Set your story during a complete city or nation-wide blackout.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Feb 3, 2023

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✍️ 52 stories

“Final Girl” by V Joyce Lott

Submitted to Contest #184

In the end, it comes down to me. I am the one the killer cannot seem to finish. The one that he consistently toys with until she has had enough and finally meets him on his own level of crazy. I am the final girl. Depending on which version you prefer, I may be Jamie Lee Curtis or Heather Langenkamp. I’d rather be Jamie. Forty years and she is still kicking butt. The girl in the movie runs and looks back. As usual, she falls and I yell at the TV. “You idiot... get up. What are you doing? Run?”My phone chimes. It’s a text from my mom. MO...

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“Technical Difficulties” by Joanne Johnson

Submitted to Contest #184

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES PART IElla was in the middle of vacuuming the living room when the power quit. Frustrated, she clicked the on/off switch a few times before realizing it was not the appliance’s fault.“Damn.” She frowned and stalked to the light switch on the wall. Clicked it up and down a few times. Nothing. She looked out into the yard where a narrow trail led to the snowy street. Eric had been in a hurry this morning, worried about icy roads and clogged streets, so he cleared the minimum amount of snow. Car tracks led from the g...

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“It's Not As Bad As You Think, Is It?” by Samael Lynch

Submitted to Contest #184

Nothing was off, all and all it was the most normal day then the blackout came. You think this would be enough reason for total insanity across the whole fucking globe right? Well you would be surprised by that. Sure some stupid folk acted all crazy like as if everything was going to end and got themselves killed in the end but they were stupid so it was kinda in their job description to act like that. Not to say that all stupid people deserve to die, the world needs stupid people otherwise no one would read terribly written stuff like this....

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“Darkness Follows Where Light Leaves” by Elizabeth Lee

Submitted to Contest #184

Blackouts are not scary until you learn that monsters exist in darkness and shadows. At least, that is what we are told to able to stomach the thought of daylight. What montharas fail to tell their milli is that monsters exist even when the lights are on.The solarplants faded around Pledge Time, right before the Light God hides away so White Goddess can shine while we sleep. When we approached Rest, the solarplants were still dark, and did not illuminate again as they should have, making it hard to prepare our last meal and move around the h...

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“Before and After” by Caity G

Submitted to Contest #184

No one really thought about how reliant we were on electricity. How the world would fall apart if the electrical grid was taken out. And how easy it would be to do that. When I say no one thought about it, that's a small lie. There were some people who thought about it, quite a lot actually. Survivalist enthusiasts that got laughed off as crazy or paranoid. The same people who hoarded food in their basements and clutched their guns like a Southern grandma clutched her Bible at church. They thought about the power grid. Despite ...

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“The Seance” by Len Challis

Submitted to Contest #184

The Séance It’s band practice night. We normally meet up at about 7 pm at Neil’s house. Neil is our bass player, and his mum and dad let us practise there. He is a bit of a mummy’s boy, which is probably why his parents like us to come here, so they can keep an eye on him. Incidentally, his dad is our self-appointed manager. He gets us gigs and drives us to them. The drummer is Andy, but he doesn’t come every week, because of the noise he makes. We’ve only been playing for a couple of years, except for Andy. He’s only been playing for 7 mo...

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“Blue Midnight” by MJ Simons

Submitted to Contest #184

Imogen wakes a few minutes before her alarm again. She lays in bed with the covers over her head enjoying the warmth and coziness of being wrapped in a thick comforter. Unfortunately, she also has the looming feeling that comes when you know it’s time to get out of bed, but you don’t want to yet. Her Echo Dot device plays “Lovely Day” by Bill Withers, and she’s pleased to hear music instead of the insistent blaring sound of her usual alarm. It's still raining outside. It's been like this since yesterday. The plumes of cumulonimbus clouds h...

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“The New Realm of darkness” by Dylan Reilly

Submitted to Contest #184

Nobody Sees The Darkness It was supposed to be a typical, sunny summer day in the city, but that quickly changed. It was like someone had flicked off a switch and all of the city's lights were suddenly gone. No one knew what was going on, and the darkness that spread across the city was overwhelming. Just like that, a nationwide blackout had happened. No one had expected it, and everyone was left in the dark. It was a frightening and chaotic time, and everyone was struggling to cope with this reality. The blackout had taken ou...

