Start your story with two characters deciding to spend the night in a graveyard.

Posted in Novel on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 320 stories

“Written on Juniper Leaves” by Scout Tahoe

Submitted to Contest #65

Meisie can recall all the names of the dead in the Levell Graveyard. She could list them off on her chubby fingers, starting with the ones placed near the entrance gate. The names were carved and darkened by time and shadows to the point of blurriness. Perhaps that’s why she memorized them. One, two, three, four. Five, six, seven, eight. You knew she was an odd child, but when she told Pa there were 109 in all, he threw his head back and laughed. It was an uncommon noise in a graveyard, almost to the point of extinction. Pa led her...

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“Good Night” by Amy St. Pierre

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #65

The day had been unseasonably warm for October, but the night air was cold. I put on extra thick socks and my coziest hoodie, and I packed two extra blankets with my sleeping bag. Then I watched outside from my bedroom window, peering outside through the blinds, waiting for the flash of headlights coming down the road. Moments later, Jade pulled up outside my mother’s house. She was driving her mother’s old black Saab, and she had her bright strawberry blonde hair pulled up and tucked up inside a baseball cap. ...

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“Little Miss Annie” by Derrick Kakooza

Submitted to Contest #65

The beat from my father’s lyre courses through my body like a rabbit in a foreign warren. He fiddles with it, eyes closed as if thinking about every beat with great devotion. The microwave beeps and my father springs from the smooth acacia seat. He runs to hail his warmed pumpkin soup. Everything about the day is weird. At least that’s what my mother wanted when she set the Halloween challenge. My father is half Dracula, half a clown. His shoes squeak like a kid’s toy. He straightens the collar of his coat, black and long with Count Dracula’...

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“Gavin's Bedtime Story” by Stephanie Albright

Submitted to Contest #65

Gavin’s Bedtime Story Excerpt from The Storm “Can ye tell us a story afore we go ta bed? Please, Grandda?” “Ooh aye, I’ll tell ye my favorite story of all, but ye mus’ promise to be quiet and let yer mam rest, the new bairn is making her verra tired.” “We will, Grandda, Willie too.” Willie nodded his head solemnly. Once the lads were settled, one on each side he began, “Back in Scotland there...

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“Circus Life” by Itay Frenkel

Submitted to Contest #65

Looney the clown was too dependent on his environment to survive in the outside world, like an animal kept in captivity its whole life. Tooney watched Looney’s grave like it was a blinding sunset. Tears stung his eyes, falling to the ground and welling in a sea of shame. Tooney was the proverbial clown nobody wanted to see cry. * Looney’s palms were sweaty, stomach twisted in knots, heart beating against his ribcage. He forced himself to yawn, loosening up his jaw. Performed jumping jacks to get his blood going. Raised his shoulder...

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“My Name is Melissa” by Miguel Balinado

Submitted to Contest #65

It was a stormy evening in the huge memorial park of Noirewood and the dark, night sky is filled with roaring thunder.My 40-year old, self-made millionaire husband, Vernon, and I decided to spend the night in the refuge of our black-colored Sedan."Melissa, get the umbrella on the back of the trunk," said my abusive and authoritarian husband. I hurriedly opened the front door of the car as I rushed to the trunk of our Sedan. The rain pouring heavily on me and all I think about is to avoid being beaten up again by Vernon.As soon I got back to ...

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“The Dead in Denver” by Molly Leasure

Submitted to Contest #65

“Star’s look nice, huh?” Denver’s eyes wander to Lea’s in a silent plea. Her head perks to the noise, but she barely acknowledges him. Gripping the fabric of his jeans on both knees, he lowers his gaze. That was the last attempt he had in him. Now there’s just silence clinging to the stale tension separating them.Run.He furrows his brow. For a long time, the voices were only whispers. Why now?Run.She’ll kill you.Biting down on his bottom lip, Denver glares across the yard—the graveyard. This was Lea’s idea. She wanted to see their siste...

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“Hallowed Ground” by Andrew Krey

Submitted to Contest #65

*Author’s Note: “Hallowed Ground” is a standalone story, set in the same universe as my other Reedsy short-stories, with overlapping characters/events.*The storm cloud was closing in ahead, chasing away the sun as it set behind me. The dark had begun rolling in earlier as the days quickly became night. Ahead I could see lit campfires. We didn’t have that luxury, our mission was too important to risk unwanted attention. I came to a halt now I knew the buildings weren’t as abandoned as they appeared. As soon as my footsteps stopped, Cyril...

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“Cerito Medeni” by Amy Utami

Submitted to Contest #65

This is once again based on personal experience. I was too scared to create a horror story. My dream as a teenager was to become a filmmaker. So, my best friend, back in the day, cursed me with ‘How if you end up being a horror filmmaker?’ question. Because I was just so cowardly and she just loved horror movies so much. At that time ‘the conjuring’ was released, as always, she was so excited because ‘the conjuring’ had the taste of Asian horror. I, as expected, found a thousand excuses to not watch it. She did find a trick though, one day...

