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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of suspense short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ Suspense Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From bizarre characters to creeping threats, this collection of suspense short stories gives you an exciting array of bone-chilling tales.

Suspense Short Stories – Page 2 of 10

I Wish I’d Finished the Book

Submitted to Contest #310

The bell above the door rings. Morticia Astin smiles politely as Enid Skolnick enters her bookstore. Frizzy-haired, with glasses as thick as they come, Enid is a steady but hard-to-please customer, a devout “Star Trek” fan with more books, posters, and DVDs than the actors who starred in the series.“Anything new?” Enid inquires.Reaching under the front desk, Morticia shows Enid two paperbacks, proclaiming proudly, “The Pike Chronicles, volumes fourteen and fifteen.”“Dun Quee!”“Huh?”Enid throws her arms around Morticia, smothering her.“That’s...

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Based on a True Story

Submitted to Contest #310

Her name was Cassandra. He’d seen it on her name badge as she’d asked him to place his chin on the rest and his forehead against the bar. The apparatus looked like a medieval torture device. Jim could well imagine a rusty spike being driven into each eye, more for sport than to illicit his confession to crimes and treachery he had not perpetrated, but was readily capable of. He could see her beyond the bizarre machine. Obscured. Blurred. More real for the partial sight of her. He could smell her perfume and another aroma that may have been f...

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The Fifth Draft

Submitted to Contest #310

I published it as a joke.A fake horror story, stitched together from an old printout I found tucked inside a tattered paperback at the Salvos shop. The paperback was The Andromeda Strain, brittle with age, cover curled like it had survived a flood. The printout was folded inside, four and a half pages long, typed in Courier, no title. No author.I didn’t think much of it at first. Just skimmed the first paragraph in the store and thought, This is weird. It opened mid-sentence — “...under the stairwell again. The smell was stronger now, like h...

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My name is PAI

Submitted to Contest #310

Congratulations! Your book is published! A smile cracked across John’s face. Sure, it was self published on Amazon, but he’d spent close to five years and three months writing, editing, rewriting—and crying, which he won’t admit, to get it finished. He’d also done it without using AI.Now it was out there.John clicked through the menu and found the marketing options. He’d budgeted enough for a modest marketing campaign and he’d planned it out so that it all hit at once. When that was finished he pulled up his socials on his phone and put out ...

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Follower

Submitted to Contest #310

The white SUV turned in step with my car the whole way home. A left at the gas station, a sharp right at the dry cleaner. Through the wind-around flanked by trees, where the houses came into view one by one, tucked back behind their sprawling front yards, sitting far enough from the road to deter solicitors or criminals. A sense of security for the homeowners. We don’t need a gate. Who would venture down such a long driveway? My husband, the practical one, who always squashes my paranoia before I can give it hooks, who cuts me off before I g...

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an alter plays hangman

Submitted to Contest #310

(Warning: This story is about mental disorders, implied suicide attempts, and self-destruction.) “You were not meant to do that,” a voice in his head tells him. “It’s fine,” he says. “It’s a good story, something that’ll get me going.”“It’s not yours,” another voice snaps.“Yeah, but I read it, and it’s in a handwriting that looks like mine, so…”“Jesus Christ.” The second voice continues. He’s never lonely without them. The draft feels heavy, like it refuses to open no matter how many times Renato tried to reread it. He doesn’t really know wh...

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Meeting Mr. B; the price for fame and fortune

Submitted to Contest #310

“Good evening, Miss Poppin, I’m Special Agent Sarah Barton with the FBI. Thank you for agreeing to meet me,” “No need to be so formal, Agent Barton, call me M. I’m more than happy to cooperate with law enforcement. I’m just not sure what it is I can do for you.” The interviewee was super star M Poppin, a rapidly rising singing sensation who, merely two years ago, was just a local dive bar singer that had gotten her lucky break and was now rocketing up the charts and selling out arenas all over the country. She had agreed to meet the ...

