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• Story may not be published elsewhere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.
J B says
TITLE: THE AXEMAN
The axeman stood over her, covered in blood.
Her fingers fumbled with the gun, she turned – fired!
Bang! Her friend’s murderer dropped to the floor, dead.
She collapsed.
“Thank god!” She exclaimed, “I’m safe!”
The floorboards creaked behind her.
She turned to watch a second axeman bring down his blade.
J B says
TITLE: THE CAPTAIN’S SACRIFICE
I deserve this.
I killed the cabin boy, he was basically already dead from wounds sustained from the shipwreck.
There’s only a few of us, and we ran out of food again.
I deserve this, but…
I wish my crew had killed me first before they started eating me.
J B says
TITLE: IT CLAPS
It claps.
Every night I sit at my piano, fingers rolling over ivory keys as I pursue my dream of becoming the greatest pianist in the world.
Every night it claps when I am finished.
I live alone.
I don’t know who it is.
I don’t know what it is.
Ayodeji says
WHERE SHALL I RUN TO
Guns – A phenomenon misunderstood.Compedium of justice and guilt.
Students protest for their right – their brains busted with starved bullet by “supposed” friends.
Tomorrow’s bride adorned in her – her life truncated by the stray bullet from our “supposed” defendant.
Humans made carcass in the overflow of blood starved guns.
Ayodeji says
CONFUSED
In his cozy dark room.
Hissing sound evolves of a seemingly shadowy reptile.Ade’s torch exposes the shadow.Alas!!!,a cobra.He jumps out,calling his nextdoor friend and finds him coughing out blood lifelessly on ground.Confused,he speeds downstairs.Alas!!!.) Neighbours baby crawling towards the four-foot swimming pool.
J B says
TITLE: IN A JAR
The shelf across the room from me had dozens of jars. I squinted in the dim light and saw what they contained: kidneys, a liver, a spleen, lungs, a heart…
Suddenly, as I heard the beeping of the medical equipment behind me, I realized that those organs were my own.
Adam Ehrenberg says
The Promise
Although she was alone, she suddenly decided to take the pitch-black shortcut, confident her car wouldn’t break down.
As she changed her flat tire in the thick darkness, she made a promise to herself to never drive on that road again.
And she never did, because she disappeared that night.
Ayodeji says
RITUALS
Pestle and Mortar war to crush their common enemy.
Such innocent baby’s screech heard with blood splash over the face of the crusher.
He shuts his hearts to empathy, pounding the baby’s head till no breath left.All for his insatiable quest to fulfill his rituals for power and wealth.
Curtis Norris says
RICTUS
The disingenuous mourners did not linger by Jennifer’s coffin. Her smile shattered their nerves. All teeth and gums, stretched impossibly wide; it was indecent! The smile was in her eyes, too. Black, bulging, full of wicked anticipation. Abhorrible rictus! It said she knew their secrets, and had surprises for them.
Christine Donovan says
Shadow
It mirrors me. We crawl back and around each other. Dancing to the sound of our bare feet scraping into the gravel, unsure of the other’s next step. Unsure of if it’s safe to run, unsure of who will twirl. Unsure if we will hurt each other’s elegance or grace.
Mike James says
As a wartime kid, I collected things. An abandoned parachute made nice sheets, a brass shell casing held our fire tongs; foil strips dropped to fool radar decorated my Christmas tree. My Dutch friend in Nazi-occupied Holland collected German jackboots. He said it was easy, but removing the feet wasn’t.
Ceilidh Buizer says
Fifty feet below you
Hey, nice blue bathing suit, you can’t see me but I’m about fifty feet below you. I live in the ocean you enjoy trying swim in. But soon I will be right below your delicious feet; then suddenly you won’t swim ever again. You won’t be doing anything ever again.
John Kolyav says
VIRTUAL REALITY
Clara sped through the dim tunnel echoed with inhuman voices. A vampire was chasing her.
Something sharp pierced her head from the back. Two claws protruded out, pushing down her eyeballs.
Woke up from the nightmare Clara pressed the bedswitch.
Persisting darkness! Blood was gushing out from her empty eye-sockets!
Mercy Godwin says
HELD DOWN
I wiggle as my feet meet heavily toothed jaws. Gnashing to grab their next quick meal.
Looking up, I snap the image of the gloaming sky above, strong hands hold me down, digging through my skin. My lungs tighten shut without air.
Bound, hands and feet; I’m weightless under water.
Nina Torcivia says
INSIDE
She slammed the bathroom door.
Slid the locks into place.
Heart racing.
Palms sweating.
Not here. It can’t get me in here.
She gasped, hungry for life-saving air.
Her knees buckled.
She keeled over, clutching her chest.
A tiny voice inside her head hissed “I’m already inside you.”
Chris Axing says
Rapture
The graveyard is the nearest greenspace I can let Scout run off-leash. Two rows over, he’s lifting his leg on a headstone when the trumpets begin blaring. I’m still staring at the sky, when Scout begins to bark. A molehill, I think, just before a hand erupts from the dirt.
Chris Axling says
Host
If they are the parasitoid wasps, we are their Earthly caterpillars – living wombs for their young to grow inside. It’s only been three days, and already I can feel them, wriggling beneath my skin. But, I won’t let the little bastards come to term. I’m nearly done with the stropping.
MJ K says
The Writer
“I don’t think you understand how exhausting it can be.” I pull out a blank piece of paper.
“Do you know how hard it is to write while you keep nagging away?”
“So happy you’re quiet now.” I dip my writing quill in your slashed throat, and begin to write.
Curtis Norris says
WHAT YOU WISH FOR
The judge sits stiffly in his chair, face twisted by wished-for terror. The unhinged jaw rests upon his caved chest. Sunken, violated eyes stare at abomination. One withered hand, halted forever by violent death, reaches for the off switch. On the monitor, the winning story glows, awaiting its next victim.
Joseph Cambonga says
Last Call
Jukebox mute, tabs settled, everyone cheered farewell.
“Pal! We’re closed!”
Half a pint at the end of the bar, someone slouched, scribbling . . . slowly.
“Pal! Need a cab?!”
Flies flocked; a stench steamed.
“Pal!” Roaches scurried as the barkeep stepped closer. “Take that somewhere—”
His note: “Last Word.” His skull, fell.
Curtis Norris says
DO IT YOURSELF
Brick by suffocating brick, he seals the wall. Lifting the final one, he peers through the gap. “Any last words, Montesquieu?”
His rival smirks, smug to the last, and says, “At the count of three, you will awaken and remember everything. You’re on the wrong side, Belfast! One, two, THREE!”
Jenay Mora-Ramirez says
Title: 20 Ft Palms
He impaled the 20 ft strips of twisted sheet metal into the open stumps of her arms. As she watched weak, paralyzed and in horror, her severed hands were skewered onto the tips and arranged triumphantly in the air. “You are my muse.” He said. “‘20 ft palms’, my masterpiece.”
Ruan Pesch says
“Sanguine Smile”
A faint moan made him peek at a clearing. Between the forest shaded leaves, moonlight traced a wolf shaped like a man. It gnawed on the tender flesh of a woman who was almost spent. She stared at the man with a sly smile—her lips coloured with congealed crimson.
Ruan Pesch says
“Machine Dream Fever”
The cold drowns him. At the edge of the liquid, his fists hammer against his transparent prison. He can’t scream; a tube in his throat makes him gurgle. A web of pipes pierces his flesh. He wakes in a pool of sweat. His arm itches; he finds strange little holes.
Fern Goodman says
Damn
Damn, I keep forgetting to lock the front door while in the pool.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
I creep around corners of the house, armed with my cell phone.
Cross to the bedroom to take a shower.
Rising from petting the cat, I’m facing a large knife in a gloved hand.
Kit Steward says
SLIDE ME ANOTHER COLD ONE
The underling sat drinking as the scientist looked into a microscope.
“It’s a slow killer; weakens arteries with a toxic plaque that constricts circulation.”
He continued. “Trace elements of salmonella, listeria, menses, and fecal matter.”
“Developing some killer virus?” asked the intern.
“No, it’s the contents of your milk carton.”
Jessica Grimshaw says
‘Waiting’
I peered through the gap in the door hoping I wouldn’t see him. I could hear the creaking floorboards with each painstakingly slow step he took. My hands were trembling whilst I tried to catch my breath. It was silent. ‘He must have gone’ I thought.
How wrong I was.
Kit Steward says
DO YOU HAVE ONE WITH FOG LIGHTS?
Matthew drove sheepishly through dense fog, it was white-tail season.
Through the mist, he sensed a doe ahead, then a few more.
The new car crawled.
Paused ears perked; spooked, the deer scattered off the road.
Something, big as a Semi came barreling through the grayness, it was no truck.
Abigail Van Santen says
CLINICAL SACRIFICES
The stale air filling the patients’ bleeding lungs slithers out as splotches on lace handkerchiefs. Organs scraped and shredded, dripping in decay and slaughter. Breathing in razor blades, and carving into flesh as caskets lay vacant — awaiting. Occult sacrifices and mycobacterial infections cover their victims in the same substance — blood.
Jina Bazzar says
Tomb treasures
Hoots and cackles came from the open tomb.
Henry huddled in the dusty corner as creatures with lizard skin, flaming-coppery eyes and corkscrew horns clambered out.
Six years, six months, and six days of carefully planned dreams evaporated when sharp claws dragged him inside.
Silently, the lid slid shut.
Fern Goodman says
Where am I?
What is that loud piercing noise? My hands clap over my ears.
I stumble in the dark and fall over something. Who moved the furniture?
As my eyes adjust; it was a body I tripped over.
There are bloody bodies littering the floor.
This isn’t my home. Where am I?
Gonzalo Leon-Gelpi says
THE HEADACHE & THE DOCTOR
“And when did you first notice it?”
“Last night. Right after I woke up from a bad dream, an awful nightmare.”
“And do you remember it?”
“The dream?”
“Yeah.”
“I clearly do so.”
“Well, what was it?”
“A red cloud of smoke came into my bedroom through the window. An eerie sound, not quite like music, came with it. That smoke covered everything. I could barely see a thing through it. Then it transformed itself into a glob of liquid, floating liquid, sort of like a balloon that changed in shape and sizes. It then turned into a horrible-looking face that laughed at me and said, in a low-pitched voice, ‘you are now mine.’ And that’s when, in fear, I inhaled deeply as I woke up. The smoke was gone.”
I then laughed in a thickening tone of voice that wasn’t mine as the doctor looked at me with a petrified expression on his face before running out of the room screaming.
And then, something strange happened. My headache was gone.
Ajao Itunuoluwa says
THE LOOSE NECK
I awoke to a heavy strain on my neck. I was upside down with my seatbelts still on. Outside, I saw my wife stare back at me with lifeless eyes. With a loud thump, an axe took her head off.
“Your head looks heavy”, the stranger shrieked at me.
Grace Frizzell says
Lost Friend
How could they have forgotten?
The mask, twisted in every shape.
Gone from the pool of blood.
Looking above, they find their answer.
It’s twisted smile staring down with little tentacles reaching towards them.
Should they accept their twisting fated end?
The mask had already decided.
As it descended below.
Kit Steward says
SPOILAGE IN THE ROOT CELLAR
The house was abuzz; the suspected source, an air vent.
He’d always loved the old home; now that it was his, he worked hard maintaining a no-fly zone.
His initial solution: The duct would have to stay closed throughout the winter while Mamaw’s body rested in the depths below.
Zev Edwards says
Don’t You Dare
Paralyzed, his one good eye could do nothing but stare as the bird crept closer. It was a big, black monstrosity. The kind you saw lurking on the side of the road near something freshly flattened. It inched forward. Beak testing the air. Don’t do it. Don’t you dare. Don’t—
Sal Sabil Chowdhury says
~Those Eyes~
“A monster killed her, James. Stay away from that house.”
I believe Pastor Jeff. But I had to come to take something back.
I looked into the mirror and dropped Martha’s ring. Someone was standing behind me; black eyes, blue eyeballs..
I looked again. Nobody’s there.
Those eyes were mine.
Patrick Thornton says
CARVING PUMPKINS
He studied the face of the Jack-O-Lantern he had stolen from his pesky neighbor’s front porch then turned to his own carving. He could do better and his would last longer. He pushed the knife in. A twitch made his hand jerk. “Damn.” The anesthetic had begun to wear off.
Jason Allen says
HOOT
Katie sat enjoying the night sky. An owl called from above. Katie smiled, shining her flashlight on it. But it wasn’t an owl; it was her dead grandpa’s head, resting on a limb, its bloodshot eyes bulging. Grandpa screeched, sprouted wings from his ears, and flew away into the darkness.
Amy Willing-Sato says
Insanity
I was blindfolded, as I was kicked hard in the ribs. Pain shuddered through my bones and I let out an ear-splitting scream. He threw me forcefully, towards a window and as the glass broke, it pierced deep into my skin. He’s gone insane, and only I knew about it.
Justyn Palm says
The House of Horrors
The next morning, Barbra, Faith, and Dora all get up and notice that Mark isn’t here they looked around. Barbra went into the room with the rocking chair and then the chandelier fell on her. She screamed in pain she is slowly losing herself.
Caitlin Dee says
“The Notice”
Two weeks ago the notice went up on all the neighbors’ doors. A local film director would be shooting a horror movie.
“DON’T MIND THE SCREAMS. THANKS FOR UNDERSTANDING.”
She had laughed. She wasn’t laughing now. She was screaming.
How could she have known that she would be the star?
Heavenly Marable says
Dead
Blood. All over the wall. All over my hands. The body. Lifeless on the floor. My heart beating as if it would explode out my chest. What have I done? I have to hide the body. I bury it in a ditch in my backyard. Nobody can know. Nobody can…
Kit Steward says
A HOST OF HORRORS
He stared as lamp-lit shadows moved under the empty bathroom’s door.
The light bulb shorted.
The door slowly creaked open.
A darkened abyss welcomed terrified eyes.
He became motionless.
Something sinister spread on floor tiles, and expanded outward.
Black velvety spores crept silently, seeking nourishment from a decaying corpse.
rylan gray says
TITLE: I THOUGHT…
I was home alone.
My eyes lid’s heavy as I crawled into my comfy bed.
My dog pounced up onto my bed, slobbering on my rosy cheeks.
He cuddled up next to me. I stroked his velvety head.
I whispered “goodnight” only to hear the words repeated back to me.
Michael Walton says
TITLE: DID YOU SEE THAT
“Did you see that?”
No response. I squinted at the dark corner of the bedroom.
This was no trick of the eyes. Something with limbs—too many limbs—crept in the corner.
A bony hand slapped the wall.
“Did you see that?”
“She can’t see anything anymore.” Whispered something beh—
Ellie says
A Dark and Stormy Night
I was walking home from my friends house, and I saw a quick glimpse of a shadow following me. I turned around to find a man with a chainsaw following me. He started chasing me and as soon as he tried to cut me… “Beep, Beep” went my alarm clock.
Paige W says
Pictures on the Wall
I walk around the abandoned house, my flashlight shining on disfigured pictures of people on the wall. Despite being an abandoned house, the pictures look strangely new. I slept in the building, not seeing anything wrong with it. My eyes widened as I looked around the room, filled with windows
Zara says
A Babysitting Job
My heart pounded, I thought this wouldn’t be any different than any other babysitting job I had, but this kid… wasn’t normal. Those beady red eyes, the skin had thick violet veins bulging out, the baby smooth skin was rough and tattered.
is it stupid to fear a baby?
Yes.
Zara says
Omegle
an online video chatting app to talk with strangers, I was talking with this one person, he hid his face because he was ‘shy.’ he was always online. one day he asked “where are you” I said work, he said I was lying, I heard his voice right behind me
Zara says
Omegle
an online video chatting app to talk with strangers, I was talking with this one person, he hid his face because he was ‘shy.’ he was always online. one day he asked “where are you” I said work, he said I was lying, I heard his voice right behind me.
Michael Walton says
TITLE: TWO KNOCKS
The last man on Earth heard a knock at the door.
Clyde stirred out of his dazed half-sleep and, after picking up a rusty pipe, he approached the old metal door.
Two knocks.
The hydraulic locks hissed. The door creaked open.
Clyde dropped the pipe. Something else caught it.
Paige w says
Pictures on the Wall
I walk around the abandoned house, my flashlight shining on disfigured pictures of people on the wall. Despite being an abandoned house, the pictures look strangely new. I slept in the building, not seeing anything wrong with it. My eyes widened as I looked around the room, filled with windows.
Carolyne Mutinda says
TUNNELS
My eyes burnt like Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. “There are little, white maggots burrowing inside each eye,” said Mimi as she blew air to dispel them. “They multiply when I blow!” She took a handkerchief, dipped in saline. “They are multiplying rapidly.” I screamed as I sank into the world of darkness.
Paige w says
4:47 AM
The clock read 4:47 AM as the demon like figure stabbed their long claws into my neck, covering my mouth to muffle my screams, my legs thrashing around. I jolted awake, relieved it was just a dream. It was 4:46 AM.
Heavy footsteps, knocking vases over, heading towards my room.
Rylie Nichole says
Sirens
We dance among shadows with dresses of silk. We sing to the sea with beautiful voices of yore. Our faces are of purest beauty, and the sailors come to shore. Only to crash into large rocks so we can rip into their bones. They should never have trusted the sirens.
Rylie Nichole says
The creature
Me and my gang couldn’t sleep, the silence was to loud. I gathered my courage and stepped outside our cabin. Only to be greeted by a tall hairy human with thimble limbs and thin claws. I awake from the dream in relief. But I hear it knocking on the door.
Jocel Lalican says
Clown
“Rawr!” I curled my fingers to make them seem like claws and spread my lips into a freakish grin to scare away the child. I had a bad day and my clown makeup was still on.
“Rawr!” She howled back, sounding more genuinely frightening, and showed me her razor-sharp teeth.
Maggi Valenzuela says
I isI
I want to be I but you’re an Imposter!
Stay away from my life I don’t want to be you!
You diguise yourself as a friend but you’re just a foe!
You’ve lied to me too many times and now I’m alone bleeding out my whole my life.
Maggi Valenzuela says
Now I’m bleeding out my whole life*
Maggi Valenzuela says
bleeding out my whole life*
Michael Walton says
TITLE: A REASON TO BE SCARED OF THE DARK
I first saw it in the doorway across the street.
Something primal. Looks like a shadow, but quivers like disturbed water.
It peeled from the darkness, running on all fours after my car.
Now I sit encircled by lights, but I can’t eliminate one shadow: mine.
Something touched my back.
Maggi Valenzuela says
El Grito
Mujer so brittle so Fragile
A shadow has her chained to her neck
Shes a dog with a Master
Mujer her eye a beaten blue
blood dripping onto our pearl white floors.
Mujer keep your lips glued
your voice will have you killed
MKA says
SUN
“Say goodnight to your brother,” said mother. Oliver toddled towards her cautiously, towards the woman he loved, the woman who rose in the morning slowly, with the hesitation of a terrible sun. “Good night,” Oliver said. Then his mother took nothing to her chest, started humming no one to sleep.
Ford Waight says
two-bIT
That no-good, lying, cheating clown, stealing the future from our children, locking us indoors as he sings the same mad song over and over. Generation Revenge: our children’s children will defeat that sick clown, hurl his corpse into the ditch he deserves, where weeds will grow splendidly from his crown.
Cyrus R says
I’m not breathing. Why am I not breathing? Is it the cloth stuffed messily in my mouth? Or is it the painful dripping of where my nose was? Or maybe it’s because of the dirt I can’t see? No, it’s all the dirty water surrounding my head. That makes sense.
Cyrus R says
My mom’s the best! She always make me my favorite, sloppy joes! She also gives me the best sloppy kisses, her lipstick gets everywhere! My bullies always make fun of me. But don’t worry, she brings them home to the kitchen and makes them leave forever. She’s the best ever!
Gerri Zimmerman says
Field of Grass
“Here kitty kitty. Come to me. Come, I won’t hurt you. Look, I have a toy mouse for you,” said the garbled voice calmly.
“There now. Here is your toy. Consider it a reward for being obedient.”
Later, the kitten’s body was dismembered and spread over a field of grass.
Ann Hoekstra says
Stasis Pod
The crunch of boots on broken glass gets louder. The coppery smell of blood blooms around me. The paralytic, nabetetumol freezes me on place. My shipmate, has finally come for me. His larder was running low. He wheels my pod to the airlock. Freeze dried meat is on the menu.
Connor J says
Mr.Pumpkin
Mr. Pumpkin can not glow so Mr. Pumpkin goes to ask his friends. All of his friends said they can not help they are no pumpkins. Mr.pumpkin goes to his friend mini mush for help. Mini Mush gave him a potion and now he can glow super, super, super bright.
The End
Athan says
The old man’s terrors
‘’These heavens are dumb and they will all die.” old women yeld
“Hunny help me kill these heavens, and i will help resurrect you.” the old man yeld back
“I say your really dumb old man your one of the dumbest people because your the reason i’m coming back…” ??? said
athan says
hello
Richard Shury says
A Smile That Could Stop Traffic
Peter and Brian stand by the road. Around them, a crowd; staring, screaming, throwing up.
A car, dead still. Behind it tyre tracks, and an ugly red smear.
“My god! You pushed her!” A woman stammers.
Brian pinches his nose.
“Jesus, Peter. Remind me to explain metaphor to you again.”
Athan says
The Terror awaits
“The terror of the smell of blood will feast on the rest of humanity and the thearst for it will be great.” john whispered
“I say the well grow child of god will be the thearstyest thing we ever see there taking over the planet one by one.”lord said
Makayla Cammack says
The Cave
We were walking into the spooky cave. It smelled of rotting flesh and bones. you have to go through many and we went through flesh and bones, spiders, and snakes. Then Everything started to shake. My two friends died in the earthquake and that is what haunts me every day.
Ava Wood says
My To-Good-To-Be-True Wedding Day
Today is Elenore’s wedding day. She doesn’t know something horrible as being killed during her vows is even possible. Before the wedding toast Hadley poisoned Ben, Elenore, Blake, and everyone else. Everyone will die except for Hadley, but Hadley wants to be with Ben forever. Then everyone slowly dies away.
Makayla Cammack says
The cave
We were walking into the spooky cave. It smelled of rotting flesh and bones. You have to go through it and we went through flesh and bones, spiders, and snakes. Then Everything started to shake. My two friends died in the earthquake and that is what haunts me every day.
Crystal Bianca says
It’s Nothing.
A loud BANG came from behind. The wind. A howl from behind. A distant wolf. Footsteps from behind. Just off work. The BANG became louder, the howls frequent, and the footsteps quicker. Cold hands grabbed my neck, teeth sunk in my arm. I BANGED, howled for help. I floated away.
Crystal Bianca says
The Red Door
It pulsed. A whimper escaped underneath. I turned the knob. Locked.
“ARE YOU OKAY?” I asked.
No reply. Next came a moan, followed by a sob. Frantically I ran at the door again, and again, and again until it broke down. Inside stood my reflection in a bloody mirror.
Broken.
L. L. says
The Ghost
In a bloodcurdling old mansion. Spiders crawled over the floor. Heard the cry of a child. There was a girl in crimson dress. She was floating without legs. Her face rotted with parasites. The little skeleton followed her. It was the ghost of her unborn child. They wanted to escape.
Paul Carney says
“Fruit”
The rope from which he hung glided like a razor through his bloody fist, the beast below creating suction with each inhalation. A crackling hum accompanied an otherworldly howl as the creature dragged once more, the pull stronger now, a moan of terror passing his lips as his grip failed.
Paul Carney says
“Trophy”
Just her head remains, now; pale, sunken, white eyes rolled, tongue poking through slack lips. The babbling echo of supplications struggling through her constricted throat reverberates inside me. I try to masturbate but find this echo distracting. I recline, naked, deflating, noting her lipstick is the same shade as Auntie’s.
Paul Carney says
“Mother”
Her hips, suddenly heavy, pinned him as he came. Clawed hands slammed his arms against the headboard, her torso elongating in the moonlight, flesh rippling as camouflaged scales became exposed.
“Rejoice! For as your seed ensures a fresh brood, so, too, shall your flesh ensure the survival of its mother!”
Paul Carney says
“Purgatory”
in the darkness, where great Beelzebub placed me. Broken upon the wheel, wearing the crown whose thorns I had denied, gnawed and torn and set ablaze. I am reborn, a phoenix rising from the ashes of sinful flesh. My croaking pleas go unanswered, mortal pride unforgiven. I await the Beast
Anevay Wilson says
Splinters
They say if you sit in the graveyard on Halloween you can hear the cries of all the buried corpses. Sometimes you can hear scratching as they claw their way out of the wooden boxes. I look down, my fingers now bloody stubs as I claw at the splintering wood.
Anevay Wilson says
The Children
The rules I got before the parents left were don’t go into the office. I easily agreed, I had no interest. It wasn’t until I heard movement behind the door that I looked. I quickly regretted my decision as my eyes fell upon all the children hanging from the ceiling.
Dina Towbin says
Top Chef
Round and round the cauldron, she paced. The savory herbs mingled with spices from the Orient, yet they couldn’t mask the horror that had preceded the turn of events. A lone eyeball floated to the surface. “That’s the last review you’ll ever give. Who’s top chef now, Emeril?” she cackled.
Jessica Federle says
HAH! Nice turn at the end there.
Vera Van Mierlo says
Genie
Nothing. Ali rubbed the lamp again. Curse the old man who’d sold it to him! The sun still rose the next day, but not for Ali. “Let me OUT!” Only the old man and his son, reunited at last, heard, as they buried the lamp deep under the desert sand.
Kit Steward says
THE FIRST TSANTSA
A head packed full of stuff.
He’d accumulated arcane facts over the years, tannic herbs, boiling points, contraction rates, tanning, embroidery, leather preservation, and a smattering of South American dialects.
Everything coalesced as he dipped his wife’s remnants into the bubbling cauldron; a prototype, in a series of shrunken heads.
Vera Van Mierlo says
Trouble
“Go on, she’s asking for it!” Jason looked at the drunk girl lying in the dark alley. Stilletto’s, fishnet stockings. No witnesses. His friend Rick pawed at her skirt. The eyes opened. Blood red. “You’re in trouble, boyssssssss,” it hissed. What a feast! Worked like a charm, every time.
Komala Ponniah says
Karma
The squirrel stared at me with rabid eyes, while I whimpered. I should have spared her babies when they fell out of the nest, but it was too tempting, especially with my new slingshot! What goes around comes around. I am dying a slow death – acorns buried deep inside me.
Bobbie Burgess-Tatum says
Nightmares
After hours, the monstrous tornado finally ceased. Relieved, I emerged from the shelter.
An ominous red sky loomed above. The debris, wasn’t debris at all, but body parts. Mountains of bloody body parts as far as the eye could see.
Oh, this nightmare would be far worse than the last.
Breanna says
Safety
“I’ll be OK if you hold my hand,” I whisper.
“OK,” Joe says; I feel the gentle pressure of his hand in mine.
Through the trees we walk, hands clasped. Something dark looms ahead.
“Who’s there?” I call.
“It’s just me,” says Joe. “Ready for me to hold your hand?”
Vera Van Mierlo says
A sore loser
“Don’t turn around! It’s behind you!”
She giggled. “You’ll have to do better that that!” They’d played this game so often and she always won.
“Soph, don’t look! Run!”
“Nice try, Giles, but your acting skills suck. I win!”
Something slithered around her neck. “Wrong. This time, I win.”
Vera Van Mierlo says
Sorry for the typo! “You’ll have to do better thaN that!”
I’ll have to do better than that…
Vera Van Mierlo says
A lovely late-night snack
What was that godawful smell? Hadn’t she taken out the garbage before her trip? She just wanted a snack, then to bed. She flicked the light switch. Dead. The freezer! Horrified, she lifted a bag of eyeballs. Next, fingers. All rotten. Just great. So much for her snack. Takeout, maybe?
Fern Goodman says
Trapped
Entering the pool, I notice one inch round spongy pods.
I scoop a couple out onto the sunny deck, then a few more.
After I swim awhile, I notice dark claws emerging from the pods.
Fascinated, I witness the burgeoning of crab-spider creatures.
They multiply, blocking my exit. I’m trapped.
Kit Steward says
RED FLAGS
As crimson pennants trailed from twisted metal, Derek cried.
It had been ages, but an old thread found its way back into material existence.
It was her spirit, he was certain; jealousy had always soaked her marrow.
Three deaths into midlife; he gained crystal clarity on his misgivings about her.
Cooper Alexander says
The Moring
I wake up the next morning and walk into my living room. I see an object hovering outside of my window. I peek through the curtains then hear a heavy creak in the floor behind me. I whip around and there he stood with a ski mask and baseball bat.
Pamela Raymond says
The Effigy
The burlap effigy bristled in her hands. Cross-stitched eyes filled with spite gave her the go ahead. She squeezed the doll’s rudimentary head in her small hands. That prissy Madeline will get what she deserves, she thought. As the pin pricked the coarse fabric, a scream rang out next door.
Pamela Raymond says
The Box
Her mind screamed because her voice couldn’t. Labored breathes trapped the exhaustion. Her thoughts traveled back to the warm spring day when the lanky man with the pork pie hat asked if the seat next to her was taken. Before he put her in the box, before he buried her.
Shazia Parween says
The Guest
Something knocks the window. It has a large body and I can hear its loud growl. Its stinky breath seeping into my room, choking me. It smelled like rotten meat, graveyard soil and… father’s shirt. The realization hits me.
Is he back? And if he is, do I welcome him?
Shazia Parween says
Blue Blood
He’s a royalty, you must save him, everyone told Dr. Zach outside the operation room. Determined to succeed, he initiated the operation. He began, carefully, and lets out a gasp soon after. He falls on his knees as panic rushed through the hospital while the patient bled, blue blood.
Daniel Londono says
The Lobotomizer
Brave is the man who recognizes his demons. Braver still is the man who confronts them. So as I hold this drill in my hand and attempt to extricate them, I narrate my final thoughts in dementia for posterity. Hold me.
There once was a man from Nanfuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkentuckeeeeeeeeettttttttbrrrrrrzzzzzzzzzz
Chanel Adams says
“Thirteen Ways to Die”
She stood over Crystal Flanders and dripped scalding hot water over her scalp.
“Why are you doing this to me?” Crystal screamed in pain.
“Easy,” Valerie said with a chuckle. “You stole him and now you have to pay.”
“Now, don’t move. I still have 12 other games to play.”
Tina Sue says
Save me
The police smiled at the prisoner:” I got the money”, then shook his pocket, “here’s the plan, hide in the coffin No.3 in the morgue tonight, I’ll save you after burial tomorrow.
As corpse began to rot after being buried, the prisoner turned to it, he saw the police’s face.
Jason Allen says
DAD
Dad seemed different today. He was quiet. His hair was parted differently.
Dad dropped Jimmy at school and drove away. Jimmy watched him go. Dad’s head swiveled 180 degrees, looking back at Jimmy, smiling grotesquely. Dad lept from the car like a gazelle, galloping on all fours into the woods.
cybersavant says
dropped sounds like with a car
not clear they’re walking
Julio P says
Each night I heard something unseen crawl slowly toward my bed. No one believed me. I moved the bed across the room every night. Then desperately I fled for the summer. Relieved, I heard nothing the night I returned; only to learn it made no sound crawling across my bed.