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“Things May Go Wrong” by Bareera Samra

Submitted to Contest #65

‘Yes! No. Yes. I don’t know.’ Mike exclaimed, clearly confused.‘Come on, it’s going to be loads of fun’ Louis urged him, excitement visible on his face. ‘It’ll be the best adventure and the best Halloween in the history of civilization.’‘What? You think just visiting a graveyard and burying skulls between other graves is a form of entertainment? It’s disrespectful.’‘Hah! Disrespectful?’ Louis scorned. ‘It’s a graveyard. I’m sure the dead people won’t mind. And we’ll go far away where no one will know us. We’ll use our bicycles.’‘It’s going t...

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“It's Oh So Quiet” by Bianka Nova

Submitted to Contest #65

“We have to stay the whole night,” Mr. X said with the determination of a contestant on Survivor.“The whole night!” Mr. Y protested. “Not the whole night! I haven’t agreed to this!”“Well, we’re already here, so you might as well try it.” Mr. X shrugged.“It’s so-o-o boring!” Mr. Y continued to behave like a little child tugging at his parent’s sleeve five minutes after they’ve arrived at an adult gathering.“C’mon! It might be fun. You never know.” Mr. X dialed up the optimism.“You’re crazy, man,” Mr. Y shook his head. “What are we supposed to...

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“The Underworld Smuggler” by Saizen 🦜

Submitted to Contest #65

The night falls, Yanlin and Shenzi are ready.They laid down in two empty lots of graves they dug earlier, a pile of joss paper smoldering on the ground nearby. The two close their eyes as they each place a paper talisman onto their foreheads. Tonight, they will be as the dead. Moments later, the Heralds of Underworld have arrived. Grotesque creatures with heads of oxen and horses, they came brandishing their spears and halberds. Amidst the grunts and whinnying, the souls in the cemetery are escorted to Underworld, Yanlin and Shenzi...

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“Graveyard Romance” by Kaitlyn James

Submitted to Contest #65

It was October 30th 2020, and I had been talking with a friend about what we should do for Halloween. We were fourteen years old so we thought we were too old to trick- or- treat, but really we just wanted to impress some of the girls at school. They said they were going to go spend the night in the town’s graveyard, so of course we had to come too. I mean what were we going to do anyway, ‘protect them’? Anyway, I guess we wanted to come out as cool. They probably suggested we came because they liked us already, but hey, that didn’t com...

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“Graveyard Shift” by Lani Lane

Submitted to Contest #65

On October 13th, 2020, candles flickered in windows around the world as millions mourned the death of actor Jim MacDonald, famous for his roles in “I Can’t Think of a Good Movie Title” and “Insert Clever Idea Here.” He passed away in the hospital after losing a dreadful fight with pancreatic cancer. Martha MacDonald, Jim’s wife, fainted when she heard the news in the lobby of the hospital. She was rushed to another room, where the doctors found a weakened heart. “Only a few days,” they whispered. On October 18th, the MacDonald ch...

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“For Tomb the Bell Tolls” by Philip Clayberg

Submitted to Contest #65

About twenty minutes before midnight on Halloween, Manuel, a friend of mine, called me and suggested we spend the night at our town's oldest graveyard. Until sunrise.“You mean camping there?” I asked. “Or just wandering around.”"Don't you want to be surprised?" he asked."Not really," I said, and sighed. "Okay. I'll meet you there."I arrived first. In the moonlight, I could see a dozen leafless trees here and there, like skeletal guardians, their “arms and hands” almost reaching down to the ground. I could also see the dark fenced-in family...

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Start your story with two characters deciding to spend the night in a graveyard.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 320 stories

“Written on Juniper Leaves” by Scout Tahoe

“Good Night” by Amy St. Pierre

“Little Miss Annie” by Derrick Kakooza

“Gavin's Bedtime Story” by Stephanie Albright

“Circus Life” by Itay Frenkel

“My Name is Melissa” by Miguel Balinado

“The Dead in Denver” by Molly Leasure

“Hallowed Ground” by Andrew Krey

“Cerito Medeni” by Amy Utami

“Things May Go Wrong” by Bareera Samra

“It's Oh So Quiet” by Bianka Nova

“The Underworld Smuggler” by Saizen 🦜

“Graveyard Romance” by Kaitlyn James

“Graveyard Shift” by Lani Lane

“For Tomb the Bell Tolls” by Philip Clayberg

🌟 Similar prompts

Write about someone’s first Halloween as a ghost.

Write about a group of witches meeting up on Halloween night.

Write about a vampire or werewolf who moves into a quiet suburban neighborhood.

Write about someone taking a child trick-or-treating for the very first time.

Contest #65

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

908

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: