Welcome to our bone-chilling Halloween 50 Word Horror Story Contest! We’re offering a terrifying $100 prize for the most spine-tingling tale. Craft a complete horror story in just 50 words and submit it in the comments below by midnight on September 29th, 2024. Enter as many times as you dare!
The rules:
- It must be a horror story
- It must be 50 words or less
- It must be a complete story
- Entries must be submitted by midnight on September 29th, 2024
- Enter as many stories as you like!
- Post your story in the comments below
- The scariest story wins
The prize:
- $100 prize for the most spine-tingling tale selected by our judges
- The winning story will be featured in our print and digital Halloween issue
- The author of the winning story will be featured on our site with links to their work
- The winner can promote their writing-related book or website on our platform
- Money will be paid through PayPal
We’re desperately seeking hair-raising tales that leave us shivering with fear. Put on your master of macabre hat and unleash your most terrifying 50-word story. Make us tremble with terror in less space than a tweet. Our judges are prepared to reward the tiny tale that sends the most chills down their spines.
What nightmarish stories does your twisted mind conceal? Polish your most petrifying micro-tale and leave your horrifying submissions in the comments below. We can hardly wait to witness the spine-chilling horrors your imagination can create when restricted to a mere 50 words. Hold nothing back – let your horror take life in this compact space. Enter as many times as you wish to maximize your chances of winning the $100 prize and being featured in our Halloween issue. Make us shriek with fright!
Leave your story below. Enter as many times as you desire!
Winners will be posted by October 11, and our print/digital issue will be out on October 17!
Elizabeth says
I hear loud whispers from the creaks on the wall, ‘Jade, play with us.’ One time it sounded like my dead grandma, I swear it, but everyone acted like they didn’t see me. It turns out I am a ghost, and the voices I hear are also of the dead.
Zayyan says
I wake into the embrace of darkness. It suffocates me. Paralyzes me.
There, a snuffling sound. A candle. A human.
Odd… there is blood around his mouth, he is bent on all fours near me. And then I see my leg half eaten and my lips form a soundless scream.
M Pontbriand says
It bounced off the front corner of my old truck.
“Shit!”
Her voice wobbled next to me. “I don’t think it’s a deer.”
Behind us, I could see it in the red of our taillights, neck bent ninety degrees, legs punmping stick straight like an ant’s might. Gaining.
Elizabeth says
The dog ran into the forest filled with Trolls.
So, I followed.
Someone’s got to play the hero.
But, I’m eight.
M Pontbriand says
It bounced off the front corner of my old truck.
“Shit!”
Her voice wobbled next to me. “I don’t think it’s a deer.”
Behind us, I could see it in the red of our taillights, neck bent ninety degrees, legs pumping stick straight like an ant’s might. Gaining.
Natalie says
“ Lilly, come play.” I looked out the window a young girl smiled at me, swinging back and forth on the swingset. Not an ounce of life was portrayed in her body. I turned back around, and met a mirror. My soul escaped from my body, into the little girl’s hands.
Natalie says
I could hear her she was taunting me, her hand met the door repeatedly. Her knocking, continued throughout the night. Then it stopped, I hid myself under my covers. I looked up, she stood above me. Bloody knife in hand,my dog in her other hand hung lifeless. “Your next.”
Natalie says
The leaves started falling. As each leaf fell, time was drawing near.“When the last leaf falls, I will be waiting.” She wanted my life, she wanted me. As each leaf fell my wife was getting sicker and sicker. Until the evilness of life would cut my wife’s final thread.
Natalie says
I ventured off to the place I could feel closest to my dad. The park is where I escaped. I rember when we he pushed me on the swings. Except today the swings were swinging by themselves. I backed up slowly, my father was squeezing the life out of me.
Jayda Remlinger says
Marissa is on the ground, blonde hair swimming in her own blood.
Sydney screams. I grab her sweaty hand and drag her up the stairs.
He’s watching. I feel it.
We duck into a room. Hide under the sink.
His footsteps echo against the floor.
Sydney’s phone rings.
Doors open-
Stanley Jebodh says
Beelzebub bared his fangs, waiting for the knock on the door.
“Trick or treat,” said the children.
Gory flesh and the children’s blood dripped from his mouth.
He laughed maniacally. “Treat!”
vaibhav says
She had thoroughly enjoyed the evening and was astonished by his romantic gestures Just as she stepped out of his car; he knelt down and opened the ring box. Overwhelmed with fear, she fled. He had forgotten to remove his ex’s finger from the ring who had refused him.
Stanley Jebodh says
It was six o’clock in the town of Hellsville.
The six children mischievously approached the haunted house. Thunder cracked. “Trick or treat!” they said ecstatically.
The horrendous imps danced, laughed, and beamed as they gorged on the heads of the six young children.
“What a party!” the ghoulish Reeq said.
Kishore Kumar says
I met a stranger at the park yesterday. We talked a lot, and he shared his life story from birth to death.
Kishore Kumar says
Yesterday night, a man ran up to me and said, “I’m thirsty,” and when I turned my head to look down at the beer I was holding, he bit my neck.
“Tonight, I’m thirsty”
Kishore Kumar says
“I always wonder why this man is stalking me. Even after I compensated for his death”.
Kishore Kumar says
My mother is constantly fighting with our elderly neighbour, accusing her of being a witch. But she was so nice that she gave me a decorated doll and asked me to hide it under my bed.
Kishore Kumar says
Jerry and I were happily married for fifteen years. Today we had a fight over a man, it was all about who’s going to cut him open first.
Kishore Kumar says
“I am a chef at a five-star hotel.
Sometimes I cook for people,
Sometimes I cook people”.
Kishore Kumar says
“People often accuse me of being aggressive, but I know, I’m the calmest man after I see blood”.
Meera Reddy says
Suddenly, the water runs cold, sending chills down your spine. The goosebumps on your arms are the size of mosquito bites. Looking down, your blurry vision tormenting you, you see a clump of chestnut brown hair. When it unexpectedly starts to move, slimy tentacles encasing your legs, you stand frozen.
Meera Reddy says
The final touch: locating my cherry red marker to color his nose. The yellow and blue polka dots on his suit a playful contrast to the menacing smile capturing your attention. After the last stroke, you think you are done. But the clown you brought to life has other plans.
Tayyiba Jadoon says
On Halloween night, the children knocked on Mrs. Wilkes’ door, eager for candy.
She smiled, offering treats wrapped in strange, ancient paper. They eagerly unwrapped them, revealing bones—small, delicate ones.
“Trick or treat,” she whispered, closing the door.
Later, they realized none of the children from last year returned.
Meera Reddy says
My purse, covered in the sickly red blood of my friends. My body, a stark white, contrasting the richness of the leather seats. My mouth, parched and opened, lips coated in pillowy gloss. My phone, left to starve on the slick floor with the screen shattered, illuminating my last text.
Tayyiba Jadoon says
The phone rang—at midnight. Her dead mother whispered from the other side of the room, “Let’s play,”
“Mother…” Anna trembled, peered through the window. There, in the moonlight, stood a figure, smiling.
“You hide and I’ll seek,” The phone fell
Tayyiba Jadoon says
The town whispered about the old witch’s grave, untouched for centuries. One ugly night, Jane dared to dig it up.
When her shovel hit wood, she smirked—until the coffin lid creaked open. Inside, her own rotting face stared back at her.
“I’ve been waiting,” it rasped.
Rebecca Kells says
Too dark to see her way, she resigned herself to sleeping in the woods until dawn. Leaves piled under an old tree served as bed. She slept. And woke in darkness to feel bony branches held her tight, twigs groping her, the tree trunk pressing hard on her body
Cynthia Gilmore says
Mandy blinked awake beneath the hum of fluorescent lights and rhythmic weeping. Ropes burned at her wrists and ankles. Someone screamed, and she remembered. Caught after years of running. Mandy felt movement in her womb as the doors burst open and the creatures began their harvest.
Primroseku says
Dressed dead as a doornail for a fake haunted house.
I was alone; when suddenly I realized I wasn’t really alone…
Something no one could see was right behind me…
Something that was really dead.
Something that breathed threateningly down the back of my neck.
Surely, I realized I’m next…
Primroseku says
My father told me a story.
His mother was sleeping in her bed. Past afternoon.
He tried to wake her, but to no avail.
Hearing a car pull in the driveway; He looked out the window…
Who was it? Nonother than his mother.
He turned around; the bed was empty…
Shell St.J says
There’s a reason for cemetery pathways. Lonely souls still linger, seeking companions.
Wendy strayed from the path, stepping too close to a grave.
A skeletal hand emerged, grabbing her ankle, dragging her down through fetid soil.
Her screams went unheard, muffled by earthworms.
Now she, too, waits for careless visitors.
Shell St.J says
Hired by the Haunted Hayride, Tim agrees to ride with the customers and be dragged off the wagon by a “monster” to shock them.
It works. He chuckles as the wagon full of horrified patrons drives away.
“Awesome costume,” he says. “Lemme see your mask.”
Except… it wasn’t a mask.
Fini Abu-Toboul says
Gently, he broke their joints.
Took a needle and slowly pierced through their flesh.
They could feel the string run through their skin.
They would pass out;
But he waited for their consciousness to return.
He liked collecting marionettes and hung them on a stage.
He enjoyed playing with them.
Marcelo Medone says
About Certain Guilty Pleasures of Absent Nannies
I arrived in the deserted town escaping from the drooling hordes.
I entered the first house, dodging mutilated corpses.
I went straight to the kitchen: there was nothing to mitigate my hunger.
Luckily, under the child’s crib I found a chocolate bar.
I thank the nannies with a sweet tooth.
Angelia Cihlar says
The Urge
Look behind you as there is something creeping as you will see nothing.
Take a breath and listen as you will hear everything, close your eyes as darkness is about. Feel your way as you cannot amount. Don’t think or whom around and found will be about.
Shell St.J says
When the quicksand began to swallow Jack, greedily pulling him under, he struggled frantically, soon finding himself neck deep.
When the creature’s eyeballs broke through the slime and blinked, gliding nearer, Jack’s voice died in his throat.
When it showed its rotting face,.. that was when Jack lost his mind.
Vinod Narayanan says
The silent knock
She peeked after the knock and saw a bloodstained note saying: “I’m inside.” Terrified, she ran to her bed and found another note that read: “your child is dead”. She started crying and screaming “my child was never here”. The guard checked the schizophrenia ward where he heard the screaming.
Vinod Narayanan says
Playtime
“Grandma, Billy’s waiting outside. Can I go to the playground?” Ann asked.
“Billy, the next-door boy?” Grandma replied. Ann nodded, and Grandma let her go.
Later, Ann’s parents returned. “Where’s Ann?”
“She went to the playground with Billy,” Grandma said.
“Ma, Billy died four months ago,” Ann’s mother whispered.
M Aikenhead says
Twin
“Shadows aren’t scary, Daddy,” she says, echoing his own words of comfort, entering the dripping tunnel. “They’re just parts the light can’t reach.” A muffled scream, a splash, he cries, “Lucy, you okay?” Thin fingers curl around his hand. “Who are you?” “The one the light never reached, Daddy.”
Primroseku says
I had a dream about HELL. I was five-
I saw sand with glass shards, the sky red with distant screams, and mounds of skulls.
Later I was on a raft drifting down a blood river.
Strangers tried to save me, but drowned…
Soon I entered the gates to hell.
Primroseku says
A woman that’s a doctor in training.
Trained to help others with dreams to save lives.
Little did she know it was her life at jeopardy…
Betrail, pain, torment, and despair. All from finding the truth…
She’s dead now; at the hands of her trusted colleagues and corrupted cowardly leaders.
Ken says
James entered the house , bruised . I tried to ask him why, but he replied that he was fine as he walked into his room.
Just then I got a message:
” James is dead, we took him to the morgue”.
I ran into his room, he stared into my eyes, smiling.
Stormy Durham says
CREEPY LAUGHTER, FOOTSTEPS AND SLEEPWALKING
Around exactly 3 a.m I start sleepwalking but don’t exactly know what I am doing. I was told I was walking up and down the stairs laughing so creepy like I was being possessed. Each night I wake up at exactly the same time. The witching hour. I would always end up doing something creepy while laughing but the strangest thing is I am not awake so how exactly am I walking up and down the stairs without falling. I woke up the next morning not remembering anything at all just going about like a normal day but everyone was staring at me strangely and asking me if I remembered anything that night . I was so confused. The next night it started again but I was rocking in a squeaky chair turned towards the wall this time. It keeps on and on until Halloween night, when I began acting strange like someone else was in my body I was not my normal self and never was on that Halloween night.
By: Stormy Durham
Primroseku says
Hi Stormy Durham!
Just wanted to give you a heads up. This competition rules are the stories need to be 50 words or less. Not 50 words or more; so unfortunately, mini stories like this wouldn’t count.
–Really like your story though!
Steve says
The little girl was screaming again. The sound was like nails on the chalkboard to my brain. I had to make it stop. There was only one way to do that. I would feel guilty of course. What monster wouldn’t feel guilty? But the silence would be worth it.
Steve says
The darkness in the room was the primordial definition of darkness. The darkness that existed for eons before there was a word for what darkness was. When all there was was darkness. The attack was swift and efficient. My. practice had done me well. Now I was the divine darkness.
Steve says
I always enjoyed having the house to myself. Except at night. As I lay in my bed I could hear the footsteps of maniacs and the dripping of blood as it pooled onto the kitchen floor. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and tried not to hear rasping ghostly whispers.
Amian Bent says
Again. Laika barks. Body taut, staring at the windowsill. There is nothing. That is what I convince myself, pulling the blanket over me. The mad red eyes, I know, like every night, are fixed on me. But grandma always used to say, “Never let them know that you can see.”
Amian Bent says
Hide and seek has always been my favourite game. I’m the best at seeking. Today, too, I would find them. Already, I hear the soft whispers under the bed.
Tiptoeing to their hiding place, I yell, “Gotcha!”
They shriek. They always do. It must be the bloodstained knife, I conclude.
Amian Bent says
I hated darkness as a child. But now, it has become my best friend. You must be wondering why. Well, you see, when it’s all dark, I cannot see her. Her, as she grins down at me from the ceiling, whispering, her mouth a lipless hole, “I’m waiting, my darling.”
Amian Bent says
Gasping, I wake up from yet another bad dream.
“Another nightmare, love?” They ask.
I nod. “I’m okay now. Go back to sleep.”
They smile sleepily, before drifting off again.
My eyes fixed on them, I grope for the gun in the drawer.
Who was this stranger on my bed?
Amian Bent says
Ivaan loves looking out the car window. Lately though, he doesn’t do it anymore. I’ve asked him what the problem is. He has never answered, only stared at me wordlessly. Today, I happened to look out the window, too. Only to find my husband’s dead eyes staring back at me.
Amian Bent says
There’s a cute boy in my class. Very shy. Never talks to anyone. But I’m determined today.
I go up to him and say, “Hey, I’m Anna.”
The boy looks at me as if he’s seen a ghost.
He whispers softly, “You’re not supposed to be able to see me.”
Nick says
Still, the phone doesn’t ring.
Is it dead, she wonders.
Her mother sits sobbing uncontrollably.
“He’ll call, mom” she says. “He is going to call.”
“Why,” her mother screams tearfully, “Fucking asshole piece of shit!”
The screams seem distant. She looks at the phone again. Blood is everywhere.
“He’ll call.”
Kishore Kumar says
I awoke to a whisper, “Is anyone there?” and followed the voice to a group of friends huddled in candlelight. A girl asked, “Who are you? What’s your name? Where are you from?” Then she told me to leave.
But I wasn’t in the mood to leave.
Kishore Kumar says
I smiled at him, but he glared at me with rage. This mirror needs to be replaced immediately.
Jahdiel says
Days go by, and your parents haven’t returned. You hear their voices through the vents, “Oh, won’t you comfort me?” Peering in, you see their faces twisted in silent screams. “I know what we had was make believe,” they weep, and the vents collapse, drawing you into darkness.
Drew Nowlin says
Sarah loves antique treasures, but a rusted, Union sword spells tragedy. The tarnished blade belonged to a jilted soldier and now when abusive men in her life resurface, the sword spills their blood. And the blade’s rust recedes until pristine, and a lovesick spirit tries to claim her..
Drew Nowlin says
The coven masquerades as a ‘Ghost Tour’ company in Ireland. One particular tour is only offered on the solstice, and meticulously planned for tourist, thrill-seekers that no one will miss. The witches drain their life force and live to stalk another year.
Drew Nowlin says
A registered nurse enjoys a psychopathic game at every hospital he joins. With deadly precision he ritualistically murders an expecting mother whilst having released a patient from the behavioral health wing to take the blame. But the prospective patsy becomes a guardian angel with bloody karma.
Amian Bent says
Dad came into my room to check up on me before sleep. It had become his job ever since mom left.
He kissed my forehead and whispered, “Don’t worry, kiddo, she’ll be back soon.”
I watched him leave, unable to tell that mom has been under my bed all along.
Teodora Miscov says
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Teodora Miscov says
“The Thing You Most Wish Didn’t Happen”
Reader sees the title and freezes, The Horrible Thing already unspooling in his clenched mind. Will it ever go away? Sweat pools behind his ears and deep inside his brain, not enough to wash away the knowledge: it happened.
Now, somehow, keep living.
Dr. Dipa Mitra www.drdipamitra.org says
The mirror was dusty.
Wiping it clean, with a gloomy face, Mona glanced at it again. Shockingly, her reflection was smiling!
“Who’re you?” she trembled.
The reflection whispered, “I’m your destiny”!
Suddenly, two ice-cold hands gripped her shoulder.
“Aaaaagh”, Mona screamed, her voice echoed, and she was trapped till death!
Amian Bent says
Wearily, I return home and amble up to hug mom as usual. She returns it, smiling toothily.
That night I’m awoken by dad, as he whispers, wide-eyed, “Quick, we’re leaving.”
I follow him until we’re at the door.
“Mom’s not coming?”
“No, she never will. She died earlier this morning.”
Amian Bent says
How do you differentiate between a shadow and a silhouette? It’s easy. Shadows don’t grin at you if you happen to catch them in an empty street. Silhouettes do. And then, they follow after you.
Angelyn Gumbs says
Working a 12 hour shift wasn’t out of ordinary for me.
For I have been doing it for the past six months .
This morning was different, seeing a teenage girl standing at the side of the road naked. Thinking street drugs in effect ; I got closer to see demon possession .
Jordyn says
They say there is no limit to a mother’s love. I used to believe that until the last lifeboat became available.
Jayant Sinha says
The recurrent dream every night of a ghost sleeping on my bed had been troubling me. Yesterday night, I dreamt again and woke up in fright, my heart pounding. The ghost got up and said, “Can you please go back to sleep, and let me die in peace?”
Dana says
Answer your calls.
Dammit, Kristen answer them.
ANSWER THE PHONE.
I love you baby!
All you have to do is open the door.
Come on, open the door!
Kristen. Come on.
KRISTEN
OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR KRISTEN
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
I’LL NEVER LEAVE
WE WILL BE TOGETHER
FOREVER.
Dana says
I’m just an old, sick man.
I would be all alone in this world if it weren’t for my dog.
I love it to death, the little runt.
It keeps me company all day and all night.
Its skin is soft, and smooth to the touch.
Mimi Abb says
Finally Halloween! I put on my cape, applying clownish white face paint all over, and left. My costume was just perfect, I thought smiling with my plastic fangs. I arrived tardy and walked into class, to my horror I looked around at my peers. It was the day before Halloween.
Dana says
Hi! My name is
Emily!
I love reading,
Shopping with friends,
Improving at sports,
New experiences and
So much more!
I hope to see you again!
Don’t forget to
Email me when you get home!
Dana says
“Never have I ever… had a body count above 5!”
I put my finger down.
“Geez Jordan I never took you for a hoe!”
“Wait, what do you mean?”
“You’ve had sex with more than 5 people!”
“Oh.. I’m actually a virgin”
Stanley Jebodh says
Carrie’s mother’s fangs retracted as she morphed into her human form. She looked at the gruesome, shredded remains of her baby daughter lying at her feet. “I should have done more to protect you,” she cried, tears of blood streaming down her face.
Akihiro Moroto says
“Thanks..for..finding.. it”- the owner of the lost cellphone whispered. I was instructed to bring the phone I found to the back of her property. There, in the yard on a Sycamore branch, I found her. Dangling. There was a mutter, right next to my ear- “You..Found.. ME”.
Akihiro Moroto says
The Anesthesiologist began counting, “5, 4, 3..” . Darkness. I cannot move. I cannot speak. Yet, I felt every incision, drilling, tugging from the emergency operation. I agonizingly screamed- “Make this nightmare end!! I can’t take this anymore!!”. Suddenly, my sight came back. I was floating above my lifeless body.
Alexander says
It’s incredible what you can learn performing autopsies your whole life. The sordid intricacies of wound channels, hidden crimes only caught through a chemical test. You can feel visceral anger or the absolute absence of conscience in the act. That’s why they’ll never know. And why she will never leave.
Alexander says
It won’t find me. It can’t find me. If it does, I’m done. The thin boards of the barn offer just enough shadow to conceal me. The temperature drops and I can hear its breath behind me. I vomit, knowing what fate awaits me. I…how did I ever think I…
Alexander says
The scarecrows laugh it haunts me so, away to a rubber room they sent me. The smiling howling pumpkin’s glow, and a white straight coat to restrain me. I know they’ll know that cackling glow, that scratches my brain inanely. A warning, but away to that room they sent me.
Alexander says
My eyes…my eyes…where are my eyes? There is only a burning sensation where they were, and I gently caress the wet, sticky sockets that once held them. I moan for help, but no one hears. I feel my way into a room and there’s a scream. Oh…where are my eyes?
Alexander says
“Madness is infectious”, gargled the doctor to his patient in a tone so desperately. “It makes you see things other’s don’t, or wouldn’t want to see”. Said the patient to the doctor as he flicked the zippo alive, “I see things as they are, or as they all should be.”
Alexander says
There’s a girl in a windowed house on the second floor that waves to me every day. We used to be friends, though I never actually met her. It has been years since the family moved out. But the same little girl is there waving, every time I pass by.
Alexander says
The thick yellow gas pools around the tan canvassed soldiers, masked and eyes glowing red. They wade over the corpses lining the floor of the trench, ordered in silence to move forward. The corpses twitch, then rise. The unmasked, scarred officer in the front whispers to us all, “fix bayonets”.
Akihiro Moroto says
Oh no. He’s waving, with all smiles again.
I always reluctantly waved back, which made that neighbor happy. Everyone else, ignored
him. Coming back from work, my apartment was a crime scene. The smiling neighbor
decapitated everyone. He giggled- “Nobody says ‘hello’.. except for you, my neighbor!” He
waved, smiling.
Nick says
We were arguing. I don’t even know why.
When she reached in to hug me tight, I felt
relieved. I didn’t want to fight anymore.
Her nails dug into my back.
“Ow! That hurts,” I said and tried to push her away.
“Shut up,” she said. “You’re already dead.”
Ella Maguire says
The doorbell rang. Linda wasn’t expecting anyone. A woman was standing outside. She smiled. Linda smiled back, trying to ignore how sharp her teeth were. It was only polite. Poor Linda. She was always very proud of her carpets. Good thing she wasn’t alive enough to see all the blood.
Akihiro Moroto says
“Let’s take a selfie altogether!”, my sister said. I obliged.
When we checked to see how the photo turned out, there was a fading figure of a man, scowling between us. “Yaaay! You can see him too?”
.. Unfortunately from that point forward, I couldn’t unsee him. He, is always around.
Jayda Remlinger says
The door screamed.
“Please stop!” she sobbed, to no one and to herself and to the house.
Fumbling down the stairs, she stopped.
“Nooo!” she cried, throwing herself past the laughing of the walls.
But the rest of the house waited in anticipation, and dawn was a long way off.
Stanley Jebodh says
The old man with a cloven hoof appeared in a mist of smoke under the dim streetlight.
“What’s the hurry, Greg?”
“Still lots of trick-or-treating to do before my stepdad gets home.”
“Sign here in blood; he’ll never get home,” demanded the devil.
“Where’s the dotted line?” Greg urgently replied.
Kris Hallin says
“Meat Jelly”
The Surfside Beach diet transformed Bob’s body. A head with enormous jaws and blubbery lips jutted from a mound of gelatinous flesh, giving him the appearance of a frowning pile of savory goop. Bob looked in the mirror one last time before slithering across the beach toward the homey sea.
Stanley Jebodh says
As Tommy’s parents passed the abandoned town, he waved enthusiastically, smiling at the goblins who waved back.
“Tommy, you’re dreadfully quiet tonight,” his mother said, glancing back.
To her astonishment, Tommy was no longer in the car; he stood in front of them, chuckling and waving as they drove by.
Nicholas says
That sound you heard while you sat alone, it was real.
The thought that it must have been your imagination comforted you.
The invisible, hate-filled claws finally pierced this universe. No intention other than inflicting pain.
You shrugged and reached for more popcorn.
The claws reached for your soul.
Jeff Tullin says
Cold steel flashes, drawn purposefully up and through the wrist, slippy now as the sanguine flow paints poppy red the tear-stained bed.
Too slow, it appears.
The legs bleed faster, chest ripped and slashed – bowels laid bare and exposed, sleek.
The merciless knife point at my eye. And it strikes.
Juliette Jarabek says
It’s not a church. Don’t be tricked. Ignore the nuns and deacon. It’s not wine, it’s not Christ’s blood. The stained glass moves when you’re not looking. I don’t know where the priest is, and you don’t want to find out. Keep moving. Look for meaning elsewhere. It’s not here.
Juliette Jarabek says
I want to leave, trying desperately to break past the locks I installed to keep her out. I can’t turn to properly unlock the door. She moves when I’m not looking—quickly. Tears and sweat sting my eyes as they keep on her, eyes sunken and simper protruding—waiting.
Juliette Jarabek says
I loved her, I promise.
I didn’t notice—not until she wasn’t her anymore.
She watches me, living in corners, of my room and eyes.
She flees from light, scuttling to darkness’ cover.
She won’t hide at night, and I can’t.
I can hear all of her legs—squirming, screaming.
Juliette Jarabek says
I’m not entertaining. I’m not trying to be. Yet you’re all here. Still here. I don’t want you to be. I want you to leave. I’ve tried to leave, but you won’t let me. Leave me alone. Stop laughing. Who are you. I said stop laughing, who ARE YOU—
Juliette Jarabek says
I have something important to tell you. The woman in blue. You bumped into her, right? When she touched you, she laid several eggs into your skin. Yes, I’m serious. Don’t you feel the itching already? Hey, I said don’t panic! I didn’t? Oh. I meant to. Well, congratulations!
Julie Brandon says
Sheri hid behind the oak, panting. The woods were silent. Sheri stood and brushed the dirt off her hands. Maybe she was dreaming. That must be it. A crazy dream. Her mind felt the intrusion, slipping in like a snake, before she heard the voice. Run. So, she did.
Halli Steinberg says
“Haunted houses aren’t real,” I admonished myself.
But the darkness of the murky hallway seemed to swallow me whole.
And … ugh… that smell … I choked back bile from the putrid odor assaulting my senses.
The first hair-raising shivers of genuine fear gripped me, as did the clawed hand…
Anjuli says
Nothing satisfied John more than shoving a Q-tip into the dark depths of his ear canal, especially after a shower. One day, freshly clean, John did so but couldn’t penetrate deep enough to feel satisfaction. He shoved further and further until he felt a pop and then nothing at all.