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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a ghost story where there’s more going on than it first appears.

Posted in Mystery on Jul 27, 2021

Submissions are closed

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✍️ 225 stories

“Ghostly Intelligence” by Art U

Submitted to Contest #64

She roamed the halls at night, they said. Haunted the select student or two. It was that time of the year when everything had pumpkin in it and the ghostly and macabre was embraced by popular culture. Those who told the stories swore by them. Even the most prestigious schools filled with the world’s brightest were not free from superstition and other idiocy, thought Liss as she sipped on her Pumpkin Spice Latte. There was nothing particularly interesting about adding fake pumpkin flavored sugar syrup to coffee, but it was just one of those t...

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“Among Us (The Skeld)” by Savannah Lamkey

Submitted to Contest #64

A low rumbling sound sounded from the engine filled his ears, filled his mind. Rrrrrr Rrrrrr Rrrrrrrrrr. He stood, slipping past the other crew mates. His hand clutched the dark black suit he was to wear. Yellow lights flickered over head, a soft humming noise coming from them. His footsteps echoed along the spaceship as he opened the door to the bathroom. The metal of the knob against his hand was freezing cold, and he retreated his fingers quickly.Black stepped inside, pushing the door to a close behind him. It was tiny, the roll of toilet...

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“The Ghost Hand” by Solam Yves Ludidi

Submitted to Contest #64

It was mid-summer in 2015 on a work-related trip when I checked in at Hotel Drankensburg, in the Northern Cape Province.The time was 9 pm. I headed straight to the cocktail lounge in an upscale bar, to grab a couple of drinks after a long drive from Seymour."Double martini on the rocks, please," I placed my order with the bartender. "Oh, yeah! New face around?" asked the man who looked to be in his late thirties."First time to see the gentlemen in town. You see, in this small district we know each other," remarked the old man ...

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“The Lady of the House ” by Matthew Redding

Submitted to Contest #64

It is a dream for many for many writers to be able to live in the stories they tell. To be able to converse with their characters and touch the things that they can conjure up in their head so they might accurately articulate what it is that they are trying to convey to their beloved readers. A science fiction author would love to reside in his spaceship, writing about the stars he can see up close. Every Tolkien or Lewis would jump at the opportunity to live in their Middle Earth or Narnia, and so on. To many who have attempted to pick u...

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“UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER” by Carol Gichuru

Submitted to Contest #64

UNFORGETTABLE ENCOUNTER  Walking down the quiet deserted street, Maya felt like everything around her was on fire because of the hurt and disappointment she felt in her heart. She was burning up with range but had no one to channel it to.    Early on a Saturday morning, she had gone to his house to pay him a visit. Maya had been out of town for two weeks on a work trip and wanted to surprise him. When she got to the house the locks were changed her key couldn't open. After knocking at the door for a while a young beaut...

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“Jolly's” by Luke Aspeling

Submitted to Contest #64

So I presume I'm dead. Well that wasn't as bad as Hollywood made it out to be, my life didn't even flash before my eyes! The mere notion is absurd, how can my life flash before my eyes as I'm losing it? Nobody sees what they've lost and they certainly don't know it's missing until they look for it. How can I see something I'm losing before I even know I've lost it? No, no...Death passed by quickly, and even with its speed I still thought of her, my love. She called me grouchy, moody, hardworking, stubborn, but most importantly she called ...

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“In the Shadow of Tragedy” by Kieri Zink

Submitted to Contest #64

I have grown up in the interminable shadow of a tragedy.  There have been many times when all of us have wished things could be different, but alas, it is not possible to change what has occurred by wishing.  Many of the attempts to soften the blow of past events have fallen on cold shoulders and deaf ears.  I suppose this is likely because many of the attempts have not panned out as planned.  After all, there is a reason for the expression, “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.” Before I was born, recess lig...

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“Pockets Filled With Pebbles” by Kara O

Submitted to Contest #64

“Come in!” came a distant shout.  “The door’s open.” It was a sunny day with singing birds and sailing clouds.  Gia turned the rusted handle and shuffled inside with her trunk, suppressing her surprise that people anywhere would leave the door open.  This was the rumored safety of the countryside.  Everyone knows everyone, they said.  Her eyes struggled to adjust to the dimness inside. Only a narrow hallway with a set of French doors at the end awaited her behind the door.  The light that came in seemed to lea...

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“infinity” by Snjeguljica 33

Submitted to Contest #64

I was always amused by the fact that people are afraid of ghosts. And yet, they don’t know everything I know, so I tend to forgive them for some stupid conclusions and even stupider behavior. I’m a little lonely these days, maybe that’s why I think about people so much. I can say that I even miss all those days when the castle was inhabited. And I really am a lot of years old. Well, actually, technically I’m still eighteen, but also all these 312 years since I'm officially died. Somehow I already have a faint memory of my real life before ...

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“Kira the Ghost” by January Amatiara

Submitted to Contest #64

Kira Simonian was 32 years old when she died. She was an art student on the brink of finishing her MFA when she was bludgeoned to death by her husband, Matthew Gretz, in her own apartment. He stabbed her 15 times in the chest, and if you thought that wasn’t enough, he also smashed her head in with a hammer. Her body was found lying in a pool of blood in the living room, next to the murder weapons, also covered in blood. Her husband had fled to New York, and in the weeks following her murder, he relished in playing the role of grieving husban...

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“Don't follow the Leader.” by AJ Cupples

Submitted to Contest #64

Pregnant black clouds consume the night sky, concealing stars, presenting a darker void than usual. Those clouds birth, discharging a steady stream to careen down the slopes and curves of the dreary moor.  Two men hike; one a few strides further ahead of the other and struggling to plant his feet in the steadily water-logging grass. His torch lights a trail through nature’s obstacles. The follower observes carefully where the leader’s footfalls settle, tracing his path for a smoother trek.  Leader ascends a hill but loses his foo...

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“After Death Regrets” by Lunaki Shirayu

Submitted to Contest #64

“Legend has it there’s a ghost that sits on the swing hanging from the tree by the little stream in our very own city park,” an old woman began to tell her grandchildren. “They say he sits there and drags his feet in the water and mutters to himself. Many of those who claim to see him say he smiles at them when he turns to face them.” She smiled to herself, traveling down memory lane. “However none of the witnesses can say what kind of smile it is, or the intentions behind it. Whether it's….” “... a kind smile or an evil grin, we’ll ne...

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“Rue” by Amina Usman

Submitted to Contest #64

After the crash, I open my eyes to see shattered glass around me, and I feel my head throbbing with intense pain. I touch my head, and as I look down on my hand, I see blood. I close my eyes, and I hear people gathering around the car and calling an ambulance. Harry jolts awake to realize that it was all just a dream. As he lies in his bed, he keeps thinking about the dream. It was just so vivid, he thinks to himself. After a while, he gets up to look at the time and sees that he is late for his training session with the company director...

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“Sisters” by Haley Rojo

Submitted to Contest #64

  “...eight, nine, ten. Ready or not, here I come!” I yelled down the long hall. My voice bounced off of the old, wooden walls. My breath was shaky as I tiptoed along the ugly green carpet Sister Nancy said she’d replace before I turned 13. I felt the wiry carpet crunch beneath my worn shoes. Around me stood five doors, two on either side and one down the hall. Beth and I called that hallway our kingdom. No one ever went that way, except to store an old, beat up chair or to gather more blankets when it was cold. But, from about April to...

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“The Missing Piece” by Gordon K

Submitted to Contest #64

Hannah and Adrian had been married for fifteen years, and they had been through more than their fair share of rocky patches. They had both had affairs; they had also had heartbreak due to Hannah having a miscarriage, and then both her parents died in a car crash just a month later. Adrian had hoped that if he was there for Hannah that she would heal in time, but something wasn’t quite the same after that. She wouldn’t communicate with him when she was struggling with her mental health, and she didn’t seem to want to try for another...

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