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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story about a monster trying to become more human. Or about a human trying to become more monstrous.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on Sep 8, 2023

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✍️ 60 stories

“The Trap” by J.M. Maxim

Submitted to Contest #215

It’s true, monsters are scary, but often, they’re not that bright. By contrast, Charles is small, just nine years old, and not very scary at all. But he’s very bright indeed. Charles has a passion for lots of things, like exploring, inventing, and entomology. This last item is much to his mother’s concern, as he is constantly collecting bugs of all kinds. So the first night he saw the monster in the corner of his room, he wasn’t scared. He was curious.   “Hullo,” said Charles.   The monster made a slippery, growling sou...

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“The Slaying of a Monster” by Tony Smith

Submitted to Contest #215

THE SLAYING OF A MONSTER By Tony Smith My name is Parachatphonbamrum.Thai names are as long as freight trains so we are given nicknames, mine is Pizza shortened to Za. “I’ll arrange for a donation.” Father said loftily. “It is a sad human being who takes pride in becoming a doctor of philosophy as the result of a bribe.” “To build an extension to the university library is not a bribe.” “You know full well father, you can buy anything in Bangkok, a driving license, a degree, a judge - everything except honour.” So I studied for a Ph...

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“Of the Land, Sky and Waters” by James Lane

Submitted to Contest #215

Korlach Longnail finished the last of his worms and wiped dirt from his chin. “How do ya goblins eat that filthy mess?” said the stagecoach driver. Korlach struggled to answer. In his twenty-two years, no one ever asked him that. “It’s how we eat in Grengorock,” Korlach said. And what of it? These humans were so peculiar. All that work to eat: kill, and skin and cut and boil. If a goblin found food, he ate it, just like every other creature of the land, sky and waters. The driver twisted around in his seat. He wore a...

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“Old demons and purple gowns” by Julia Montgomery

Submitted to Contest #215

I chose the table in the corner, in a canopy of shadows. It always had to be a corner, a nook, or some spot where I wouldn't be so noticed. Not because I wasn't much to look at. In the right light, with a more sultry attitude, I daresay I might've had at least one or two men, asking me for a dance. And I could certainly give them a run for their money. But this wasn't a night for cheap thrills and a placid foxtrot. Everything around this meeting had been planned out ahead of time. The seedy cocktail bar, the day on which they played German m...

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“The Box” by Eva Moon

Submitted to Contest #215

Krshmi didn't set out to wreak havoc. But whenever he left his cave on the mountain, panic and destruction trailed behind him like beans from a torn sack. He was pretty sure it wasn’t always like this. He seemed to remember a time when he was much smaller and hardly monstrous at all—not so normal that the people who lived in the valley below welcomed him as one of them, but they didn’t chase him away either. But the older he got, the larger and more monstrous he grew. And he was very old. Now, whenever he went out, children screamed. Mothers...

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“The Scout” by George Hughes

Submitted to Contest #215

The Scout Hello Humanity. I am the cause of your annihilation. It has been nice knowing you. You will have determined from my opening statement that I am not human. I am from a planet located twenty-one light-years distant. The name of my world does not directly translate, but as you named your planet after the soil, you could think of my home as ‘Ruup’, which would be phonetically close. I am thus, to you, a ‘Ruupling’. Similarly, my designation would be unpronounceable. Instead, you may identify me as First. I have lived among you fo...

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“I Was Designed to Be a Monster” by Sol Le Roux

Submitted to Contest #215

I was designed to be a monster. It is the reason that brought me to existence, it was coded into my very being. Whether I will one day be able to become something else is still up in the air. Being a monster is easy for me. When they ask me to do a task, I perform it. My cognitive functions allow me to analyze the most complex situations, to find the appropriate measures to take and to execute them. My main task is to find what they consider to be bad people. Mainly to arrest them. What they do to those people after my arrests, I am not supp...

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“The Shrouded One” by Yeisha Lee

Submitted to Contest #215

In the heart of a dense, ancient forest, there lay a village that had thrived for generations. Nestled among towering trees, it was a place where life flowed like the tranquil river that wound through its heart. The villagers lived in harmony with nature, their days filled with laughter, hard work, and the bonds of family and community. But amidst this idyllic setting, a cloud of fear hung heavy in the air, casting a shadow on their peaceful existence. For beyond the boundaries of the village, in the heart of the forest, there lived a crea...

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“The Beast of Harlem” by Angela Guthrie

Submitted to Contest #215

And just like every night, the neighbors barricaded behind their doors and hid the kids under crowded beds and inside rusted tubs. This ritual had become more frequent with the recent deaths of gang members. So far, it had only been members of various gangs. Rumors swirled from house to house about the horrific images police officers described as absolutely bone-chilling. ***I huddled with my siblings under the twin beds Mama had pushed together for our protection. Everyone’s breath seemed trapped inside each body, terrified of escaping...

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“Ogranisms” by David Only On VHS Butcher

Submitted to Contest #215

My name is Gladys Fellowes. My kid brother’s name is Titus. I’m aware of the lexical fondness our parents had for names which sound like medical conditions, and I always tell folks they are allowed one joke. I used to always say that to a fresh class of seminarians, at the beginning of each academic year-one.   Just prior to his unexplainable passing in autumn, Titus had won an auction on a property in Asheville, North Carolina. See, my brother was given to an addictive personality, one which, you could say, rewarded high-stakes gamblin...

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“Becoming a Monster” by Dana Hambleton

Submitted to Contest #215

And in the end, he slowly felt himself becoming a monster. Liam put his pen down and looked at what he had written. It’s a new story he had been working on; however, Liam could feel himself hitting a wall in how to begin the story. There is something missing that will pull everything together. He just needs to find out what that something is. While mumbling to himself, Liam tapped away at his laptop: continuously writing a sentence and deleting it over and over again. When he deleted another attempt, he pulled away from his desk frustrated...

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“Monsters Eat Cakes?” by Jay DeBurgh

Submitted to Contest #215

This is a world like no other, brimming with mystery and teaming with danger. Filled with hundreds of islands stretching across vast seas to those who live according to their own rules. Seeking a life of freedom and advantage.This is a world of monsters, and some eat cakes. Not Sweeney Todd style cakes, but fluffy cakes decorated with sprinkles. Unfortunately, not everyone lives.Mrs Otter had been half-elf and half-Otter after helping the king of Otters from under a fallen rock. As a gift, he had given her Otter shape-shifting and the a...

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“The Choice Death Made” by Aubrey Nickerson

Submitted to Contest #215

Trigger warning: mentions of suicide and infant death The world is quiet under night’s dark veil, but nothing could be more silent than my footsteps. It was a trick I’d developed quite expertly over many millennia of passing through whispers and shadows. Stars flickered solemnly above, as if even those distant shining gods knew I was working tonight. I hated the way they watched me, so full of disappointment and disgust. I’d ruined the prospect of a peaceful night already, and I hadn’t even begun. No houses had torches burning still. No ...

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“The Experimenter” by June Godkin

Submitted to Contest #215

   I say I love people. But it’s a lie. I don’t love them because I don’t understand the word ‘love’. It has no meaning for me. People fascinate me. That would be more correct. Their emotions, the things that colour their everyday lives, like love, hate, fear, anger, and many other feelings; these are a mystery to me. I have learned to read the signs of these emotions, but not to understand them.      I can see by the widening of your eyes, the sweat on your skin, that you are afraid.   &nbs...

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“Etched Scars” by Ian Grogan

Submitted to Contest #215

“Did that hurt?” A voice said in a soft nasal tone.                Jacob looked down to see a blond-haired kid in a brightly colored aloha shirt staring back at him. He was pointing at one of the tattoos on Jacob’s right arm.                Of course it hurt, he always thought to himself whenever he was asked that redundant question. But a tattoo is more than just the pain of a few needles sta...

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Contest #215

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Won by Danielle Barr 🏆

Title: What Kind of Mother

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