Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Posted in Short Story on Oct 11, 2024

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.

Or create a new Reedsy account:

Why not check out our active contest?

✍️ 111 stories

“A Line in the City” by Craig Scott

Submitted to Contest #272

Please note, there are some references to sexual harassment, violence, and animal abuse in this story. Marites cursed as she returned her glasses to rest on the bridge of her nose. She had just wiped away the collected steam from their lenses when she looked up to see the line. Under the pale lights that ran the spine of the building’s foyer stood a motley assembly of her neighbors, their discontent voiced in tapping shoes and murmured conversation. The elevators. Again. A mechanical hiss and a breath of hot air from the bustling a...

2 comments 2

Read story

“~What's Your Sign~” by Jim Parker

Submitted to Contest #272

~What’s Your Sign~Raymond had just turned eighty years old and didn’t care, age was just a number. He sat at his computer watching an online interview of the famous author of Romance Fantasy, Leslie Sorenson. She was attractive, even sans makeup. Tall, with penetrating green eyes and long brown hair. Seth the blogger had already covered her basic stats. Twenty-nine years old. Lived in Newport News, Virginia. Big influences: Jennifer Armentrout and Diana Gabaldon. Likes to write longhand on the beach with her cat, Miff, so she can watch the b...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Crimson and Steel ” by Alyssa Telgenhoff

Submitted to Contest #272

She ordered a BLT. What the hell? She always orders a hamburger with no onions. Always. Rain or shine. Without question.Is she mad at me? Something’s definitely wrong. Something’s off. A change in routine means that she knows something. Is she doing this to mess with me? To drive me crazy?I open my mouth to speak, but she turns her head away from me to look out the window. She can't be admiring the view. All there is to look at is a peeling metal bench, rusty pick-up trucks, and melted snow that had turned ...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Anything in His Name” by M. A. Haidar

Submitted to Contest #272

00:47Will sobs like an injured animal, blood trailing behind. He screams for help into the vastness of November, surrounded by a sea of trees that stare at him in silence. Bile boils up in his throat. Nausea, desperation. He’s dragging himself away from her. Something in his body is fighting him. It's an unfathomable poison he can't explain. He doesn’t remember much about his night before now. There were drinks at a bar. He felt a wave of sickness and decided to leave. He remembers whispers, her tongue in his ear, her teeth in his neck, her ...

3 comments 3

Read story

“The Skeletons of Stratton Street” by Kim Laughman

Submitted to Contest #272

NOTE: Although the gore is not descriptive, the idea of the act itself may gross people out. This was fun. Enjoy! On the corner of Stratton and Water Street, a brick house sits snug between a duplex and the sidewalk’s edge. A narrow strip of patchy grass lines a small area next to the stoop that butts up against a lattice-covered crawlspace. The worn shutters and weathered front door stretch tall when gazing up the front steps from the street. Some bricks throughout are faded in color and chipped at the corners, a sign that this house has wi...

1 comment 1

Read story

“Terror on The Moors” by Duncan Sheppard

Submitted to Contest #272

Penny Limington has recently moved into Somerset Lodge in the village of Kingshill that is located in the moorlands of Devonshire. Somerset Lodge is a typical Georgian double fronted farmhouse with a floor to ceiling sash window on either side of the hall door, and three small windows above that are on the next floor. The interior is more or less like any other double fronted house, but at the same time a little different in other ways. There is the usual layout with a reception room on either side of the hall door, with a large staircase in...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Nightmare” by Burton Sage

Submitted to Contest #272

NightmarebyBurt Sage I awoke with a start. No, there wasn’t a bump in the night or other sharp sound that woke me. In fact, it was eerily quiet. I looked at the clock on my night stand. 3:08 am. I looked around, trying to determine why I would wake up so suddenly. But all was in order. My cat was purring on my bed beside me, pleased that I was suddenly awake. Through my window a crescent moon shone brightly in a cloudless sky. Except for a trio of dim stars keeping the moon company, the sky was empty. I closed my eyes and started to lay ba...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Hunger Within” by Bella Rose

Submitted to Contest #272

Trigger Warnings (DO NOT SKIP THIS SECTION): graphic violence, misogyny, cannibalism, spirits, religious imagery, abuse, and death. Depending on how this is interpreted, there may be more. None of these topics are intended to be romanticized, this is not a love story. Don’t read ahead if you think any of these things will trigger you. Get proper help if needed. Thank you. October 30, 1966 Dear Diary, Tomorrow will be the day he comes back. I know it. I dread it. The manor is haunted by many spirits. They’re not evil, just hurt...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Cure for Insomnia” by Janet Brown

Submitted to Contest #272

I suppose the terrifying insanity started on my thirtieth birthday—oh, not that it bothered me to turn thirty, mind you, but it was what happened afterward. My friends tried hard to surprise me with a huge birthday bash. I knew they were up to something, but I let them have their fun. I oohed and aahed and acted surprised when I walked into the restaurant, and if it made them happy, then it made me happy. My boyfriend, Steve, disappointed me, though. Oh, I love Steve. He w...

