Menu

Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 11, 2024

Submissions are closed

Make sure you don't miss our next contest by creating your free Reedsy account.

Sign in with Google
Sign in with Facebook

Or use an email address:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 110 stories

Charles

Submitted to Contest #272

He said he’d be here an hour ago. I decided to go to sleep, because I have to get up early tomorrow. I told him that. I told him that I was going to Montreal to see my ex-boyfriend, because we might be getting back together. We might be getting back together even though my ex-boyfriend refuses to move back to the United States, because he says we’re a country built on the graves of the innocent, as if every country isn’t like that. I told the guy I was talking to that I wanted to hook up before I left tomorrow, because if I end up back with ...

54 likes 23 comments 23
Read story

A Thin Tether of Domesticity

Submitted to Contest #272

My new wife adopted a rescue dog that came into my surgery for a simple vaccination. Typically, I try to keep a professional distance, but she fell in love with the shaggy mutt, and I was trying to be a good father to her son, little Nate. She called the dog “Ketch”. What fun it was to make Ketch fetch! Fetch Ketch! Fetch Ketch! It was a big tease, faking throw-ball, making that big dog lope about looking for the ball, and one day my stepson joined in the fun, “Fetch Ketch”, he cried, swinging his arm in that clunky ...

48 likes 21 comments 21
Read story

Psychography of Fear

Submitted to Contest #272

May 25, 2024Lieutenant Michael DonavanHomicide DivisionHarrison Police Department465 Avenue AHarrison, Michigan 87078Lieutenant Donavan,Should this letter reach you in time, you will find me entombed within the Bartholomew family mausoleum at the Bayview Cemetery. Buried in the floor near the north wall is a crypt covered with a clear quartz-like stone which forms the lid. Depending on when this letter reaches you, I may still be alive.Now, before you judge Clarisa, know I loved her dearly. My wife enjoyed a generous trust and she gave back ...

34 likes 14 comments 14
Read story

I AM THE SILENCE BETWEEN HEARTBEATS

Submitted to Contest #272

"Did You Hear That?"I'm talking to you. Yes, you.Don't pretend you didn't notice. That creak that whispers you tried to dismiss as nothing, it wasn't. I've been watching. Listening. You've felt it, haven't you? That cold shiver crawling down your spine when you thought you were alone. When you told yourself, the darkness was empty. But it's not. And neither am I.You're not scared? Oh, you will be.Do you know what bones sound like when they break?It's not the quick snap you're thinking of. No, it's much worse than that. It starts with a groan...

32 likes 20 comments 20
Read story

Three Wishes

Submitted to Contest #272

Furman Bentley awoke in a foul mood, an emotional state more common than not. “Deadlines… deadlines, deadlines…!”A popular author, Furman resented his editor’s incessant prodding him to excellence. Harley Houston, of Houston, Farley and Plum was his editor and publisher.Their phone conversations usually ended abruptly. Furman would tell Harley, “I’m always excellent. I don’t submit until it’s perfect. You only make changes to justify your pay.” For emphasis, almost his signature, he’d slam his phone down. Preserving the freedom to slam phone...

31 likes 16 comments 16
Read story

Don't

Submitted to Contest #272

In the mid-seventies, a group of young teenagers went out on All Hallows Eve with the intent to frighten another member of their peer group. Their scratched-together costumes would not have frightened her, but the fishing rod scraping at her bedroom window did. So much so, in fact, she suffered a psychotic break so severe that she was institutionalised. She has been institutionalised ever since. *****Transcript of a conversation between Dr Alex Lee [AL] and Dr Sarah Lipscombe [SL] in the High Tor Restaurant, Castleton. [All small t...

28 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Nudist’s Haven

Submitted to Contest #272

Storms had damaged the road with potholes and washouts. Heavy rains had ravaged the earth, making the drive treacherous. Each jolt of the car reminded her of nature reclaiming its territory. Many years had passed since Sarah last visited the remote cabin. On her last visit, a bear tore down the clothesline, angering her granny. Her Grandmother had threatened to make a rug out of that bear if he came back around. It was now hers, a gift from her grandmother. Memories of her grandmother and the cabin flooded her as she neared the white split r...

28 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Renaissance

Submitted to Contest #272

The view from the first floor bedsit window tonight was dreary. Great drifts of spume hurtled across the road, leaving shallow lakes to creep across the promenade and pour back into the ocean.. Richard turned away and sat morosely on the thread-bare chair beside the bed, dully regarding the marked and faded wallpaper, the fly-specked single light bulb oscillating gently in the draught from the ill-fitting windows. He turned his attention to the faded and patterned floor covering. If he looked closely, images danced before his eyes: the head ...

25 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

Mother's Revenge

Submitted to Contest #272

When she picked it out, he had no idea how it had gotten there. It was a rustic red color, with pearl reflective windows and chrome rims that looked like they had been polished with a green fungus. It had a price written on it in large bubbly numbers—$500. When she asked for a drive, the man scoured his pockets and told her he didn’t have the keys—that the car wasn’t his. But the girl was determined—it called to her. She walked to it and tried the handle, and to her prevail the door opened with a long, croaky whine. The man looked unwell, bu...

24 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

The Engine Room

Submitted to Contest #272

Thursday, 1st April 1943           To walk from one end of the ship to another would take approximately five minutes, if one’s strides are long, and their pace consistent. To descend from one deck to another can be an arduous process, depending on which deck one is wanting to get to. Of course, these estimations are hypothetical, and on fletcher class destroyer, full of military personnel, these travel times may be longer.            ...

23 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Horrors!

Submitted to Contest #272

Horrors!Dennis Hopper- Speed: “If the bus goes below 50 mph, it blows up.”Murray Burns- Reedsy: “If you stop reading this, it blows up in your face.”Or… pick three of the following terrible events that will befall you should you choose to stop reading. They’re broken down into categories to make it easier for you. If you don’t get far enough to make an informed decision, three random selections will be made for you. Make your selection below with an X:_____ Have this blow up in my face.         &n...

22 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Eating Prayers

Submitted to Contest #272

“Dr. Rabine?  Yes, I’m Morris Yarborough.” He smiles as Dr. Rabine ushers him to the chair in his office, “I was expecting a couch.” “Very funny.  They warned me you had a sense of humor.” He shook his head as Morris sat in the ugly plain cushioned chair.  The walls were paneled with diplomas and certificates cluttering one of the walls, but other than that the office was sparsely furnished. “I’m glad you decided to come.” “I almost didn’t.” Morris looked down at his worn out sneakers. “Well, I’m glad you decided to come.” Dr....

21 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Just Beyond the Fence...

Submitted to Contest #272

Ahmed stared at the fence and the woods just beyond. He couldn’t see anything moving out there with the exception of a few birds flitting around through the branches from time to time. There was so much talk but never any evidence. Still, his eyes continued to scan the forest floor and strained to search the shadows. After a short time one of the security guards took notice of him standing there so he moved along with everyone else towards the cafeteria for breakfast, which was sure to be some kind of flavorless gruel or maybe the soggy whea...

21 likes 19 comments 19
Read story

What Our Demons Do in the Dark

Submitted to Contest #272

Cass and Dean were on their way home after a late night movie. The roads were deserted as they drove through their small sleeping town. It was a pastime of theirs, to joyride in Dean’s old Impala, taking the long way home in the late hours of the night. Dean grabbed Cass’s hand, interlacing his fingers with hers. He lifted it up to his lips and gave it a light kiss before he rested it on her thigh and smiled. Cass returned his warm gaze, and a moment later his eyes flitted past her and he nodded at the old building on the right as he idled b...

20 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Stuck in a time loop

Submitted to Contest #272

In the spacious meeting room of the ward, doctors gathered to discuss the condition of a new patient admitted to the psychiatric ward a few days earlier. After exchanging greetings and small talk, Professor Peterson, the head of the psychiatric ward, initiated the session by saying, "We are here to discuss..." he stopped to read the patient's name from the notepad he had in front of him. He hadn't met the patient but had heard from other doctors about his extraordinary claim to be stuck in a time loop. Though he wasn't convinced, he agr...

20 likes 10 comments 10
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with someone running away from something, literally or metaphorically.

Dramatic – 81 stories

Write a story from the point of view of a ghost, vampire, or werewolf.

Short Story – 139 stories

Center your story around someone trying to resist their darker impulses — and they’ll either succeed or fail.

Angst – 63 stories

Write a story in which the narrator or a character says "Did you hear that?"

Short Story – 82 stories

How to Write a Novel

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

How to Write a Novel