618 thoughts on “50 Word Horror Story Contest 2024”

1. The gallery is about to open, and I assume my position. People walk past me all day with pained expressions. They are not used to something like me. When they walk past, I walk with them. Weapon in hand, grinning. The frame stops me—nothing but a living painting.

2. The attic whispered her name every night. Tonight, drawn by a force she couldn’t resist, she climbed the creaky stairs. Shadows danced, her breath quickened, and an icy hand clasped her ankle. A voice hissed, “You called me.” In the mirror, her reflection grinned back, no longer her own.

3. He sat in front of a cosy fire reading a ghost story book he’d just bought in an old curio shop. Soon he realized the story was about him being found dead. In the morning his spirit watched as they carried his body from the house.

4. Everyone thought he was dead. But I knew he was still fighting it. I put my hands on his cold face and leaned forward. My tongue slithered out of my mouth, I couldn’t resist licking him, sticking it up his nose and decaying mouth. I whispered, ‘Time to go, Tyler’.

5. I heard my victim whimper and beg from the depths of darkness I had driven his soul into. But my hunger pitied no one. As my scattered canine teeth revealed themselves, I sank them in, not eating flesh but soul. It had a smoky, meaty taste. I loved it.

6. The remains of Geoffrey’s soul was forced out of his body and rushed into my mouth. I chewed on it, licked it seductively, and smiled with relish. Soon I was finished and now, my poor neighbor was truly dead.

7. Pat played with his shadow all through the way on the moon litted dark lonely night and continued the play even after entering the home. But, now in home with the addition of one more person in play, his Superman toy, he soon noticed his shadow in the play motionless.

8. SNICK!
   The Life Taker leveled its steel snout in his direction. Each muscle stilled.
   Thoughts of honeyed ichor thickening over his tongue produced copious flows of dribble, wetting his maw.
   He had picked up on the blood along the trail.
   A bird in the branches above took to the sky.

9. “Tricks and treats!” the demon cried.

   Drew smiled, letting him in. “Did you have fun?”

   Craig raced inside, oblivious. “How was it?” he asked his wife.

   She entered slowly, eyes red-rimmed. “That’s not our son,” she breathed, teeth clenched. “I-it’s a trick.”

   Behind him, an impish giggle. “Tricks AND treats!”

10. Anna thought she’d struck gold with David. He was perfect. Netflix and chill had never sounded better. A horror movie and a little cuddling were just what she needed. Then she realized the ‘indie’ movie they were watching was real. It was David with the knife. His grip tightened.

11. I went all out on one of those fancy baby monitors with video when Sarah was born. It was definitely worth the money. I could see her now, curled up in her toddler bed. But if Sarah was in her bed, who had their tiny little arms wrapped around me?

12. Thieves are despicable. I lost my cellphone while at the bar tonight. Every time I called it, someone would answer and laugh like an idiot. I finally gave up and went home. When I came into my room, I saw it. My phone on the charger where I’d left it.

13. People are disrespectful to farmers on the road, honking because they’re slow. I’m sorry I have work to do. I realized why they were honking when I stopped. I should have fixed the rotted floor of my horse trailer before he fell through. I’d never get the mess cleaned up.

14. I thought he was a good samaritan helping me change a tire. I let my guard down. I didn’t realize until I woke up that he’d been the one to let the air out in the first place. “Works every time”, he said as he dragged me into his house.

15. My parents don’t believe me about the pretty doll my aunt got me for my birthday. They say I should be grateful for every gift I get. They tell me not to lie but every night when I look over, she’s gotten just a little bit closer.

16. I ran. One blurred vision while other useless.
    “Caw, caw.”
    Repetitive sounds above me.
    Horrible words.
    “Pretty blue, pretty blue.”
    Shut myself in a public bathroom,
    Breathless, my face reflecting on a mirror.
    One void eye socket; other with teary blue iris.
    Door banging.
    “Pretty blue, pretty blue. Come out.”

17. Teetering atop the roof, taped tightly to a pane of glass, Edward attempted to scream April stood to his side and whispered, ‘Remember your mistress.’ She inhaled and tipped the glass. The cold, glimmering surface flipped like a coin, forward and downward to the pavement. The night echoed..

18. Incapacitated, the fiend lifted Kristen’s hand behind her seated frame to force her touch upon the familiar, but dead flesh of her husband’s face. The clammy surface withdrew and a shadow towered over her. Feeling every moment of the beast eviscerating her own throat unable to resist.

19. Curiosity spells an intellectual’s downfall. The dank, intimidating cavern and promise of wealth held no sway. However, Anthony’s desire to uncover a deep mystery was his sin. The sirens of old tempted him and now his intestines painted the walls whilst base demons reveled in his incompetence.

20. The renovated walls still gripped secrets. Years had passed without justice, and Fielding thought her homicides were all but diminished. Yet with one step beyond that threshold, the dormant victims instantly engulfed her in an instant, fatal wave of hatred and she perished as contorted as her heart.

21. Acknowledge the full moon and beware. Ashley’s blood, no matter how cleverly masked, still beckoned the wolf. She’d barricaded doors and windows, but the vile, thirsty animal besotted her scent and destroyed its obstacles. The pale moon marked not only her death, but her heartless transition.

22. The life-size doll in the attic resembled a young girl, with flowing tresses, demure eyes, and softly smiling lips. The grown-ups forbade it; but one night, the boy took the doll to bed.
    They found him stiff the next morning, covered with the venomous spiders that nested inside the doll.

23. There’s a house on our street where dead faces stare out the windows at all hours of the day. Sometimes, someone would try to go in and confront them, despite our warnings. Soon after, they’d appear in the windows among the dead, responding to our horrified cries with stricken silence.

24. The danger! The inappropriateness! Imagine hanging swords on the wall above your bed! But she said those were family heirlooms. Anyway, she liked them.
    I won’t have them in this house. Tonight, I’ll loosen the holders to scare her straight. That ought to drive the point into her thick skull.

25. A furor swept through the streets last night, but all was quiet when I woke. I looked in the mirror.
    The young man’s face was peeling off. Sighing, I readjusted it.
    There must be some way for me to fit in. Next time, I’ll keep the eyes in better shape.

26. Night had fallen, yet not all was quiet. This inner turmoil never seems to really end, beating and beating and beating until it simply can’t anymore. I hear them coming again, each footstep mirroring every racing thought.
    There it is the zipper comes undone… please, I beg let this end…

27. The bell rings and I head towards my math class when, suddenly, there was a bang a loud bang that seemed to last forever.
    The shooter had a dazed look on his face as one by one, shot by shot.
    They’re all gone yet it is I holding the gun.

28. In the attic, dusty clown dolls lined the walls, their painted smiles cracked and faded. As Lexi stood twirling her hair in the doorway, a soft giggle echoed. One doll’s head slowly swiveled, its glassy eyes locking onto hers. The attic door slammed shut. Now, the giggles wouldn’t stop! 🤡 😱

29. The black widow watches as the humans desecrate the home it has painstakingly woven, their laughter haunting the humid air. It stares, pondering, planning. At night, the spider slips inside the wife’s ear, seizing its puppet’s malleable brain with its silky strings. A home for a home. The feast begins.

30. The moon’s beautiful tonight, an unbleamished mirror that scatters its borrowed light across the world. I watch it shine, paralyzed and enraptured. Each time I blink, it grows larger and larger until a maw emerges, splitting the orb in half with a grin before everything’s consumed by an endless void.

    1. Shiny red paint. Oh no! It is getting everywhere. Maybe I should put a blanket on it. That’s good. No more red. Baby Cairo has finally fallen asleep. Mama will be so happy. She was complaining about him crying all night. He’s very quiet now. He will never cry again.

31. Shakily gripping the kitchen knife, I enter the bedroom, approaching the lump in bed, illuminated by the dim nightlight. That can’t possibly be my husband, who died months ago. I made sure of it. The knife’s brought down, and pain explodes in my chest, punctured by a clawed, misshapen hand.

32. Ghostly, glowing orbs rose from the shoreline of the pirate cove. Weaving through derelict wreckage, for each living soul they made contact with prompted a horrid death. Flesh and bone dissolved into the void of night until the island lay baron for the sin of stealing the relic.

33. The utter ignorance perceiving that my beloved’s loss spelled hell’s worst gift. Now under the incantation of a malevolent gorgon, I unwillingly bare witness to my own hands slaughtering comrades in arms whilst waiting for my own unworthy demise. Agony is my only friend now. Let me die.

34. The four roomed, four cornered oubliette marks the height of the priest’s decadence. Elijah, baring the mark of a thief, is now loosed into this prison with a bloodthirsty mutant, intoxicated by his scent. However, a lockpick spells favor for, not only freedom but, revenge upon the dark clergy.

35. It was Halloween, time for the witch once burned at the stake to rise. She called at a house. A woman opened the door and was turned into a goblin. Her husband nearby fell dead from the shock. “Join me,” the witch commanded the goblin. They approached the next house.

36. Aurthur’s sadistic lust of late had left all his lovers strangled to death. Their last, fleeting image being the horrid lizard tattoo across his neck. Yet, whilst gripping Elena’s throat, she evoked an ancestral hex. That wretched lizard emerged from his skin, removing his jugular with ease.

