Menu

Prompts
DirectoryContestsMagazineFAQ
Stories
Studio
Apps

Hire professionals for your project

Advice, insights and news

Online publishing courses

Free publishing webinars

Launch your book in style

Bestseller PodcastBook Cover ArtSuccess Stories
Tools
Book Promotion SitesBook Review BlogsBooktube Channel GuideBook Title GeneratorCharacter Name GeneratorIndependent PublishersLiterary AgentsLiterary MagazinesPen Name GeneratorPlot GeneratorPublishers DirectoryShort Story IdeasWriting ContestsWriting ExercisesWriting Scholarships
Menu
Prompts
Contests
Stories
Blog
Directory
Contests
Magazine
FAQ

Write a murder story where the murder weapon is the knife used to carve a pumpkin.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Oct 21, 2022

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?

✍️ 49 stories

No more laundry.

Shortlisted for Contest #169 ⭐️

It's a mortuary fact that dead bodies should not be buried without a banana. Most of the dead people around our town drink too much coffee and spout their mouths out in public, then they just die, die, and the explosive parts of their personality gather energy.For example, Hilda Benderhole used to have the most terrible intergestion about the way my dog urinated all over her flowers. We all know that flowers need the dogs, especially in a drought. When Hilda died, her husband wouldn't even use those flowers for her gravesite. Bad Muju.Well, ...

69 likes 71 comments 71
Read story

Do it For Charlie

Submitted to Contest #169

TW: Contains physical violence/ gore, swearing, and themes of abuse.Do it for Charlie. I repeated the mantra in my head over and over again as Bruce towered over me, screaming in my face. The stench of stale beer clung to him, his eyes were glassy and bloodshot, and his white vest was riddled with stains. Some people, most people, would call this situation a nightmare. I called it Saturday.I wanted more than anything to retreat into myself. To become an island. It would’ve been easier then. After all, what does an island care if a storm smas...

35 likes 30 comments 30
Read story

Carving Jack

Shortlisted for Contest #169 ⭐️

 Carving JackLydia Smith bought a house in New Hampshire simply because she fell in love with autumn. In New Hampshire, autumn gives lungs to Vivaldi’s violins. It drinks from a witch’s brew of smoky smells and corduroy textures then follows it up with a warm cinnamon chaser. It is the height of perfection, and gone so quickly all that remains is a sense of it, like a dream you can’t quite recall, but that affects you nonetheless.  Lydia’s dreams were affecting her during this particular autumn, but not because of the falling ...

27 likes 19 comments 19
Read story

The Depth of the Rubicon

Submitted to Contest #169

The red and blue lights of the police cars clashed with the orange and black decorations that festooned the neighborhood. Halloween night. A body in the bathtub. A hysterical housekeeper. Sergeant Higgs sighed and walked inside the home, up the stairs, and in to the bathroom. “Who would have thought the lady to have had so much blood in her?” “What?” Higgs asked irritably. He bent down by the bathtub and looked at the dead woman’s right wrist. Slashed to hell, he thought. Suicide was his next thought. “Shakespeare, sir. Macbeth. I paraphras...

17 likes 26 comments 26
Read story

The devil lived in the Ghostly Manor.

Submitted to Contest #169

Warnings: curse words, murder.On a Halloween night of 2022, at the Ghostly Manor, at 224B of Rounery street, the doorbell rang.In the weirdest hour of the night, Layla stared down at her little purple dress and grimaced.Growing up, Halloween had been her favourite holiday, but at twenty-three years of age, she should’ve been at one of those parties where everybody was blind drunk and half-nakedly groping each other, dancing out of rhythm to a remixed Beyonce song.But nope, there she was.Standing in front of the Ghostly Manor, trembling like ...

17 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

Big Bertha

Submitted to Contest #169

A rap at the front door. "Who's there?" Beads of sweat were already trickling down my spine. Had someone heard something? "It's me, Ella. Stan. Is Cedric there? I need to borrow the pumpkin knife." "He's resting." This was technically true. I couldn't lie straight in bed. Best to stick to at least half truths. "I'll get the knife for you." I rushed back to the kitchen. The knife was in the sink, pinkish liquid still dripping, despite my scrubbing. I wiped it carefully and carried it out to Stan, wrapped in a clean tea towel. "Watch...

15 likes 6 comments 6
Read story

You Should Never Have a Favorite Child

Submitted to Contest #169

Trigger Warning: Suicide, violence, gore You Should Never Have a Favorite Child It was raining. Well, not real rain, not the soak you to your bones, ice cold New England downpour Ellie and her family had left behind nearly 5 years ago. That was a very specific rain she felt she could go her whole life without encountering again. This rain was still cool, but not freezing. This rain wasn’t the kind that overflowed the gutters, sending dirt and plant debris down the sides of the road in fat, fast rivers. This was more of a drizzle, pre...

14 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Serial Suburbia

Submitted to Contest #169

Chapter 1  When disposing of a human body and committing a murder there are several things to consider. The most important thing is time. You see, time is a precious commodity that we all take for granted. We never fully appreciate it until it runs out. I had a feeling this would take all day. Of course I was sporadic and didn't think things through clearly. That was my first and only mistake."Good morning cupcake." I could hear the smirk in his voice. I've never enjoyed this time of day. The false truths between us. "Hel...

12 likes 5 comments 5
Read story

PumpKing

Submitted to Contest #169

An orange haze envelops the small town of Republic, Missouri every year by way of the annual pumpkin festival. Pumpkins are bought, sold, carved, smashed, and baked into pies. The crowning achievement, however, is the pumpkin growing contest that promises glory and riches to whoever can grow the largest gourd. The winner is crowned the PumpKing and receives a $1000 cash prize. The champion from the previous year must relinquish the prestigious trophy to the new victor.“He only held the title for 12 hours or so,” Deputy Shannon says as he loo...

12 likes 4 comments 4
Read story

Day of The Dead

Submitted to Contest #169

“The dead walk among the tombstones at Mountainview Cemetery today.” Police Captain Jason Mollring said. He stared out at the view of the countryside from the top of the cemetery grounds while he sipped from a police station coffee mug. Recently hired from the Big City, he was still trying to get used to being in a small town. Officer Tricia Montalvo was not paying attention to him, instead closely examining the dead body. The head and shoulders of the victim were shredded and lacerated. This was her first murder case after four mo...

11 likes 8 comments 8
Read story

Bloody Valentine

Submitted to Contest #169

I have to keep my composure as the white cloth is lifted.  All six pairs of eyes—including mine—study the grisly sight on the table.  “Oh, God…” Detective Lander puts her hand to her mouth. I can feel fear radiating off of her as she shivers right next to me.  Looks of squeamishness and disgust linger in the room full of professionals. Detective Reyes snaps a few photos to capture the sight. The flash of the camera illuminates the disfigured face.  Dried, crimson blood is caked around the scalp. There are dark sun...

10 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

Shadows of the Headless Horseman

Submitted to Contest #169

As a child, I read the story, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and thought the town was only a figment of Washington Irving’s imagination. That was until I moved there. How I happened to end up in Sleepy Hollow is another story, but to put it simply, I was unemployed and was offered a job there. Being from Albany, New York, I did have far to travel. I just had to head down Interstate 87, head east across the Hudson River, and voila! I was there.Now you may think I was offered a glamorous job, such as a bank vice president, or a member of the bo...

10 likes 3 comments 3
Read story

Critic in Couture

Submitted to Contest #169

Kya won the school pumpkin carving contest the last three years in a row, but that was before Gemma. Next to her freshly gutted pumpkin, Kya lined her tools in descending order of utility. The fine tip markers she would use to free hand the design were first, followed by her stainless steel professional-grade carving kit. Each blade tucked neatly into its designated location.Kya straightened her back, took a deep breath, and reached for her marker to begin her design. At the same time, Gemma seated herself across the kitchen table, crossing ...

10 likes 2 comments 2
Read story

Lemon Drop

Submitted to Contest #169

In a playroom sweet as candy with its pink walls accented white, Taffy Simpson set a small plastic table for tea. It was a very intimate tea with the brand new teddy bear Mama gave her as the only guest. Like a little lady, she sat gently in a chair across from her guest and tipped the pink teapot into their cups. “Thank you for coming, Chester. Since you’re new here I want to make you feel at home right away.” Taffy said. “Perhaps later you can watch me and Mommy carve pumpkins in the kitchen.” She spoke with the same air as her mother, w...

10 likes 0 comments 0
Read story

Jack-o-lantern

Submitted to Contest #169

tw: gore/blood, death of a child The two kids sat in a semi circle on the living room’s floor, dry towels underneath them and their individual pumpkins.  Ari, their mother, leaned on the doorway with no door separating the kitchen from the living room. She looked at Jack, the youngest at ten, and smiled as he tried to cut the pumpkin with a butter knife (after his father had started on the design). His tongue popped out of his mouth and made its way to the side of his mouth, where it typically stayed while he was focused and busy at...

9 likes 1 comment 1
Read story

🌟 Similar prompts

Start your story with a character encountering a black cat.

Horror – 74 stories

Write a story where someone sees the shadow of someone standing behind them.

Mystery – 62 stories

Start your story with a blast of lightning casting a graveyard in a flash of brief, white light.

Dramatic – 35 stories

Write about someone finding a monster under their bed.

Kids – 32 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