A photographer captures an image of something unexplainable. What happens next?

Posted in Mystery on Jul 5, 2024

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✍️ 75 stories

“Wandrin' Evil Spirit” by Joe Smallwood

Submitted to Contest #258

I don’t know how it came to be, so long ago when everything seemed possible.He was my inspiration. That and his photograph. Of what you ask?Oh, a demon! Uploaded it to YouTube, he did. So, a picture was formed in my mind from a video that shouldn’t exist. I can hardly get my mind around it. Its hard to even speak of it.But we all do what we must. And he certainly did what he wanted! Two children, one impossibly older, so ready to accept things…But we’ll have to start at the beginning. A hot summer’s day, so brutally hot. Hot enough to broil ...

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“Caroline” by Eliza Levin

Submitted to Contest #258

It’s strange, the things you remember about those monumental days that come to shape your life. When I think back to the interminable hours I spent beside my father’s hospital bed, I don’t see the grayish, emaciated form of the man whose hot-blooded vitality had loomed so large over me in my youth, nor do I feel the soothing wave of numbness that hit me when he’d finally stopped his wheezing. Instead, my clearest memory is of the grimy hospital floor, and how the tile closest to my feet had been installed upside down, ruining the pattern.And...

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“Magic Lantern” by Gus Nigro

Submitted to Contest #258

MAGIC LANTERN Jan brought along his father’s old Polaroid camera when called to dinner. His father had used the camera just one summer and subsequently confined it to a cardboard box with other relics. The camera still contained unused film; and the box, Polaroid film in its original wrapper. Rain, which had fallen during the time his wife was preparing dinner and he going through the memorabilia, had ended. When dinner and the conversation about the neighbors that attended it were almost over, they looked out the windo...

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“Blood” by Brielle Miano

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #258

“This one.” Nathan fished a glossy photograph out from the neat lineup spread across the plastic tablecloth. He held it up to face the stout, gray-haired vendor counting the bills in her change-box. “What’s this supposed to be?”“That one?” She hesitated, her wrinkled lips opening and closing ever so slightly. The farmers’ market hubbub—vendors gossiping with their regulars, farmers hawking their late-summer squash, toddlers begging for ice cream—covered over her gravelly Southern drawl. Here, everyone knew everyone…except Nathan had never se...

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“Right Before Your Eyes” by David F Eastman

Submitted to Contest #258

Right Before Your EyesBy David F Eastman The advertisement read: “Young female models wanted. Local photographer seeks models for a new line of stylish women’s Paris fashions. Please reply to Jonathan Davis, Fashion Photographer at: 503-607-7895” Jennie was still tired from her night out. She rubbed her eyes, jumped out of bed, and slow walked into the bathroom to shower. She had gone to a fraternity party with her girlfriends the night before, met a cute guy named Gavin, who she ended up flirting with and necking in an upstairs bedroo...

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“Sight Unseen” by Holly Wild

Submitted to Contest #258

Cecilia often viewed the world through the lens of a camera, believing photographs could capture more mystery and enchantment than reality itself. Even as a small child, she was rarely seen without a camera slung around her neck, her tiny finger poised on the shutter. Her sharp eyes constantly scanned the world around her for an image that needed to be immortalized on film. However, she quickly learned that taking pictures of people could sometimes lead to trouble, especially if they were unaware of being photographed. One sweltering summer ...

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“Blackwood Manor” by Alex Twyman

Submitted to Contest #258

I stepped into what looked like the living room of Blackwood Manor with my camera slung over my shoulder. The first thing I noticed was an old blue couch that sat in the middle, its upholstery now faded and torn. In front of the couch was a coffee table, coated in layers of dust along its surface. To the right of the couch was a red armchair with sagging cushions and impressions still left behind. In the back corner, stood a grandfather clock with its arms and pendulum frozen in time.I ran my finger along the table, leaving behind a clean tr...

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“Exposure To Darkness ” by Lee Kendrick

Submitted to Contest #258

Exposure To DarknessBy Lee KendrickRon Goodward had been a photographer for twenty-four years, since he was age twenty. Photographing: weddings, portraits, and work for magazines.Back in his photographic studio in Swindon, Wiltshire, he was working late preparing his darkroom for processing photographs he had taken of numerous ancient sites in Wiltshire -including Stonehenge and the large Mound at Silbury Hill for an archaeology magazine. Turning off the light, he then switched on the red light for processing the fi...