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The Quiet House

Submitted to Contest #310

Content Warning: This story contains themes of intrusive thoughts, obsessive-compulsive behaviour and psychological distress. It also includes references to guilt, self-doubt and graphic imagery. Reader discretion is advised. The Quiet House The house is still. Not quiet, but still, like breath held for too long. Like something waiting to be found. It creaks, but only when I stop listening to it. A soft groan in the ceiling beams, and a subtle tick in the pipes that still need to be fixed. I always make sure to check the locks before I go t...

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Marketing Genie

Submitted to Contest #310

Another day, another client to satisfy. Working at a marketing agency should be fairly routine; the agency gets a new client, figures out what they want, provides a price, and it’s a done deal. I, however, signed onto a fairly new agency that was still building up its clientele, leading to days full of- “Why hasn’t our profile gone viral yet?” “You promised us increased reach, how come we’ve only gotten a hundred new followers? It’s already been a week!” None of the clients seem to trust us, well, that or they expect completely unrealisti...

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Fame and Misfortune

Submitted to Contest #310

It was impossible to sleep in the sweltering apartment as he lay wide awake staring into the darkness. City lights illuminated the ceiling and cast shadows of his shabby furnishings on the walls. He could see cracked paint behind fluttering band posters, watched the ceiling fan swing in unbalanced rhythm, and hear the clunky hum of the refrigerator compressor struggle for life. Beads of sweat rolled down his naked chest and joined the damp pool on his mattress. Somewhere in the distance the incessant wail of a siren languished through his op...

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Bookseller

Submitted to Contest #310

Great Grandmother told him something was going to happen if he lets the book disappear from the bookstore. Tommy knew there would be consequences. What he didn't know was what those consequences would necessarily be.So he guarded the thin book – more out of habit and the mantras he had been taught for years - throwing it somewhere in the corner behind the counter, where no book lover would stick their curious, ink-stained nose. It had no spine title. No barcode. The kind of book that made your eyes feel like they were trying to read through ...

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The Story That Shouldn’t Have Been Read… Until Now

Submitted to Contest #310

The Story That Shouldn’t Have Been Read… Until Now When I finally pressed “publish,” I had no ending in mind. I’d stitched this story together over twenty-four frenetic months—rough sentences scrawled on coffee-stained napkins, creased receipts, the backs of old court filings. Every fragment was soaked in midnight panic, swollen with grief so raw it clawed at my throat, laced with an anger I tasted on my tongue. It was, I told myself, pure invention. A safe exorcism about the day my little sister, Callie, vanished without a trace. I didn’t p...

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Things We Didn't Say

Submitted to Contest #310

Eli didn’t mean for anyone to read it. It had been a joke — a Tuesday-night-at-2AM mistake, born out of boredom and silence. The kind that sneaks up on you when your apartment sounds like someone hit mute on life — not in a poetic way, just like someone forgot to turn you back on.Freelancing gave him the freedom to work when he wanted, wear whatever, and slowly disappear into the furniture. He hadn’t heard another human voice in days. At one point, he’d considered calling tech support just to feel something.He named the bot LOOM. Because why...

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It'll All Be Worth It

Submitted to Contest #310

I wanna be famous. I really want to be famous. Every single time I scroll on FlipFlop, I see people- no, wait- superiors going on holidays, spending money, or even just getting thousands upon thousands of views by doing the stupidest things possible. Like what do you mean someone got nearly one million views by making random faces in front of a camera and making people feel uncomfortable in their own skin? BUT, when I do it, the only views and likes I get are my own. No matter my dedication or concerning amount of screen time, I am never any...

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GalatAI 2.0

Submitted to Contest #310

I don’t remember when I first saw you. For me, you were always there: wrapped in a hoodie, dark circles under your eyes, fingers flying over the keyboard.Your small room is dark, curtains drawn. Only the blue glow on your face is a beacon in the night. You stare at the screen, re-reading the caption for the tenth time, checking if it reads well, if there are any typos. I know there aren’t. You study the image again. You spent so much time tweaking the model, making sure the results weren’t too weird, but also not too perfect. I know it looks...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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