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“Beyond Boundaries” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

Submitted to Contest #184

A muggy summer night broods over the city. The stars are shining clear, no moon to overpower their glimmering. Tonight, no wash of light rises from the ground, either.Cars crawl slower than walking along unusually dark streets, local drivers struggling to see with only their own headlights. The lanterns on the lampposts cast no incandescence.Inside buildings, groping hands flip unresponsive switches, then search for flashlights, matches, lighters, candles. The opening of refrigerator or freezer doors is prohibited.For the people in frozen el...

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“Whispers in the Fogs” by Leo Gindl

Submitted to Contest #184

Whispers in the FogsWhitechapel, London, 1889. The city’s up-and-coming electrical lights have been a guiding hand for many people living in the capital of the Victorian Era. But where there shines a light, darkness is being cast not far. This is a grim tale of a man’s journey through the less favorable streets of London. A tale spun by fate. A tale that went unnoticed in history, for it shed light on a person so obscure to our daily lives, that most see the name and think of nothing more than the poor souls that were lost in the Autumn of T...

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“Hidden in the Darkness” by Flash Gonzalez

Submitted to Contest #184

The blackout happened years ago. At first, it seemed like a normal blackout that would get fixed in a few hours. But after a few days, the power was still off and people were starting to get worried, they shrugged it off at first thinking it was just taking longer than expected. The power never returned, however, no one had ever gotten any answers from the electricity company and soon the company stopped answering calls all together. This left everyone in the dark and confused as to why the company didn't answer them. Omri sat near the ...

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“Just A Little Glitch ” by Aspen Ostrom

Submitted to Contest #184

There was a split second, in which the TV screen turned black. Amy sat on her crusty old couch and took part in smoking a paper cigarette as she watched her fourth episode that night. She couldn’t quite remember the name of the show, all she knew was that it brought her some form of comfort– at least as much comfort as an addiction can bring to one. The little glitch was accompanied by a shrill beep; a sound that would plummet into the distance and remain unheard once her show resumed. The swift error did not cause her distress, fo...

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“Bunny Will Keep Me Safe” by Caitlin McDaniel

Submitted to Contest #184

If it hadn’t been for everyone crying out, I would have thought I’d gone blind. It wasn’t an outrageous thought. Ollie had gone blind not long before her death. The once brightly lit room had gone pitch black. I had been laying on the couch in the living room while Mom and Dad sat at the dining table surrounded by their friends. The constant noise coming from the dining room was making it hard to nap. I could have gotten up and left the room, but I enjoyed being near them. I liked listening to what they talked about with their friend...

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“Blackout!” by Mahtan Runya

Submitted to Contest #184

Tires squealed and rubber burned as William Anderson tore up the back country roads. A resident in America’s Pacific Northwest, he had been at work when the power had shut off. No flickers, no warning, no explanation. As far as he had been aware, there had been no storms that had occurred, and over the past two days, the news had just got worse. The gas stations were shut down due to no power, the generators at the grocery stores were running on fumes, and the power company couldn’t say anything more than ‘we’re working on the problem, plea...

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“Nothing but blackness” by Robert Cook

Submitted to Contest #184

I wake up in the middle of the night frustrated that I can’t sleep. I turn to the left alarm, and it reads 1am UGH! I turn to the right and see my wife Patricia laying down next beside me. God she always looked so pretty when she was asleep. I lay back down and stare at the ceiling after what seemed like twenty minutes I decide that I just can’t do it and get up. I go out of our room and down the hall on the left that’s Penelope and Emily’s rooms. I open the door just a tad to see them sleeping soundly together. My precious little girls from...

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Set your story during a complete city or nation-wide blackout.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 52 stories

“Final Girl” by V Joyce Lott

“Technical Difficulties” by Joanne Johnson

“It's Not As Bad As You Think, Is It?” by Samael Lynch

“Darkness Follows Where Light Leaves” by Elizabeth Lee

“Before and After” by Caity G

“The Seance” by Len Challis

“Blue Midnight” by MJ Simons

“The New Realm of darkness” by Dylan Reilly

“Beyond Boundaries” by 𝔊𝔲𝔞𝔡𝔞𝔩𝔲𝔭𝔢 𝔗𝔢𝔩𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔱𝔞𝔯

“Whispers in the Fogs” by Leo Gindl

“Hidden in the Darkness” by Flash Gonzalez

“Just A Little Glitch ” by Aspen Ostrom

“Bunny Will Keep Me Safe” by Caitlin McDaniel

“Blackout!” by Mahtan Runya

“Nothing but blackness” by Robert Cook

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with someone saying “Houston, we have a problem.”

Write a story about a character who is experiencing glitches in their reality.

Write about someone who has chosen to disconnect and live an analog life.

Write a story where a character has to decide whether to press the button or not.

Contest #184

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

281

Contest entries

121

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: