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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

“The Explosion by KarLynn Erickson” by KarLynn Erickson

Submitted to Contest #102

Alex slowed to 45 MPH as the warning sign suggested. The next sign was green with white block letters stating Clover Ridge Population 234.  “Again, with the small towns. I hate these stupid stories and these dumpy little towns.” He muttered under his breath. “I’ve lived in this state all my life and never heard of Clover Ridge until it came over the news blotter.”   Clover Ridge was only 100 miles from Spring Valley which was an actual city. With over 100,000 people it housed a daily newspaper that Alex wor...

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“The Loop ” by Maithili Patange

Submitted to Contest #102

THE LOOP Maithili Patange Last night was a disaster for Mr. Trevaylor. He had been sleeping peacefully in his bedroom when suddenly he heard a loud crash outside his window. He did not pay heed to it though, as cats often frequented on the building roof and would specifically decide to have fun at night. However, around 2 a.m his peaceful slumber was once again boken by the sound of sirens. He got out of his bed to peep out of the window and saw that a man, similar to his age, whose face was completely distorted, was being put on a stret...

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“Becoming a Guardian” by Clarissa Janeen

Submitted to Contest #102

I didn't notice the creature at first when I awoke. The morning started like any other: the rustle of leaves, the patter of feet down the road, a blanket of fog nestling the town in a soft aura. I still didn't notice it as I headed out from under Mrs. Gallahan's porch. It had proven to be a cozy resting spot for several months now. It kept me dry and was a fine spot for mouse-catching. "Good morning, Edgar." Mrs. Gallahan came down and scratched behind my ears. I leaned into it with a purr. "Here you are." She set down a plate with cat ...

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“Deda of Sabo Community” by Aminu Salihu

Submitted to Contest #102

           DEDA OF SABO COMMUNITY The year 2017 is for sure the most tumultuous for the residence of Sabo community. Events that happened in the year alone are enough to make a lifetime history for generations to come. Among the many tragedies of the year in the community was the great famine, which was rightly accompanied by the acute drought. It was acute because it lasted for just a week and then everything went back to normalcy. The story of how the great famine and acute drought cam...

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“My Killer Neighbor” by Trent Johnson

Submitted to Contest #102

When I was twelve I lost a football to the abyss that was Mr. Wellerbey's vast yard. The grass was as green as a soccer field, and hosted countless boots from tired, sweaty workers every Saturday, whether it rained that week or not. The neighborhood kids and I, Joey, Mike and Scott were tossing the rock around, playing 2-on-2, when J-Man told me to go deep and did his best Jamarcus Russell impersonation, lofting the ball clear over the 12-foot wooden planks, which acted as castle walls around the old man's dystopian castle of a house. We ha...

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“Beauty and the Taxidermist” by Yvette Francaise

Submitted to Contest #102

We sat huddled in the bushes waiting with baited breath for him to come out. The blue A-frame was on the outside of town. The town folks thought he was mysterious. Once a month he would go into town for groceries and wouldn't be seen until the next month. His quietness made me want to talk to him even more, but my parents banned me. I guess I just never got around to it. He got his paper delivered at the same time every day. The oak door creaked open as a eighteen year old man with black hair looked outside for danger. His brown eyes...

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“THOMAS THE MYSTERY MAN” by Lujira Cooper

Submitted to Contest #102

The man worked if one could call it work, as a sidewalk vendor. That was not unusual for the strip between Nostrand Avenue and Verona Place in Brooklyn. His stall was part of many along the road. What rendered this stall and man odd was only three or four people eventually saw him. When those who did mention the stall, people scratched and shook their heads. Some commented, “What man or you must mean another street.” No three people were not hallucinating, nor did they have a substance abuse problem. One was a highly respected attorney, Laur...

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“To love and to be loved” by Arpitha Giri

Submitted to Contest #102

TW: murder suicide, death of a child He sat down there writing the missing report of a 4-year-old. A child that had so much darkness in him, one wouldn’t even be surprised if he had just run away from all the gloominess at home.    Inspector Charnet sighed as he closed the file and wondered what he would discover about the child as the case would progress. A small town it was. The people were all familiar and every surname had tales and fables that everyone knew about.    Savola was a rusty yet beautiful city that was cur...

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“The Shift ” by Alex Arias

Submitted to Contest #102

Kremmy reached out, the setting sun making the red rock a richer shade. The grainy texture smoothed the pad of their finger as they counted the layers in the cliffside, imagining the thousands of years of sedimentation it took to build the towering structure. Loose rocks tumbling to the side caught their attention, and they spotted a deer with thick antlers. It stood still and sure, its black eyes staring into their own. Kremmy let their hand fall from the rock. “Hey, buddy. Never seen one of you up close before.” They had just moved to U...

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“Suburbia ” by Jeremiah Benson

Submitted to Contest #102

Commuting to work takes roughly three hours, although it feels like the time passes in seconds. The repeating yellow-dashes and silver-sedans as they interweave between lanes, as well as the perpetual highway hum, all layer over each other, creating a trance-like experience, subduing me into a deep unconscious state.This morning there was a crash that halted the unconscious trance. Two vehicles collided, melding their metallic bodies into a single entity. A man and woman, bleeding down their necks, crawled out from the wreckage. Still i...

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“Yam Soup” by Heather Ann Martinez

Submitted to Contest #102

Yam Soup By Heather Ann Martinez As the leaves began to turn and fall from their homes, I knew a season of change was upon our small little town of Ithica. I just didn’t know that it was more than leaves that were changing. Ithica used to have a coal mine that closed decades ago. When the coal mine closed, so did many other businesses and most of the residents left. My family chose to stay. My grandfather built the house my sister Penny and I grew up in. Penny is in her thirties now and moved out of Ithica although she comes to visi...

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“Apeman and the Curse” by Aletta Julia Smith

Submitted to Contest #102

Knysna, the soul of the Garden Route. The locals believe that anyone who enters the village, is at risk of never leaving. The limitless landscape is a ploy. For, by day the ancient Addo Elephant spirits defend the borders and by night, the mysterious moon, like a giant spotlight, illuminates the dark woods.  Its close friend the Phantom Pass, meticulously keeps a roll call of all who enter the village.  Two daunting sandstone cliffs on either side of the lagoon mouth, tirelessly guard the hazardous passage out to sea. T...

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“Pembley's Secrets” by Gabi Holland

Submitted to Contest #102

   It had been the last day I've seen Mrs Pembley, a sweet and benevolent woman. In her gleaming hazel-brown eyes told stories that burnt within her. I never knew her first name, but I'd go with Irene; her demeanour yelled sophistication. Her soothing voice melted like butter on toast; I'd never forgotten the angelic voice she'd proclaimed, she'd read for the children in the neighbourhood on Children's Day. Even though we weren't her biological children, she treated us as if we were.     She'd put us befo...

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“Gaslit” by Jill Coggins

Submitted to Contest #102

The fire engines screamed as they burst onto the scene joining the fight already in action. Smoke and flame engulfed the once beloved Jo’s Diner on 1st Ave, the third fire I witnessed since arriving Tuesday. I held back from the crowd letting the firefighters do their job, but close enough that I could still hear the fire chief give his report once the fire was tamed. No casualties—thank God but I imagine luck may be running out soon. Gas leak—the diner was old I will give it that but given recent events I doubted that was the whole story. ...

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“Word on the Street” by Ashe Creed

Submitted to Contest #102

… he hasn’t Florence! Why would I lie to you? He hasn’t broken routine for two years—two years! This man hasn’t done anything, and let me repeat that again, anything, out of character. No man can stick to a routine that strict, it would be quite impossible! If you ask me, I would say he has a secret. Actually, speaking of which, word on the street says he has an identical twin brother. . .—in conversation from Margaret Mackinto her neighbor, and best friend, Frances Fleming,two years and three monthsafter the mysterious arrival of young John...

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