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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

You go to visit your neighbor. When you ring the doorbell, a stranger appears and tells you that your neighbor has been dead for ten years.

Posted in Thriller and Suspense on May 8, 2021

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✍️ 49 stories

“Halloween Horrors” by Nivea Franco

Submitted to Contest #13

It’s 6pm on a particularly eerie Halloween night and I walk up to Mr. Jenson’s house wearing a pink floral dress my grandmother lent me. The stark contrast from my usual faded jeans and oversized T-shirt makes me feel like a completely different person. Just before ringing the doorbell, I straighten my skirt, adjust my shoulder length wig and pat a little more powder on my face. The distorted reflection of myself on the floor-to-ceiling windows beside the door show a 80 something year old woman way wiser and beyond my actual 27 years of age....

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“BECOMING NELL” by Ferdinand Otieno

Submitted to Contest #13

The message was strange by any definition of the word.RUN!A text that sent Mary Smithson out of her 469 Pellan Cul- de-sac home to check on her closest friend, who also happened to be her childhood neighbour. She matched across the small street and knocked on the silver door. She waited a little bit longer than usual before she heard footsteps hurrying to the door. She had mentally prepared a reprimand for Dylon Mathers for trying his usual attempts at Halloween pranks, but she was a little worried with the urgency of the text.She had alread...

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“Ten O'Clock” by Claire Chastain

Submitted to Contest #13

The clock struck ten times, each ring seeming louder than the last, and the whole house reverberated with its tolling.  Beth looked up from her book in surprise, as though it didn’t do this every day at exactly ten o’clock. Glancing back down at the words in her book, she realized she hadn’t moved the page in quite some time.  In fact, she couldn’t remember the last thing she had read. Perhaps she had fallen asleep. The teapot sat cooling on the stove, leftover from when she had last fired it up.  Though she suspected it was ...

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“Maggie” by Emily Barton

Submitted to Contest #13

She'd always lived next door. Margaret, or Maggie as she said we could call her. Her house was small, but it looked so grand in comparison to the rest of the houses in our estate, and when Christmas came around every year she'd go all out with the decorations, transforming her house from a simple brick building into a winter wonderland, complete with fake snow on the front lawn. The transformation always happened overnight like magic; it was fitting as she was the most magical person I knew.  She was lovely, the sweetest lady on th...

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“A rendezvous across time” by Gursmeep Kaur

Submitted to Contest #13

There is no such thing as coincidence. Everything in this world revolves around two basic concepts of the cosmos- the lie and the truth. Life is a lie and death is the truth. And until we enter the realm of the latter we all are simply trapped inside a lie. Sometimes we witness things which are hard to explain. Things which are beyond our understanding. But then we have to embrace them and move on. After all, it's all just a lie and anything can happen here.30 October 2019- It was raining that day. The day it all happened. The rain was unexp...

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“The Vanishing of Amanda Reiss” by James Bell

Submitted to Contest #13

When the school bus finally arrived in front of Amanda’s house, she felt a wave of excitement come over her. For the first time, she was overjoyed to be the last stop cause it meant she could go see Drew, her bestest friend in the whole wide world.  “Well, ain’t you a little ball of energy!”, said the bus driver, noticing her skip from the back of the bus and jump out onto the pavement. “Careful sweetie! Wouldn’t want you to get hurt now”  “It’s okay, Ms. Brown. I’m alright!,” she assured her. “Drew didn’t come to school today, and...

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“Thy Neighbor” by Sean Platts

Submitted to Contest #13

The fiery sky begins to boil away as the sinking sun is cooled by the coming of night. It’s gettin’ colder, I can feel it in the breeze. No more warm summer nights, I reckon that autumn has now settled in. It ain’t as good as summer, but I can’t complain—life is simpler this time of year. Martha don’t think that, though. She comes barrelin’ out of the house, makin’ the whole front deck tremor. I shout at her to be careful—this old house can’t take much more of her wild fits. But rather than consider what I have to say, she bellows: “Earl! Wh...

