Some I know by name, most just to say a hello as we pass on the sidewalk. With a lot walking their dogs, I stop and say hello to their dogs as well. I know the names of many of their dogs. I love d...

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“Welcome to the Neighborhood” by Ryan Leone

Submitted to Contest #102

The cabin on Molkom Street had been vacant before I moved into the neighborhood. That was over fifteen years ago now -- a lifetime, it seems, as my days before are quite hazy. I thought it had been condemned; for years, shingles peeled off the sagging roof and the white siding appreciably faded, but it had potential, I guess. It had a rather large yard -- for a home in these parts, at least. Years ago, Murph’s lead broke after lunging at a grouse, and they scampered under the evergreens and spruces leading behind the cabin. By the time I mad...

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“Through no fault of mine” by Lydia Mensah

Submitted to Contest #102

Title:  Through no fault of mine Name of the author: Lydia Mensah. Word count:                         1232 Number of pages:   5 Phone numbers          :     +23320 7238235/ +23354285822 Email                     &n...

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“Dan the Tomato Man” by Marta Maliszewska

Submitted to Contest #102

Dan the Tomato Man. That’s what all the kids called him. It was Peggy from down the street, who lost her left front tooth last week, who came up with the name. They had all gotten tomatoes from him at one point or another. In fact, just last week, Alberto from the end of the cul de sac had made a tomato basil quiche out of them, and while playing with the others he swore it was the best thing he’d ever tasted and that it’d made him grow two inches besides. Peggy said that the extra two inches had come from all the hair gel he used, and Lila,...

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“Solitaire” by Bob E

Submitted to Contest #102

I like the night time. I like it because it’s dark. Walking in the dark is better than walking in the light. Everything sounds different and better. Footsteps ring like church bells on a Sunday. I have learned to walk silently, though. It is one of my skills. A talent. I practice it, and my other talents, in the darkness, when I’m alone.  When I hear other people, when I hear the clatter of their feet, I wonder how they cope with the noise. With the lack of control. Maybe that even more than the noise. How can they have so little contr...

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“The stranger of St. Moore street” by Tonatiuh Duran Meza

Submitted to Contest #102

Chruchwood is a small college town, home of the proud and renowned Kabata university. The sort of town where everyone knows everybody, be it students or teachers, that sense of community and solidarity was easily found in everyone. A town so lackluster and uneventful that upon discovering its rich history and obscure myths surrounding it and the ever ominous Blood hills in the outskirts, one would wonder where all that dark allure had gone. Despite it all, utter peace, bordering in ethereal and divine ruled over silent the town, making it b...

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“THE SOLITARY MAN” by Nirmala Nababsing

Submitted to Contest #102

THE SOLITARY MAN It was sunset. Roy and Tommy were in their living room, standing near the window. They were observing the house opposite theirs. It was a small house with a pitched roof covered with grey coloured shingles and decorative wrought iron frames at the front. The windows had shaded glass panes. The main door was made of carved dark brown wood. Close to the entrance was a trellis, which was covered with pale green ivy and purple flowers. There was no fence in the yard. This house had been vacant for a long time. Two weeks ...

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“The yellow umbrella ” by Chiara P

Submitted to Contest #102

Water dripped from the spout, tapping the stone pavement loudly as it crashed onto its hard surface and broke apart into hundreds of tiny droplets. The tap-tap-tap repeated itself at a faster pace as the drizzle from the sky turned into a light rain. Across the streets, umbrellas popped open and waterproof coats were wrapped around human bodies. Even some dogs on leashes were wearing impermeable jackets. Cars roaring in the street splashed muddy water onto unsuspecting passers-bys. It was the usual English afternoon, dark and dreary and clou...

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“The Furukawa Diaries” by Allen Dorf

Submitted to Contest #102

To whosoever finds this diary I just want to first say that I, Furukawa Shiki, am not a stalker. What follows is my diary as well as some observations of an individual I chanced upon as I was looking out my window. Being sickly as I am that is one of the few things I am able to do here in Koiwa. Even more so as I learned over the years that Koiwa is more a place to “live” and not a place to “stay.” Anyway, the following are my diary entries and observations… Friday, July 16th, 8:01PM, Cloudy After finishing my online class I found mysel...

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“Strangers in the Night” by Emma Magnuson

Submitted to Contest #102

Stephen found himself the lone figure on a deserted road. It had been a long day, and the dismal walk home soured his already foul mood. It had rained a short time ago, and the puddles still gathered in dark pools under the waning light of the sunset. A thick fog blanketed the wet pavement and caused shadows cast by the flickering street lights to dance unnaturally. More than once Steven felt himself cringe back from the swirling fog as it seemed to cling to the shape of a moving creature.  Lost in thought, Stephen hadn’t completely no...

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“Robbing Robin” by Jasmine Bell

Submitted to Contest #102

A/N: This isn't a strong story and I had a different outlook for how it would go. I will come back in a couple months and revisit it :) She looked at the coffee maker sitting on a pristine marble counter. It drew her in, tempting. All she had to do was put in a filter, one of those premade tasteless coffee sacks and a good amount of water and she could go to sleep. Today she had made a mental resolution to stop her coffee addiction but her insomnia said otherwise. Make, drink, sleep; only then shall I go away Sighing, the girl tiredly st...

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“The Monster in the Apartment” by Felix Cortes-Schoeler

Submitted to Contest #102

Nobody seems to care that, for almost a month now, the door of apartment 1013 has stood ajar.In the four years since my husband bought 1014 and we moved in, I have run into Mr. Gastelum two dozen times or so. I have yet to see him sober. Many a night, he lalls and yells in front of the building when he forgets his keys, which happens often: we are then treated to his rambling sidewalk serenade, in which he damns the entire world to heck while trying not to keel over into the potted hydrangeas. I have stopped looking out the window, unlike my...

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“The start and end of a chapter” by Dove Hui

Submitted to Contest #102

Piang! Conk! You know someone is moving in just above you. Screech! You hear the typical sound of a large object, like a sofa, or perhaps a bed, being pulled along the floor.  As you peer out of your front door for the fifth time in a few hours, you realise you do not see anyone, but only hear them.  The sounds of furniture from above seem to have stopped, and straining your ears, you hear nothing from below. Strange, you think, there should be some sound from the movers and their vehicles. Checking the lifts, they are hanging ...

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“The Monster of Greentree ” by Best Christopher

Submitted to Contest #102

The wind whipped through my hair as I sped down Trapper’s Hill, just outside of town. I was in the lead on my brand-new silver Schwinn with ape handlebars and banana seat. My best friends, Jimmy and Tyler, rode side by side behind me. Only thirty yards behind them our pursuers, the Knight Brothers, were gaining on us. They were older—fourteen, fifteen and sixteen—and a lot bigger than us twelve-year-olds. "Pete," Jimmy shouted to me, "We’re coming up on River Road, we have to slow down." He was right, but I refused to let the Knight boys cat...

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“Stranger” by Pamela Zero

Submitted to Contest #102

Sharon stopped washing the dishes, a plate held in one hand, a sponge in the other. The man was back, walking down the middle of the street. There was no traffic on the quiet suburban road, but she felt herself flush.  She could see him clear as day through the window over the sink. She put the plate down and turned off the water hissing into the sink. Her lips tightened. “What kind of person walks in the middle of the street? Day after day?  As if decent people need to see someone get hit by a car in front...

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