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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.

8840+ 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 397 of 590

Last meal

Submitted to Contest #100

The scent of delicious food filled his nose as he started waking up, the sound of chains rattling on par with every move he made. The entire room was shrouded in darkness save for where he was seated, an overhanging chandelier at the exact center of a table casting just enough light for both ends and every tray and plate on to be illuminated. While somewhere inside there of the room the sound of classical music came out of unseen speakers, the quality of each piece far too tarnished by the poor quality of the loudspeakers and the rebound of ...

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Just Another Anniversary Dinner

Submitted to Contest #100

Just Another Anniversary Dinner After finishing up the day’s work, I logged off and put my computer away. I was giddy with excitement. It was our five-year anniversary. I’d left work earlier than normal to get things set up. Walking over to my room, I smiled at the framed picture over the fireplace. It was taken exactly a year ago, right after Kieran had proposed to me on top of the Ferris Wheel. Just as I opened the door to my room, I heard some noise. I wasn’t sure if Kieran was home. He should be home earlier than normal, considering wh...

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Regina's Revenge

Submitted to Contest #100

Regina "The Vagina" Manning had never been invited to or thrown any parties in high-school. Why she would've hosted a dinner party just before Greenville High's class of '11's ten year reunion was anybody's guess. Chelsea frowned as she re-read the invitation aloud. "You are cordially invited to a special dinner at the home of Regina Manning," she quoted. "Dinner will be served at 6:30pm RSVP by May 10th 2021." Chelsea pursed her rose pink lips as she turned to face her husband, Chad. "She must've sent this to the wrong address," sh...

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A Coincidental Encounter Between Two Pleasant People

Submitted to Contest #100

I A man is driving to Portland. The view on his left, blurred by the rain and the fruitless struggling of his windshield wipers, is consumed by bulbous mountains that tumble towards the sky. Wreathes of fog like cotton wind through an ocean of pines. The road ahead declines and curves around the mountain before being consumed by forest. On the right, a muddy shore that ends too soon into a yawning gorge, the river wide and flat.  Across the river there are more mountains held at bay by the water, and a railway, and another highway coun...

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The New World of RED

Submitted to Contest #100

PART ONE A girl named Lu found her father dead in his lab. A microscope stood on the counter, red blood stained the white wash floors. Someone had killed her father, and she knew exactly why. Earlier that day, she'd heard her father on the phone. In a frantic manner he said, "I only have today. They know everything." Lu had no idea what her father was talking about then. Her eyebrows furrowed as she listened on to her award winning scientist father; a man who was obsessed with finding a cure to CVX-13. She knew asking him about the cal...

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Cantine

Submitted to Contest #100

I sat down heavily in the cantine. There were plenty of empty tables, even in the evening, even that day. Only a few were under the shade though, and the handful of us all sat at those few tables. So, we were apart but together. Everyone who wanted a table of their own had it, but there were two young men sharing their food together.  “You’re going to love it here, and you’re going to love this.” said one to the other. His companion was very tall and had the wrong hair to be really local, eagerly took the offered food.  “Didn’t...

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Dinner For Two

Submitted to Contest #100

“It’s quite simple; I have been making this for quite some time.” The oddly shaped man was toiling over a kitchen counter in a very poorly lit part of the room. Chopping sounds could be heard as his back was turned to me. He was working away and humming loudly - a small old-fashioned radio covered in a thick coat of dust was blaring oldies. The large man was sweating as he slapped erratically at the vegetables in front of him. It smelled of herbs and onions in the room -  it had a strong pungent smell. A slap and a thud -  I could...

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Banchet

Submitted to Contest #100

I couldn’t help but to think of my mother, the opinions she’d have about my choice of side dish, surely she’d think it’s inadequate, she always pride herself on giving very balanced meals and, in some curious way that seemed to only made sense in her head, make those meals to fit every guest in a specific way; as a recurrent guest I never had any complain on the infinite meals she placed in front of me, but as an extension of her I have the little grouse on how that part of her genetics didn’t manage to manifest on me, being that why now I’m...

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The Visitor

Submitted to Contest #100

The key clicked in the lock, and the front door squeaked open. Startled, Ananya rushed towards the kitchen. Her mother had asked her to mince the garlic into a paste, to make chutney. But, the moment she left, Ananya along with her ten-year-old brother had been glued to the television. “How come onions hike up within a week?” Janaki tucked the loose end of her sari, and placed the grocery bags on the kitchen counter. “Stop grumbling ma!” “Grumbling?” she said. “You too will, when you have to run a family on your own!” Ananya made a sour face...

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Nothing Ever Happens in Breda

Submitted to Contest #100

Nothing ever happened in Breda.  Josephine had that realization much earlier, not long after arriving in the provincial Dutch town. A gentle bolt of excitement had jolted through her body back then, as she packed up her bags following her marriage to Joost to follow him back to his hometown. It had been what people call a whirlwind romance, yet falling into every category of predictability. They met through friends in common in college. The courtship was brief and he showered her with spring tulips throughout. By the next fall, they w...

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Sickly

Submitted to Contest #100

There were sheep grazing in the rain behind the gothic mansion on top of the hill. The estate was unsettling at best, but Frank Wallace had been a policeman for twenty-five years, and ivy-eaten stone walls and decrepit towers did not impress him at all. Frank turned off the lights and pulled himself out of his patrol vehicle with a grunt, his back sore from the drive. The middle of nowhere was no place to keep a house in his mind, but the worst was to imagine that more than a single lunatic had chosen to live here, namely the odd lady in he...

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Cabbage

Submitted to Contest #100

Cabbage. It was the cabbage’s fault, wasn’t it? Why did the cabbage sit at the back of the fridge all these weeks? Why did it go yellow and slimy? Why did it decompose and rot? Why did you have to smell like shit in the fridge? It’s all your fault cabbage. If you were gone, or thrown away mere minutes ago, none of this would have happened. But it’s too late now, isn’t it? He saw it. And now he is angry. ----------------------- While we were waiting for dinner, I was studying for my finals. Biology is a captivating topic of mine to study...

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What happened that night?

Submitted to Contest #100

I wake up, where am I? I'm laying on something, it's soft. I open my eyes. I'm in bed. The bed is nicely arranged which tells me that I did not sleep under the covers. I try to lift my head, but I can't. I lift my hand to rub my now aching head.  “Where am i?” I see my hand, it's covered in liquid. I squint, not being able to see well, I don't know what it is. I close my eyes against the fact that my head is now throbbing. I pull my hands close to me, trying to lift myself off the bed and into an upright position. I make it half way the...

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Fish in white wine sauce

Submitted to Contest #100

“It’s her birthday tomorrow,” Jerry said. “What should we do for her?” asked Suzie. “We could go to her favorite restaurant,” Jerry replied. “We can’t afford it. Could we invite her over to our house for dinner?” Suzie suggested. “That’s a great idea!” Jerry exclaimed. “We’ll have to invite everyone else too.” “That’s ok,” Suzie said. “I can handle it.” Suzie grabbed her notepad and started to make a list. She didn’t have much time. What would she prepare for dinner? Something easy but impressive. Suzie thought hard. Chicken? Lamb? No, tha...

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THE SECRET HIDDEN IN THE YELLOW

Submitted to Contest #100

THE SECRET HIDDEN IN THE YELLOW The yellow cake stood out on the table, spreading a very light ,barely perceptible scent, yet absolutely irresistible, all pervading. It tasted of vanilla sugar, enhanced by the fragrance of rustled corn, you could also perceive in it the sweet smell, with just a pinch of apple sour, and even that fragrance which seemed of milk mixed with wood bark, of the walnut. In fact apples and nuts were, along  with corn flour, the main ingredients of that cake, the Margaret’s YELLOW CAKE. ...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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