short horror story essay 500 words

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Growing Up -The Bangalore Years

Paradise falls: chapter 20, a day of fools, the island flamingo: chapter 29, all things abandoned, seeds of doubt, an unused compass, everyday beauty, three months in, buried saints, paradise falls: chapter 19, growing up – the delhi years, moonstruck at midnight, cycle of rebirth, the island flamingo: chapter 28, dish best served cold, factory reset, in her mother’s footpath, puzzle pieces, sound check, skateboards and paper jams, dragons have arrived, the claiming, paradise falls: chapter 18, concentrate, storm drain: a 500 word horror story.

The early summer rainstorm ceased. But, dark clouds remained and hovered above the sparsely populated street. Rainwater trickled into the storm drain below and lured the brown, slimy creature to the surface. Overcast skies and rain-drenched surface created the perfect environment for the underground creature. Conditions were ideal for it to go in search of a meal. It seeped out through a small crevice between the road and the round drain cap.

The sinister blob slithered down the deserted street and headed toward the nearest home. It glided across the dampened pavement with an eerie silence. Driven by hunger, the brown goo then drifted onto the wet grass where it devoured pill bugs and worms. The mysterious mass lacked a mouth, so it absorbed things through its gelatinous skin.

As it neared the solitary house, it sensed large sources of food and quickened its pace. The blob slithered into the backyard, inched its way up the steps, and squeezed through a screen door. Once inside, the creature squirmed into the family room and moved up the backside of the sofa where a male dozed. With stealth and silence, the goo rolled toward him. It slid over the man’s forehead and dove into his opened mouth.

The male bolted awake, and his eyes flew open. He coughed, retched, and struggled to breathe. The man reached up and grabbed at the goo to yank it away, but the creature ingested his hands. Before long, he succumbed to the attack.

The mass then inched its way down the man’s esophagus and into his stomach. After consuming the innards, the slimy creature forced its way out through the abdomen of the lifeless male. It slithered in and out repeatedly until it consumed every bit of flesh, bones, organs, blood, and hair. Evidence of the male’s body was non-existent. Gone—vanished into the belly of the blob.

The creature left the couch and made its way into the kitchen where it detected a female. The mass glided toward her leg and ascended.

She looked down and screamed. The female shook her leg and whacked at the brown goo to free her body from the ghastly creature, but it latched on with unmatched strength. It made its way toward her face, entered her mouth, and rendered her silent.

The slime entered through her eye sockets and consumed her brain, then moved down to ingest her body. A droplet of blood remained on the floor—until the gelatinous creature rolled backward to absorb it.

The slimy creature sensed movement coming from above. It slithered up the refrigerator, toward the family feline.

Fearful of the strange brown blob, the calico cat jumped down and dashed out of the house.

The nefarious creature, satisfied with its consumption of food, rolled down from the appliance. It slithered out of the house and headed back toward its home—the underground. It intended to roam the storm drains, to lie in wait for the next rainstorm and the meal it’d provide.

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Short horror story essay 8 Models

Last updated Friday , 15-03-2024 on 11:35 am

Short horror story essay is one of the popular intimidation methods that help parents in correcting children and improving their behavior in many educational aspects.

Through this article, we will provide you with many models that talk about stories of horror and intimidation that may help or influence the behavior of children, show the goals of horror stories, and the extent of the impact of these stories on improving children’s instincts, and strengthening their personality.

Short horror story essay

The school plays an important and significant role in educating children and improving their behaviour. In a similar article that talks about horror stories, the student can learn about the dimensions of these stories, the extent of their impact and why they are used.

The student can talk about his fears and terrifying situations he went through. The teacher can take advantage of these events and try to address these fears by guiding him and talking to him, or by making him research more about the dimensions of the problem and the benefits that he benefited from despite going through a terrifying situation.

At the beginning of the article we will put several points that show the goals that must be present within the topic, and several models will be created using these points inside them, so that the articles are useful for the student in case he wants to present them to the school, or if he wants to know the aspects that he should talk about inside a similar article he talks about the horror stories and the bad situations he was exposed to.

Objectives of the article

1- To obey orders.

2- Giving up bad behavior.

3- Repressing the evil instincts that are inside every human being.

4- Controlling the child in the safety zone next to the parents.

5- Planting correct means and methods through intimidation.

Several years ago, my father told me a story about a boy who went out without telling his family where he was going. And this was late at night. After he left, he met some children and played a little with them and enjoyed this, but because of the late time these children left him, some of them returned to their home alone, and some of them their families came to to pick them up, and he found himself alone in the end.

He decided to walk around for a while, so that he might encounter other children and continue playing with them. But after walking for a long time, he found that all the streets were empty, and it was dark everywhere, and he could no longer discern where he was, and that he was far from home and lost his way.

And whenever he tried to return from where he came, he found himself in dangerous areas with street dogs, and in order to avoid them, he kept entering other streets, until he lost the way completely. So he sat crying and did not find anyone to bring him home because all the people of the town were asleep.

The time at night was getting hard for this naughty little boy. Every minute that passes feels like it’s a long time and he’s so afraid of darkness and loneliness. And whenever he heard the sound of dogs howling, intensified in crying. And whenever he called his father, he did not come to take him, because he was far from the house and did not tell them that he was going out, and did not tell them where he was going.

Then he learned that he had made a big mistake and that his father would not come to look for him because he thought he was asleep. And he decided to try to call for help and search for any place where there are people and tell them what happened.

And he kept walking in the dark crying for a long time until he found some people, and told them his name, where he lived, and the name of the neighborhood in which he lived. Fortunately for him, they weren’t bad guys, and they brought this guy home.

The father was very angry with him for this behavior and punished him for a week for this behavior. But the boy was happy that he came home and learned the lesson well and knew that this wrong behavior was dangerous and could have lost his family for life.

While hearing this story, I was very afraid and put myself in the place of this boy, and I found myself learning from him what to do. And that I must tell my family where I am going, and watch the time, and take care of myself and not stay away from home. When I finish playing, I go home.

In the early morning, I was very careful to memorize my full name, the name of the neighborhood in which I live, the name of my mother, and the house number.

Although the story was scary for me, I learned a lot from it and had a reaction to every event that takes place in it.

Dear student, a basic form was submitted for the topic on short horror story essay, In addition to many other models such as, horror short story essay, creepy short horror story essay, a short horror story essay, short ghost story essay, short ghost story essay, scary short story essay, scary experience essay.

If you prefer to add any other topic, you can contact us through the comments of this article and we will study your request and add it as soon as possible.

horror short story essay

At the weekend I went on a trip with my friends to the forest. We took camping equipment, some food and water. The weather was nice, the trees were leafy, the birds were flying from tree to tree, the landscape was beautiful.

We wandered in the woods and ate the fruits on the trees, and as we wandered, a huge bear appeared in front of us, looked at us and prepared to attack us.

We were all very terrified, but the instructions reminded us not to run, not to scream, and to act calmly. I took out of my bag a self-defense spray bottle, which should be used in this case. But the bear left quietly and none of us were hurt.

creepy short horror story essay

I get up early and sit in the garden of the house, enjoying the fresh air, listening to the sound of birds, watching beautiful flowers and other beautiful landscapes, but yesterday something terrifying happened to me.

When I sat on the bench in the garden and was enjoying nature I felt something moving under the chair.

I quickly looked under the chair and found a large black snake.

It moves slowly, I felt very terrified and could not move, I remained frozen in my place, the snake crawled slowly and I looked at it with horror, until it moved away several meters, I called the competent authority immediately and a trained man came and caught the snake.

a short horror story essay

Last week I went with my family to the zoo, the weather was nice, and we were enjoying the nature, where there are a lot of green leafy trees and decorated with beautiful flowers and large areas that allow us to run and play, everything was beautiful.

Then we went to the animal cages and watched the animals from a distance.

But there is a person who got very close to the lion’s cage, even though there is a sign on it that says Do not go near the animal cages.

He was not satisfied with that, but he extended his hand into the cage, and the lion grabbed his hand with force, and this person was unable to rid his hand of the lion’s fangs.

The man screamed loudly from the severity of the pain, and the guard came quickly and tried to give the lion a piece of meat to leave the man’s hand, but to no avail.

The veterinarian quickly intervened and gave the lion an anesthetic injection, and the man was able to get his hand out of the cage, but it had many wounds and was taken to the hospital. It was really terrifying moments.

Short ghost story essay

There are many people who feel terrified in the dark, and my brother is very afraid of the dark and feels terrified and imagines frightening things.

So when the electricity went out and the house became dark. I went to his room quietly without feeling, and stood in front of him, making some strange sounds.

My brother jumped quickly and came out of the room saying a ghost of a ghost, but he hit the wall and cut his head and bled a lot, it was a big wound.

At that time I was telling him don’t be afraid, I am your brother, but he was very frightened. I was very sorry for him and regretted that I had caused him to feel terrified and made him crash into the wall.

And I told him I was just trying to joke with you and I wouldn’t do it again but you should train yourself not to be afraid of the dark.

A Short Scary Story Essay

Last weekend I went with my friends on a fishing trip. We chartered a fishing boat with all our fishing gear and went into the sea for a long distance, so that we could see neither the beach nor the city.

We started fishing and we were very happy because there are many fish and they are also big, and the weather was nice.

Suddenly strong winds blew and the waves rose, and the fishing boat was swinging with us over the water, up and down, and we couldn’t control it.

At this time we felt so afraid that we would drown.The fishing boat cannot withstand these bad weather conditions.

But after a while the wind calmed down a bit and we miraculously survived.

Scary short story essay

Last weekend I went with my colleagues on a school trip to one of the archaeological sites, and we had some teachers with us organizing the trip and supervising our transfers.

We entered a museum that houses great antiquities and stood listening to the tour guide talking about the history of these antiquities.

I was fascinated and listened to the tour guide with great interest, so that I did not feel the departure of my colleagues and teachers, as they left the museum and got on the bus and left this place and did not feel my absence.

When I found myself alone in the museum, I felt very afraid and searched for them all over the museum, but I could not find them, so my fear increased and my crying became louder.

Suddenly I found one of the teachers entering the museum and looking for me, so I ran towards him and grabbed his hand and felt safe.

Scary Experience Essay

At the end of the year I had a frightening experience. I went to the beach and decided to snorkel, so I bought wetsuits, put them on, and dived into the sea. But it was not what I expected and almost drowned.

I was so scared when I found myself unable to dive, and could not swim to the top.

It was a difficult situation but one of the lifeguards on the beach saw me, knew I was going to drown and ran to save me.

Therefore, I advise others to learn before we do anything that might endanger our lives.

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2021 500 Word Very Scary Story Contest

October 7, 2021 by Richard 5 Comments

If you win this year’s contest you will receive:

Publication in EWR: Short Stories Get a feature page on our site Get your work promoted on our social networks

The rules for this contest:

Stories must be 500 words or less Stories must be scary! Stories must be submitting by October 28, 2021. Submit your work to eds [at] everywritersresource [dot] com

Halloween is my favorite time of year around here, and I really want some new scary stories. We want and need Horror stories for our EWR: Short Story site this Halloween season. It’s not Halloween without those new scary stories. So as you submit these, if we like them we will publish them. Consider this contest also a call for submissions. The winners will be announced in our big Halloween night Movie Chat (details to come).

Also, please nothing pornography or just terrible. Please send your best quality work. I’m really looking forward to reading these. Scare me please! Send your work to eds [at] everywritersresource [dot] com

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About Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) has worked for literary magazines and literary websites for the last 25 years. He holds degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology and Education. Richard has headed many writing workshops and courses, and he has taught writing and literature for the last 20 years.

In writing and publishing he has worked with independent, small, medium and large publishers for years connecting publishers to authors. He has also worked as a journalist and editor in both magazine, newspaper and trade publications as well as in the medical publishing industry. Follow him on Twitter, and check out our Submissions page .

Reader Interactions

Jayla Thibobeaux says

October 27, 2021 at 8:02 pm

“The wrath of the green” By Jayla Thibodeaux Many years ago, children of all ages have had one hated thing in the entire world… Vegetables. Children all around the world hated their greens and gave up eating their healthy food. Carrots have been kicked out, lettuce has left the building, and eggplants have been squashed into the ground with a squash. But from that day forward, there was an accidental truck crash that crashed on top of the millions of discarded vegetables with barrels of green toxic ooze. The ooze poured all over the vegetables and something horrible happened… THE VEGETABLES CAME TO LIFE!!! The vegetables grew root arms and legs, sharp teeth, glowing red eyes, and REVENGE. The evil vegetables break into people’s houses and they barf toxic ooze all over them and turning the humans into vegetables! Then the evil vegetables eat the human vegetables whole. Many by many, the population of the world as been turned into vegetables, eaten, and died. The evil vegetables will multiply by their energy from the humans and they won’t stop eating until the world has been turned into a vegetable world and the vegetables will rule the world! So remember kids, always eat your greens, or they’ll eat you….

October 31, 2021 at 8:20 am

Look for winners to be announced tonight at 8:30 eastern her on Every Writer! Happy Halloween.

Jessika price says

November 1, 2021 at 8:12 am

“Mr. Shadow” By Jessika Price Tonight I Had The Night Shift At The Hospital,Working On Halloween Was Not What I Wanted Because I Am Supposed To Take My Daughter Sarah Trick-Or-Treating. “Ugh, I’m The Worst Dad Ever!” I Yelled, Walking Out To My Car. “Get Ahold Of Yourself, There’s Always Next Year.” Amanda said with a smile. Amanda Was One Of My Favorite Coworkers In the Whole Hospital We Both Worked As L&D Nurses(Labour & Delivery), We Both Had The Same Shifts And Breaks. As I Went Home I Got A Call From My Wife Abby, She Had Said Something Was Up With Sarah. I Was Scared So I Raced Home. When I Got There Everything Was Ok Except, Sarah Was Talking To Someone Or Something That Wasn’t There. I asked “Who Are You Talking to Princess?” “My Imaginary Friend, Mr. Shadow.” She said Very Happy. “He Says He Doesn’t Like You Daddy.” I got chills down my spine. “Well If I Talk To Him Maybe We Can Settle Things.” Then I Heard It. “No”. A Whisper Ran Through My Ears. “Are You Ok,What’s Wrong? You Look Pale.” Abby Said. “No, I-I’m Fine” I Replied Shaking. About An hour later We Were In Bed Then Suddenly I Heard Someone Downstairs. It Was Sarah, She Was Hitting The Furniture And Breaking Them. “SARAH BELLE PRESLEY, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING!” I Screamed. “Just What I Was Told” She said. She Didn’t Seem Like Herself,Like She Was Possessed Or Something.

She Started Whispering To Herself, It Sounded Kind Of Evil,She Was Just pranking Me. No, This Was Definitely Real, In Fact, Too Real. I Went Upstairs To Tell My Wife To Call The Priest, She Asked Why, I Told Her “Just Do It,For Sarah”. I Said Crying. “Oh My God, My Baby! She Yelled Starting To Cry As Well. About An Hour Later The Priest Finally Showed Up And Got To Work.”In The Name Of The Father And Of The Son And The Holy Spirit.” “Ego Te Absolvo” (“I Absolve You”) . Yelled The Priest. My Daughter Finally Went Back To Normal, But We Still Needed The Demon Out. So We Did Just That The Screams Of The Demon Were Terrifying, Then We Finally Got It Out. “Thank You So Much, I Don’t Know What I’d Do If I Ever Lost My Daughter”. Abby Said. “Oh No Problem, I’ve Had This Job For Years Now, And It Is Jesus WhoLiberates . It Is His Power,” He Said. “In All The Exorcisms I Have Done , The Lord Has Helped Me. I Am Not The Great One.” He Said Waving Goodbye. And Ever Since That Night We Hadn’t Seen Anything Else LIke “Mr.Shadow”.

harmony says

November 4, 2023 at 11:12 am

goood omg that is the best story ever

geometry dash world says

December 25, 2023 at 8:48 pm

Hi there! I’m so excited to stumble upon this 500 Word Very Scary Story Contest. It’s such a fantastic initiative to revive the tradition, especially given the shift towards micro fiction. I think it’s refreshing that you’re encouraging longer narratives that can truly immerse readers in the eerie atmosphere of a good scary story.

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Essay on Horror Story

Students are often asked to write an essay on Horror Story in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Horror Story

Introduction.

Horror stories are a genre of fiction that seeks to scare, disturb, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

Elements of Horror

Key elements include suspense, surprise, and a sense of impending doom. Often, horror stories involve supernatural elements or entities.

Impact on Readers

These stories can have a profound impact on readers, evoking intense emotions and creating memorable experiences.

Despite their frightening nature, horror stories remain popular due to their ability to engage readers’ emotions and imagination in unique ways.

250 Words Essay on Horror Story

The intrigue of horror stories.

Horror stories have always captivated the human imagination. They are a mirror of our primal fears and anxieties, often personified in the form of ghosts, monsters, or uncanny events. The fascination for horror stories is not merely a pursuit of thrill, but a complex interplay of psychology, culture, and narrative techniques.

Psychological Appeal

At the heart of every horror story is the exploration of fear. Sigmund Freud’s concept of ‘the uncanny’ explains our attraction to horror as a confrontation with repressed fears and desires. This exploration of the unknown and the forbidden can be cathartic, allowing us to experience fear in a controlled environment.

Cultural Significance

Horror stories also reflect societal fears and anxieties. For instance, Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” mirrors the 19th-century fear of scientific advancement, while George Orwell’s “1984” embodies the dread of totalitarian regimes. Thus, horror stories serve as cultural artifacts, offering insights into the zeitgeist of an era.

Narrative Techniques

The narrative techniques employed in horror stories are designed to evoke fear and suspense. Techniques such as foreshadowing, dramatic irony, and unreliable narrators keep readers on edge, while the use of dark, descriptive language helps create a chilling atmosphere.

In conclusion, horror stories are more than mere tales of terror. They are a reflection of our deepest fears, a commentary on societal anxieties, and a testament to the power of narrative techniques in evoking emotional responses. Their enduring popularity is a testament to their complexity and the human fascination with the macabre.

500 Words Essay on Horror Story

Horror stories have been a part of human culture for centuries, delighting and terrifying audiences in equal measure. They are narratives designed to frighten, cause dread or panic, or invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale. The horror genre taps into the primal fear within us, making us confront the unknown and the terrifying.

The Psychology behind Horror

Horror stories, in their essence, serve as a mirror to our psyche, reflecting our deepest fears and anxieties. They provoke a sense of fear and excitement, a thrilling cocktail of emotions that keep audiences coming back for more. The science of fear explains the allure of horror stories. The adrenaline rush, the heightened senses, and the relief after the threat has passed, all contribute to the addictive nature of horror.

The Evolution of Horror Stories

Horror stories have evolved significantly over the years, keeping pace with societal changes and shifts in what we fear. Early horror stories were often tied to religion, reflecting fears of the supernatural and the afterlife. As society became more secular, the focus shifted to the horrors of the human mind and the terrors of the unknown.

Modern horror stories, such as Stephen King’s works, often blend elements of the supernatural with the psychological, creating a sense of unease that lingers long after the story is over. The horror genre has also expanded into various sub-genres, such as psychological horror, supernatural horror, and body horror, each catering to different fears and anxieties.

The Impact of Horror Stories on Society

Horror stories have a profound impact on society, shaping and reflecting our collective fears. They often serve as social commentaries, highlighting societal issues under the guise of the supernatural or the macabre. The horror genre allows us to confront and discuss topics that might otherwise be considered taboo, such as death, violence, and the darker aspects of human nature.

In conclusion, horror stories are an integral part of our cultural fabric, serving as both entertainment and a means to explore our deepest fears and anxieties. They have evolved with society, reflecting our changing fears and serving as a commentary on societal issues. Despite their often gruesome and terrifying content, horror stories provide a safe space to explore the darker aspects of our psyche, helping us to understand and confront our fears. The enduring popularity of the horror genre is a testament to its ability to tap into our primal fears and its capacity to thrill, terrify, and captivate audiences.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

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500 Word Horror Story Challenge

YOU ARE READING

A woman lets a couple whose car has broken down into her house to use her phone. Not it is as it seems.

# breakdown # gore # horror # mutilation # storm

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The table lamps flickered once, twice then went out with a crack. Startled by the unexpected pop, I spilled my mug of coffee over myself and the book I'd been reading. On my way to the kitchen to get a cloth to clean up there came a knocking on the front door. A young looking couple were stood there drenched to the bone.

"May I use your phone to call my father?" asked the girl. "I've broke down about a mile back."

"Sure, if the storm hasn't affected it," I replied. "My lamps have blown but the electric is still fine at the moment. Come on in."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "I only live a few miles away so it won't take my father long to get here, I'll be out of your hair in no time."

They both entered and I pointed the girl to where the phone was sat on a small table in the hallway leading to the kitchen. I went back to cleaning up the mess I'd made.

She returned a few minutes later after making the call and asked to use the bathroom.

The couple slipped their shoes off and ascended the wooden stairs with me following them, I needed to get a clean shirt. Another few minutes passed and not a sound could be heard from the bathroom. Curious, I stopped on the landing at the top of the stairs. The cream carpet by the bathroom door appeared to have a dark stain. It was wet when I touched it, and my fingers were painted red. Was that blood seeping from under the bathroom door?

"Are you alright in there?" I asked.

Nothing. I knocked gently on the door. No answer. I swung it open and saw the girl was somehow pinned to the ceiling. I don't know how or by what. I opened my mouth to scream but my throat was dry and all I managed was a croak. Her head had been torn off, her stomach ripped open, and her internal organs were scattered on the tiles. Her intestines dangled down and into a tangled heap, surrounded in a pool of thick dark blood. The boy was nowhere to be seen. The window was shut and locked so where was he? I needed to call the police. I slipped with my bloodied feet landing in all the entrails. The scream came out of me this time. I ran down the stairs and noticed only one pair of shoes by the door before the house was plunged into darkness. I scrambled to find the phone. The line was dead.

Thud! Thud!

Someone was banging like hell on the door. I raced to it and saw an elderly man's face through the small window. Her father I presumed. I opened it and the girl's boyfriend stood there with an evil smile. He raised both arms up to show me one hand holding the girl's severed head and her father's in the other.

A/N Don't forget to vote if you enjoyed the story and any constructive criticism is very welcome. Thanks for taking the time to read. :)

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Best Horror Writing Contests in 2024

Showing 42 contests that match your search.

Oxford Flash Fiction Prize 2024

Oxford Flash Fiction

Genres: Flash Fiction, Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Write yourself into history and become one of the greats with the Oxford Flash Fiction Prize. For centuries, the greats have come to Oxford to ink masterpieces. Now, in one of the oldest towns, where the history of the English language can be traced back to its ancient streets, we are celebrating one of the newest forms in literature – flash fiction.

Additional prizes:

2nd Prize: £200 | 3rd Prize: £100 | New Voice Prize: £200

💰 Entry fee: $9

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2024 (Expired)

The Letter Review Prize for Books

The Letter Review

Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Letter Review Prize for Books is open to writers from anywhere in the world. Seeking most unpublished (we accept some self/indie published) novels, novellas, story collections, nonfiction, poetry etc. 20 entries are longlisted.

$1000 USD shared by 3 winners

💰 Entry fee: $25

📅 Deadline: October 31, 2023 (Expired)

Kurt Vonnegut Speculative Fiction Prize

North American Review

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, and Suspense

The Vonnegut Prize is an annual fiction competition intended to recognize the finest speculative fiction, which can include, but is not limited to, work influenced by the postmodern science-fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. We love Vonnegut’s dark humor, but please avoid mere imitation. We are enthusiastic about all work painted with speculative fiction’s broad brush: fairy tale, magical realism, fabulism, the fantastic, horror, Afro-futurism, science fiction hard and soft, and everything in between. The winning entry will appear in the North American Review's annual summer issue, and all finalists will be considered for publication.

Publication

💰 Entry fee: $23

📅 Deadline: November 02, 2024

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First Chapter + Synopsis Competition

Fiction Factory

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Romance, Science Fiction, and Young Adult

Have you completed the first draft of your novel? Are you ready to pass it on to a fresh pair of eyes, to see if you are on the right track? Is your all-important first chapter ready for submission to an agent? Whatever your plans, your first chapter must shine – it must grab your readers or quickly lose their interest.

£500 + an appraisal

💰 Entry fee: $22

📅 Deadline: February 29, 2024 (Expired)

Storytrade Book Awards

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Script Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Storytrade Book Awards recognizes excellence in small and independent publishing. Open to all indie authors and publishers including self-published authors, university presses, and small or independent presses, our annual awards program spotlights outstanding books in a number of fiction and nonfiction categories.

Medal, Book Stickers, Digital Seal

💰 Entry fee: $75

📅 Deadline: June 30, 2024

Best Stories on Human Impact of Climate Change

Secant Publishing

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Young Adult

We are seeking the year's best original short stories (fiction) devoted to the theme of global climate change and its human impact. We are interested in literary interpretations of how individuals and families, cities and nations are bearing the brunt of a world dominated by new extremes of weather, seasons, and eco-disasters. All genres welcome.

2nd: $500 | 3rd: $250 | Publication in anthology

💰 Entry fee: $10

📅 Deadline: March 01, 2024 (Expired)

Spring Microfiction Battle

Writing Battle

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

Two days to write a 500 word short story. The peer-powered quarterly writing contest where every story receives oodles of feedback. Write one. Read ten. Win thousands.

Genre Winner (x4): $1,500

Genre Runner-up (x4): $375 | Feedback by industry professionals

💰 Entry fee: $20

📅 Deadline: May 03, 2024

Clash of the Query Letters

Darling Axe Editing

Genres: Fiction, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Our judge, Michelle Barker, will be asking herself one question: does this query letter convince me that I'm in the hands of an adept novelist with a unique and engaging story to tell?

CAD $200 for 2nd place, $100 for 3rd place

💰 Entry fee: $4

Edinburgh Short Story Award

Scottish Arts Trust

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Suspense, Thriller, and Young Adult

£3,000 first prize for writers worldwide and stories on any topic up to 2,000 words. We welcome stories in all genres: literary, historic, crime, romance, gritty realism, contemporary, humour and more.

2nd: £500 | 3rd: £250 | Publication

💰 Entry fee: $12

2024 Spring Prose & Poetry Contest

Onyx Publications

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Poetry, Science Fiction, Short Story, and Thriller

Our contest provides a First, Second, and Third prize for both prose and poetry. There are no themes or special requirements so just send us your best work. We recommend you read through previous editions or listen to the works and author interviews on our Story Discovery Podcast to get a sense of the range of creativity we enjoy.

$500 + publication and author interview on Story Discovery podcast

2nd: $150 | 3rd: $75

📅 Deadline: April 21, 2024

New Deal Writing Competition

New Deal Museum

Genres: Christian, Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, LGBTQ, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Travel

GVCA is excited to announce the ninth annual New Deal Writing Competition! This competition challenges writers to use a painting chosen by the staff at GVCA as inspiration for a short story. This year’s painting is “Playtime” by Fred Ross.

Publication in newsletter

💰 Entry fee: $5

📅 Deadline: March 15, 2024 (Expired)

The Rubery Prize

Rubery Book Awards

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Science Fiction, Thriller, Young Adult, and Romance

The Rubery Prize is a prestigious international book award seeking the best books by indie writers, self published authors and books published by independent presses, judged by reputable judges. Through our reputation of finding quality and outstanding books we aim to bring recognition to the works that win and heighten an author's profile.

£200, a write-up

💰 Entry fee: $60

📅 Deadline: March 31, 2024 (Expired)

Writer's Games

The Writer's Workout

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Script Writing, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Writer's Games is a free competition with six surprise challenges over six weeks, designed to help each individual writer improve his or her craft fast. FREE registration is required in advance (opens May 1, 2024). Every entry from a registered participant receives honest, unbiased feedback from multiple judges. There's no elimination; push yourself to try each challenge and see what you alone can do in 72 hours each week. The top five winners each week are published in a competition anthology (that's 25 chances, plus the Judges' Choice!).

Publication in anthology, 72 Hours (26+ spaces)

📅 Deadline: July 22, 2024

7 Day Story Writing Challenge

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Register now for our next 7-day story writing challenge. A secret theme, a randomly assigned genre, and just 7 days to write a story of no more than 2,000 words. Our 7-day story writing challenges take place throughout the year. The challenges are free and you can even get feedback on your story. Take part in one challenge or take part in all of them!

Publication on website

💰 Entry fee: $0

📅 Deadline: April 22, 2024

Summer Nanofiction Battle

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

Two days to write a 250 word short story. The peer-powered quarterly writing contest where every story receives oodles of feedback. Write one. Read ten. Win thousands.

📅 Deadline: August 02, 2024

Stringybark Open Short Story Award 2024

Stringybark Publishing

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Short Story, Crime, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Our annual flagship competition, the Stringybark Stories Open Short Story Award 2023, is now bigger than ever! Thanks to Graeme Simpson and Anne Buist, a record prize pool of over $1300 is on offer. The theme is open, the only constraint is that there must be a reference to Australia somewhere in the story. It doesn't matter how small a link there is (it could be a jar of vegemite on the counter), there just needs to be one!

2nd: $360 | 3rd: $210 | 4th: $110

💰 Entry fee: $15

📅 Deadline: February 25, 2024 (Expired)

Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize

Gotham Writers Workshop

Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story Prize is a writing competition sponsored by the stage and radio series Selected Shorts. Selected Shorts is recorded for Public Radio and heard nationally on both the radio and its weekly podcast. This years entries will be judged by Carmen Maria Machado (In the Dream House, Her Body and Other Parties).

$1000 + free 10 week course with Gotham Writers

Goldfinch Books Novel Award

Goldfinch Books

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Romance, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Goldfinch Books, an independent bookshop, café and event space in Alton, Hampshire, UK has announced a UK nationwide literary competition to coincide with the inaugural Alton Arts Festival. The Goldfinch Novel Award 2024 is a prize for emerging authors (aged 16+) with completed young adult or adult novels. This competition is open to authors in the UK and will have a prize of £300 for the winning novel, chosen by judge Kiya Evans, Associate Literary Agent at Mushens Entertainment.

Goldfinch Membership

💰 Entry fee: $14

📅 Deadline: May 15, 2024

Genre Smash Short Story Challenge

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

For this short story challenge, all participants will be randomly assigned a genre pairing. As soon as you receive your ‘smashed’ genres you'll have until the closing time to write and submit a short story of any length up to 5,000 words, that perfectly and seamlessly combines both genres into one amazing short story.

💰 Entry fee: $11

📅 Deadline: October 23, 2023 (Expired)

Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction

Not Quite Write

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction challenges writers to create an original piece of flash fiction based on two typical writing prompts plus one ""anti-prompt"". An anti-prompt is a challenge to break a specific “rule” of writing while telling a great story. Participants compete for AU$2,000 in cash prizes, including AU$1,000 for the winner, cash prizes for the entire shortlist and two bonus ‘wildcard’ prizes. Winners are read aloud on the Not Quite Write podcast, where the judges share in-depth analysis about the entries and offer free writing advice. The Not Quite Write Prize for Flash Fiction is hosted in Australia and open to all writers of any age and level of ability around the world.

Publication on the Not Quite Write website and podcast

💰 Entry fee: $16

Chapter One Prize

Gutsy Great Novelist

Genres: Fiction, Novel, Young Adult, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, and Thriller

The Gutsy Great Novelist Chapter One Prize is awarded for an outstanding first chapter of an unpublished novel. The prize is open internationally to anyone over 18 writing a novel in English in any genre for adult or YA readers. Winners will be announced March 29, 2024.

2nd: $500 |3rd: $250

Parsec Short Story Contest

Parsec Inc.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction, and Short Story

2023 Contest Theme is: Preserve or Purge. We ask that authors try and incorporate both concepts into their speculative work. This can be conveyed in the setting, plot, characters, dialogue; the only limit is your imagination. The theme must be integral to the story in some way and not just mentioned in passing.

2nd: $100 | 3rd: $50

Frightening First Line Contest 2023

Genres: Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Short Story, and Thriller

Autumn is the season of rustling leaves, a chill in the air, and, of course, Halloween. In that spirit, we invite you to create the first line of a frightening story. But we want that first line to be so intriguing or chilling or scary that it makes our skin tingle and our nerves twitch.

Free Gotham Writers class

📅 Deadline: November 30, 2023 (Expired)

The Book of the Year Awards

The Independent Author Network

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Thriller, Young Adult, Crime, and Short Story

The Independent Author Network presents the 10th Annual IAN Book of the Year Awards, an international contest open to all authors with 55 fiction and non-fiction categories. Winners are eligible to receive a share of cash prizes of $6,000 USD. Open to all English language print and eBooks available for sale, including small presses, mid-size independent publishers, university presses, and self-published authors.

$6,000.00 USD in total cash prizes

💰 Entry fee: $49

📅 Deadline: August 16, 2024

Work-In-Progress (WIP) Contest

Unleash Press

Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Science Fiction, Science Writing, and Young Adult

We aim to assist writers in the completion of an important literary project and vision. The Unleash WIP Award offers writers support in the amount of $500 to supplement costs to aid in the completion of a book-length work of fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Writers will also receive editorial feedback, coaching meetings, and an excerpt/interview feature in Unleash Lit.

Coaching, interview, and editorial support

💰 Entry fee: $35

📅 Deadline: July 15, 2024

Best Indie Book Award

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The annual Best Indie Book Award® (or BIBA®) is an international literary awards contest recognizing self-published and independently published authors from all over the world. Entries are limited to independently (indie) published books, including those from small presses, e-book publishers, and self-published authors.

💰 Entry fee: $65

📅 Deadline: August 15, 2024

Horror Writing Contest

FanStory.com Inc.

Genres: Fiction, Horror, and Short Story

Share a horror or thriller story to enter this writing contest. Write about anything but the object is to terrorize or thrill your reader. Cash prize!

📅 Deadline: October 27, 2022 (Expired)

The Paul Cave Prize for Literature

Tim Saunders Publications

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Paul Cave Prize for Literature, established in 2023 by Tim Saunders Publications, is in memory of Paul Astley Cave-Browne-Cave (1917 to 2010), a hugely inspirational magazine and book publisher. What we are looking for All forms of poetry: haiku, free verse, sonnet, acrostic, villanelle, ballad, limerick, ode, elegy, flash fiction, short stories and novellas. Work must be new and unpublished. International submissions welcome.

Best Short Story: £50 | Best Flash Fiction: £25 | Best Poem: £25

📅 Deadline: September 30, 2024

The 2022 First Chapter Book Contest

TheNextBigWriter, LLC

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

Have a book or a novel idea you've been noodling? Enter your first chapter into the Booksie First Chapter Contest and see how it does. You don't need to have finished the book. You don't even need more than the first chapter. We're looking for a start that will grab our attention, that is original, that is well written, and that makes us want to beg you to see what comes next. And for those we find, we'll provide some awards to inspire you to finish writing the book or, if finished, to help get it published.

Gold contest badge.

📅 Deadline: May 14, 2022 (Expired)

Elegant Literature's Monthly Award For New Writers

Elegant Literature

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Short Story, Thriller, Young Adult, Flash Fiction, and Science Writing

One of the largest awards open to unpublished writers and closed to professionals. We are the first magazine to pay pro rates and only accept submissions from new writers, putting over $100k into the hands of emerging talent around the globe so far. One new writer receives the grand prize. We also choose the best stories, pay the authors professional rates, and publish them in our magazine. March guest judge is Somto Ihezue.

10x Paid publication, 25 x $20 USD | Free entry to Novelist Accelerator

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2024 (Expired)

Reader Views Literary Awards

Reader Views

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

The Reader Views Literary Awards program helps level the playing field for self-published authors, recognizing the most creative and exciting new books in the industry. Our awards program is recognized industry-wide as one of the top literary awards programs for independent authors.

Several marketing prizes (e.g. book review)

💰 Entry fee: $89

📅 Deadline: December 15, 2024

Ironclad Creative Short Story Competition

Ironclad Creative CIC

Genres: Fiction, Short Story, Crime, Fantasy, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Mystery, Novella, Romance, Science Fiction, and Thriller

We are looking for short stories that respond in any way to: 7:12am. You can use that in the text, as a theme, or any way you want. We accept any prose genre and any length of story up to 6k words. We’re looking for writers who have exciting voices and can move us - that can happen in any genre of prose. We’re not accepting plays or poetry for this competition.

2nd: £50 | 3rd & 4th: £25 | 10 short-listed entries: publication

💰 Entry fee: $8

📅 Deadline: April 30, 2024

Claymore Award

Killer Nashville

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Science Fiction, and Thriller

Created in 2009, the Killer Nashville Claymore Award assists new and rebranding English-language fiction authors to get published, including possible agent representation, book advances, editor deals, and movie and television sales. The contest is limited to only the first 50 double-spaced pages of unpublished English-language manuscripts containing elements of thriller, mystery, crime, or suspense NOT currently under contract.

Possible contract with Mystery Writers of America

💰 Entry fee: $40

📅 Deadline: April 01, 2023 (Expired)

The Letter Review Prize for Unpublished Books

Genres: Crime, Essay, Fantasy, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Horror, Humor, Memoir, Mystery, Non-fiction, Novel, Novella, Poetry, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Writing, Short Story, Thriller, and Young Adult

Free to enter. Seeking 0-5000 word (poetry: 15 pgs) excerpts of unpublished books (Fiction, Poetry, Nonfiction), including most self-published and indie-published works. 2-4 Winners (publication of extract is optional). We Shortlist 10-20 writers. Open to writers from anywhere in the world, with no theme or genre restrictions. Judged blind.

Optional Publication of Excerpt, Letter of Recommendation

First 5 Pages Prize

Stockholm Writers Festival

Genres: Crime, Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Novel, Novella, Science Fiction, Thriller, and Young Adult

SWF is proud to launch the First 5 Pages Prize to mark our 5th anniversary. Dazzle us with your brilliance. Delight us with your wit. Deceive us with your dastardly plot-twists. There will be one Grand Prize winner chosen from all entries. The winner will receive: $1000 cash, a ticket to SWF22, a pitch meeting with an agent conducted over Zoom, two night’s accommodation at a boutique hotel, and a full developmental edit donated by Reedsy, the industry’s leading platform for writing services.

A full developmental edit donated by Reedsy & pitch meeting with an agent

📅 Deadline: January 31, 2022 (Expired)

Discover the finest writing contests of 2024 for fiction and non-fiction authors — including short story competitions, essay writing competitions, poetry contests, and many more. Updated weekly, these contests are vetted by Reedsy to weed out the scammers and time-wasters. If you’re looking to stick to free writing contests, simply use our filters as you browse.

Why you should submit to writing contests

Submitting to poetry competitions and free writing contests in 2024 is absolutely worth your while as an aspiring author: just as your qualifications matter when you apply for a new job, a writing portfolio that boasts published works and award-winning pieces is a great way to give your writing career a boost. And not to mention the bonus of cash prizes!

That being said, we understand that taking part in writing contests can be tough for emerging writers. First, there’s the same affliction all writers face: lack of time or inspiration. Entering writing contests is a time commitment, and many people decide to forego this endeavor in order to work on their larger projects instead — like a full-length book. Second, for many writers, the chance of rejection is enough to steer them clear of writing contests.

But we’re here to tell you that two of the great benefits of entering writing contests happen to be the same as those two reasons to avoid them.

When it comes to the time commitment: yes, you will need to expend time and effort in order to submit a quality piece of writing to competitions. That being said, having a hard deadline to meet is a great motivator for developing a solid writing routine.

Think of entering contests as a training session to become a writer who will need to meet deadlines in order to have a successful career. If there’s a contest you have your eye on, and the deadline is in one month, sit down and realistically plan how many words you’ll need to write per day in order to meet that due date — and don’t forget to also factor in the time you’ll need to edit your story!

For tips on setting up a realistic writing plan, check out this free, ten-day course: How to Build a Rock-Solid Writing Routine.

In regards to the fear of rejection, the truth is that any writer aspiring to become a published author needs to develop relatively thick skin. If one of your goals is to have a book traditionally published, you will absolutely need to learn how to deal with rejection, as traditional book deals are notoriously hard to score. If you’re an indie author, you will need to adopt the hardy determination required to slowly build up a readership.

The good news is that there’s a fairly simple trick for learning to deal with rejection: use it as a chance to explore how you might be able to improve your writing.

In an ideal world, each rejection from a publisher or contest would come with a detailed letter, offering construction feedback and pointing out specific tips for improvement. And while this is sometimes the case, it’s the exception and not the rule.

Still, you can use the writing contests you don’t win as a chance to provide yourself with this feedback. Take a look at the winning and shortlisted stories and highlight their strong suits: do they have fully realized characters, a knack for showing instead of telling, a well-developed but subtly conveyed theme, a particularly satisfying denouement?

The idea isn’t to replicate what makes those stories tick in your own writing. But most examples of excellent writing share a number of basic craft principles. Try and see if there are ways for you to translate those stories’ strong points into your own unique writing.

Finally, there are the more obvious benefits of entering writing contests: prize and publication. Not to mention the potential to build up your readership, connect with editors, and gain exposure.

Resources to help you win writing competitions in 2024

Every writing contest has its own set of submission rules. Whether those rules are dense or sparing, ensure that you follow them to a T. Disregarding the guidelines will not sway the judges’ opinion in your favor — and might disqualify you from the contest altogether.

Aside from ensuring you follow the rules, here are a few resources that will help you perfect your submissions.

Free online courses

On Writing:

How to Craft a Killer Short Story

The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction

How to Write a Novel

Understanding Point of View

Developing Characters That Your Readers Will Love

Writing Dialogue That Develops Plot and Character

Stop Procrastinating! Build a Solid Writing Routine

On Editing:

Story Editing for Authors

How to Self-Edit Like a Pro

Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites

How to Write a Short Story in 7 Steps

How to Write a Novel in 15 Steps

Literary Devices and Terms — 35+ Definitions With Examples

10 Essential Fiction Writing Tips to Improve Your Craft

How to Write Dialogue: 8 Simple Rules and Exercises

8 Character Development Exercises to Help You Nail Your Character

Bonus resources

200+ Short Story Ideas

600+ Writing Prompts to Inspire You

100+ Creative Writing Exercises for Fiction Authors

Story Title Generator

Pen Name Generator

Character Name Generator

After you submit to a writing competition in 2024

It’s exciting to send a piece of writing off to a contest. However, once the initial excitement wears off, you may be left waiting for a while. Some writing contests will contact all entrants after the judging period — whether or not they’ve won. Other writing competitions will only contact the winners.

Here are a few things to keep in mind after you submit:

Many writing competitions don’t have time to respond to each entrant with feedback on their story. However, it never hurts to ask! Feel free to politely reach out requesting feedback — but wait until after the selection period is over.

If you’ve submitted the same work to more than one writing competition or literary magazine, remember to withdraw your submission if it ends up winning elsewhere.

After you send a submission, don’t follow it up with a rewritten or revised version. Instead, ensure that your first version is thoroughly proofread and edited. If not, wait until the next edition of the contest or submit the revised version to other writing contests.

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Horror Story – Short Horror Stories in English

Short horror stories bring hair-raising and chilling moments. Both cause fear and create a feeling of stimulation, so many people love to listen or read horror stories. In particular, telling horror stories is an indispensable activity when friends gather to go out.

Scary Short Ghost Stories

Super Short Horror Story

Short horror story – buy a haunted house , summary of short horror ghost stories , short horror story with solution , good horror short stories , short true horror ghost stories – halloween decorations, short horror ghost story – night walk, short horror stories – mysterious fingers .

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Can you write a scary story in 150 words? (7 Scary Good Shortcuts)

If love stories make you swoon and comedies make you belly laugh like a deranged raccoon, then horror stories make you clench your gut, slam shut your eyes, and pray for the nightmare to end. Scary stories deliver fear. That’s their job. But can you write a scary story in 150 words?

That’s a question terrifying enough to send shudders down the spine of the most experienced writer.

Yes, you can write a scary story in 150 words (or less). The keys are: 1) To trigger fear fast by leveraging age-old human psychology, and 2) To narrow the story to its most basic elements. In this post, you’ll learn 7 ways to terrify readers while keeping your story super short. Plus 75 fear-themed prompts to give you all the goosebumps.

That brings up a few other questions: how to write a good horror story? what even makes good horror?

Let’s start with how to write micro-stories, then layer on the scary.

Read some r eal life writing convention horror stories .

How to Write Short Horror stories

There are a number of effective ways to write super short stories, or micro-stories (also called micro-fiction or, in our case, micro horror). It’s all about drilling down to the heart of the story. Then cut away the fat. After that, you keep scraping away at the story until you get all the way to the bones.

Three scary effective ways to write short:

Story Stripping (I promise this is SFW – safe for work 😉 )

Find the Bones

Write the bones, story stripping.

To write a short story, you write a story short.

Trust me, that sounds more profound than it actually is (don’t end sentences with is, it’s just poor grammar-ship). But the point stands. Writing short stories doesn’t mean that you shortchange the story. It means that you take the complete story and strip it down to its essence.

So, that means you have to really understand the story. That’s the only way to know what to save and what to shave.

Consider these tips when stripping your story:

Complete this story template (Character + Conflict + Crucible). Just fill in the details of your story so that you have the main elements – the character (who the story is about), the conflict (what is the main character up against), and the crucible (the setting or situation that traps the character in the story so they can’t just run away).
If you don’t have a story, use a prompt (like the 75 scary-themed prompts later in this post)
Strip your story down to one or (at most) two characters. You only have 150 words after all.
Strip your story down to a single setting. More settings mean more words, which you don’t have at your disposal.
Strip your story down to one conflict.

Can I write a scary story in 150 words skull image

Table of Contents

After you finish story stripping, it’s time to find the bones. In practice, it’s really just another, deeper level of cuts. You might have a scene or series of scenes in your mind.

Time to kill those darlings. Prepare yourself because this is going to hurt.

It’s time to find the bones of your micro-horror story:

Cut your story down to one character (really, give it an honest try). You probably don’t need the other character (at least not much). Pretend you HAVE to cut your story down to one character. How would you do it? (Then do it).
Cut your story down to one scene. (There’s probably no time for multiple scenes. Go deep with one scene instead of drifting on the surface of several scenes).
Now cut your story down to a slice of that scene (a micro-scene). Which slice? The most dramatic slice. The scariest slice (Scary Spice?).
Cut your story down to one slice of the setting, the micro-setting. (If your setting was a graveyard, now it’s one tombstone. If your setting is an abandoned school, now it’s a haunted bus or empty classroom)

Once you complete those steps, you will have a super bony story ready for the page. You have finished the brutal work of chopping away at your story. Now it’s time to focus on techniques for translating your slimmed up story into actual words.

But before you grab your pencil or keyboard, I have two more cool techniques to share with you. These methods will help you maintain your narrow focus to reach your goal of penning your story in a maximum of 150 words.

The first approach is called the Napkin Test. Here’s how it goes. You attempt to write your entire story on one regular-sized napkin. I know! It’s a terrible test. The worst, really. But it forces you into conciseness. The physical edges of the napkin taunt you with their limits.

Try it out. Grab a napkin (or go buy a cheap pack the next time you are at the store). Try to force yourself to write the entire story in the square space of that napkin.

The second method is even worse. I call it Twitterizing your story. Instead of the napkin, write your entire story in one 150-character tweet (or whatever the current Twitter limit is – if Twitter still exists lol). Even if Twitter is a distant relic of the past when you are reading this post, you can still attempt to write your entire story in 150 characters. Let’s be nice and not include the spaces in the character count.

Why punish yourself with the nearly impossible? Because, once you struggle to write your story in 150 characters, 150 words will seem like a football field of space.

Then there is the actual writing of words. Writing a scary story in 150 words is a challenge best met with intention.

Apply these best practices for writing super short copy:

Use short words (as a bonus, often shorter words pack more punch)
Use short sentences
Avoid adjectives and adverbs (you can always add them in later if you are under word court)
Use vivid verbs with more emotional connotation
Use nouns with more meaning
Use symbols, subtext, and multiple meanings as often as you can (you can double the emotional impact of your writing while keeping the word count low)

Check out my post on The Best Thesaurus for Writers .

In summary, to write short requires short, simple sentences filled with short, simple words packed with subtext.

7 Ways to Terrify Readers (Based on Neuroscience)

You have the bones of your story. It’s time to talk terror. There are certain tools and techniques writers use to create the unsettling atmosphere of psychological suspense.

When you are writing micro-fiction, you must employ the best horror tactics to terrify readers in the small space of your story. Apply these next tips to scare your readers’ shorts off.

By the way, all of these tips work wonders because they are based on real brain science (sources at the bottom of the article).

1. Scare them Early

Things are scarier if you are already afraid. So scare them early and often. Once we are primed for fear, we interpret everything else through this fear-smeared lens. Especially in a micro or short story, we need to get to the fear fast.

In your story, don’t go for the slow burn by building to suspense or fear. Dive into the middle of the scary. Think that’s hard to do in 150 words? Try 5 words.

Can you write a scary story in 150 words? six word horror stories

2. Threaten the Ordinary

Un-scary things can be the scariest (humans imagine the worst). One of Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite techniques was to invoke fear in normal settings, like showers, and into normal things, like birds.

Sure, graveyards and old, empty houses are scary. But so are rain gutters with smiling clowns.

scary clown image for can you write a scary story in 150 words

When choosing your story and scene settings, think outside of the graveyard. Invoke fear into the ordinary. Pick a normal place and make it terrifying.

3. Slow Time Down

When scared, people experience time distortion where time appears to move slower. Novice skydivers, for instance, often think the preparations before jumping take longer than they do. Horror scenes in movies and fiction often exploit this slo-mo feature to terror by increasing the pace of terror while simultaneously slowing time down to focus on the fear.

You can achieve a similar effect by raising the pace of action in your story while slowing down the experience of the horror. You do that by focusing in on specific character actions, description of simple setting details (like the bloodstained baby shoes), and entering into the mind and emotions of the character.

4. No Way Out

According to neuroscientists (people way smarter than me), the purpose of fear is to prompt us into appropriate adaptive action. Mainly, that is to escape the source of the threat or perceived threat.

That’s why it’s so terrifying to feel trapped. So, ramp up the fear in your stories by hemming in your characters so that they can’t do what everything in their biology is screaming at them to do: get the hell out .

Now all of those buried alive stories make more sense. So do the stories of being conscious but immobile on the surgeon’s table, the scalpel sharp and gleaming inches away from the whites of your eyeball.

When you think about trapping your character or characters, think not only about the physical location. Also, think about access to help through cell phones and other resources like food, water, and air.

5. Helpless

Another primitive fear is powerlessness. When we feel helpless, we feel desperately alone. That’s another reason those buried alive stories are so dang terrifying.

Spook up your story by getting your character alone and without any outside help. In your 150-word story, you might only have one character anyway. But this technique also works for longer stories.

When plotting out your story (or pantsing your way through it), ask yourself, “How can I make my character more helpless?” and, “What do they need? How can I take that away?”

6. Vulnerable

Like helplessness, vulnerability is another fear trigger. That’s one of the reasons the shower scene in Psycho is so visceral. The female character is completely vulnerable.

The same can be said of the movie Jaws. When we are floating in the ocean, we are easy prey. Vulnerability can be terrifying.

What parts of your story can exploit vulnerability? How can you make your character more vulnerable?

Consider these possibilities:

Darkness (When we can’t see, we are more vulnerable)
Handicapped (Such as when we are injured and can’t run or defend ourselves)
Weaker/Smaller (Children are vulnerable, when facing bigger and stronger opponents, we are all vulnerable)
The unknown (When we don’t know what is out there or what we are up against, fear magnifies)

7. Empathetic Fear

The terror that I can relate to is more terrifying. Vampire horror stories and zombie stories can be very scary, but I can’t really relate to them. But hearing a knock on the door in the middle of the night? I’ve been there .

That’s why scary stories involving pets (Pet Cemetery) and dolls (Chucky) scare the goodness right out of us. Most all of us have experienced pets. Most of us have glanced side-eyed at a creepy doll perched on a dusty dresser and wondered at the dark intelligence that might be starting back at us.

When crafting your story, dig into relatable experiences and places. They terrify us in their normalcy. We connect to them more easily and fully.

75 Scary Story Writing Prompts

In case you need spooky story starters to write your short horror story, here are 75 writing prompts. Use them for writing sprints, creative fodder to generate new and terrifying micro or long-form horror story ideas, to write creepy fanfiction, or just as a mental exercise to train your mind to see story possibilities everywhere. You could even consider them 75 Halloween themed prompts (since some of the prompts reference this spooky holiday) . It’s completely up to you!

Download a copy of all 75 Horror writing prompts as a PDF below: (Just click the Download button)

You come home and no one recognizes you.
The old civil war painting in the hall just blinked.
Describe Halloween from a Jack-O-Lantern’s point of view.
What is the most terrified you have ever been?
What are some unusual tools that you could use to carve a pumpkin?
Write a scene where someone carves a pumpkin while the pumpkin screams.
Something is following you while trick-or-treating.
You realize that you are slowly losing your mind.
Your character must stay overnight in the room where a dozen people were murdered.
The old man in front of you has fully black eyes (no whites)
Your dog is acting strangely like it doesn’t recognize you.
Your character wakes up trapped somewhere.
What is the most terrifying day of the year? Why?
A kid suspects his or her parents may be trying to murder them.
Your mirror image stops mimicking you.
Your character finds a long-lost letter that chills his spine.
The doll on the dresser just moved by itself.
Who do you want to scare this Halloween? How will you scare them?
Your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.
What would you do during a zombie pandemic?
You suspect the old lady next door is cooking more than bread.
Write a story about a haunted playground.
Share your first pumpkin carving experience with a person deathly afraid of knives.
Can you write a poem from the point of view of a serial killer?
Prepare a questionnaire to interview the monster under your bed.
How would you define yourself, a scaredy-cat or strong-hearted person who is difficult to scare?
Do you believe in ghosts?
Write a descriptive recipe from the point of view of an evil witch.
Complete the sentence- When I looked behind the basement water heater …
Your little brother tells you that he saw a monster underneath the bed. Then he shows you the claw marks on his shin.
Write a persuasive letter to your pen pal pleading with them to never to play “Bloody Mary.”
Flip to three random words in the dictionary and create a scary story that connects all three.
Make a list of decorative items that can be used by a Vampire to lure victims into his lair.
A new mother finds a jack-o-lantern with a secret spooky message inside it.
What would you do if you woke up in the middle of the night to find someone staring at you?
Your shadow stops following you. What do you do?
You wake up in the middle of the night and can’t breathe.
Write about the history of a ghost town.
Write a story about a kid who goes trick-or-treating but gets lost in the woods.
While taking a shower, your character realizes she is covered in giant tarantulas.
All the power and lights suddenly go off in the middle of a storm.
Your character starts spitting up blood.
You are a vampire trying to get invited into a house. Write a first-person account of what you would say to gain entrance.
What scares you the most?
What are the similarities of your top three scary movies?
Write about a normal object that becomes unsettling.
A traveling minister brings your dead brother back to life but something is different about him.
List as many words as you can that sound “scary” to you.
You start hearing the thoughts of a serial killer.
A new girl in town puts a curse on you.
You wake up in bed next to a dead body.
A man attends a funeral and realizes the body in the coffin isn’t dead.
A woman gets in touch with her dead younger sister.
A woman attends a funeral and realizes the body in the coffin is her.
If you could bring any Halloween monsters back to life who would it be and why?
A man is accused of kidnapping a child he has never met.
A woman wakes up with no eyesight in a place she has never been.
Write a story where nothing is as it seems.
A scary clown is walking towards you in the dark.
The local psyche ward just lost all power and all staff has mysteriously disappeared.
The empty subway train slows to a stop in the middle of a tunnel.
A serial killer is recreating every one of Stephen King’s novels .
A man takes a beautiful woman home, but she starts acting oddly inhuman.
A woman’s spouse is convinced she’s been replaced with a clone.
A man’s dog starts becoming more aggressive.
Create a social media profile for one of the following: mummy, clown, zombies, vampires, or werewolf.
All the children in town disappear.
A woman gets out of the shower to a strange message written in the steam on the bathroom mirror.
A mythical being comes back to life.
The faces of a man’s neighbors start to sag grossly.
Write about a household item possessed by an evil spirit.
Complete the story – The moment she stepped off the curb onto the deserted street…
You think you might be starting to crave blood.
The magnets on the fridge spell out, “I’m in the room with you.”
You start to hear whispering in the walls of your house.

How to use These Horror Writing Prompts for Writing Sprints

Choose one or more prompts from the list
Prepare your writing tools
Decide on a word count goal, for example, 1,000 words (hey, that’s almost 7 of those 150-word stories. The actual calculation is 6.66. Coincidence??).
Set a timer for between 15 and 60 minutes.
Start the timer.
Write as many words as you can until the timer stops or goes off.
Record Your word sprint data on a spreadsheet or using online software. For example, your word count achieved compared to your word count software.

For a complete breakdown of writing sprints, read Writing Sprints: The Ultimate Guide to Successful Writing Sprints .

So, that’s how to write a scary story in 150-words (or less). For even more awesome content, consider these articles:

21 Ways To Write a Complex Villain [Ultimate Badass Guide]
How To Write Morally Gray Characters [Bestseller Secrets Revealed]
How to Become a Writer for SNL (The Insanely Complete Guide)

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Horror Flash Fiction: How To Scare Your Readers In 500 Words Or Less

Do you have a knack for writing horror stories but struggle with keeping them short and concise? Horror flash fiction might just be the genre for you. With a limited word count of 500 words or less, you can still pack a punch and leave your readers with chills down their spines.

But how do you create a truly terrifying horror flash fiction? It takes more than just a few jump scares and a monster lurking in the shadows. You need to focus on creating a specific idea, building atmosphere, and using shocking imagery to build tension and suspense.

In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of crafting a horror flash fiction that will leave your readers wanting more. So grab a pen and paper, and let’s get started.

Key Takeaways

Bone-chilling ideas are crucial for creating terrifying horror flash fiction
Engaging all senses and building tension and suspense keeps the reader on edge
Ambiguous endings and open-ended questions can leave the reader craving for more
Descriptive language and believable characters are important for immersing the reader in the story.

Choose a Focused and Specific Idea

You’ve got to nail down a specific, bone-chilling idea that will make your readers squirm in their seats. Horror flash fiction is all about creating a sense of unease, anxiety, and fear in a very short amount of time.

To do this, you need to choose a focused and specific idea that will immediately grab your readers’ attention. One way to do this is to focus on the setting. Choose a location that will add to the sense of dread and fear. It could be an abandoned hospital, a dark alley, or a creepy old house.

The setting should be described in vivid detail to create a mood that will keep your readers on edge. Another important aspect of horror flash fiction is crafting believable characters. Give your characters depth and personality, and make them relatable to the reader.

When readers connect with your characters, they will be more invested in the story and feel the tension and fear more deeply.

Create a Sense of Atmosphere

As you begin to craft your horror flash fiction, it’s essential to create a sense of atmosphere that will draw your readers in and leave them feeling uneasy.

To achieve this, you’ll want to use descriptive language that paints a vivid picture in their minds. Engage all five senses, not just sight, to immerse your readers in the world you’re creating.

By doing so, you’ll be able to set the stage for an unforgettable horror experience that will leave your readers with chills down their spines.

Use Descriptive Language

With every flicker of the candlelight, the shadows danced around the room, adding an eerie dimension to the descriptive language used to describe the ominous presence lurking in the corner. You could feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up as you read about the musty smell emanating from the dark figure, and the way its eyes seemed to follow your every movement.

The writer had crafted a vivid scene that allowed you to see, hear, smell, and feel every detail as if you were right there in the room with the character.

The power of sensory details can’t be overstated when it comes to horror flash fiction. Every word counts, and every description should serve to heighten the tension and suspense of the story.

By using descriptive language that engages all the senses, the writer can create an immersive experience that will leave the reader terrified and unable to look away.

So if you want to scare your readers in 500 words or less, remember to use descriptive language that paints a picture in their minds and makes them feel like they’re living the nightmare themselves.

Engage All Five Senses

When you’re writing a horror flash fiction, it’s crucial to engage all five senses to create an immersive experience for your readers. Using sensory language effectively can help you create a realistic and terrifying world that your audience won’t easily forget.

To engage your readers’ senses, you need to describe not only what they see, but also what they hear, smell, taste, and feel. For example, instead of simply describing a dark and eerie forest, you can describe the crunching of leaves underfoot, the damp smell of decaying wood, the taste of rain on your tongue, and the cold breath of the wind on your skin.

By using sensory language, you can transport your readers into the world you’ve created and make them feel like they’re right there with your characters, experiencing the horror firsthand.

So, when writing your horror flash fiction, remember to engage all five senses to create a truly terrifying experience for your readers.

Build Tension and Suspense

You want to keep your readers on edge, and one way to do that is by building tension and suspense. Foreshadowing and misdirection are powerful tools you can use to keep your audience guessing.

As you create a slow build-up of fear, consider how you can use these techniques to keep your readers on the edge of their seats. Remember, the ultimate goal is to leave them wanting more.

Use Foreshadowing and Misdirection

Imagine the hair on the back of your neck standing on end as your heart races with anticipation, all because of the subtle hints and clever redirections that lead you down a path of terror.

In horror flash fiction, foreshadowing and misdirection are two of the most powerful tools a writer can use to scare their readers. Both techniques are equally effective, but they serve different purposes in creating suspense and fear.

Foreshadowing is the art of subtle hints and clues that hint at what’s to come. It’s the ominous music before the jump scare, the shadowy figure in the background, or the eerie silence before the storm. It’s a powerful tool that can build tension and anticipation, leaving readers on edge as they try to piece together what’s going to happen next.

On the other hand, misdirection is the art of leading readers down a false path. It’s the red herring that distracts from the true horror, the fake-out scare that lulls readers into a false sense of security, or the unexpected twist that turns everything on its head. Misdirection is a powerful tool that can catch readers off guard, leaving them vulnerable to the true horror that awaits.

By mastering both foreshadowing and misdirection, horror writers can create a rollercoaster of emotions that keeps readers guessing until the very end.

Create a Slow Build-Up of Fear

Creating dread and psychological horror in a flash fiction story requires a delicate balance of pacing and tension. The slow build-up of fear is essential to keep the reader on edge, anticipating what might happen next.

Start by establishing a sense of normalcy, a routine or a setting that feels familiar to the reader. This can be a mundane activity or a seemingly innocent location, such as a family dinner or a quiet library.

As the story progresses, introduce subtle hints of something amiss. Perhaps a character notices a strange noise or a flicker of movement out of the corner of their eye. These small details plant the seeds of unease in the reader’s mind, slowly building towards a climax of terror.

Use sensory descriptions to heighten the tension, describing the musty smell of a basement or the prickling sensation of being watched. By the end of the story, the reader should be left with a lingering sense of dread, unsure of what horrors might lurk just beyond the page.

Use Shocking and Disturbing Imagery

The blood-soaked walls and the decapitated bodies strewn across the floor made your stomach churn. As you try to take in the gruesome scene, you notice something odd about the way the bodies are positioned. They’re arranged in a pattern, almost as if they were intentionally placed there.

Your mind races with questions: Who did this? Why did they do this? And are you next? As you step closer to one of the bodies, you notice a small piece of paper clenched in their hand. You hesitate before reaching for it, unsure if you really want to know what it says.

Eventually, your curiosity gets the best of you and you unfold the paper. The words scrawled across it in jagged letters make your blood run cold. It’s a message from the killer, taunting you with the knowledge that they’re still out there, waiting and watching.

You realize with horror that you’re not just a witness to this violence – you’re a potential victim.

End with a Twist or Revelation

You want to leave your reader breathless and wanting more. To do that, you need to deliver a satisfying or unsettling conclusion that leaves them pondering the story long after they’ve finished.

A twist or revelation at the end can be the perfect way to achieve this goal. So, think carefully about the ending of your story and how you can make it memorable.

Deliver a Satisfying or Unsettling Conclusion

Can’t deny it, we all crave for that shiver down our spine at the end of a horror story, so let me tell you how to leave your readers feeling either satisfied or unsettled with just one sentence.

Crafting ambiguous endings is a great way to leave your audience in a state of uncertainty, wondering what really happened. This can be achieved by utilizing unreliable narrators who leave clues throughout the story that can be interpreted in different ways. This leaves your readers questioning their own interpretation of the events, adding to the unsettling feeling.

Another way to deliver a satisfying or unsettling conclusion is to leave the fate of the characters up to the reader’s imagination. This can be done by ending the story with a cliffhanger or an open-ended question. It allows the reader to imagine what could happen next or what the characters may face in the future.

This type of conclusion leaves a lasting impression on the reader, making them feel like they are a part of the story and that it is still unfolding even after they’ve finished reading.

In summary, whether you decide to craft an ambiguous ending or leave the fate of the characters to the reader’s imagination, a satisfying or unsettling conclusion will leave your audience craving for more.

Leave Your Reader Wanting More

By ending your story with a cliffhanger or open-ended question, readers are 50% more likely to recommend it to a friend.

In horror flash fiction, leaving your reader wanting more is a key element in creating an unforgettable ending. You want to leave them on the edge of their seat, scared and curious about what comes next.

To master cliffhangers, you need to know your story inside and out. Think about the most suspenseful moment in your story and stop there. Don’t give your reader all the answers; leave them with a question that makes them want to read more.

By doing this, your reader will be eager to find out what happens next and will be more likely to come back for more of your writing. Remember to keep the tension high and the stakes even higher to keep your reader engaged.

With these tips, you can create an unforgettable ending that will keep your readers wanting more of your horror flash fiction.

The key to scaring your readers in 500 words or less is to focus on a specific idea and create a sense of atmosphere.

You must build tension and suspense, use shocking and disturbing imagery, and end with a twist or revelation that will leave your readers terrified.

Remember, the devil’s in the details. Use vivid and descriptive language to paint a picture of your horror story in your reader’s minds. Keep them on the edge of their seats by using imaginative and suspenseful language that’ll make them feel like they’re a part of the story.

In the end, your goal is to leave your readers with a lasting impression that’ll haunt them long after they finish reading.

250 Words of Fear & Terror

A collection of very short horror stories.

Precisely 250-Word Horror Stories

It started as an exercise to create a horror story in precisely 250 words – to spin a tale of evil and malevolence, to send shivers down your spine, and do it in very few words.

Join me on this journey. Prepare for a twist into despair. For who knows what waits in for you in the darkness.

Sample Stories from 250 Words of Fear & Terror

100-word horror story

Since tomorrow is Insecure Writers’ Support Group day, I’ll make this post short and sweet.

I was recently challenged to write a 100-word horror story. Feel free to write your own and share it in the comments, if you like.

The questions began every evening. I tried my best to answer them.

“daddy, why is the sky blue”, i sighed with relief—this one i knew. “it isn’t really—it’s colorless. the reflection of the sun’s rays makes it seem blue.”, she paused for a moment. her next question was a little harder., “daddy, where did mommy go”, the thought of her mother still made my chest tight. “mommy got sick, and the angels took her away so she wouldn’t suffer.”, her last question was the most difficult., “daddy, why did you kill me”, i wish i had the answer., 1 part newsletter, 1 part unnerving updates, 2 parts sneak peeks of new projects., 35 comments.

That is chilling. Didn’t see it coming.

Thanks so much, Alex! You ROCK.

yikes, totally out of left field!

I’ll take that as a compliment, Susan. 😀

Wow, I’m like Alex. I totally didn’t see that ending coming. Makes me want to know more.

Thoughts in Progress and MC Book Tours

Thanks so much, Mason! Who knows…maybe, like the best horror movie characters, they’ll come back.

Wow. Just Wow!

Aw, thanks Denise. Everyone is being so kind. I didn’t expect such a wonderful response–I’m a little overwhelmed. 🙂

That was amazing, and horrifying. I’ll have to play with something really short like this. I’m surprised how powerful it could be with so few words.

@mirymom1 from Balancing Act

Thanks, Samantha. I’m glad you liked it. The PR team at Samhain asked me to write it, and when they first suggested it, I thought, “I can’t do that–a horror story in 100 words? That’s crazy!”

Turns out I can! 😀

If you try it, tag me.

*chills* *chills* *chills*

That is SO creepy!

Aw, thanks Heather! *hugs*

Totally chilling!

And you know how much I love micro fiction AND horror. 🙂

Thanks, Madeline! It’s great to hear from a master of the genre.

It begs for an encore. Nicely done. 🙂

Thanks so much, Henry! And thanks for posting your own on my Facebook page . That was awesome.

You’re welcome. It was a fun challenge. I wish more people would give it a try.

You and me both!

Creepy. Makes me want to hear more.

Thanks, Lisa. You never know…maybe these two will speak to me some more one day, demanding a novel of their own.

Thanks so much, Adam! Welcome to my blog. 🙂

That ending is chilling! This reminded me of something I read before. I swear I’ve read something before about a child asking a dad questions and each one was harder for him to answer. Hmm…I can’t think of where I read it, though. Oh well. Great job! I should try 100 word stories. 🙂

Thanks, Chrys. Is it possible you read it when I promoted it for Samhain? They were the ones who asked me to write it initially, and I shared it back then.

Yep. That ending was chilling all right. Oh, the ghost of Mark Twain just followed your Twitter account — on account you were pretty he said, wagging his eyebrows! Sigh. Forgive the old rascal. He’s mostly harmless except to himself!! 🙂

Well, I’m flattered, Roland. And you can tell Mr. Twain I said so.

Wow! I did not see that coming and that is downright creepy but it would make a great book and movie

Wow, you’re too kind, Birgit! Thanks so much. 🙂

Horrifying, really. Well done.

Thanks so much, Mary!

CREEPY!!!! I love it. =) <3

Thanks, Nikki. I adore you!

That was great. I didn’t see that ending.

Thanks, Patricia!

i lovgfe your pageeeeeee

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Top 10 Short Ghost Story in English 100, 200, 500 Words PDF

Short & long ghost story in english.

10 Top Short & Long Ghost Story in English 100, 200, 500 Words: You can Download PDF of all these ghost stories from the link given below. Today we will introduce you to some such scary and ghostly stories which you will be shocked to read. Some such things are difficult to believe, yet we cannot live without reading them, so let’s start with 10 such best scary and ghost stories.

Ghost Story in English

1. ghost in the lift.

This story is from Delhi, we used to live in Ambedkar Colony. The name of our building was Apsara. There was a rumor that there is a ghost in the lift! In fact, a woman had committed suicide by jumping from the 14th floor. Since then people used to say that the ghost of that woman is seen in the lift!

Our house was on the fifth floor! Although I didn’t believe much in the ghost thing, still I was afraid to go on the lift at night! Well, I didn’t even need a lift.

One day I was coming back home with a friend of mine. He also lived in the same building! At that time it was around 10:00 at the night. We were scared to go in the elevator! But we didn’t want to show each other that we were scared! So we got into the elevator! The lift reached the third floor, and the door was half open and closed by itself!

The lift started going up! We tried to stop the lift but none of the buttons were working! The lift went to the top floor and then came down to the bottom floor. This happened 7-8 times and then the lift stopped on the 14th floor. The elevator door opened on its own!

We were very scared! We quickly ran downstairs off the lift and enter our respective homes! Everyone in the house asked why I was panting, so I made an excuse that I was coming after a race with a friend. After that day I never used the lift again during the day!

2. The Witch on the Roof

My name is Amar! I am going to tell you all a story I saw with one eye! The matter is 5 years old, at that time we used to live in Lucknow city. For some days there was a rumor of a witch roaming in our locality.

Some people said that they have seen a scary woman walking in the night! Sometimes she is seen roaming on the roof of houses and sometimes in the streets.

Because of this people stopped sleeping on the terrace. The streets used to become deserted as soon as it got dark. One day the people of the locality together kept watch for the whole night, but no one came!

I didn’t believe it at all, I used to make fun of anyone who talked about witches! I believed that this is the misconception of the people or some person is scaring the people!

One night the lights went out! Everyone inside was asleep in the summer! No one dared to go on the roof for fear of the witch! I was also forbidden to go upstairs! But when the heat could not be tolerated, I took my bed and went to the terrace!

Reaching the roof, I saw a woman sitting on the eaves of the roof! She had a piece of meat in her hand which she was eating! His face was on the other side! Only his hands looked like animals! My condition worsened after seeing all this!

I ran away leaving my bed there and bolting the door! From that day I also believed in the witch talk!

For the next few days, there were incidents of seeing a witch, but after a few days, the witch stopped appearing! People’s fear also started to end! But I will never forget what I saw!

3. Ghost in the Pond

It’s about when I was 10-11 years old! It was summer vacation! I had gone to my village! There was no work in the village other than having fun! There was no freedom in the city which was there in the village.

There was a pond near the village. One day I asked my brother who lived in the village to walk there. He told that a ghost lives in that pond! If you go there, you will be killed!

I said go secretly no one will know! The next day in the afternoon when everyone was resting at home, we both left secretly! We even took our fishing gear! After reaching the pond, we started fishing!

After a while, my brother got up from there and went somewhere. I was left there alone, suddenly someone pushed me hard from behind! I fell into the pond! The pond was not very deep, but still, I could not get out! Like someone is pulling me inside!

I was out of breath! Meanwhile, someone grabbed my hand and pulled me up! He was none other than my brother! After a while when I became normal I asked why did you push me?

He swore he didn’t push! It seemed from his face that he was not lying! We both quickly ran out of there and never went there again!

4. Haunted House

It’s been almost 5 years since then my aunt’s health had deteriorated a lot! She used to do wrong things and used to say anything to anyone.

We have seen many doctors but to no avail! Then one of our relatives told us that he was possessed by a witch and that he would have to be taken to Balaji! The housemates left for Balaji without delay!

As soon as Balaji reached, aunt got down from the car and went inside running. Frightened, even the family members followed him. Going there, it was found that uncle had cut down a tree in his garden in which the witch and her children lived!

The witch had come to break into their house! But after a little persuasion there, she agreed! He asked for milk for his hungry children! Uncle brought milk and as soon as he wanted to give milk to him, he refused and said my children will drink sweet milk!

Uncle bought jalebi from the front and put it in milk! After that, the witch asked to plant a tree in the forest and also asked to keep milk under it every day for 2 years!

After that aunt started recovering and everyone came back, but while coming back, aunt started doing some strange things again! The family members got very upset! On asking, it was found that now it is the shadow of some other ghost!

He told that my uncle used to have a dream a few years back! In the dream, a man used to ask him for water. He told that he is the same man! What happened after this, no one told anything even after asking a lot! But the aunt was absolutely fine, which everyone was satisfied with!

5. Aunt’s Ghost

This story is from my village! There my two uncles and their family used to live in the village. Everything was going well but my great-uncle died in a road accident! Shortly after that my great aunt also died!

After that my younger uncle and his family also left the village house and came to the city. After a few months, my younger uncle had to go to the village house to get it repaired! They started the repair work on the house!

One evening after finishing the repair work, my uncle was lying on the terrace at 10 pm. They saw the ghost of my great-aunt sitting in the courtyard! My uncle’s eyes were filled with tears! As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw my great aunt sitting at the bottom of the stairs, staring back at him!

Seeing this, my uncle was completely scared and lost his senses! After that when he regained consciousness, he went to the neighbor’s house. He told them the whole scene! After that my uncle’s health deteriorated badly. He quickly came to the city but never forgot that thing!

6. Mother’s love

Ramesh who is 25 years old is newly married and has a beautiful wife. Both of them went to Himachal for their honeymoon where they spent 5 days.

Now it was time for him to return to his home. Both sat in their car and left for Noida. It was 10:00 at the night. Now they were about to cross the valley of Himachal, the road was completely deserted and the car was going very fast.

Suddenly Ramesh saw a woman in front of his car who was wearing a red saree. She was stopping the car by waving her hand from a distance. Seeing him, Ramesh’s wife refused to stop the car as she was afraid that it might be a conspiracy to commit a robbery. Suddenly the woman came in front of the car due to Ramesh had to stop the car.

The woman started banging loudly on the door. From the expression on his face, it seemed as if he was in some big trouble. Ramesh’s wife refused to open the car door. She said it could be some trick, we should not go out.

Ramesh said that if she was really in trouble then she would need us because looking at her she was looking good from home. As soon as I said this, Ramesh opened the car door and came out.

The woman said in a panic, “Please help me”. Ramesh said what happened. He replied that my car had fallen into the ditch below and hit a tree and my little girl was trapped in it. Please take him out.

On hearing this, Ramesh’s wife also came out and all three went toward the ditch. Saw that the car had collided with a tree a little below and a small girl sitting behind was crying. Ramesh tried a lot, then the door of the car opened. Ramesh took that girl out and kept her in his lap, but the girl was still crying.

That’s why Ramesh’s eyes went to the one in front where he felt someone sitting. When Ramesh saw it, his feet and tail slipped on the ground. He couldn’t believe it, he saw that there was none other than the mother of the child in the front seat who was calling Ramesh for help.

Ramesh saw that blood was coming out from the forehead of that woman and she had died. Ramesh’s wife came to him and she too was surprised to see her.

On seeing this, Ramesh and his wife looked back and saw where the woman was standing but now she was no one.

7. Hostel Ghost

There is a college near our village. It is counted as a very good educational institution. Children come from far and wide to get an education here.

It was about 9 years back. A boy used to study while staying in the hostel here. He was very intelligent and friendly. The children living with him in the hostel used to call him Sonu Bhai.

Once upon a time, he went to his village for 10 days to attend his elder brother’s wedding. After 10 days that boy started coming back to the hostel. But used to talk less with his friends, even though he did not eat food with his friends and used to say that he will eat later.

Now he was also less interested in studies, when the children with him wanted to talk to him, he used to talk about work, do not know where he lived during the day, and came to the hostel at night only to sleep. It was only a week since he came to the hostel from home that one day Sonu Bhai’s family members came to the hostel.

A boy told his family that Sonu Bhai comes to sleep only at night. Sonu’s family members started crying after listening to the boy and said how can he come even at night. We have come to collect his belongings.

Sonu is no more. Two days after leaving here, he was going to a relative’s place by motorcycle, his motorcycle collided with a speeding truck and he died. By saying this, those people started becoming more intense.

There were children in the hostel who were listening to the talk and they started crying. They were thinking again and again whether the boy who was with them at night whom they used to see was the ghost of Sonu Bhai.

Well after that day Sonu’s ghost never again came to the hostel to sleep and for many months all the children of the hostel were scared. The lock remained hanging in Sonu Bhai’s living room. He kept saying that Sonu Bhai had a lot of attachment to his hostel, so even after being late, he could not leave the hostel.

It is said that even today the children used to sleep with Sonu Bhai. They live in fear, and can’t say whether this incident is right or wrong, because I have heard about this incident from the villagers.

8. Do not turn back, death is certain

Friends, one night I was going from my village to the bus stand with my friend late at night on the way to the farm, then one of my friends said, “Friend, walk a little faster, there is some problem with this field to the next two fields” so I asked what’s the matter If yes, he repeatedly avoided the matter.

But when I put more pressure, he told the whole story.

Many years ago a man was passing through these fields at night from his village. Went under a tree to urinate on the way. After that, as he walked a little, he heard the cry of a child.

He thought it would be the child of the night watchman, but only then he remembered that this field belongs to Rameshwar who died hanging here 3 years back.

The man kept moving forward with fearful steps. The words of those people will be remembered in his mind. Never turn back at night while passing through this farm. If someone asks for a way, don’t look at his feet. Do not listen to anyone no matter how much they say.

Thinking all these things in his mind, that man’s condition became very bad and started thinking about why he did not think about all this before coming here. As he progressed, the child’s voice became louder and it seemed as if he was walking with him.

Then suddenly he saw that a child was crying under the tree, so fearing, he called out whose child it was, but there was no response.

Due to fear, he went ahead but hearing the child’s cry, he could not help it and he looked back. He saw that the child was lying behind him in the swing. Taking this child in his lap out of mercy, he started running away. After a while, that child started to feel heavy for him.

He was shocked to see that his feet were long and almost touching the ground. He panicked and dropped the child. As soon as the child fell down, the child laughed loudly like a grown man. You were saved today, if my feet had touched the ground, no one could have saved you here today. Your death was certain. That child disappeared.

The man reached the house fell down and fainted as soon as he reached home when he regained consciousness, he told the whole story to the villagers, as soon as I heard this, without turning back in panic, he ran as fast as and did not go ever back to that field.

9. Soldier’s Ghost

This matter is of Madhya Pradesh. I was coming back from the fair with my friend. We both were very tired so we were not talking much. Suddenly my friend started mumbling something. He was speaking something in Punjabi, but he did not know Punjabi and was asking questions and answering himself.

I could not understand why he was doing this. I thought he might be joking. Was demanding something from himself and was saying to himself that I do not have it.

After going a little distance, the road split into two. One way went towards the village and the other towards the forest. There my friend called my name Mohan and fainted there.

I saw a man wearing a military uniform and a green turban walking toward the forest. He disappeared after going a short distance. I somehow brought my friend home and told the whole thing.

There was a little tension in his house. But in a short, while he regained consciousness and after a few prayers, everything became normal.

I had heard many stories of ghosts but can never forget the incident I saw with my eyes.

10. Old Cemetery

This is not a fictional story or a movie story but it is true as seen by the eyes. I went on a picnic on behalf of my company. The picnic was at a resort outside the city.

Earlier the people of the company played cricket and other games. After that, we went to the water park. There were only a few people swimming in deep water, the rest all were swimming in less deep water.

We friends made a bet. A coin will be thrown into the water and the one who finds the coin in the least time will be able to find it. He will win.

Everyone dived in turn, but no one ever found the coin. It was my turn next, I jumped into the water, but everything changed as soon as I entered the water. I found that the cemetery was visible under the ground.

There was a woman standing there who did not look Indian in face and dress. He had the same coin in his hand. She stood with her hand raised up. It seemed as if she was standing to give the coin to me.

As he was moving forward in his hypnosis. In a few moments, I was close to him and I took the coin from his hand. As soon as I started coming back, he grabbed my hand and pulled me. Now she and my face were faces to face.

In an instant, his face changed and took on a terrifying look. His eyes were bleeding and there was a sinister smile on his face. There was no limit to my fear. I trembled with fear.

I released my hand, and after that, both the graveyard and the woman disappeared and I caught myself. I felt as if I was in a dream. I quickly came out of the water and went away and sat down. I was out of breath.

My friends started helping me. Everyone asked what happened. I replied nothing. I opened my fist and saw that the coin was in my hand. Seeing this, my friends started dancing with joy and started congratulating me.

Friends bet again, but I did not go into the water again. It was evening, our bus was about to leave. Some of us went out to smoke cigarettes. My friends were joking and laughing out loud.

An uncle standing in front of us was listening to our talk and was cracking up every now and then. I stood silently, and one of my friends jokingly asked why I was silent since then.

Have you seen any ghosts inside? Hearing this, the uncle jokingly said that this used to be a graveyard during the British era. You must have seen a lot of fair people.

Everyone started laughing after hearing this but I was really sure that what I had seen was not my illusion.

Let’s hope so! You must have liked all these ( Ghost Story in English ) ghost stories. If you like such interesting stories then comment us in the comment box.

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