37. Dr. Hawk never put faith in the ‘Ghost in the Machine’ theory as a weapon engineer. Motion sensor electric projectiles were to be her crowning achievement, but one extra ‘0’ instead of ‘1’ jolted his torso with such force that she burst. Machines only see targets.

38. Narcissism deluded Sarah to believe beauty was everything and a jilted ex-lover with similar notions agreed wholeheartedly. Whilst posing for a plaster lifecast of herself, Sarah lay vulnerable as more plaster covered her breathing tubes. The superficial was immortalized for only her murderer to gaze upon.

39. Red luckily was the prime color for Zoo’s uniforms. Using her blood, she painted it upon his patch and lapels. The mauling last year was his fault, but now the headlines read ‘during a routine Gorilla feeding, a zoo employee suspected of foul play had his neck broken.’

40. The wind screams and blood rushes down her face, she runs as fast she can tripping over roots, she trips falling hard to the ground twisting her ankle but she gets up and keeps running knowing that there is a fate worse than death awaiting her if she stops running.

41. The blood drips slowly down her face, from the lines that I carved into her beautiful face. A shame really she was beautiful, she was my Aphrodite, my goddess. I have immortalized her my sweet love forever my perfect masterpiece. Don’t worry no one will ever forget you my masterpiece.

42. I pleaded but no one listened. “Please I beg you kill me, but let my daughter live, I beg you, she’s innocent” I cry. But l they don’t listen. They take my beautiful daughter, my innocent baby girl, my sweet little flower, and they drove the dagger through her heart.

43. I stared at the foot of the cliffs on which I stand and stare at the burning village below. I smile, my village, my masterpiece, my unfinished symphony and now none will ever hear it ever again.

44. A cloaked woman stood before the village a eerie smile on her face as she spoke “My unfinished melody, what a shame” what a shame indeed the cloaked woman thought as she dropped the match and fled.

45. Tonight they were having a séance to talk to the dead. This was his one chance to finally get answers from the other side. He saw the Ouija board in his mind and envisioned the pointer moving around until it spelled out his message: “Mommy, why did you kill me?”

46. The realtor walked me around the newly renovated house, chatting away as she pointed out the hardwood floors, three bedrooms, and spacious kitchen. All I saw were the bodies of the previous owners lying in pools of blood. It’s hard to buy a house when you can see the dead.

47. In a flash, the actors on the television freeze, mid-scene. The lights turn off as you curse under your breath.
    Your nails scrape against the carpeted floor, failing to find your phone. It’s no use; no matter how hard you try, you can’t see in the dark.
    But I can.

48. I radioed for help but no one came. They were all dead, except for me. Without any warning, seaweed-covered hands grabbed my neck, then I saw its red glowing eyes. It dragged me over the ship’s side into the black water where bodies floated like dead fish. I couldn’t scream.

49. They removed Sarah’s tongue so she wouldn’t admit their plagiarisms, but a poet’s quill is equally deadly. In one sitting Sarah committed their souls to hell in prose. Flesh turned inside out, limbs were ripped apart, and grey matter melted all by the hand of a spited woman.

50. Pastor Walter knew the history and lore, but upon seeing Damont’s ghost finally opened his mind. His allies were now only the psychic and paranormalist to quiet this bloodthirsty spirit and cut the tether keeping its malice on this plane. They’d have to destroy Connor’s possessed corpse..

51. An iron maiden that collects the lives of the guiltless, is fated to reveal something far more sinister. One such iron casting gained sentience and transformed into an angel of vengeance. If any bloodlines offered guilt, she would cruelly disembody them. Amy was pure and charged with stopping it.

52. Annie looked at her face in the mirror and it shattered. “Whatever you do, don’t look into the mirror,” the sorcerer’s voice faded as he entered the room. Her face lay scattered in pieces on the floor. “I can’t reverse the spell,” he murmured.

53. I came to the masquerade. A ghost in a cloak came to my side. “Bro, your outfit is cool.” I tried to give him a fist bump, but happened to touch his mask. No, there was no mask. Under the wide cloak, there was nothing underneath.

54. A strange man was staring at me in the dark outside the window. I ran over, trying to lock the window. As I reached it, I remembered—I live on the third floor. No, he wasn’t outside the window. He was standing behind me.

55. He got lost in the haunted house. An NPC kindly guided him to the door. It was too dark inside. Therefore, he didn’t see the “No Entry” sign above the door, and didn’t notice the exit sign behind him.

56. As she smashed a firefly, buzz over the chimney grew louder. A shrilling wind toppled a vase. A breath from the cupboard, she peeped, a bloodied rat squeaked and ran out into the sink.
    ‘Are you there aunt? I am thirsty.’ said someone, the boots crackled. A hat shadowed on the chimney surface.

