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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.

6300+ 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 345 of 420

Birthday Party

Submitted to Contest #60

The Sun just woke-up. Nature announced the arrival in its rhythm. Birds were busy chirping. The wind was blowing with utmost speed & it rattled the trees. All elements were cheering in their unique way to create a peaceful & calm environment.  Amidst that peaceful atmosphere, there was a magnificent villa. The owner of that villa was a Tech-Company CEO. His name was Kevin. His name was associated with at least 72 patents that revolutionized the world and gave Humans another chance of survival.  Kevin uplifted humanity w...

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Toxic Waste First Date

Submitted to Contest #60

I don't know what caught my eye first. Her beautiful smile or the wiggling green tentacle that was infused to her cheek. She had a strut that could cause zipper chafing in any room full of men anywhere. Her name was Kate and she'd been reborn out of a glowing puddle of toxic waste and floating spa cucumber slices. I was busy decapitating the head of a dog for lunch when I saw her. The dog's leg had been fortunately caught under the wheel of a truck of a driver who'd crashed after being impaled through the heart by a stray meteor shard. The...

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Awakening

Submitted to Contest #60

The man opened his eyes.  He lay on the floor of a kitchen next to two overturned chairs. Rolling on to his side he used one to help him stand up, blinking, and shook his head in an unsuccessful attempt to clear the fog within.  Shutters outside the window above the sink blocked out most of the day’s light but a thin line of it illuminated two doorways on either side of the room. He leaned over and picked up first one chair, then the other, pushing them back under the table against the wall, and made for the door on the right.&nbsp...

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2021

Submitted to Contest #60

“Voice memo- Timestamp- 21:43, December 31, 2021. Hole in my shoe. Hole in my shoe. Hole in my shoe. Damnit. Cold outside. Cold. My thoughts tend to flutter a bit nowadays. You get a little off your rocker when you have been completely alone for such a long period of time. You would think my introverted spirit would thrive during times like this, but then again I have always been just a little bit psycho, at least that's what my friends used to jokingly remark when life was normal. What a word, normal is. What a goddamn word. Honestly a bit ...

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Ice Cold

Submitted to Contest #60

"Guys come this way," A man gestured, face covered with a scarf. "They haven't heard us yet."A woman and a child came rushing out of a nearby alley in the cover of darkness making their way into the convenience store.The boy stumbled along the way. The man cursed under his breadth. As he made his way to come and help the two of them. When he heard the most horrifying sound. A screech that rang out into the night. Shattering the silence that had lay solemnly over the city of Surrey. A large urban city just north of Washington.The woman rushed...

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Love in the Time of Zombies (an Amish Romance Zombie Apocalypse tale)

Submitted to Contest #60

Joseph Yoder wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked out over his fields. His fields... he rolled that phrase around his mind a few times. The rich black soil he'd been slaving to plow was his—but it was not something he had looked forward to owning. He’d had to take the farm over when his Dat passed a few weeks ago. He’d stepped up to run the seventy-five acres himself, just to support his Mamm and sisters,  He’d just put the last seed in the ground for his first crop of feed corn—it had taken a lot of effort, but he was please...

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Hopeless

Submitted to Contest #60

When people think about climate change, they think about the slow crawl of our ozone depletion. They think about the smoke pouring out of factories, the waste being dumped into our rivers and lakes. They think about the crap that spews out of cars on the highway. Some people think about the animals that lose their homes and die because of deforestation. They see images of rivers drying up, forests wilting and dying, turning into deserts. What some people notice however, are the effects that nuclear weaponry is going to have on our atmosphere...

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Belong

Submitted to Contest #60

"Jesus Christ…" Sam said lowly as he peered through the telescope. They stood on the second-floor balcony of their ski cabin overlooking the hill that led to their front door. "That is a lot of zombies…" "I've never seen a horde this big…" Nico said. "Where are they coming from?"  "They have to be from the city. Probably because of all the bullets Daniel fired getting back here." Sandra glared at Daniel who sat on a beanbag chair in the corner of the room.  "Y'all wanna sit here pushing blame around?" Daniel said as he took a...

6 likes 1 comment 1
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Running from Fear

Submitted to Contest #60

Henry was running, running as fast as he could. He ran past the empty streets of what used to be his home and the alleys where he used to play.  He ran past his school and all the places he used to know. He ran faster and thought his heart mise well beat right out of his chest. He could feel the adrenaline in his blood, but he didn’t care; he was just focused on running. Running and running and running. He didn’t need to be the fastest, just faster than those behind him. The zombies were blood-thirsty things and he didn’t want to die to...

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The 7th Corpse

Submitted to Contest #60

I remember the day of the first apocalypse. Bridget was watching the Disney Channel, Mom was cooking in the kitchen, and Dad was sitting in the armchair, glasses on and newspaper in hand. That was the last moment of normal I ever knew. It was 5 years ago, I was only 14 years old. I can’t forget that. It was the single most horrifying moment of my life. Sirens started to wail as our door burst open, making us all jump. I remember the one that had ended my family’s life. It was a mature adult male, it’s nose and most of its fingers missing. A...

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Asylum, the Bloodless City

Submitted to Contest #60

A scarf of thick, marble-colored fur tickled the soft part of his neck, where his stubble had not yet grown coarse enough to ward off the biting cold that encased Asylum like a shell. The heat of Naoki’s drink sank through the fur-lined skin of his clawed glove and went down like liquid fire. He knew better than to complain in this place. It was not Oasis with its unending heat wave, nor Harbor with its onslaught of storms; Asylum had its own charm. When snowflakes weren’t raking flesh from raw pink cheeks - and one wore their snow goggles...

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Tainted

Submitted to Contest #60

I sit in the cargo hold of an overturned lorry, my legs pulled tightly to my body so that the droplets of rain seeping through the cracks can’t touch me. It has been falling in torrents for hours, like waterfalls pouring from the sky. I doubt it will let up any time soon.  I listen to the soothing sound of rushing water flowing down the motorway-turned-river. Water was once a wonderful thing. Now it’s deadly.  Leaning my head against the corrugated metal, I pull the toggles of my hood so that the fabric tightens around my face,...

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Ma Godavari

Submitted to Contest #60

Close to the city of Paithan, in a small village called Sauviragram, which lay along the banks of the great river Godavari, lived a woman named Ilaa. Being cotton farmers, her family was well to do, but not among the richest in their area. It was the harvest season, and cotton had to be picked from the plants. The wholesalers and traders from Paithan would be arriving in just a few weeks, carrying gold and goods for barter. They would exchange what they carried for the cotton that the farmers grew. The bales of cotton had to be ready in ti...

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The Election

Submitted to Contest #60

I really thought they cared about us. I thought above all else life was thee most essential factor. From my point of view, it was and still is. I guess that’s where I went wrong. Right before the whole world turned upside down, I responded to a letter from a friend. She was trying to understand how the other side got it so wrong. She said, “I am tired of trying to figure out these idiots. I’m joining the movement. John’s dead. There is no reason to stay here.” It was weird reading this because out of all my friends, she was the most levelhea...

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The River South- Excerpt from the Kara Mason Story

Submitted to Contest #60

I can’t get enough air into my lungs. I’ve never been good at running uphill. I look back over my shoulder to see if the creature is still following us. It’s on its knees, mud smeared across a bloody and distorted face. Its gnarled maw hangs open too wide and I can see teeth through the nearly transparent flesh. I hold my breath, waiting to see if it will get back up again. My lungs scream for air to fuel my body’s upward plight. I suck in air at the same time as I collide with Hank’s pack, forcing me to look where I’m going. The creature le...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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