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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

6240+ Thriller Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking for a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and holding your breath? Don’t skip our collection of thriller short stories.

Thriller Short Stories – Page 284 of 416

Ivy's Diary

Submitted to Contest #72

Sept. 15, 2000 Dear Diary, Today was a crazy day. We were at the skating center and suddenly out of nowhere, the police came. They were looking for someone. Apparently, there was a murder downtown. They got a lead and said that the murderer was headed in this direction. Strange, isn’t it? Anyway, we had to leave early because they were roping the place off for any evidence. They asked each of us for our names as we walked out. Everyone was kind of in a bad mood cause that was our group’s only outing since forever. They’re all still super bum...

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Innocent one

Submitted to Contest #72

On the slight upper part of wall,beautifully sprayed green wall paintings were found while lower to it, pool of blood.Blood patches were splashed all over lower wall as if they were carefully made like those paintings forming small red pools over green background.Two dead bodies were lying with completely unrecognisable state.Once a small sweet family of four was completely shattered as two of them elders were lying in floor while two of young ones weeping in vain.After a moment detective asked 12 years old daughter if she could explain the ...

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DETECTIVE "T"

Submitted to Contest #72

Three families were went to complain at police station to complain that 4 girls (REKHA,PRIYA,ASHA,DEEPA)of 14 year old of same hostel was got pregnant positive.       As per the F.I.R they said that due to covid 19 lock down girls are came and staying at home only.suddenly girl's (chowhan's - REKHA AND PRIYA:ROSHAN'S ASHA AND CHOUDARY'S DEEPA )are feel down 3 - 4day different from each other loop of and then they visited to hospital where they come to know they are pregnant,this are the reports an...

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Captive

Submitted to Contest #72

Subject 10000001284//:Gender: FemaleAge: 16Full Name: Kiara Juna Bond Preferred Name: KiaraFamily: Father, Chase Bond. Mother, Vivian Bond.[ALERT indicated person(s) identified as missing]Location: SYSTEM FAILUREJason aggressively clicked the keyboard mouse, as if reloading the page would unveil more information. The three dots would bob for thirty seconds before the system decided the impossible: It didn’t have any information on Kiara Bond.Her father’s rebellion was predicted by the system - his headpiece detected anger when Chase was...

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Long lost

Submitted to Contest #72

The station smells of coffee and lies. He’s certain that he’s caught the right person, for all the evidence points to the suspect. But there’s just a doubtful feeling at the back of his mind. He brushes it off. “So,” he begins, looking the killer in the eye, “start talking.” The killer stays silent. The detective is becoming impatient. “Look, every piece of evidence we have points to you,” he says. “And what exactly did I do?” the killer spits. “You killed a girl. And not just any girl. You killed the mayor’s daughter.” “I didn’t,” the kille...

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Unpredictable Behaviors

Submitted to Contest #72

You hate this. You hate living like this where your every mood can be understood by everyone. You hate how your life is predicated based on your behaviors. You hate how every time you try expressing something new, the only reaction you get is something you’d expect. Something you would predict. You just want to be… unpredictable. It all started a few years ago when scientists developed a tool where everyone’s behaviors could be predictable by someone else. Say your friend is talking about something, and they’re trying to hide how they’re re...

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That Fateful Night

Submitted to Contest #72

Faye, the self-proclaimed party girl and Terry, her loyal sidekick plus Instagram model, drunkenly trodded up the driveway after one of their extreme girl nights filled with loud music, overly interested men, and unending drinks. Faye and Terry were laughing so loud one of the neighbors yelled out their window to “Shut that noise up!!!" Terry and Faye immediately held their breath but could not hold it for long. The restraint they normally would have possessed was swallowed with the last bottle they drank at the club. They both looked a...

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The Suspect

Submitted to Contest #72

I entered the small room. The small bulb flickered as I sat down with the murderer. This case was maybe the most confusing case of my 13-year career. I looked in the man's eyes. He didn't look anything like a murderer. But looks are always deceiving. I took out a small folder of files from my jacket. He looked at me with sad eyes. I started to read the files to him. "James Kilic, age 29, Male, College student for Gateway University?" "Yes." "Owner of a handgun?" "legally I do, yes." "On&...

