Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog

Menu

✕
CONNECT
Editing Design Marketing Publicity Ghostwriting Websites
BLOG
Success Stories
APPS
TOOLS
Book Promotion Sites Book Review Blogs Booktube Channel Guide Book Title Generator Character Name Generator Independent Publishers Literary Agents Literary Magazines Pen Name Generator Plot Generator Publishers Directory Short Story Ideas Writing Contests Writing Exercises Writing Scholarships
ABOUT
About Reedsy Terms Privacy

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

Sorry, we are not accepting submissions for this prompt as it is not part of an active contest. Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy Prompts account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 225 stories

“The Lost And The Dead” by Jean Mitchell

Submitted to Contest #64

I frustratingly brushed off with the back of my hand the blood that had dried on my white tank top as I walked down the street. It was my first day of work after returning from my two-week-long out of town, I was yet to lay my hands on the new piles of paper works that were probably dumped in my desk by now, but I was already drained so far. My morning had already been so dreadful because of this dark red taint on my left rib just below my breast. It was too horribly obvious I was afraid it would raise suspicion to others and triggered ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Remembering Zennik” by Felicia Fontaine

Submitted to Contest #64

The tale I am about to tell is the product of meditation, where I happened into a trance-like state allowing long-forgotten memories from thirty years ago to make themselves known to my mind. Before I begin, a bit about myself and background might better lay the groundwork to explain how I would be in a position to forget my memories. I guess you could label me a seeker of sorts, one obsessed with all things healthy living and natural, including, and especially, the supernatural. I have always been a magnet for the bizarre, and gravitate tow...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Mirror Mirror” by Skyla Abrams

Submitted to Contest #64

We pulled up to the college campus. We had arrived earlier than expected. You are staying in the Orange dorm at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. Why I open up the trunk of the van I have you go up ahead, and open the door. You are so excited that you practically run the whole three flights of stairs. You see that your room is already decorated. Than someone walkout of the bathroom. He/She stares at you confused for a moment. To clear the akward air you state your name and that you are the new roommate. You reach out your hand waiting f...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Shattered Fire” by E Sampson

Submitted to Contest #64

I expected to wake up in fiery smoke, not a hazy cloud. My head was pounding, but I tried to recall the moments before. The ceiling collapsing, the smoggy air, my vision circulating. I had tried to get out, but I guess somehow I did.  I lifted my palms out and balanced my legs as I stood up. I wasn’t exactly on a cloud, but more of a canopy of soft air. A soft breeze lifted my hair and I peered around my surroundings. This wasn’t my house. This wasn’t my yard or a hospital. My head was splitting into a sharp migraine, but one thing wa...

4 comments 4
Read story

“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...

2 comments 2
Read story

“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...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Truth or Dare” by Coral Winterstrom

Submitted to Contest #64

 Rue looked in the mirror at her Halloween costume, she had chosen to be the queen of hearts, she had a red knee length dress with cards on it and a crown made of cards placed on the side of her head, Rue’s brown hair was pulled back into a low messy bun and the dark red dress made her electric blue eyes almost seem like they where glowing. Rue slipped on her black heels and walked down the stairs to the kitchen her mom was there pouring candy into a bowl “ oh your costume is so beautiful!” said Rue’s mom with a smile on her face, ...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Shattered Glass” by Tracey Carvill

Submitted to Contest #64

Julie shivered and pulled her jacket closer around her. It was a warm summer night, but it wasn't warm in here. She wondered again why she had ever let Grant talk her into coming here. A ghost hunt in an abandoned asylum? Great. Grant elbowed her, knocking her out of her reverie. "Cheer up," he said, his voice bright but with a familiar dark undertone. "Isn't this cool?" Julie looked up and forced a smile onto her face. "Yeah, pretty cool," she agreed, and looked around again. They had ventured in through a broken window, and now stood...

0 comments 0
Read story

“Locked In ” by Lilly Alves

Submitted to Contest #64

Everyone has dreams. Everyone has nightmares. But have you ever had a dream, so real, so terrifyingly graphic, it left you wondering… did it actually happen. Is it JUST a dream, or did reality find itself where it shouldn't be. The mind can be a powerful place, and if influenced by the wrong things… dangerous.                                       &n...

9 comments 9
Read story

“The Spirit of the Manor” by Nicole Owen

Submitted to Contest #64

(Trigger warning: Suicide) Ellie, stood in the great hall of the old, creaky manor. The chill from outside coating her with goosebumps. Her breath created clouds in the air before her, the grand-daddy clock rang angrily in the distance startling her. A rapid, rhythmic thumping inside her chest. Where the hell was that child of hers? Of all places for her child James, to run off to… She needed to find that boy before he got himself hurt, Ellie could only imagine the number of code violations this building had after decades of abandonment and...

1 comment 1
Read story

“CST Institution ” by S U

Submitted to Contest #64

“Poor thing, I really pity patients like her.” “You do?’” He looks around at the woman, she was holding a clipboard with a paper full of check boxes. “Yeah, she is stuck in that same delusion of hers for years.” “You really shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” “Hear? We are seeing her right now in the glass exhibit room.” “Or see.” He says with a tired sigh as he returns his gaze back at the woman in the faux room, panelled with a one-way glass. A cruel piece of modern technology, he thought. They could see her and she didn’t have any id...

35 comments 35
Read story

“The Late Night Nurse” by Charlie Howell

Submitted to Contest #64

My footsteps are as quiet as the night around me as I move through the house. The stairs, which have creaked under the feet of others for centuries, do not creak under mine. I do not rustle the carpet as I pass the room where the mother and father lie in an anxious half sleep. As though sensing my presence, the mother mumbles something but doesn’t wake. I haven’t been in this house in many years, not since I visited the old man, but I remember it well. Besides, I don’t have any trouble finding my way in the dark.&nbs...

2 comments 2
Read story

“Anything in excess can harm us” by Chhaya Fulsunge

Submitted to Contest #64

"Don't," Vinaya said in a hushed tone.I looked around to see if anyone is watching us from the woods."Let's try at least. We don't even know if it is vacant!" I said."But there's nobody inside. We already knocked at the door thrice."It's hard to say, but she was right for a change. We knocked at the door, and nobody opened it. Hence we decided to sneak into to spend the night in the middle of the woods. We wanted to get some thrill in our life that brought us here. Yes, you heard it right, two teenage girls bored from the current life needed...

0 comments 0
Read story

“The ghost princess ” by Joan Opoyi

Submitted to Contest #64

Long time ago in a city of Leneviah;there lived a king and a queen who had a lovely, charming beautiful daughter who brought joy and warmth around people's hearts. The flower that blossomed in the garden; the whispers that came from the flowers- "the beautiful flower that swings each day- The Princess walked into a room finding her father the king quietly sat on his throne;the princess hugged and kìssed her father on the forehead. Father- Yes!my princess "I needed to go for shopping ,"said the princess. The king held the princess' cheeks as...

2 comments 2
Read story

“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...

3 comments 3
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Set your story in a Gothic manor house.

Horror – 133 stories

Write about someone who’s been sent to boarding school.

Novel – 120 stories

Write about a family attempting to hide their secrets from someone new.

Dramatic – 121 stories

Write a romance that involves one partner saving the other from a fire.

Romance – 154 stories

Contest #64

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Out on the Moor

$50

Prize money

753

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 23, 2020 EST

Won by Mollie Rodgers 🏆

Title: The Girl in the Goethe House

View details

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

We'll send you 5 prompts each week. Respond with your short story and you could win $250!

NEW VIDEO COURSE 🎉

How to Write a Novel

Join Tom Bromley for a writing master class and finish your first draft in 3 months. Learn more →

Explore more writing prompt ideas:

Adults Writing Prompts ⭢

Adventure Writing Prompts ⭢

Angst Writing Prompts ⭢

Character Writing Prompts ⭢

Christmas Writing Prompts ⭢

Dark Writing Prompts ⭢

Dialogue Writing Prompts ⭢

Dramatic Writing Prompts ⭢

Dystopian Writing Prompts ⭢

Fall Writing Prompts ⭢

Fantasy Writing Prompts ⭢

Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Fluff Writing Prompts ⭢

Funny Writing Prompts ⭢

Halloween Writing Prompts ⭢

High School Writing Prompts ⭢

Historical Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Holiday Writing Prompts ⭢

Horror Writing Prompts ⭢

Kids Writing Prompts ⭢

Middle School Writing Prompts ⭢

Mystery Writing Prompts ⭢

Narrative Writing Prompts ⭢

Nonfiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Novel Writing Prompts ⭢

Poetry Writing Prompts ⭢

Romance Writing Prompts ⭢

Sad Writing Prompts ⭢

Science Fiction Writing Prompts ⭢

Short Story Writing Prompts ⭢

Spring Writing Prompts ⭢

Summer Writing Prompts ⭢

Teens Writing Prompts ⭢

Thanksgiving Writing Prompts ⭢

Thriller and Suspense Writing Prompts ⭢

Valentine's Day Writing Prompts ⭢

Vampire Writing Prompts ⭢

Winter Writing Prompts ⭢