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“Broken archives ” by Katrina Wilson

Submitted to Contest #13

"This is so odd," Ashley said as she checked her call log and text messages for the seventh time.She raked her fingers through her twist out and she just could not understand why Kyle had not answered her calls or text messages. Kyle had been her neighbor for six months, yes he was soft on the eyes, but they were supposed to attend a murder mystery last night. He randomly texted her the night before the show, and told her he could not attend the show with her. He claimed he was sick, but she did not see his car yesterday or today. She assume...

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“Happy Halloween” by Maria Umer

Submitted to Contest #13

I looked outside my living room window tentatively, trying to avoid the eager gazes of the trick or treaters clamoring excitedly in front of every door on my street. There it was again, Halloween – I ought to have gotten rid of my doorbell that night, since it rang every few minutes. I opened my front door with a grim face, held out the bag of candy which I wanted to throw out on the street, and ignored the exuberant faces before me.  Feeling sick of opening the door, I decided on a whim to visit my neighbor next door. Mr. Peters w...

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“His Neighbor Todd” by Hermione Daguin

Submitted to Contest #13

Joel woke up with the sun shining through his open blinds. He did not close them last night due to the rain. He loved being lulled to sleep by the sound of rain.  He didn’t expect to be awoken by bright lights. The sun hadn’t risen all week. He was pretty sure that a hurricane or something was coming but he couldn’t be sure. He avoided the weather and the news. Nothing that can remind him of the bad things in this world.  It was well past 10 am when he finally got off the bed to make coffee. He stretched out his arm and yawned as h...

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“An ordinary neighbour” by Sofia Carlin

Submitted to Contest #13

Taylor distrusted her neighbours. She lived on a quiet street in a middle-of-nowhere town, where you would be forgiven for thinking that people still popped over to their neighbours' house for a cup of sugar. However behind the vertical blinds and neatly trimmed hedges, simmered a mass of secrets and gossip. In an age where maintaining face was everything, nothing could be taken at face value in this town, not even Taylor herself. Taylor lived on a small street which led to a cul-de-sac. Being only 27 years old with short ringleted...

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“Missing Miss Rosemary” by Elsie Bowman

Submitted to Contest #13

Missing Miss Rosemary            Oh, no. She could be dead. My little dog Zoey is lying on the floor, face down, looking dirty and raggedy. I pick her up and cradle her in my arms, petting her soft brown fur, nuzzling her under my chin. One paw is hanging loosely from her front right leg. Her fur is matted and sticky. Black stripes mark her leg, as if someone has run over her. Who would do that? I think of all the bad people I know, but could they be that bad?     &nb...

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“I was there” by Shells Walter

Submitted to Contest #13

Sally has always been a friend. I moved here sometime ago after I got my new job as a freelance contractor. The job didn’t pay a lot but it got me to California quicker than I expected. The first person I met in San Francesco was her. She lived next store to me in this two bedroom small apartment. Every time I was there it was decorated different. Her reasoning was that everyday was different why not be different as well? It was who Sally was and who I wanted to be. *** It didn’t take long for me to settle in after the first day I was...

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“Nightmare on a Tin Backsplash” by L.L. LOEDECKY

Submitted to Contest #13

The incessant beeping of Eden Clarke’s alarm on her two-month-old, first of its kind, smart phone rang. Eden woke from her from a pleasant slumber. Invigorated by the feeling of elation and adoration from her inspirational dream featuring her newest catchphrase, she sighed as she rolled over on her name-brand online only mattress, paid for by sponsors and fans of her, to shut off the ringing coming from her phone. As she opened one eye, she saw she had a message amongst the barrage of notifications from social media sites, blogs, and vlogs. ...

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“Who Was That?” by CY Croft

Submitted to Contest #13

Adjusting his collar for the fifth time, he cleared his throat. He had moved to the neighbourhood months ago and had not really greeted his neighbours except for the occasional wave. He was not the sort to go up to a stranger and just introduce himself. It was weird and he disliked touching hands. Because germs. Mama had taught him that germs were bad and had given him all sorts of vaccines since he was young.Although she had passed years ago, he kept going for the annual vaccine for influenza. He was proud that he had never taken any sick d...

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