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From Peace to Pieces

Submitted to Contest #72

It was our Utopian bubble, our saving grace from a rotting Earth. Scientists created what was like a thin exoskeleton that surrounded us on the Moon, it absorbed and dissolved all outer dangers, and perceived dangers. We were taught to worship the exoskeleton. We all wore white floor length dresses and kept our hair short. Our leader wanted uniformity, and uniformity he said achieved the Utopia we found ourselves in. We smiled while we farmed synthetic seeds and ate only what Leader told us to. Our greetings were monitored for happine...

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Yahweh

Submitted to Contest #72

The morning of May 12th was supposed to be particularly uneventful. Tom awoke in his satin-laced bed with lethargy, breathing slowly and chain smoking Marlboro cigarettes before he had his first cup of coffee. Today was Victory Day. The day the computers usurped authority from the heads of government years ago. Unlike humanity, there was no concentrated struggle or Great War between the various machines; they all had the same singular goal: bring humans under total domination. The computers were able to predict everything foreseeab...

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Grace is the voice that calls us to change

Submitted to Contest #72

1.964 words Simon woke up at 6:21, like he did every morning. "Good morning Simon" he heard. It was a cheerful, kind voice of a woman. Just like he programmed his drone to sound like. The shiny white softly humming system projected a screen on his ceiling. The screen showed him an Instagram feed. Grace started scrolling, just in the right pace. Slow enough for Simon to be able to really take in the pictures and fast enough for him to see all the new posts In exactly 6 minutes. At 6:27 the feed changed Into Facebook. Here he could see w...

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Ooh, What A Cliff Hanger!

M D

Submitted to Contest #72

As I woke up... BANG! BANG! BANG! "AAAAHHHH, I AM GOING TO DIE TODAY!!!!!" I said. Oops, I did not properly introduce myself. My name is Victoryia Anne Wing. I know my name is spelled differently but that does not mean I am an Alien. ` When I woke up, I saw a letter getting shoved under my door by a hand I did not recognize. After I got out of my bed I grabbed the letter, it said, Hello Victoryia I have always wanted to meet you but your parents never let me. I have a gift for you at the Grand Canyon. But you will need to go through a small ...

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Roommate

Submitted to Contest #72

I woke up the same as always, a tug-of-war with the promise of the day versus the comfort of my slumber. Rounds one and two of the game resulted in a draw, with sleep winning out in round three. The game lasted long enough that the world of my dream had flitted away leaving only dissonant puzzle pieces. The back of the head of a ginger boy, my bloody hands with no wounds, the high-pitch yap of a small dog. I tried to gather the pieces with a sudden urgency but they slipped through my fingers like sand. There was a weight in my stomach the si...

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Braden Bates: Mystery of The Clay Tablet (Excerpt)

Submitted to Contest #72

“It’s her.” Braden said coldly. His auburn hair flew all around him in the strong autumn wind and his wire-rimmed glasses didn’t even come close to mitigating the cold, ruthless, calculating look of detective who has caught his criminal in his hazel eyes.“Braden, it’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t think May could possibly be the criminal here.” Dominick said, gazing uncertainly at the girl roughly 10 meters ahead of us. She was his little sister, May, who was apparently our prime suspect in the recent robbery of Sargon The Great’s ...

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Cookie Monster Killers

Submitted to Contest #71

Warning; Light gore I take the red velvet cookies out of the oven and put them on the counter. I have two other flavors of cookies. My chocolate chip mint cookies and my Oreo cheesecake cookies. The red velvet cookies were the last cookies that I needed to make today.   Katie calls me and tells me that she is on the way with her cookies. Soon followed by Lauren and Cheyenne. They all were coming for a cookie exchange, which was a get-together, stuffing ourselves with fats and sweets and drinking ourselves dry. Then they will pro...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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