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“Unseen Exposure ” by X Kaiser

Submitted to Contest #258

Max Burns is an amateur photographer. Though his profession is not photography, he does take photos as a hobby. On one of his days off, he received a call to take some photos of an abandoned house.The person who requested this of him was a friend named Violet Moss.She is a realtor who flips houses and resells them to make a profit.Max agreed and went to the address Violet had given him. Upon arrival, the house came into view. He had never seen something so unique.It was a cliff-anchored house; this type of home is not seen very often due to ...

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“The House on Station Road” by James Johnson

Submitted to Contest #258

Dr Mather’s husband retrieved the photographs from the attic sometime one Saturday afternoon in late summer. They came to him by chance when, stooping beneath the rafters, he spotted a tear in an insulation roll tucked into one corner of the loft floor. His curious hand had burrowed deep into the woollen pile and pulled out one of those photo wallets used for returning printed photographs. It had lost the glossiness of its heyday, but was dry and the logo of the now-defunct camera company was visible beneath a stock photo of a family pi...

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“Captured on Camera ” by ER Castaneda

Submitted to Contest #258

Thirty-six-year-old photography hobbyist Jack Stevenson steadied his Canon EOS R5 at the pelican, hit the shutter button, and took a picture, all without making noise and scaring the bird away. He took several more photos, watching as the pelican carried a fish in its mouth, and flew away. Jack smiled. Although his work had been featured in a few magazines, he loved nothing more than the stillness of taking photos at the beach early in the morning, before the throngs of people made their way to this particular beach, causing wildlife t...

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“Do come Back Sometime” by Ute Gillett

Submitted to Contest #258

The real estate ad featured sunbeams breaking through patchy gray-blue clouds with white, lacy rims. As they meet the firs’ branches, the fir needles glisten and one can almost hear the birds’ morning trills. I was intrigued. I clicked to see more images. A view across the valley to a meadow on the other side made my heart stop. I know this view. I know the grass growing on this hill and where to find the first spring primroses. I know the tracks the fox leaves there after the first snow, and I remember my footprints following these tracks w...

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“The Photographer” by Helen Garton

Submitted to Contest #258

The Photographer The shoot went okay, although the local models - the peak of feminine beauty available at short notice - grumbled to each other throughout. “Accustomed to the comfort of a studio.” Chrissie rolled her eyes. I nodded. “Getting outdoors into nature’s gone out of fashion.” We’d missed our flight. Chrissie misread the time - the first faux pas to blemish an otherwise faultless couple of weeks since she turned up looking for work right after Pete’s accident. The doctors are keeping him in hospital for at least si...

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“Today we present” by Irving Soto

Submitted to Contest #258

There are occasions when the reality defies reason, were the inexplicable is the only explanation, and the ending is rarely happy. If you’re a fan of the unknown, the strange, and the dark, then let me tell you, you arrive at the best place, because this is Dr. Dread’s dark dairy. Today we present:A LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. August 24, 2005 was the date when Dr. Alonso Puentes examined the victim. He had bruises all over his body, but they were not the cause of death. He was about 32 years old, single, a photographer, fairly well known...

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“The Phantom Fisherman of Oia” by Adekemi Adeniyan

Submitted to Contest #258

Eleni’s hands shook with fear as she held the Polaroid, her bronzed skin looked pale against the golden Santorini dusk. What began as a peaceful stroll through Oia’s labyrinthine streets had morphed into something far more disconcerting. Her camera hung heavily around her neck, its presence suddenly burdensome. Purchased impulsively that morning from a quaint alley shop, its vintage allure and instant photo printing had enticed her despite being a photographer since being a teenager. Now, she regretted ever buying it. “This can’t be real,” s...

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A photographer captures an image of something unexplainable. What happens next?

Submissions are closed

✍️ 75 stories

“Wandrin' Evil Spirit” by Joe Smallwood

“Caroline” by Eliza Levin

“Magic Lantern” by Gus Nigro

“Blood” by Brielle Miano

“Right Before Your Eyes” by David F Eastman

“Sight Unseen” by Holly Wild

“Blackwood Manor” by Alex Twyman

“Exposure To Darkness ” by Lee Kendrick

“Unseen Exposure ” by X Kaiser

“The House on Station Road” by James Johnson

“Captured on Camera ” by ER Castaneda

“Do come Back Sometime” by Ute Gillett

“The Photographer” by Helen Garton

“Today we present” by Irving Soto

“The Phantom Fisherman of Oia” by Adekemi Adeniyan

🌟 Similar prompts

A forgotten photograph tucked away somewhere is the catalyst for an unexpected journey.

Center your story around two strangers who bond over their shared love of photography.

Write a story where a photograph could change the course of history if it’s delivered to the right (or wrong!) person.

Start your story with someone who has lost everything but finds solace in photography.

Contest #258

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

289

Contest entries

88

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: