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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.

8790+ 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 477 of 586

Zy

Submitted to Contest #82

I ran until my legs ached beneath me, I ran until my lungs were about to burst, I ran until my knees had unbuckled, the asphalt ground hitting my face. I crawled at the nearby narrow alley in between two condominium buildings and hid behind a tower of boxes. I cradled my right elbow as pain shot throughout my arm.  The smell of gravel, rain, and rubbish-filled my nose as I inhaled deeply trying to calm myself. At a distance, I heard the shooting of guns, the faint screaming of the people. I looked up at the moonlit sky and watched as ...

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I Think...

Submitted to Contest #82

I’m Ally, I go to a regular school, in a regular suburb community. Or so I thought. A couple months before this crazy… umm whatever you call it started happening. On the news there was a story about a guy who supposedly was an android and well… looked completely normal, he looked like a human and you would never notice he wasn’t. Nobody in our community or anybody in that matter cared, that was until, what happened. I would almost call it barbaric. Now you probably are wondering what in the world I am talking about.   In July ...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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"Alexa, Why Do You Hate Me?"

Submitted to Contest #82

Harvey Jates had no idea what he had done to deserve the wrath of his Alexa. When he had first bought her, she was helpful and polite. She’d even told him good morning every day that he would ask for the weather.  Somewhere along the way, he must have done something to upset her.  At first, he simply noticed the lack of enthusiasm from his AI assistant. She answered his questions with short simple answers and never wished him good morning or good night. Talking to her had become like talking to an ex after a bad breakup.  H...

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ℂ𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕋𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣

Submitted to Contest #82

Antarctica, 2023. "Sarah!"  "Yeah!" I shouted."Go get on the sat-phone and tell them drilling will have to wait. It's too windy to try to get a core sample!" "10-4!"I trudged against the strong Antarctic winds to the base and took my gloves off as I entered. "Ow, shit!" "What happened?" Bill asked as he came through the base door."It shocked me.""It's a sat-phone Sarah. They don't shock you." He asserted as he picked it up to make the call. "See!" He shook it back and forth at me."What's going on?" Carlos asked walki...

34 likes 12 comments 12
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Hey, Siri

Submitted to Contest #82

It all begins on what seems like the loveliest spring day, when the monster first strikes. I'm standing barefoot on the damp green grass filming a TikTok video on my shiny, brand new iPhone, until suddenly my screen just turns pitch black. I feel like crying."No," I whine, "I just charged it!""Well, maybe try charging it again," Dominique shrugs, sitting cross-legged on a red plaid tarp, "sometimes phones will glitch. It's really nothing to worry about."Dominique has been my ride-or-die since diapers, though I have a large group of friends t...

21 likes 34 comments 34
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A Scission in the System

Submitted to Contest #82

The sky stood bleak, yet tranquil. The hours flew by like the fish in the rivers; now grey as the pollution of humanity has corrupted all, from the heights of the Himalayas to the depths of Tartarus. Axel stood solemnly as his mind traversed the vacant field of 1’s and 0’s up until the point where only a void could be found, henceforth he moved northbound towards the ever-ungrateful city of Scalstead. A city of smog surrounded by the sickening sense of society, a horrid place well-known for its distaste in morality; perfect for an individual...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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Repeat Eternity

Submitted to Contest #82

My system is almost identical; I have the artificial equivalent of the average adult human nervous system and my exterior design mirrors theirs. My differences go unnoticed by them despite my unusual habit of simply standing and wait in private areas during the night cycle. I remain aware of the transferability of my memories and consciousness – the transferability of my lifeforce. My creator gifted me endless rebirth and like a god bestowing their divinity upon their child, I was made immortal. Every time I die, I am somehow brought back th...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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Maybe Tractors Shouldn't be Able to Drive Themselves

Submitted to Contest #82

You’ve heard of self-driving cars and remote usage of drones but within the next ten years, a whole new kind of self-driving technology will be on the market. It’s the way of the future, replacing human transit and machinery with technology that can do this itself. An aid to humankind and it would turn out to be a great asset. However, people, just like with self-driving cars are apprehensive of self-driving tractors.  In its prototype testing phase, the results were surprisingly great. The self-driving tractors were functional and wer...

18 likes 0 comments 0
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Play Along

Submitted to Contest #82

The mission is simple as always: infiltrate the human group, pretend to be a human, last android standing gets to remain in development. Fail, and you are terminated. The storylines of the missions range, you could be in a dystopian simulation, where you have to work with survivors fighting against androids. You could be on a romantic date. It varies, but the objective, as Ms Themis reminds me, is to blend. I must perfectly mimic human interaction. Today's simulation is interesting. I must hang out with a group of teenagers at the beac...

74 likes 21 comments 21
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Sweet Dreams (That Grim Abyss)

Submitted to Contest #82

Estelle woke bolt upright with her mouth twisted into a rictus, a scream trapped in her throat. Her hands relaxed unsteadily from the claws she had gripped her pillow with, but her heartbeat continued to race. She focused on her breathing, slowly coming down from the high of terror that had enveloped and suffocated her nightly for the past week.Ripping the Sleep Dot from her temple, she threw an exasperated glance at her husband. His striking features were softened and childish in sleep, the epitome of peacefulness. Estelle grumbled, “T...

22 likes 11 comments 11
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The warm-up

Submitted to Contest #82

–So, how was your date?–Have I told you I was going to have a date?–You did. Last week. The girl you met on Shippin’.–Oh, that’s right. Now that you brought it up, I’d rather not talk about it –just for a second, I cling to the hope she would just let it pass.–I’m guessing the date didn’t go exactly as expected? Perhaps you are being too selective?I’m not. I’d give anything to find a good girl and keep her safe by my side.–It’s that damn app. I swear: it’s picking on me! Last time it set me up with that crazy lady from Atlanta who straight p...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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AWAKE

Submitted to Contest #82

Matt had always been a geek but cool too, he went to the University of California to pursue a career in Soft ware and web design. Growing up, Matt had always been a creative genius, he would make literally anything imaginable on his computer. He had designed a dating web site once in senior high school and everyone loved it and he had met his lover Beth off it. Matt considered this the best site he had ever created because it brought Beth to him. Along the way however, he and Beth fell out because just like in every love story, individuals ...

17 likes 6 comments 6
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Aias

Submitted to Contest #82

Progression Diary, 22 January 2543 The year is 2543. I’m happy to say that my partner and I just launched our new app. We’ve been working on it for the last several years. Ever since that outbreak in 2535, every resident became sick. We still couldn’t figure out what exactly it was, but it was there. The virus called “Vulcan” is affecting everyone since then. The virus makes people heat up randomly, and they can’t endure the body temperature, so people often die. We couldn’t figure out what caused it, or what we can do against it, but this...

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Loose Wires

Submitted to Contest #82

"Mom I'm Home" Mariam called out when she got home. "Great, how was school" Mom replied. "Normal" Mariam responded. Mom just cocked her eyebrow. Mariam walked into the kitchen. god, I'm starving Mariam thought. She grabbed some leftovers from last night's dinner, then she walked over to the microwave which had her brother’s food in it. "Ibraheem get your food already” “Coming, bossy!” Ibraheem ran into the kitchen and grabbed his food from the microwave, Mariam made a face at him and put her food into the microwave. Right when she put h...

12 likes 1 comment 1
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Don't mess with them

Submitted to Contest #82

The video showed two anonymous hands putting eggs and flour and sugar in a plastic box and sealing it with a green, plastic lid and some gaffa tape. Next, the hands threw the box into a washing machine together with dirty towels and a pair of socks. Cut to a close up on a dial on the machine, hand turning it up to maximum temperature. Short sequence showing the washing machine working. Then the hands open the machine and remove the box, open the lid - and voilá; lifting out a perfectly baked bread. “Great job, guys. Put that after the micro...

15 likes 7 comments 7
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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