Spellbinding 100 Magical Realism Prompts

Spellbinding 100 Magical Realism Prompts

Discover enchanting tales waiting to unfold as imagination mingles with reality across spellbinding 100 magical realism prompts. Within these genre-bending story ideas, prepare for poetry in motion as fantasy tropes manifest in symbols, visions and metaphors granting fresh magical perspectives on the everyday.

Let paintings rewrite art history, hats bestow powers, ghosts dispense streetwise wisdom, and twin psychics share extrasensory bonds. Find fairy food under fast food floors, angry apples heeding hearts, browsing books birthing new adventures and old cameras glimpsing the gilded future in the gritty present.

Follow feat-weaving spiders, transforming seasons, fickle fortune tellers, shoulder angels, mermaids walking among men, and storms captured in jars. Conjure the improbable from subtle wonder cloaked in familiar frames with tales magical not by swords and spells but whispered through winking serendipity embroidering lifelike backdrops that expect the unexpected.

Each “what if” prompt turns tradition topsy-turvy as myth and mundanity mingle intuitively across touched genres, upturned tropes and slanted realities kindling imagination’s flame toward empathy’s forge crafting re-enchantment’s keys glowing within rearrangement’s locks. Perception is portal between plausibility and possibility – where will these doors reveal for you? Let images unfold intuitively across inward vistas and diluted divisions between seen and unseen. Subtle curb your skepticism – and subtle magic awaits manifestation through your pen should you dare guide its elemental emergence intuitively across liminal lines.

Here are 100 magical realism writing prompts:

1. A woman finds a small door to another world at the bottom of her wardrobe that leads to an enchanted forest.
2. A girl notices that birds flying overhead seem to be acting strange and leaving her clues – when she follows them, she discovers their magical secret.
3. All mirrors in a house mysteriously shatter when a family moves in, and the family starts seeing visions in the broken shards.
4. A boy discovers he has the power to bring drawings to life, but the creations take a dark turn.
5. Strange things start happening when a teenager wears a pair of thrift store shoes – almost like they have a magical power over her.
6. An old polaroid camera develops pictures of tragic events a day before they happen.
7. On an ordinary Tuesday, gravity fails for only one town in the entire world in an unexplained phenomenon.
8. All clocks in a village stop at the same exact time every night, and no one knows why.
9. A man moves into a home and starts receiving mail and packages addressed to the previous resident – who died 20 years ago.
10. A young girl realizes she can make it rain whenever she cries in an inexplicable magical talent.
11. A widower’s wife appears to him three years after her death with cryptic messages he must decipher.
12. Identical twins separated at birth somehow share their physical pains and emotions without ever meeting.
13. The pets in an apartment building band together at night under the leadership of a cat who seems to have opposable thumbs.
14. Dolls in an antique shop come to life when a curious child plays with them after closing hours.
15. Bees follow a little girl wherever she goes and seem to understand when she talks to them.
16. An old oak tree serves as a time portal between the 21st century and the 1800s.
17. There’s a secret passage under a fast food restaurant that serves fairy food – but only kids can see and access it.
18. A house’s floorplan seems to rearrange itself every night.
19. A man gets in a mysterious car accident and suddenly develops the ability to temporarily transfer injuries and ailments onto other people.
20. A young orphan realizes they can see ghosts who need help crossing over into the afterlife.
21. A widow on a remote farm is mysteriously kept company by her dead husband’s old shirts that seem to move around the house on their own.
22. Every full moon,animals on a farm talk and interact with strange travelers who visit just for the night.
23. A teenager discovers a magic ring that lets them travel into books, but they get trapped in a nightmare fantasy world and need to fight to escape.
24. Identical cousins separated at birth share an unexplainable psychic connection.
25. A child begins dreaming the memories of their mother when she was young as if seeing the past in magical visions.
26. Ghostly musicians ride the subway at midnight playing songs for commuters that let them relive memories.
27. A snow globe grants wishes but the wishes have unexpected twists.
28. A woman hit her head and awakens to find everyone in her life has been magically replaced by doppelgangers.
29. Flowers braided into a little girl’s hair bloom vivid colors and never seem to wilt or die.
30. A troupe of mischievous fairies lives in a person’s home, unseen except by the family cat who watches their bizarre rituals.
31. An old family cabin seems to exist in a time loop – resetting everything inside back to how it looked in 1975 each morning.
32. A tree with answers carves its advice into its own bark to help a troubled person in need.
33. A young man is followed by luck, both good and bad, after a chance encounter with a fortune teller.
34. The reflection in a woman’s mirror reveals troubling glimpses into the future.
35. Ghostly messages appear on foggy bathroom mirrors with eerie premonitions.
36. A mysterious book curses its reader but also grants them abilities like telekinesis and flight – for better and worse.
37. A teenage girl finds a magic tea set and reads people’s tea leaves for real visions of their future.
38. Lost things mysteriously reappear in the spots they were originally misplaced from months later without explanation.
39. A young boy who collects shells at the beach can hear the ocean captured in their hollows whenever he puts one to his ear.
40. Birds always land in a tree outside a home to recreate meaningful messages using carefully placed twigs and leaves.
41. A cobweb repeating the number 13 appears in the corner of rooms warning people of bad luck ahead.
42. Wishes made under a pink full moon come true – even retroactively altering the past.
43. A mysterious man sells magical lightning captured in jars that disappear after they strike the buyer with luck or misfortune.
44. A puddle serves as a portal to other worlds where magic is real – if you can manage to fall in just right.
45. A flower shop starts inexplicably moving its location around the city over night with no clear reasoning or pattern behind its sentient wanderings.
46. Lost people doomed to wander until they fulfill their purpose find themselves mysteriously pulled to a small village where magical things help guide them to their fate.
47. A writer’s fictional world turns out to be real in a parallel universe – one day, their characters cross over seeking help.
48. Waking up inside novels allows a bookworm to adventures firsthand alongside the protagonists until the stories conclude.
49. A cathedral’s intricate stained glass mural seems to rewrite itself showing troubling events unfolding in real time somewhere in the world.
50. Ghost siblings only a lonely child can see become their playmates – but remain trapped in whatever era they existed in resulting in mischief across time.
51. Astral projection lets people detach from their physical forms at night to travel magical dream worlds – but leave them vulnerable if they can’t return by sunrise.
52. Unexplainable tears or stains appearing mysteriously on paintings, statues, or photographs foreshadow tragic events.
53. A widow notices the oder of her husband’s favorite aftershave surrounding her in public places though he’s long been dead – trying to nudge her on romantic paths again.
54. An old wishing well’s ability to show visions of soulmates manifests physically by placing glowing arrows leading people together all over town.
55. Every 13 years on her birthday, a woman returns to her childhood home to relive the day – somehow getting the chance to change her fate’s course at different ages.
56. Sentient snowmen come alive under full moons – building mischievous snow families, causing trouble, and melting by sunrise.
57. Cursed black umbrellas blow themselves inside out whenever rain approaches – their bad luck spreading to any unfortunate person forced to use their unreliable protection from storms.
58. Starry mirrors in an old attic reflect the night sky exactly as it looked the day its owners were born – serving as portals into pivotal moments from their personal histories.
59. A mermaid steals magic sand dollars with the ability to grant wishes at high tide then uses their powers to walk among humans undetected during low tide.
60. Ghosts ride an antique carousel at midnight trying to reclaim their lost youth by possessing children who sneak on forbidden rides after closing.
61. Storms of fireflies swarm together forming images of past memories over the swamp before disappearing as quickly as they came.
62. A widow trapped in her sorrow stitches magic thread into quilts – secretly weaving people’s fate and directing their soulmates toward love.
63. Chalk figure aphorisms and poems drawn onto sidewalks offer prophetic advice that alters subtly over days depending on pedestrians’ upcoming fortunes.
64. A painter trapped in their art uses mysterious shifting murals to lure apprentices inside so they can steal living souls that yearn to become part of transcendent artwork.
65. A witch’s bookshelf serves as an interdimensional portal to magical library planes – allowing her cursed volumes to constantly switch places with volumes in ordinary libraries.
66. Ghost detectives investigate cold case hauntings – determining unresolved causes of repeated supernatural events so spirits can finally move on.
67. Unfinished knitting projects accidentally left on buses bind themselves to travelers – magically finishing tailored garments attracting new meaningful relationships into their lives through fateful yarn magic.
68. An oracle lives inside an electronic calculator – bestowing uncannily accurate fortunes onto people based on their mathematical queries.
69. A widow finds her dead husband’s phone mysteriously rings with his number – allowing her a bittersweet moment to speak with him one last time and gain closure.
70. Lost people follow winding flocks of birds migrating in shifting v-formations across the sky that always seem to navigate fatefully toward magical places of new purpose.
71. An invisible astronomical event sends stars falling – allowing people brief chances to capture shooting stars in jars becoming talismans granting their heart’s deepest desires.
72. Impossible mazes open mystical doors for those who solve them – leading questors inexplicably across magical dimensions toward their destinies.
73. A widow trapped in her grief bakes pies with orchard apples that always form perfect heart shapes inside – symbols her dead love still cherishes her from beyond the grave.
74. Ghostly projections play out silent films on abandoned lighthouses – serving as surreal portals into pivotal moments from residents’ pasts.
75. A tea cup reader helps police investigations by mystically gleaning psychic glimpses off prints left behind on victims’ dishware.
76. Merfolk released from the BP oil spill pass magical sea glass to children – allowing them to breathe underwater as they guide clean up efforts.
77. An angel statuette spills tears that crystallize into diamonds with the power to heal broken hearts when touched.
78. Stones gathered from a mystical riverbed skim themselves – skipping fatefully across worlds toward a person’s destiny when thrown at sunrise.
79. Fountain coins grant spontaneous travel wishes – whisking people off unexpectedly toward meaningful journeys linked to their innermost hopes and needs.
80. Sculpted hedge labyrinths rearrange themselves into new mystifying patterns every night to offer spiritual guidance.
81. A widow finds her husband’s ashes have been mysteriously sent back to her in the form of various gifts symbolizing stages of acceptance – like seedlings representing rebirth.
82. Roadkill animals collect knickknacks, bits of string and buttons off passersby – to magically assemble themselves new bodies from discarded pieces so they can reincarnate.
83. Mystical barn owls swap souls allowing people chances to live a day in someone else’s feathers – gaining new meaningful perspectives.
84. Second chances ripple back in time to pivotally alter past choices at crossroads whenever wind chimes sound.
85. A camera reveals fantasies in photographs – capturing imaginative layers of magic, wonder and hidden beauty layered over mundane reality most ignore.
86. Structures scattered throughout the woods contain magical rooms where seasons no longer flow naturally – remaining unchanged from whichever era they were abandoned in.
87. An apple tree produces perfect clones of beloved family heirlooms – reconnecting a grieving woman symbolically with passed relatives.
88. A widow still wearing her wedding ring inexplicably attracts white feathers wherever she travels – her dead love’s souls protecting and guiding her onward.
89. Thrift store paintings phase through different artistic eras – their styles magically cycling based on whims of previous owners immortalized in the artwork.
90. Travel topiaries snip off clippings of themselves to root new potted plants – creating lush exotic gateways toward faraway lands.
91. Stargazers witness actual fairy constellations form from firefly swarms – subtly guiding them toward long lost childhood innocence.
92. A stranded widow only discovers her car repairs itself by sunrise whenever it breaks down at night – her husband still helping her from beyond.
93. An artist downloads pictures onto computer fractals – sneakily trapping intrigued souls inside kaleidoscopic eternal world when they admire the designs.
94. Snippets of conversations, songs and ambient sounds replay on a loop in specific locations where pivotal events once happened – echoes seeping through the veil from past eras.
95. A widow’s husband leaves trails of rose petals from beyond the grave for her to follow fatefully – leading to surprise romantic gestures proving love never dies.
96. A tea cup reader helps police investigations by mystically gleaning psychic glimpses off victim’s dishware – fingerprints left behind act as conduits to the past.
97. Structures scattered throughout the woods contain magical rooms where seasons no longer flow naturally – remaining unchanged from whichever era they were abandoned in.
98. Second chances ripple back in time to pivotally alter past choices at crossroads whenever church bell’s sound.
99. Thrift store paintings phase through different artistic eras – their styles cycling based on whims immortalized in the layers of paint from past admirers and owners.
100. Travel snow globes filled with exotic samples root parasitic worlds whenever shaken – creating gateways toward those faraway lands depicted inside.

We hope these 100 magical realism writing prompts inspired you to write something amazing. If you have any questions or concerns, leave them in the comments below. We also have many other writing prompts on our site you may find inspirational.

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Richard

Richard Everywriter (pen name) is the founder of EveryWriter and a 25-year veteran of the publishing industry. With degrees in Writing, Journalism, Technology, and Education, Richard has dedicated two decades to teaching writing and literature while championing emerging voices through EveryWriter's platform. His work focuses on making literary analysis accessible to readers at all levels while preserving the rich heritage of American literature. Connect with Richard on Twitter  Bluesky Facebook or explore opportunities to share your own work on ourSubmissions page. For monthly insights on writing and publishing, subscribe to our Newsletter.

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