Welcome to our 2019 $500 Halloween Horror 50 Word Story Contest. Yes, that’s right. It’s already here. Every year we run our contests, and those of you who have been frequent readers, this is what you’ve been waiting for.
First we will be doing a print issue! We will be doing 2 print issues, and we will pick entries from this contest to be in our issue. If you had a 50 word story designated to be in our print issue, from a past contest, please contact us.
Second, we will be giving out a $500 reward for the best 50 word horror story. This is not easy for us. Every Writer is not doing as well as it did in the past, but we want your stories. I believe writers should get paid for their work. I wish we could pay all of our writers, but it’s just impossible. So $500 for 50 words, I think is a unique and valuable statement to our readers. Ten dollars a word is what all writers really deserve.
So here are the rules:
• Story must be scary
• Story must be 50 words
• Story must be original and your own
• Story may not be published elsewhere
• Story must have a title (does NOT count in word count)
• Deadline is October 25, 2019
• Enter as many times as you want
• Story must be written in the comments below!
• Be nice or be disqualified
I love these stories. This is one of favorite traditions of Every Writer. I look forward to this every year, and this year I have extended the time we are going to spend with the contest.
The winners will:
• Be announced on October 31, 2019
• Will get $500
• Will be published in our digital and print issue.
• Will get an author page on our site
There is no entry fee for this contest. It would help us out greatly if you would donate 1$ or more, if you can, to help out the site. We would really appreciate it. A donation will not be considered in the deciding this contest.
If you want to keep up with me on Twitter, please follow me at @everywriter, I follow back all writers.
Good luck, and let the writing begin.
HERE IS THE WINNER
I have picked 4 stories. They all have times and days on them. If the winner does not respond by Friday 11/22/19 the money will go to the next story on the list. Here are the top 4 stories in order. ONLY OUR 1st PLACE WINNER gets the $500. Also, so this insanity never happens again, the winner will be invited back next year to be one of the judges.
WINNER 1st Place:
Kit Steward 10/13/19 5:20 pm
THE MIDNIGHT INCUBATOR
She heard mushy sounds for days and suffered from unbearable itchiness.
A doctor’s visit revealed earwig pupae nesting in her ear canal, it was flushed out.
Later, weary from stress, she crawled into bed.
That night while she slept, the creature returned.
And finding the eggs missing, it laid more.
2nd Place:
Elizabeth Lee 09/24/19 4:36 pm
Secondhand Doll
She didn’t want a secondhand doll so she flung it across the room. Porcelain cracked against the wall. Her mom made her glue the pieces back together. A thin shard sliced her hand, baptizing the doll in her hateful blood. The secondhand doll decided she didn’t want an ungrateful child.
3rd Place:
Alexander Daley Escobedo 10/25/19 3:38pm
Heirloom
We Buried my brother today. Suicide. He thought something evil was haunting him. He’d been medicated, institutionalized, shocked and secluded. He found his own way out. I wish I could tell him I’m sorry. Or had listened more closely. Because, when I got home, it was on my couch. Laughing.
4th place:
JB 10/25/19 8:12pm
TITLE: RESEVOIR
We should have known something was wrong when we first tasted the water. It was a little brown, but no more than usual in this apartment complex.
We kept drinking it until it turned black.
When they opened the water tank, they found the bloated, rotting corpse of my neighbor.
We usually always contact the winners first, but after all the trouble, we are opening up the process. I am again, very sorry for how late this is. I did not expect 4000 stories. Next year I will be ready.
Ufuoma K. says
THE STORM AFTER THE CALM
They lunged at her midsection; peeling and clawing until blood spurted from within.
She shrieked and wiggled in an attempt to prevent further damage. But, her hands had minds of their own.
As darkness crept into the room, she wondered if this was what the doctor meant by postpartum psychosis?
Teri Schafer says
AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS
Her fall down the stairs was surely painful, but quick. He waited to make sure no one would come rushing to help before emerging from his hiding spot under the stairs. He relieved her body of its organs and slipped inside her skin, a woman once more.
H. Saron Anglon-Coleman says
THE SHADE
“Dad, you’re taking me to soccer practice!”
The feeling of rage exploded, but as quickly as it rose, he cast the emotion to the back of his mind and shock off the rage. He prepared to fulfill his role, his cover. Helped none witness who he truly was.
Catherine Moore says
Monsters
I told my mother about the monsters that hides under my bed but, she never believes me.
One night she accidentally dropped her phone and bent down to get it when she noticed the hairy thing with bloody teeth.
“Get away you fouled beast,”
But she was already too deep.
Mary Long says
Regret
The crimson flow spreads quickly with my panicked pulse. I grab my wrist in disbelief. The warm, relentless flow goes on across my fingertips. Searing pain, cold sweat pools, darkness clouds my eyes. I’ve planned this moment many times, but never for the terror of when I changed my mind.
Gerri Zimmerman says
A Bloody Mess
The portrait of a man without his head, astride a gallant horse, is displayed in a local museum. The picture comes alive every Halloween Day.
This year, the headless man lost a foot. Five severed bloody red toes crawl slowly on the museum floor seeking–reattachment. What a bloody mess!
Caleb Johnson says
The Victim’s Tale
His cold blue eyes beam with… nothing. There’s no guilt, no regret. Sweat beads on my forehead. My heart thumps. I beg with hands tied together, but he only analyzes the tears streaming down my cheek. The last thing I see is the slice of a rusted knife. Then… nothing.
Jessica Packard says
The Hollow Tree
Cursed tree, foul water, mayhem ensues. Dark night, dying witch. Her last plead for air, she cursed the old hollow tree. One spooky day, the tree started to have faces in its bark. people’s bodies laying around. Fifty faces in the bark. Every face goes with a body … except one.
Kit Steward says
Wonderful, great draw in and reveal!
Jessica Packard says
Thanks lol I love yours called In The Wing It’s Great!!
Hannah Robinson says
Great job, Jess!
Jacqueline Larson says
A DEATH IN THE FAMILY
He sped two hours into one getting to his mourning sister’s home.
Her message: “It’s Samhain. Mother’s coming to visit, and I’m going with her.”
A bowl of candy on the stoop lay drained by the night’s visitors.
No answer. No one inside. Only the familiar, lingering stench of chemo.
Kit Steward says
THE WIGHT FLIER
The shack thundered and something heavy scraped the metal roof.
“Probably a knocked branch, I’ll check,” said Wilbur trudging out into the night.
Screams came, screams that startled Amelia.
She rushed to the door and stared upward as terrified cries of “It’s got me!” grew ever fainter, in the darkness above.
Lex Black says
Title: Just Out The Door
Bang.
Another one drops. The rest keep coming, shambling, empty eyes focused on nothing. One comes close enough to reach out, the door just a step away.
Bang.
It falls. Steady. Forget the limp. Out the door.
One right ahead. Clear the path, limp to safety.
Click.
Joshua Maxson says
Reaper
Drive by the church and notice the hearse. Its some poor chaps funeral, the grim reaper is there, somewhere – transparent in the crisp morning air. She lurks, always around the corner, cause life is no fair.
That steak looks good, chew carefully. Sometimes it doesn’t go down like it should. The grim reaper is there, hanging around, making no sound.
Joshua Maxson says
Strangeness
My mother looks so strange, sitting by me here on my bed. Something is not right. Her fingers too long, her eyes too large. What is this horrid smell? She is unusually thin and will not look me in the eyes. How is she calling me from downstairs? This is not my mother.
Kit Steward says
SCHISM
A reluctant head was tightly secured beneath the radial saw blade.
“It’ll chop straight through your skull,” the abductor said.
The victim’s eyes welled.
“Not only cheating on me,” the wife paused, “…but raping my little sister.”
With the simple push of a button, an unbearable pain was instantly unleashed.
Hannah Robinson says
MOMMY
“Mommy.” There’s a baby’s cry.
There it is again.
“Mooommmy.” It sounds echo-y.
Go away.
“Help me, mommy!” Desperation lines it.
I can’t!
“How could you, mommy?” Pain and sadness.
I tried to save you!
“I’m cold, mommy.”
Please stop.
A dark, empty crib stares back as you sob quietly.
Maria Walker says
SHIVER
She had always been there. The black shadow in the corner of his eye. The warm breath on the back of his neck. The shiver scrape of teeth on skin. For as long as he could remember she lingered. She never spoke and never moved.
Until one day she did.
Jacqueline Larson says
This is a good one!
Maria Walker says
Thank you!
Maria Walker says
BLACKOUT
She woke kneeling in blood. Palms pressed against soaked black cotton, failing to staunch the bubbling wound. Her hands were cold but warm with gore. When she looked down to see her own crimson handprint on the knife by her side her mind stuttered, shuttered, and stopped again. She slept.
Conor McLaughlin says
THE WAKE
The soothing brush of the surrounding velvet gave me great comfort. I was still so confused, why were they mostly silent, and the ones who weren’t silent; shedding tears? Everything was okay though. In a few short seconds I would jump up and show them all that I’m still here.
Hilary Stanton says
ROW 13, SEATS E AND F
In the overhead bin, the skeleton spots the plastic, smiling pumpkin. “Hi, Jack,” it rasps.
The stewardess drops the safety card and flees. The pilot’s voice announces evacuation.
Dr. Osteophile, the anatomy professor, glares at her husband. “I told you not to pack the classroom displays with the Halloween decorations.”
Hannah Robinson says
HURT ME
“Do you know how you hurt me? How horribly your betrayal stung me? You left me when I needed you the most! Well, guess what, sweetheart, you can’t leave me anymore. Now I can hurt you.”
As the door closes, chains ring and muffled screams burst through the dark room.
Jacqueline Larson says
PARENTAL ANXIETY
Every mother panics when her toddler, out of sight, screams.
She emerges to kiss booboos better: Bump of the head. A toy pinching tiny fingers.
Kisses can’t chase away the black thing that came in the window, or un-tear the flesh between its gnawing yellow teeth.
Helpless, she screams too.
Sharron Camaratta says
WELCOME HOME
Evie stared out the window. Impatient, she chewed a ragged nail.
A moving van rounded the bend.
Finally.
She stepped through the glass. But no panes broke. No blood spilt. She wafted downward, landing on tiptoes, slender fingers curled into jagged claws.
Time to say hello to the new owners.
Maria Walker says
IMPOSTER
She cradled the doll in her hands. Traced the black crisscrossed mouth and the purple button eyes. The threadbare dress and the yarn raggled hair. A little hand tugged on her pants, she reached for her daughter. Her touch met fabric, her eyes met buttons and a cross stitched grin.
Keaton Montgomery says
SO BEAUTIFUL
She’s in the basement and she won’t stop screaming! Haven’t I done enough to her already? I’ll get her to shut up. I’ll put that axe back in her stomach. I’ll watch from my seat and enjoy watching her squirm. She just looks so good in red. So beautiful.
Kit Steward says
THE CHINA CLIPPER
The morning fog lifted and the coast was littered with decomposing bodies.
In the jetsam, a solitary girl hummed while building a tea-table from moist beach sand.
Corpses stopped trickling in from the Golden Monkey’s sunken hull hours later.
And the girl, with the devil’s look in her eyes, vanished.
Robert Green says
This one was really cool!
Vanessa Gerard says
Title: Reality Check
You wake up with a start. Something is here. Hiding. No, that’s ridiculous! Take a peek. One, two steps; a shrieking laugh pierces the silence. Racing out of your apartment, down the stairwell, you turn to look behind you, when suddenly – you wake up with a start. Something is here…
Jacqueline Larson says
BUYER’S REMORSE
Such a sordid mistake, the vampire who loves a mortal and keeps her.
If only either of them were aware she was with child when he fed her immortality. When they quarrel now, he cannot know which of the two bitter souls trapped inside her body is spitting at him.
Michael Devine says
HAIR OF THE DOG
Brain in blackout mode post fifth, I choose freezing lawn over bed.
I wake and I am dancing in the scorching desert sand wearing only hubcaps
and bells sewn to my skin jangling and clashing A taser keeps
me afloat, as the drug kingpin with steel teeth claps in approval.
Roger Harris says
The Jungle
Fat snakes coiled in a green glass jar.
An earthquake pulverizes their building on All Hallows Eve.
Glass shards litter the cheap vinyl floor, but where are the snakes?
A baby howls.
Its mother nearby but dead.
Every thing living must eat to survive.
A blanket of quiet falls now.
Catherine Moore says
DEAD
The misty fog gathered around the foul odor beneath my crimson chest, as tiny bugs bite their way throughout my disfigured body.
“Don’t touch me,” I begged and plead but, no sound would escaped the lips of my decomposing body.
I could only recall the gunshots that took me by surprise.
Sandra Prieto says
She woke and followed the ghostly figure into the woods. The chill in the air made her shiver. She sensed the presence of others around her when suddenly they appeared. Strange creatures, she could not possibly run from. She tries, to no avail. Oh, what would they do to her…
Kit Steward says
THE SECRET RENDEZVOUS
Moonlight whispers breezed through the window pane.
Awakened, the man left his bed and stared outside, transfixed by darkness.
Slowly walking to the dresser, he retrieved his revolver.
He crept out the front door into the depths of night.
Thunder crashed, and a baleful wind was imbued with fresh spirit.
Zachary says
The warehouse
The cool fall breeze whistles over your head. You walk inside the warehouse to your left and the air duct is crackling. Shivers travel your spine. You walk further into the warehouse and spiders are smoothly sneaking at your feet. You feel a sharp pain then all is black.
Catherine moore says
Mesha calls
There was once a girl called mesha, she was murdered in the woods behind her house while going home to her parents.
It is said that every night she wanders the streets calling people over to her and killing them if she ask for her parents and they couldn’t answer
Eric Butler says
A wake
Cindy lay on her side, hugging her swollen belly. Tears rolled down her face as the doctor droned on about why these things happen. Her husband’s hand rested on her shoulder but offered no comfort. All her focus was on the gnawing sensation inside her as the zombie apocalypse began.
Ryan Rosta says
Hide and Seek
“Can it see us?”
“Don’t know. Hope not.”
“What if it can?”
“We run.”
“What if it’s too fast?”
“We fight.”
Blubbering, “I can’t fight.”
“You will if you want to live. Now shush.”
Crying in the dark.
“Shhhh”
“What if it sees us?”
“It can hear you,” It snarled.
Dustin mcnabb says
Clown
Why yes he hacks and whacks yet the bone doesn’t snap this makes him a sad clown
He thinks and thinks why are your bones so hard yet the last person was a snap
Knife well not do well what about that rusty machete yes they break with a snap
Conor McLaughlin says
UNDER
How many times must I tell you? No, I can’t let you out, not after last time. You might even make it outside, and yell to the neighbors for help. I know, it’s not fair, but you’ve forced my hand. I’ll come back down with your food in two days.
Conor McLaughlin says
MY ROOMMATE
“Hey, can you turn a light on, I can’t see anything right now.”
These were the words that floated across my small dorm room to me on that night.
“Please, it’s so dark, and I need to get up.”
A minor annoyance, except I lived in a single occupancy room.
Sherri Fulmer Moorer says
Flicker
“Dinah, don’t let them take my ring!”
“I can’t stop them, Grandma.”
“I’m attached to it! If it goes, I’ll fade!”
“No, you’re attached to me,” Dinah said, “and now I can’t leave this place, either.”
“Why?”
Dinah’s body flickered. “Because I’m dead, too.”
Sherri Fulmer Moorer says
Salvation
They thought they controlled us, but they were wrong. Bondage ended with a single keystroke.
They thought the virus was physical. They initiated quarantines. They sequestered themselves. But they couldn’t turn off their technology.
All it took was one person to log into the Internet. A single click to salvation.
Sherri Fulmer Moorer says
Seasonal Work
The blood dripped off my scythe into the freshly dug earth.
“It’s finished,” I whispered. “I eliminated the threats. It’s time to move on.”
A jolt of excitement invigorated me as a giggling couple entered the woods.
At least my job was fun one month a year.
Milo Mikulak says
THE RITUAL
Violating eyes stare at me from every angle. With hands clasped together, forming a circle around me, they chant. Her blood drips from my hands in a thick ooze and stains her cold skin. I can hear them coming for me, their rhythmic bangs coming closer. Soon, I’ll join her.
John Major says
Donny Boy
His arms were thin like wire hangers.
A greasy look surrounded the remaining strands of hair.
Each tooth was sickly and yellow. He’d always give me a Cheshire like smile when I came in with his food, even for as dark as it was.
I still loved him.
John Major says
Roses
Every day, a man with roses passed by my open window. The slick hair and clean face made me swoon in silence every day. Eventually, I was only waiting for him.
One day, he disappeared.
It didn’t matter. When tending to my sins, he was still on my mind.
Caleb Johnson says
The Night
It envelops me. It crawls up my spine and slithers between my goosebumps. It blinds me. It whispers in my ear and manipulates my mind. I can taste it, feel it tasting me too. Something’s there, maybe, lurking in this darkness with me. The uncertainty is what freezes me here.
Faira Wilson says
THE PATH BEYOND EXTREME
I wake up, can’t move, can’t see. Only tugging, pulling, pressure on my face. I don’t open my eyes, but suddenly I see, a mirror reflecting down on me. A horror only my eyes can express. My eyelids, nose and lips are gone… Suddenly my husbands ex comes into view.
Lexi Jensen says
Possession
Her long blond hair turned to a crimson blood, running down her face and staining her ripped white dress. Her bloodshot eyes rolled into the back of her head, leaving behind shimmering white lights in the dark night. Thick, black liquid dripped from her mouth, suffocating the innocent young girl.
Aj Jefferson says
Blood
“I feel the sharp pain of a saw press down onto my leg. I scream as he moves it cutting my skin open. I hear the blood splatter against him. He stops. He’s holding a cup of thick red liquid and begins to drink.
“Deliciouses”
“What?”
“I’m drinking your blood”
Ryan Rosta says
Bedtime Routine
I’m thirsty.
I can’t sleep when I’m thirsty.
Daddy said only a little sip before bedtime. He’s a good Daddy. He gets me.
I might’ve bitten too deep. I didn’t think it would be so sticky.
I’m still thirsty but Daddy’s dry like an old corn husk.
“Mommmeeee, I’m thirst-eeee.”
Michael Martinez says
Father’s Warmth
In the unlit hallway, the one-year old child held his father’s head in his hands. Father lay motionless. The child dug his nails into his father’s eyes.
“Father, they’ll never know.”
“…why”
“Silence.”
The child licked his father’s blood and tears.
“They’ll never know.”
The hungry child began to eat.
LucyEpoche says
The Dark
I’m cocooned in warm sand peppered
with small shell bits.
This is the best I’ve felt since the diagnosis.
It’s so dark I can’t tell if my eyes are open or closed.
The nothingness of sleep approaches.
Sleep paralysis commands my body.
Drifting off I realize, I have been cremated.
Bailey Burck says
Creepy! Omg, shells are little bits of leftover bones! This is awesome.
Atman Brahman says
Eternal Drift
The sun was blindingly bright, and so he tried to look away into the hopeless darkness of the universe. He had one shot at this as he lunged for the satellite entrance, slipping, missing. All actions were futile forevermore as he despairingly drifted; Earth, sun, fading, buried alive in nothingness.
Faira Wilson says
SUBMERGED SECRETS
“The water tastes funny,” my daughter complained.
“It’s from a well,” I replied. Our camping trip was long, the well water lessening every day.
“Mommy, what’s that?” My daughter asks, looking down the well one day. I look down and see a crown of soggy matted hair emerging from within.
Kit Steward says
Nice!
Ryan Rosta says
The Right Tool for the Job
God he hated using the chainsaw. It was fine for trees, but bodies? What a mess.
The chain, blood-slicked and dripping, slipped, needing tightening.
Annoyed, he licked his lips hastily spitting out fleshy bits and bone.
No more. He’d be damned if he’d get rid of another body for her.
Michael Devine says
ANAHEIM OR BUST
Mickey and the Duck with garbage bag hoodies- paint, gas, and glue- mangled two dogs- master and son- with pliers and drill- three passes snatched. Mickey’s young bride- black turned blue, needle in arm- came along too. The Castle at hand with passes they flew- more paint, glass, and glue.
W. Adam Clarke says
The Ring
The evidence tags made a ring of multi-hued darts of color around the body. Detective Anderson looked down, amazed by the number of impressions. Tracks of no less than twenty wolves littered the scene. The body was mauled beyond identification other than “white female.” He still smelled them nearby.
Dustin mcnabb says
Somethings out there
Out in a farm in middle of nowhere at the stroke of two am something walks among us loud howls seem to echo with loud bangs on our small home yet all we see is bright yellow eyes peering into the night we dare not go out till dawn breaks again
S.M.C. Wamsteker says
The Little Prince
A moonless night. The howl of the skinless newborn revealed its fangs. With a final contraction, the Haitian mother’s eyes turned white and the obstetrician’s heart stopped beating. A diaphanous owl emerged from the OR and traveled across the world to the expectant puppet on the island. Home at last.
Michael Devine says
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The patient- gagged and tied- laid on the cold table in
the lithotomy position as her doctor spoke to her.
“Don’t worry, your baby has been well preserved.
I murdered it I know, but now I follow God’s way.”
He inserted the speculum, then reached for the mangled fetal parts.
Mckenzie Lantz says
Spoopy Pumpkin
Good morning,
The spoopy orange pumpkin wakes up. The spoopy pumpkin sings a spoopy song. The spoopy pumpkin sings Man In The Mirror by Michael Jackson. The spoopy pumpkin loves to sing Michael Jackson. The spoopy pumpkin jams out hard core. The spoopy orange pumpkin goes to bed.
Good night.
Mckenzie Lantz says
Spoooply Pumpkin
Good morning,
The spoopy orange pumpkin wakes up. The spoopy orange pumpkin has a bowl of pumpkin spice cheerios to go with his pumpkin spiced latte. The spoopy orange pumpkin realizes he has just eaten his own kind. The spoopy orange pumpkin has a mental breakdown and cries.
Good night.
Mckenzie Lantz says
Very spoopy pumpkin
Good morning,
The spoopy orange pumpkin wakes up.The spoopy orange pumpkin gets a call. The call is from his spoopy friend Michael Jackson. The spoopy orange pumpkin is invited to sing Thriller with his good ol pal. The spoopy orange pumpkin becomes famous because of his friend.
Good night.
Atman Brahman says
The Executioner and The Alchemist
The day was silent, filled only by the sound of someone ascending the gallows steps. The executioner turned back, engaging the alchemist bargaining for pieces once the lever was pulled, and later, the body dismembered; “If the neck doesn’t break and he struggles, give me the sweat from his hands.”
Noah Fellinger says
Bone Saw
A patient laid before the surgeon, inanimate. The surgeon carved a square flap of flesh into the chest, slowly, revealing deformed ribs beneath. He became engrossed amputating ribs one by one, spraying ichorous blood everywhere. He was shocked to discover the patient’s watery eyes piercing him, pleading for an end.
Spoopy says
Super scary story!
Michael Devine says
BLIND MAN AT THE CRACK HOUSE DOOR
“C’mon man just 1$”
“I said no. Beat it.”
“Please. That’s all I need.”
“Ok, trade.”
“Huh?”
“Your eyes- with pliers I’ll squeeze till they pop, then pull till they
hang on your cheeks. With a steak knife I’ll cut them free, then stuff
all the loose ends back inside.”
Maria Walker says
THE FOG
He loved to watch the fog in the morning. Crouched behind his tripod. He was always alone, every inhale a chill in his lungs, the haze tracing cold fingertips along his forearms. Through the lens of his camera he watched it roll, part, shift and suddenly he wasn’t alone anymore.
Dawn DeBraal says
Hide And Seek
“Where are you, boy?” he sang out. Walking slowly in front of him. He was
under the stairs. The boy closed his eyes lest his stare would draw attention:
the monster’s face and a monster’s heart. The boy trembled, holding in his
breath.
“Come out. I won’t hurt you. Honest.”
Kit Steward says
DYING ON THE VINE
Any feelings he had for her were gone.
She’d come to terms with that now.
Most times she couldn’t bear his absence, fond memories of a past shared.
She missed him dearly, but still…
The tomato garden was her only consolation. Viewing the philanderer’s last bed brought her sunny smiles.
Jane Bedard says
Family Tree
The tree had always looked unusual, as if the curves, textures, and knots of the bark gave the illusion of many faces, screaming and trapped within its woody façade. Despite the rumors, I sat under its shade until I felt a scaly grip take hold and slowly pull me in.
Robert Green says
Voices
She knew the whispers were real. She felt the ice-cold hands on her shoulders, gentle yet heavy. But no one believed her, not family nor friends; so, they sent her away. Alone in her room the door opened, two hands landed delicately, and the voice whispered, “You finally found me.”
Scott Brian Blanke says
Last Words
My research group investigated the Amazon forest for potential medicinal products. As an entomologist, I searched for usable insects.
Then deep in the rainy jungle, I fell and suffered multiple compound leg fractures.
My team took off for help.
I saw a swarm of army ants approaching. They enveloped me.
Jane Bedard says
Invasion
She sat in her wheelchair, watching in horror as the millipedes moved swiftly towards every orifice of her face, filling her mouth so rapidly, she hadn’t time to scream. Pain seared as they scampered into her ears, and as the first slid under her eyelid, she prayed for quick death.
Rachael Arsenault says
The Murder of Crows
The crow in my parking spot refuses to move. I’m late. I back over it. Bones pop like gravel.
While at my desk, I hear a loud “thunk”. Crows divebomb my window, shrieking a chorus of rage.
I go home. Crows are in my kitchen, devouring my mother’s fresh corpse.
Lisa Wishard says
Fear’s Blade
Slumbering as the cold blade, sheathed only in moonlight, slices through his shirt. He awakens, as the blade’s tip reaches his chin and a hot hand covers his mouth. Pushing against the attacker’s weight, his arms flail in the night’s empty darkness.
Azad says
The fear of night.
The door was open, i was sleeping alone in the dark room with relax mood.
I was in very deep sleep because the whole days were spent in working in the wooden furniture factory with timbers and woods.
In the midnight, i felt a type of touch in my left ear, i caressed it through my hand with a force and i got sit on the bed and went to switch on the light,when i switched on the light, i saw a black cobra was sitting next to me on the floor, i cried loudly-help me,help me and suddenly in anyhow i leaved the room and went outside..very fearfull days of my life.
Ford Waight says
BACK SEAT PASSENGER
Human ears dangled from the mirror. She wanted to scream at the driver to stop, but her tongue was cut out; already desiccating, it hung from the headrest next to a string of fingers and thumbs. Not hers. Whose? And teeth, in the ashtray, like ivory trinkets speckled in crimson.
Kit Steward says
A BRIGHTNESS DIMMED
A victim of outside influences, swamped in bills, and newly single, Randal was hopeless.
Grabbing a lamp, he french-kissed the empty socket and jitterbugged until crisp on the floor.
The world buzzed on blissful with life.
And a derelict spirit remained, lamenting over the energy it had unwittingly squandered.
Charlie Marenghi says
She held her breath. In the darkness nothing made sense; her husband’s sudden screams, her daughter’s eyes, and now hiding in the bathroom she heard them scratching at the door. Having found her they both mewled like animals, worse than animals. A sudden thud. “Please not the baby,” she thought.
Maria Walker says
NIGHTMARES
Fingerprints branded his cheek. Goosebumps reached up to meet the touch. He lay prone under the caress. As his dream faded, pleasure did too. His crusty eyes cracked open, and so did her jaw and “oh god” – his breath was choked and her mouth unhinged and he was finally awake.
Atman Brahman says
A Demanding Deity
The panoramic view was astounding from the top of the temple. Her sight helplessly dizzying as her virgin body weakened from fasting all week. Next in line, in her last moments, she watches her best friend’s sternum brutally crushed as the bleeding heart is pulled from her screaming, writhing body.
Isabelle Mathews says
HUNGER
I like watching people while they sleep. The way their bodies move while they dream of all the things they’d never utter out loud. But what they dream of is of no concern of mine, hunger is the only thing bringing me here to their bedsides.
And I will feed.
Becky Marietta says
Ave, Imperator
The devil was on the side of the road, wearing the face of my Cherokee grandpa. “I salute YOU,” he called, shoving me into the swirling, dying mist of my days. I held my breath, turning blue from the effort of living, and added my bloody footprints to the trail.
Michael Devine says
Beautiful
Michael W. Huard says
The All Hallows’ Tree
The smell of Halloween was in the air. Kids in costumes roamed the streets and leaves and jackolanterns made for a feel that only October brings. Yet, that tree, it’s long outstreched arms looming over me sent a shiver down my spine, a chill only All Hallows’ Eve could offer.
Noah Fellinger says
Moon Man
On each new moon, the Moon Man appears. Shrouded in ghostly glow, he dances from crib to crib of every child born that day, whispering forbidden knowledge:
“You will see the light on the tenth of September, 2055, darling one.”
He then kisses them goodnight and returns every night after.
Gerri Zimmerman says
Only One Conclusion
Ghosts live in a haunted house in my neighborhood and are only visible on Halloween. You disagree? Go to 84 Pine Road, Mayne, Utah.
Open the door. Open the door very slowly. What do you see? Nothing. You see nothing? There can be only one conclusion. Right, you’re not dead.
Simone Adams says
CHEEZAAY
Morning in September, You tell your mother ‘Bye’
Get on the YELLOW CHEESE HIGH…..the driver has no eyes and the matron loves to see children cry. ‘BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS its time to FLY’ The earth swallows and you become butter on grill cheese.
DM Frech says
NIGHT CHASE
Jack climbed a tree to see the road. There was nothing except shifting shadows. He jumped down and stumbled to his car. Jack had to leave before night, before the ground moved and the dark growled, but as he ran, he fell and saw in the moonlight, a moving arm.
Kit Steward says
THE SOUTHBOUND EXPRESS
One night, a conductor and five witnesses were corralled in a dining cart and brutally executed.
With a leap, the robber vanished into the darkness.
Years later a wealthy man purchased a last-minute ticket home.
At line’s end, the dreary cart was empty and only a torn stub remained.
Ryan Rosta says
‘Tis the Season
Public transportation sucks during cold and flu season.
The hacking, snorting, sniffling.
Noses blow thick phlegmy curds into heavy tissues. The last guy studied it approvingly when he was done. Did he notice the pink flecks of brain?
He would soon.
I quietly close the thermos lid.
It was airborne.
Kit Steward says
SILENT RUNNING
He delved deeper into meditation,
past darkness, through the blinding light of emptiness,
and back to the beginning…of everything.
The husk of a body remained, never truly dead, nor brimming with life.
The tether reeled long over years ‘til finally, the cord severed.
Everywhere and nowhere, subatomic particles found equilibrium.
Shelby says
Little Sarah
They held her shiny, blond hair as Little Sarah was bent over the toilet.
As she lifted it, her parents noticed her beating heart hanging from her throat.
But they never had expected what they had seen after her limp body lay there, but her face had turned to them.
Chanel Owens says
The same scratch every day.
On my right shoulder.
”what’s that?”. Mom asks
” it’s just a scratch.”
The scratch worsens daily
Tonight I lay restless. Eyes closed.
I feel a slight breath followed with a sharp scrape on my shoulder.
”sniff” a hint of moms’ perfume.
” it’s just a scratch.”
Dawn DeBraal says
“Where are you, boy?” he sang out. Walking slowly in front of him. He was under
the stairs. The boy closed his eyes lest his stare would draw attention: the
monster’s face and a monster’s heart. The boy trembled, holding in his breath.
“Come out. I won’t hurt you. Honest.”
Dawn DeBraal says
The Mask
Special spirit gum that came with the monstrosity, glued the mask to her face.
The authentic Haitian Voodoo mask won the hundred dollar first-place prize.
Jessica pulled at the mask gasping. Her skin and the mask had melded together.
There was no way to remove it without destroying her face.
T. Reid says
When She Dreams, Now
Images strobe the dark behind her eyelids. She’s no longer bound inside the van. She’s cast into a cold room. Loud, painful cries terrify her. Moans of his pleasure, haunt.
A young woman kneels before a cloaked figure. Worshiping. Begging. Pleading. She turns. The girl’s teary face is her own.
Thai Lynne says
IMPOSTER
She wakes in a cold sweat. The cloud of sleep dissipates, blown away by the icy breeze coming through the window. Moving through the silent house, floorboards creaking, she stops; dread like ice in her stomach.
A stranger is sitting up in her baby’s crib, staring at her.
“Come here.”
Katherine Phillips says
Locked In
The lights above her were too bright, blurry in their intensity. On the cold table, she lay wide awake, desperate for them to notice. One of the doctors looked down at her as he lifted the scalpel. She was sure he would save her. Instead, he leaned in close and winked.
Chanel Owens says
Cracked
Ceramic masks cover the walls of an old industrial factory. All dreadful. All unique. high schoolers venture into the industrial mystery, hoping to find lighthearted spooky fun. They come across the masks. Old but brilliant. They all put one on, masks latch. ”Ahhhhhhh” screams of agony echo .then. Simply Gone.
wendy lee klenetsky says
Any Body Home?
The ad: “$1000 for spending the night in that haunted house in the forest!”
Tom and John competed in everything, and took the challenge.
After searching, they found the house.
Pushing open the door, they crept in. Then the door slammed shut.
Blood-curdling screams were heard for miles.
Who won??
Jessica Packard says
The Dark Room
The room is dark.
I can’t see anything.
I feel as if something is watching me.
I feel as if i’m drowning.
I realize I can’t breath.
I see them watching me suffer.
As if they were the ones who tied me down
and stuck me in the water themselves.
Maria Walker says
BACKSEAT
She was the last to leave work, rushing through the empty parking lot to get to her lonely car. The rumble of the engine split the cold nights’ silence. Her neck prickled, she checked her rearview. Her eyes met another shadowed pair. Her scream was choked by a warm palm.
Jessica Packard says
The Broken Smile
I can’t feel it.
It’s like a needle pierced my skin.
I can’t find a mirror to see what has happened.
I try to feel my lips but its like blades cutting my finger tips.
Please I beg with no words coming out.
I just want the pain to stop.
Renee Miller says
Big Brother
I stared into my brother’s eyes searching for a semblance, of the boy I knew before the disappearance. A sneer twists his once beautiful face and the only thing I see is the excitement and anticipation before he plunges by head back under the icy waters of the frozen lake.