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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.

8870+ 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 38 of 592

“Sick, Sicker, Sickest.”

Submitted to Contest #288

This short story contains suspense, and mental and physical health issues.Introduction:I approached the pharmacy. I saw a small paper taped to the door. The sign read in Sharpie-“If you have a cough- do not enter.”So, I cried as I returned home walking home in the snow without my meds.Title: “Sick- Sicker- Sickest”Part 1- Sick: One Hundred Symptoms and Counting.When you are dying, every second matters. I was sick and fighting. Tapering off a benzodiazepine quite at a rapid rate. Faster than what my studies had told me. I cried again as ...

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The Target

Submitted to Contest #288

Detective Micah Thompson smoked a cigarette under the cover of an aging black oak while he studied his target. The grey February sky had finally broken open and rain burst out in thick, swollen drops. His target sat at a small round table beneath the awning of a cafe across the street.  Micah watched as the man rose, tucked some cash beneath the salt shaker, and headed toward town. Micah tossed his cigarette and flipped his coat collar up. He buried his hands deep into the pockets and followed. Hunched forward, Micah stepped with purpos...

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Eerie Apartment: The Video Game (based on the Award-Winning Movie)

Submitted to Contest #288

TW- Contains mentions of miscarriage, disownment, and dark themes.You’re reclining on the couch, a blanket sitting on you, rubbing softly against your bare legs. The blue light of the TV is the only light in the room; it was the only bill you had thought of to pay. It’s hot, but you left a window open, so at least a little wind blows as rain paints your floor. A bag of chips lay at your side, crunching every time you move. Your hair is a mess, and your pajamas are a little too big, but it was the cheapest ones you could find.It’s been a week...

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Putting On The Ritz

Submitted to Contest #288

The knock on the door surprised me. The knock in and of itself wasn't unusual as many timesmy neighbors in the RV campground would stop by unannounced. It was a common occurrence. Often if it wasn't another friendly camper stopping by to say "hi", it wasone of the extremely competent and helpful maintenance men checking up on me.However, we were expecting a storm that night, and I was sure everyone around mewas batting down the hatches. I, too, was making sure that I had everything I needed to bestuck inside for the next few d...

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The Odyssey

Submitted to Contest #288

As the sea tosses the Odyssey between its mountainous waves like a ping-pong ball, it's all I can do to keep one hand on the rudder. She's in bad shape, and I'm not much better. Ugly, purple-blue bruises stain my arms and sides from the amount of times I've been thrown against the edge of the boat. With wind stinging me with its spiteful embrace, and rain blurring my vision like tears, I can hardly see a foot in front of me. Although it wouldn't be much if I could; the whole ocean from the waves ahead the Odyssey to the horizon is frothed up...

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High Hopes in the Rain

Submitted to Contest #288

Sitting in a chair in the living room Dave wonders, “I know that I have to do something drastic or nothing will change in our relationship. But what can that be? I was foolish and selfish. I am aware of that now. How do I undo it?”He walks to the window and looks out, as if the act with give him an answer. As he scans the surroundings, he sees that it is raining. It is what his grandfather would have called a doozy of a storm. Then he gets an idea. He decides to follow it through though it might just be foo...

7 likes 3 comments 3
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Where Pirates Came To Die

Submitted to Contest #288

A breath of wind slithered through the ruins and tumbled across his weathered face as he pressed the shard of limestone down the dry ashlar wall, leaving a new etched tally mark. It was a dimly lit chamber inside what was once the world's most notorious pirate prison. For him, it was a sanctuary, a place of refuge.  Once the web developer for Shackelford Inc. in a city of skyscrapers, eclectic culture, and ultramodern technology, Tom Malone scanned his Neanderthal calendar. Two hundred forty tallies made up the wall; some were circled, ...

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Storm of Duality

Submitted to Contest #288

“Not again. Not so soon.” Margaret’s whisper carried over the silence of the house. With a fierce grip, she bit her remaining fingernail, tearing a piece off and causing the skin to bleed. Margaret stood at the window as the sky brooded, thick with the weight of an impending storm. Dark clouds churned in slow agony, twisting and folding over themselves as if writhing in torment. This storm, she knew, would continue for days. Long agonizing days. A sharp gust of wind rattled the glass, and she flinched. The leaves outside skittered like restl...

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Stormy Night

Submitted to Contest #288

Eli Carter stood in the middle of Elm Street, rain pouring down like God’s own wrath, drenching him to the bone. The water hit the pavement so hard it bounced, a million tiny suicides leaping from the sky only to splatter and die. The streetlights flickered, their weak yellow halos barely piercing the downpour. His shoes squelched with each step, and his breath came in tight little gasps. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there. Minutes? Hours? A lifetime? He had no memory of how he got here. A second ago—or maybe an eternity—he ha...

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The Drought

Submitted to Contest #288

Summer died fifty years ago, and autumn never came. The sky was a hard shell of endless blue, unbroken by clouds, as if God had dipped His paintbrush in cobalt and forgotten to rinse it out. Heatwaves shimmered off the asphalt like restless ghosts, and the air tasted faintly of burnt rubber and dust—the stale breath of a town stuck in time. Cedar Ridge had always been small, a thumbprint on the back roads of nowhere. There were farms, of course, though most had dried up and blown away with the last real rain. What remained were brittle corn ...

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In The Alley

Submitted to Contest #288

In The Alley You never know when or exactly where I, the Destroyer, will strike. I respect no one, people, animals, houses, or possessions. Hear me roar as I approach. Dark clouds and sky announce my coming. Witness my violence. Trees fall. Glass shatters. Puny man-made cars flip over. Roofs are ripped off. Light poles are bent. There is no stopping me.*** “A storm is coming, Mitzi, I can feel it in my old bones,” Gladys Moore said to her cat that morning. “Better turn on the news to see if the weather people know anything.” Gladys had lived...

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Is that a TRAIN

Submitted to Contest #288

With extreme speed the wind brushed against my face, blew my hair into my eyes, and tangled it around my head and neck. I clawed at the long red strands as I watched clouds begin to swirl, moving into a large circular motion.  Twelve O'clock, noon and the skies were as dark as night. The few clouds that showed up against the dark sky, were as huge grayish white pillows running across the sky. The wind became swifter and colder in a matter of seconds. I ran towards the house for shelter as fast as my legs could carry me. Then the rain ca...

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Paranoid Delusions

Submitted to Contest #288

The wind buffeted him wildly, and the rain hammered down relentlessly. He was walking near the local creek, which was connected to the suburbs storm water drains, but this particular area was just rocks, shrubs, trees and water. Hastily, he made his way down to the muddy stream, which at this time was pitch black, and stepped into the water. This would be a sort of baptism. He descended into the water, and dunked himself in it. It was too shallow to cover his entire body, so he splashed some water onto his head.Now h...

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In Our Blood

Submitted to Contest #288

“—Can expect heavy thunderstorms from 9pm to 3am,” Chris’ radio buzzed as he trundled down the exit to the rest stop, windshield wipers working overtime as the rain and wind pelted his semi. He would have to wait out the storm, lest he risk ending up in a ditch. All the better for me, he thought to himself as he pulled up to the truck stop. I can finally look for someone to play with.  Chris had been a trucker for years, enjoying the solitude of the road and the freedoms it granted him. Were he to succeed at hi...

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Eye of the Storm

Submitted to Contest #288

Introduction: The Unyielding Storm Windridge always seemed excessively quiet—a town that appeared to be holding its breath in trepidation. Its cliffs, sharp and ominous, loomed like ancient sentinels over the churning sea, their secrets buried deep within. However, when the storms unleashed their wrath, an energy permeated the air that felt almost sentient. The locals locked themselves inside, barricaded against the howling winds and tumultuous waters. They pretended it was merely another storm, but Sarah Morris understood better. She could...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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