2 comments 2

Read story

“The Warnings” by Amanda Stogsdill

Submitted to Contest #272

The Warnings By Amanda StogsdillBriara waited impatiently in a very long line. Nearly Halloween, this new haunted house attraction was supposed to be the best around. "Are you scared?" Her Mom asked."Oh, Mom, I'll be fine. It's not that scary!" Briara gazed around, smirking. People were joking and laughing, dressed in costumes. No one was acting really frightened. Yet.Just then, a black dog scampered by. "Hey, that dog cut in front of us." Briara cried."ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!" A voice boomed. Of course, everyone laughed, it was part of the ...

2 comments 2

Read story

“A Gnawing Ache” by Ian Gonzales

Submitted to Contest #272

I hold higher the torches I grip in each hand, driving the encroaching darkness back a bit farther. I peer into the surrounding shadows, holding my breath to hear better. The night-bound forest around me is still and silent, ominously so. I see nothing but the pale trunks of trees and thick brush, all of it patchworked with new-fallen snow. No small creatures rustle through the undergrowth between the tall oak, maple, and pine trees. No birds flutter through the cold, dark sky or cry out. The only motion is the slow fall of heavy white flake...

0 comments 0

Read story

“The Empty Parking Lot” by P Jones

Submitted to Contest #272

Willow noticed for the first time this evening that the parking lot was empty. She looked down at her watch and then back out the window of her office building. “Shoot,” she muttered. She hadn’t meant to work this late, and she knew her roommate, Sophie, would be upset that she was missing the “Prequel to the Best Thanksgiving Ever,” another made-up event used as an excuse for Sophie to slam down tequila shots while belting out Whitney Houston songs all night. If Willow left now she would be able to make it home by nine o’clock, only an hour...

1 comment 1

Read story

“The Forgotten Path” by Baldeep Singh

Submitted to Contest #272

The village of Darkwood was a place where time stood still. Nestled deep within the forgotten mountains, it was untouched by modernity, a relic of centuries-old traditions. The villagers lived quiet lives, following the cycles of the seasons, but there was one unwritten rule: never stray from the Marked Path. For as long as anyone could remember, it had been said that those who left the path and wandered into the Veil Woods were never seen again.Generations of villagers obeyed this rule without question, passing it down like a dark inheritan...

2 comments 2

Read story

“Gothic Short Story” by Will Melendez

Submitted to Contest #272

In Anchorage, Alaska, in the Forest of Death, Malcolm, his family, and their dog are on a camping trip for five days. They arrive at the campsite a little after ten in the evening, getting the tents set up and ready to unpack their gear and bed down for the night. Ares, Malcolm’s son, takes their dog Zeus, on a late night stroll through the forest. Zeus gravitates to a large pine tree and answers his call of nature; Ares, not wanting to see his dog relieve himself, stands a few trees away playing with a baby toad when he hears the sudden sc...

0 comments 0

Read story

“Eve in the Château Corbeau” by Ben Lages

Submitted to Contest #272

Having never been to a big city before, I always figured that my first time in New Orleans would be a tad overwhelming. My friends probably told me the same thing a dozen times: Just stick with us and don’t go down any dark alleyways, and you’ll be fine! And I thought that telling myself that same thing over and over again would help. I had common sense, I’d be surrounded by other FSU kids, there was no way I’d get in trouble. That worked until we arrived at a packed Bourbon S...

0 comments 0

Read story

Load more stories

🌟 Similar prompts

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

Dramatic – 83 stories

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

Short Story – 141 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

Contest #272

Enter our weekly contest!

This week's theme: Fright Night

$250

Prize money

480

Contest entries

174

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 18, 2024 EST

Won by Mortimer Ridgewood 🏆

Title: Drone

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!

Menu

CONNECT

BLOG

APPS

TOOLS

ABOUT

Write a story with the aim of scaring your reader.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 111 stories

“A Line in the City” by Craig Scott

“~What's Your Sign~” by Jim Parker

“Crimson and Steel ” by Alyssa Telgenhoff

“Anything in His Name” by M. A. Haidar

“The Skeletons of Stratton Street” by Kim Laughman

“Terror on The Moors” by Duncan Sheppard

“Nightmare” by Burton Sage

“The Hunger Within” by Bella Rose

“The Cure for Insomnia” by Janet Brown

“The Warnings” by Amanda Stogsdill

“A Gnawing Ache” by Ian Gonzales

“The Empty Parking Lot” by P Jones

“The Forgotten Path” by Baldeep Singh

“Gothic Short Story” by Will Melendez

“Eve in the Château Corbeau” by Ben Lages

🌟 Similar prompts

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

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

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

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

Contest #272

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

480

Contest entries

174

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: