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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.

8650+ 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 570 of 577

The ember in her eyes

Submitted to Contest #62

I have been to this place once and never have I imagined it again. Here in my field of vision, awoke a teeming forest. A woodland sworn to protection. Therefore I sat at its center and reminisced about the birds; singing a song only they knew somewhere in the tree tops above me and then I felt the heat of the sun sear my acne-filled back. Sadly I hadn't had any alkaline water in my purse and drank my saliva instead. Eventually the stillness became overwhelming. I was safe to keep on moving. Upon my first step I crushed the dried mud and ...

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Forward Remembrance

Submitted to Contest #62

I woke up this morning without any memories of my past. I first tried to remember what movie I watched before going to sleep. I couldn’t seem to remember what I watched or when I went to sleep. Now this didn’t alarm me, but when I couldn’t seem to recall anything from the past, this sent me into a panic. I tried with all my might to remember where I was born, my parents’ names or faces, if I had any siblings, and how I ended up in New Haven. All of these questions remained a mystery, but there is still something even more surprising for me t...

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A Winding Path

Submitted to Contest #62

Ever since I was a little kid I was told exactly how my life was going to play out. I was born into a rich family, who did everything they could to give me a good life and education. That meant I got a chip placed into my wrist.. Now, for all those Christians out there, sorry but no, it’s not the end of times. The chip only tells them what my future holds.  Most people are only told small snippets of their future, only see flashes of what they are supposed to be. Me? I see everything, and my family takes that for granted. To see my fu...

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Mother Mortality

Submitted to Contest #62

Lisa Angel had a gift. Whenever her gift would activate, she could never remember the day of her birth or major events in her past. Sometimes Lisa’s gift would give her nightmares. She could see into the future, but she could only see people’s deaths. Lisa’s morbid clairvoyance manifested when she was 5 years old.Now Lisa was 37 years old. She was the mother of a tall, dark, and handsome young man named AJ. Lisa’s son didn’t know about his mother’s gift until he experienced it firsthand one night. He went to visit his girlfriend. While kissi...

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The Runaway

Submitted to Contest #62

The crisp golden leaves crunch beneath my boots. A stray cat, reduced to mere skin and bones, streaks past, fleeing a predator I cannot see. I plunge through the chilly autumn breeze, grappling with my flimsy coat, cursing under my breath. I sniff the air and grimace. I smell a storm. I imagine myself getting drenched to the bone, trudging through these abandoned streets, shivering in a bus stop with a stranger. I imagine days of sickness, a battle with death, an escaped car crash. I imagine months stuck in that hospital, again, trying to ...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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"Minus"

Submitted to Contest #62

I’m not sure why, or even how this whole thing happened. My parents told me a bunch of complicated things about volcanic eruptions and how the sky was full of ash, and how it wasn’t safe to be outside for long periods of time anymore, or even at all. Now a desolate Earth lurks just outside the doors of my home. Those things had torn into the only remaining houses on my old neighborhood block. The ash-filled sky out there is dull, the air thick with smoke.  But Minus, my AI, made me a beautiful home that allows me to be safe and entire...

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The Past Erased

Submitted to Contest #62

“The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar. It was tense” - Lex Martin Daisy opened her eyes and looked at the reflection in the mirrored glass in the hospital room. Who is that? She thought. The figure had several bandages on her face and arms. A nurse approached her bedside, saw her wide eyes, and quickly summoned other staff members. “Code amber room 216” nurse Julie said softly into the speaker of the watch she wore on her wrist. That was code for “she’s awake, come quickly.” The message was spok...

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Saving Billy

Submitted to Contest #62

“How long do you plan to keep putting this off?The words pierced through Marie Stanford's peace of mind, threatening to suffocate her. These intrusions always gave her the same sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.Though the sudden interruption rattled her inside, she kept lacing her brand-new saddle wood boots, which had just arrived by UPS. After she finished, she glanced up to give the man an eye roll, letting him know she wasn't pleased.The strangers always found them. She and her husband, Gary, finally ended up returning to Stone Plai...

33 likes 7 comments 7
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Mack

Submitted to Contest #62

Some people are born into wealth. Some are born into fairytales. Neither was the case for Macy Duffington. Jenny Duffington, an unwed spinster, knew her daughter would have to repay her debts. That didn’t stop the family though. Macy and Jenny worked hand in hand to pay off their debts. Macy didn’t know a lot about her father, and in some ways, it was better that she didn’t know. Then, when Macy turned thirteen, Jenny got sick. Macy was now responsible for both their personal debts as well as her mother’s declining health. Overworked, Macy n...

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A Twisted Contest

Submitted to Contest #62

A Twisted Contest  “I can’t believe it! I can’t, I mean, we were so close to the date!!” I squealed excitingly.  “Yes, we are. Now calm down Alisha. Don’t get too excited about it...” warned my best friend, Leya.   In another week or so, the most amazing contest was going to be held, “The Annual Artist Fair!!”. I was precisely getting all my supplies ready for that contest. Though it is one week ahead, it never hurts to be prepared. Leya was trying to calm me down because I accidentall...

57 likes 13 comments 13
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The Long Journey

Submitted to Contest #62

           It was the beginning of the twenty-fourth century and much of the world had been destroyed. Nuclear devastation combined with inconsideration for global resources had sent the population into a downward spiral.            A small, privately-owned research facility located somewhere beneath the Arizona desert had been anticipating such a worldwide catastrophe and started on the design of a long-range passenger aircraft capa...

13 likes 4 comments 4
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The Confection That Travelled Through Time

Submitted to Contest #62

"What on God's grey earth is a liquorice string? I thought pills were ample for all of us ?" said Liza , with her eyes bulging brutally , anger or incredulity was indistinguishable . She then took a peek inside the pig sized cylindrical capsule full of red and green and magenta and cyan strings and pill-like brown stuff labelled 'Edible Toffees'. She glared at old Edward standing at an impassé beside the capsule but it appeared as if he was lost in deep thought.  "Edward ! Edward ! What are these objects and why do you know ab...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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Sleeping Atlas

Submitted to Contest #62

That night on the way home from work, she was attacked. She worked an office job, and after an hour of overwork, she got into her car at midnight. She wanted to tell her husband and apologize for coming home late, but her phone had run out of battery. Her husband was a writer and he worked from home and would even cook dinner for her, and she would come home, tired, to the delight of seeing him and the dinner ready to be served. But that night, they came and attacked her. She and her husband live in a more rural part, a little further from ...

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Tomorrow’s Words

Submitted to Contest #62

Out of the blue, the boy appeared in front of me.“I want to die!” he sobbed, rivulets of tears streaming down his chubby cheeks.It’s not often that children step into the path of an oncoming bike, holding out the palm of their hand as a traffic warden would. Had he had run away from home after a hiding?“I really want to die. It hurts. It hurts so much.” The words came out in gasps. This was not the time to offer platitudes. I got off my bike and hugged him, then rummaged in my backpack to get him a tissue. I also fished out a bottl...

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Forward Thinking

Submitted to Contest #62

Footsteps echoed down the hallway. They paused as their owner peered into a room. The door creaked slightly as they shut the door behind. Stephanie could hear them as they searched for her, moving files and shifting furniture. As if they thought she was hiding behind a desk. She glanced around. It was an ordinary office. Nowhere to hide. They’d find her quickly. She felt a violent shiver go through her body. She couldn’t let them find her. She had to hide. The footsteps were getting louder. Maybe the person was in the room next door. Ignorin...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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