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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

“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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“Just A Ghost” by Anii ✨

Submitted to Contest #64

The darkness. It swept me up, writhing in the shadows as I fell unconscious and its spell under that night’s starless sky, never to wake again complete. All my life I’d been alone, trapped in the dark, with no one to comfort me. I died that way too, alone on the hilltop, tired of the universe. ↢〰〰〰↣ I have to look up from my window, where I’m watching a rich nobleman and his family enjoy their hearty supper. Their baby is squealing joyfully in the warm room as the fireplace is crackling merrily and the roses in the dining room vases p...

2 comments 2
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“Where Do You Go to Get Away?” by Cassie Poormokhtar

Submitted to Contest #64

        “Welcome to the oasis! I’m sure you’ll love it so much you’ll be here the rest of your life!” The red-haired woman smiled and held out a brochure. “I’m Tara. If you have any questions, I’ll be just down the road. The blue house, you really can’t miss it.”         I leaned against the open door to the condo and laughed. “The rest of my life? This is just my family’s timeshare. I’m here for spring break.”         She...

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“get out” by Matthew Turner

Submitted to Contest #64

Get out It was unmistakable. Two distinct words. Whispered into her ear. Close enough to feel the soft puff of breath at the end of the last consonant. Sharon’s eyes refused to open. If she opened them she might see something. Something she didn’t want to. Her husband Jack was downstairs. A thousand miles away. Not right next to her. She held her eyes shut and could feel her whole body tremble. She waited in nervous anticipation. Every terrible possibility played in her head and she thought perhaps knowing would be better than speculatin...

1 comment 1
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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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“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...

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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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“Till Death do us Part” by Simbarashe Nyatsambo

Submitted to Contest #64

The Storm pelted the rooftops of Ryan’s mansion, beating at the roof with a drums rhythm. Flickers of lightning synced with perpetual roars of thunder. Rain made a perfect setting for an indoors date, with the cool moist air conjuring up pretty romantic moods. Movies always had the best romantic moments with the rain in the background and Ryan was about to make his own type of movie with his lover Cassie.  Ryan was head over heels in love with Cassie, as he had been for the six months they had been dating. She was young, beautiful and m...

2 comments 2
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“Graceview Manor” by Roxanna C Revell

Submitted to Contest #64

Grandma says that ghosts are just memories; moments in time, experienced by the people that were here before us. I wish I could believe her, but I know how memories feel. They can be strong, they can invoke emotions, smells, taste, love and fear, and yet, a memory has never made me feel the way this house does.  Memories don't reach out and touch you, and memories don't whisper in your ear. Chills run down my spine as I remember the last time that I was here. I swore it would be the last… and yet, here I am, driving up to the rusty iro...

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“Only the blind can see. ” by Lee Doe

Submitted to Contest #64

"Zoe?" Lucy whispered, shattering the silence.  "Yes?" I answered reluctantly.  "Please tell me what it looks like," I opened my eyes for the first time that night, "It's dark out, I can't see,"  "I can't either,"  "I know,"  More silence.  "Please?"  I paused. "It's nice out,"   "Zoe-" She pulled away from me, her hair cascading over her face. Of course, it didn't bother her. "I know, I know," My eyes flashed to our surroundings, "It's night," I noted.  "Even I know tha...

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“LEFTOVER OF GHOST” by Mara Masolini

Submitted to Contest #64

 LEFTOVER OF GHOST The almost wide and well light room ____besides the window on a wall there was a window on the ceiling___was furnished with a bookcase, with a wardrobe, with a bench. At the desk, in front of the window, Dora usually sit to do her school homework, and also to draw. When her schoolmates and her friends came to see her, it was in this room that she spent time talking with them. A room with nothing special, with white walls and worn floor tiles. The house where Dora lived with her parents an...

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“The Fort of Tirravghar” by Shiri G

Submitted to Contest #64

It was a fine day of October. Jasmine, Vani and Nisha had came to Tirravghar to enjoy their pre-Diwali holidays. Tirravghar was famous for its huge Devi Temple. The Temple was build across the edge of the city by King of Tirravghar who lived in his Fort over the hills about 300 years ago. The Devi Temple was known for freeing people from unsatisfied spirits and sealing those spirits in underworld. Devi Temple was also famous because in middle of the city, over the hills, existed the 300 years old Fort of Tirravghar. The fort was said to haun...

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“Moon Wraith” by William Smith

Submitted to Contest #64

Our ship arrived in the moon’s orbit three days ago.  I’m the only one left now.  I can see Earth through the portal but I don’t think I will be making it back.  Hopefully this recording will be a record for those who follow.  No matter what you do - don’t go in the cave. It’s waiting for you. Sorry I must have fallen asleep. It’s so cold here.  Looks like I have about 12 more hours of oxygen, but I think I’ll freeze to death before I run out of air.  I’m not sure which one I’d prefer. I wonder if I should let...

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“Albany?” by Rosie Garcia

Submitted to Contest #64

It’s haunted here. I don’t know if they believe me, though. I don’t think it’s haunted in the way one would expect. None of the ghosts will listen to me when I talk to them, or shout at them, or scream at them in the middle of the night when it seems I’ve lost my mind. And maybe I have lost my mind. I wouldn’t know. I should be used to this, you know. I should be a lot of things, but it seems that I am nothing in the eyes of both myself and those who wander the corridors ceaselessly. I wonder about them. The ghosts seem so tired, and the loo...

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“Shadows on the Wall” by Anonymous 1

Submitted to Contest #64

Barnum is a good man. Or at least he tries to be. He had made an oath to himself that from this day on, he will not ignore the homeless, the beggars, or even the miscreants. He would not deny them the help that they might need. He would sacrifice his time or even spend the last of his wealth to whoever asks for it. Barnum knew it was too much of an oath, but it was what he was for. He considered himself a hand. It was his purpose.  On the night of September 23rd, an old woman wearing a tattered robe came pounding at Barnu...

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