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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

“Nothing Like Family” by Daryl Oliver

Submitted to Contest #64

Throughout her life, Lilith never felt fulfilled. She spent the first ten years of her life with her family that never seemed to have enough for her and her brother and since she was older, and a girl, her parents took slightly better care of him. There were very few days that he didn’t get at least one meal. Lilith couldn’t say the same about herself. She understood that it was more important for her little brother to be healthy and clean. His father was the one that brought home the food. She never met her father, but her mother would tell...

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“Black Cats.” by Patricia Green

Submitted to Contest #64

As the sun sank lower into the West, and the last of the warm afternoon rays left my face in a shadow, I felt the cold creeping up my arms. I could just make out the ominous black clouds swirling in the distance, like great ghostly ballet dancers, stretching their claw-like tendrils across the closing of the day. The last of the sun’s rays disappeared into the black oblivion, and the slight breeze suddenly whipped up to strong gusts, pulling at my hair and clothes like bony fingers, as I stood on the porch.  I turned and entered the h...

2 comments 2
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“My Sister the Dandelion” by Colin Devonshire

Submitted to Contest #64

Write a ghost story where there’s more going on than it first appears. Out on the Moor. My Sister the Dandelion “I didn’t feel it, I didn’t hear it. I knew it was there. Like a dandelion seed floating by my ear. I sensed it.” Jim said to his sister. He expected no answer. A tear dropped, splashing closed eyelids. “I know you are here, I feel that too.” “Come on, Jim. Time to close the lid,” said the coroner, putting his arm around the boy. Jim’s mum eased him away from the polished wooden box holding his beloved sister. J...

6 comments 6
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“A Final Goodbye” by Tony Hadley

Submitted to Contest #64

With a high-pitched “pop” that made my ears twitch, a woman suddenly appeared in the middle of the kitchen. She was wearing a floor-length flower print dress, and on her head was a rather large hat entirely covered with lace. She looked casually about the room, nodded politely in our direction when she saw us, and floated off toward the living room.“That’s the eleventh one today, Charlie.” I shook my head as the woman passed through the wall and out of sight. “They all just appear out of nowhere, don’t use the door or anything.” Matching my ...

9 comments 9
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“The Emperor of Our Nation” by Mary-Claire Hanlon

Submitted to Contest #64

“Jack, can you imagine if we had Twitter in our day?”“I know, Bobby. The civil rights movement would have happened a lot faster.”“What about in your day, Abe?”“I dare say, young Bobby, the war could have gone very differently.”Jim and Billy entered the room, our favourite to get together and spook the staff when they worked late for the sitting president. “I wonder how many conspiracy theories would have surfaced if we had Twitter back in our day,” said Jim, referring to the stories about my brother’s murder.“He, he. Fake news!” It was Billy...

4 comments 4
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“Empty nest” by Vadasz Sara

Submitted to Contest #64

           “Don’t forget, the red ribbon goes on your left wrist!” I heard in the ether.              With a half-smile on my face I noticed, “Am I not too old for this kind of parental attention? See you soon.” I aborted the call, I had to focus on the road, with a red ribbon on my left wrist.              Since I lived near Paris, I preferred the train ...

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“The Night of Halloween” by PRINSHA POKHAREL (Student)

Submitted to Contest #64

On Halloween night, My friends and I decided to go to “Mrs.Chana Abandoned Mansion”. My friends, Zoe, Brandon, George, Kiki, Aaron and me Kayla decided not to go trick or treating. Instead, we decided to go explore the abandoned house on the other side of town. The most stupid thing we did that night was that we did not tell anyone about what we were doing. You're probably wondering why we're going to Mrs.Chana’s abandoned house. Mrs. Chana’s Husband had left her, because she had children he didn’t know about. So she decided because children...

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“Backward peeping” by Philip Ebuluofor

Submitted to Contest #64

Terry arrived at mile -3 Park around 8am. He planned to be at Onitsha around twelve, go to main market, do his shopping before going to his parents house. The bus that finished loading left as he entered the park and the next on line was saloon car. He cursed his luck for being few minutes late. He spent about three hours in the park waiting for his bus to finish loading. but, there was no passengers for it was ordinary day. The bus finished loading around 12:30pm and their journey to eastern part of the country commenced.  Ab...

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“ghosted ” by Sophia Inez

Submitted to Contest #64

  I would sit by the window and listen to bare branches scratch the glass- like they so desperately wanted in, while I so desperately wanted out. Sometimes I’d send a dish crashing to the ground, just to remind myself that I was still real, in some sense of the word. It was comforting to know that I could still influence things that were truly real. The days melded together seamlessly. I knew that I missed someone, but could no longer remember their face. I spoke to the paintings. I tried to figure out how to die a second time. Until th...

2 comments 2
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“short story 001” by Matthue Davis

Submitted to Contest #64

The woman is a mound of dirt and rags pushing a squeaky shopping cart; a lump that moves steadily, slowly forward, as if dragged by an invisible tide. Her long, greasy hair hides her face but Ramon feels her staring at him. He looks ahead. The best thing to do with the homeless mob littering Vancouver is to ignore it. Give them a buck and the beggars cling to you like barnacles. “Have you seen my children?” the woman asks. Her voice, sandpaper against his ears, makes him shiver. His heart jolts as though someone has pricked it with a needle....

3 comments 3
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“The Invisible Anklets” by Sreedevi Mahapatra

Submitted to Contest #64

“ chum, chum ...chum, chum” the sound of anklet bells could be heard distinctly. I opened my eyes to see the alarm clock on my bedside showing half past midnight. I thought may be it was my imagination playing tricks , the after effect of a horror story which I read in a off beat magazine bought few days back. An eerie silence followed. I wrapped my comforter more closely , shut my eyes tight and tried to sleep. “ Hello, good morning. Time to wake up and get ready”, came the polite instructions from my roommate Asha, who wa...

3 comments 3
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“The Promise” by Jessica Inman

Submitted to Contest #64

Vera felt the familiar presence. The sense that she was suddenly surrounded by a sort of energy. The knowing that someone else was there with her.“Good evening, Joe.”Conversation not through words but through feelings from the heart. Impressions, colours, images and understandings.There was a taste, and a faint smell of a food that she almost recognised but couldn't quite place. Maybe salty. She knew it, but at the same time she did not know.In her mind's eye she saw him cooking, or perhaps eating, a delicious meal. She smiled, thanking him ...

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“The Case of the Haunted House” by Derek McMillan

Submitted to Contest #64

The Case of the Haunted House I do not believe in ghosts. However, I would not spend a night in an allegedly haunted house on my own. That was the reason Barker and I were sitting in an ill-lit house waiting for the ghosts to appear. I had a camera in case the ghosts were visible. I had a blunt instrument in the form of a monkey wrench in case the spirits turned out to be human after all. And of course I had Barker as back-up. I know he is as soft as rice pudding but a stranger might not know so much. We have been given some odd cases...

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“News Print” by Tanja Cilia

Submitted to Contest #64

Three missed calls, in quick succession – from a withheld number. It was our Signal – and I use Upper Case on purpose. He’s in Malta! My heart missed a beat. As I had done an untold number of times before, I called the 12-digit number I had concocted out of our combined birthdates. This hooked up to an exchange, whence it was re-directed to the self-same phone from which he had called me. I hated this cloak-and-dagger stuff, but he had patiently explained how it was a necessary safety precaution. Answer, dammit! I knew that the procedure ...

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“Tales from a Dinner Party” by Emma Taylor

Submitted to Contest #64

The sturdy door of the old library slides open and standing a metre inside is my silvery eyed boss. Her long hair sways in the aggressive breeze, and her porcelain skin, like fluorescent light, glows. Hidden inside her tailored suit is her curvy body. A figure of eight hugging her bones. Her face reflects her personality, a tattooed snarl pulling her lips upwards and her menacing eyes observing your every move. If you don’t meet deadlines, she will never scream, but she will, with those very eyes, insult you. Sometimes I pinch myself, I am s...

6 comments 6
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