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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.

6170+ 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 410 of 412

The Resident

Submitted to Contest #13

Ike flew out of the backdoor as fast as he could. Would he come after me? What would he do when he caught me? Would he kill me? Ike thought as he desperately prayed to God. The man had a gun, while Ike was defenceless. Ike reached his hiding spot, the one that had kept him hidden for so many years.Ike could see a window from here. He didn’t want to look inside, but he mustered up some courage and looked. Inside, there was the bodies of his parents. They were still hugging each other, the way they were when they died. Tears found the way to h...

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Mystery on Treetop Lane

Submitted to Contest #13

Mystery on Treetop Lane     Penny and I loved to take off shopping, especially during the holidays. The Halloween season was fast approaching, and there was a lot to work out. Every year we host an old school Halloween event, with all the traditional favorites. Apple bobbing, tasty apple cider, a Halloween costume contest, Mrs. Witard’s sugary cookies formed into ghosts and goblins, Mrs. Grunlee’s pumpkin pie and Halloween themed games, are all a part of the festivities.    We went from one end of...

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Becoming

Submitted to Contest #13

I felt nothing. I could see nothing, hear nothing. Then suddenly I could. Breath invaded my lungs as my eyes were forced open to see the vibrant colors of the afternoon. I didn’t know where I was or how I got here. I was in an old wooden cabin that smelled of linen and pine. Out the window lay a forest on one side of the house and on the other was a small village. The house was vacant, then I heard voices coming from outside. I went to go investigate, I reached for the door handle but I couldn’t I could feel it but it seemed as though I...

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The moon in my hands

Submitted to Contest #13

I woke up with cotton stars sticking to my arms. A patch of desiccated currants waiting to be cleansed. I am twenty years old, and wearing my own blood as a mask. I sank beneath my moon stained quilt and slept. To sleep I had to swallow pill after pill, and at some point I felt nauseous and lightheaded with electric eels ricocheting from ankles to knees.I thought I was older yesterday. When I finally stood up to leave my bedroom I heard the tv mumbling in the living room. I listened without moving, and then stepped into the kitchen where I b...

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Invisible

Submitted to Contest #13

It was the same old normal routine. Kate’s alarm blares from her phone. She turns over, annoyed, and slams her pillow into her nightstand, knocking everything off. Today was a day Kate had been dreading for awhile now. She was going to take her exams. Kate was not the best in college. Instead of studying, Kate was off partying and being social. “If I don’t pass these exams, I’m losing my scholarship…Mom is going to KILL ME.” She whispers to herself. She throws her backpack over her shoulder and grabs her coffee. She ran out the door, almost ...

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The Girl with the Cupcakes

Submitted to Contest #13

It seemed like I had made too many cupcakes again. I don’t know why I always bought the amount of ingredients that I did. I decided I would do what I did every time: take them to my neighbor.  I put a few in a basket and began walking to the door. I was taking the cupcakes to my old neighbor, Johnson. His wife had died a while back and he lived alone in this big house with his chihuahua. He was always sitting on his porch watching the cars drive by, so I was a little shocked to see that his porch was empty. I walked up the steps and kno...

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Presence

Submitted to Contest #13

She's in the streets now, bare feet sore and achy as she leaves her home and starts to walk. She hunches over, shoulders bared to the shuddering, chaotic world around her. It's cold out now, with the fall winds breathing ice across her face and fingers. She's blue and numb. She trips over her own feet, breathless and hasty as she scrambles back up, hoping that someone will take notice of her. Her skin blossoms with angry violets and sickening yellow-greens, and even the high-collared shirt she's wearing does little to hide the bruises. The s...

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"Laughing Out Loud in Your Sleep"

Submitted to Contest #13

Since the passing of my friend Freda Ray..it always perplexed me that she went to her Mother's house. Laid on the living room floor. Went to sleep and never woke up. She and her Mom had never been on the best of terms all through her childhood. As a matter of a fact she had gotten emancipated from her Mother's custody when she was 15. So at her repass I got a chance to meet all of her fathers daughters. It had never came to my mind that there were so many version of Freda Ray walking this earth. All of her sisters looked like her in differen...

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the power within

Submitted to Contest #13

March 1988,  the day started out as usual Mya May wake up to the sound of banging outside her window she rolled out of bed to see what was making such a ruckus, the window was fogged with an icy layer of frost she rubbed the window with her sleeve to reveal a small areas to look through the ruckus was coming from the neighbors house they were in the process of renovating, the house that once sat empty for many years was being made into something better. Mya May through on her house shoes to greet her new neighbors. As she approached the...

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When Our Neighbour Dorothy Comes to Visit

Submitted to Contest #13

I have known Dorothy since the day I was born. Actually I have known her since the day she came to visit my mother and I in hospital after I was born. She has been a stallwart, a constant that is always next door. She was never the type of neighbour that would come over to borrow a cup of sugar. She was the type of neighbour that if she had too many daisies growing in her backyard, she would put them into a plastic bag and hang the bag on a metal hook made from an old coat hanger, over the old wooden fence. You couldn’t see anything if you t...

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The Truth

Submitted to Contest #13

                                   THE TRUTHRaphael was busy arranging the documents required for the raid that he was to conduct the following day. An undercover agent working with the police department, Raphael had been deputed to carry on this raid on a gang that apparently was selling unauthorized stuff. The leader of the gang however was a very well known figure in...

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A Guiding Force

Submitted to Contest #13

Halloween Day. It started off like any typical day. The alarm went off at 6:15 AM, just like so many other mornings for countless years. I threw the blanket off and swung my feet to the floor. The bare, hardwood floor usually felt cold to the touch that time of year. Strangely enough, however, the floor wasn’t cold at all – nor was it warm. It was just – there. Equally strange was the fact that I found myself feeling rather refreshed and energized that morning. I was up ‘til about three in the morning last ...

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George

Submitted to Contest #13

 The cold wind blew against my cheeks, making them ruddy red as I walked along the neighbourhood path littered with brown leaves.  A skip in my steps, lightly bouncing as I made my way to my neighbour's house, an aged man in his seventies', George.  He was a person who was grumpy because he was confined to a wheelchair, but he's nice. Everytime I visited his house, he may persued me to leave but when I insisted, I could see that he was happy that someone wanted to accompany him.  When I reached his house, I...

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The Man In Black

Submitted to Contest #13

The Man In Black The black man, man in black, senses he will lack. People see, the horror of he, when they pat him on the back. No fortune will tell, what all will go well, but trust me. Don't Fall For His Spell! In a dark park, such a lonely place, the sun fall, at it's pace. With a big sigh, and a rough frown, the female child walks the town. As darkness fills the air, she once again sighs with a stair, and realizes that someone had once been there. After time go on, the girl was drawn. Who had once been there? A stare of confusion, ...

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Evanesce

Submitted to Contest #13

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to live a different life? I did too. I wanted a life of adventure and suspense, somewhere I can explore unnatural things. That one curious thought I had got me where I am today. On an early October morning, specifically the day where every young kid dresses up and goes trick or treating, and where haunted houses are everybody's go-to. Today is Halloween. The autumn breeze filled my lungs as I rose from my bed, sliding my feet into warm slippers, and trailing down the stairs, to a warm cup of coffee an...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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