57. Blowing winds. So cold within.
    Our nifty homes overthrown by kids.
    An eerie night. The shut of lights.
    Tip…tap…I’m dared with fright.
    Demonic sounds. I’m off the ground.
    It’s in my house. My heart does pound
    I turned around I scoped a mirror
    In the end, myself I feared.

58. The stalking demon’s strength lies in ash and fire, so Shawn and Ava concluded Greenland would suffice for a prime battleground. They exposed it to the coldest day on the most hallowed ground and finally stabbed it with heavy limbs from an uprooted tree. A desperate last stand.

59. A macabre carnival serial killer with access to a traveling mirror maze holds an impressive victim count. Yet overconfidence against a skilled blind man spelled not only a challenge, but his decapitation as certain canes contain sharp swords. A murderous filth finally unmasked.

60. Devil’s Night offers unexpected horrors as early as dusk. Holligan kids defacing their former school stared into the eight eyes of a giant, grotesque arachnid. The webs halted their escape as several dissolved from the spider’s acid spit. The gamble being dawn would spell salvation.

61. Shiny red paint. Oh no! It is getting everywhere. Maybe I should put a blanket on it. That’s good. No more red. Baby Cairo has finally fallen asleep. Mama will be so happy. She was complaining about him crying all night. He’s very quiet now. He will never cry again.

62. Every inmate, irrespective of their crimes, agreed that the 4th cell of D wing was cursed. Bribes and favors were utilized to avoid transfer there at all costs. One night was all it took for even the strongest, inhuman prisoner to be found a desiccated heap by morning count

63. The lost monolith finally beckoned its disciples. One by one they passed into the rockface and emerged from the other end an unholy soldier. The Viking elders beseeched their bravest warriors to shatter the immense boulder and break the circle of fell wizardry for glory.

64. Late at night, Jim heard a whisper: “I’m inside your house.” He laughed, texting back: “Nice try.” His phone buzzed again: “Look out the window.” Grinning, he glanced over.

    His reflection waved at him.

    Jim wasn’t waving.

    His phone buzzed once more: “Now do you believe me?”

65. Monster-in-law.
    That’s the joke everyone calls my mother-in-law.
    How I wish it were a joke.
    I searched for my husband,
    Found him in the sitting room, eyes wide with fear,
    His lips tightly sewn. Mother looked pleased with her handiwork.
    “I thought you might like him better quiet.”

66. Jessie called round to welcome her new next door neighbour. “Come in ,” her neighbour invited, “your timing is perfect.” Jessie entered the living room. “This is my husband,” she pointed to the Grim Reaper. “Pleased to meet you,” he said, “I was about to call on you.”

67. On this unusual night, I saw the visage of the devil. Drenched in red, dripping from head to toe, it quickly approached upon sighting me. I was enthused and at the same time bewildered. I grinned because it was nice to see prey other than humans on my turf.

68. Married to a faceless man in a maze-like house. In captivity I dwell, yet every lady stirs me down with looks as I am the supposed happy and free lady of the house. Soon, I’ll be amongst the pretty flowers in the yard, and he’ll hunt for his next victim.

69. The decaying corpse once only buried in the mansion walls now crawls betwixt them, stalking any and all trespassers. This undead family secret now seeks to butcher a renovation crew and keep them in the walls also. But high-powered tools and chemicals prove useful zombie weapons.

70. Though Valentina masqueraded as a spirit medium, even her practices were enough to gap the ghost dimension. The entity clung to her and viciously attacked her family one by one. Valentina bound the apparition to an ancestral wooden totem and set it and herself ablaze.

71. A Nosferatu limousine service stands a quirky, gothic business venture except that an actual vampire drives one. Tinted windows, red upholstery, and willing victims make the hunt so much simpler. However, VanHelsing’s Hellseekers exist also, dedicated to irradicating this illusive prey with a high-speed chase til sunrise.

72. A contemporary Dr. Frankenstein partnered with a sociopath with polysurgery addiction wreaks havoc upon New Orleans. Detective Myers strips away the doctor’s honored reputation to contain this abomination and its nightly mayhem for future body parts Sleuthing results in a showdown at a closed library.

73. There is a face out there in the dark. When you turn off the lights and leave the room, it appears just out of sight, only to vanish when you notice. That face that sends chills down the spine. That is what I see, and it knows I see it

74. I fired off my first two wishes immediately. After her suicide I wanted her back; wanted to know why. Now she is in every reflection, shadow, mirror: pointing at me, accusing. But if I use my last wish to make it stop, I know what will stop is my heart.

75. As Sophie stepped into the butcher’s house, she was met with the stench of rotting flesh. Meat hooks hung from the ceiling, adorned with grisly trophies. The butcher’s eyes gleamed with maniacal intensity as he whispered, “Welcome to my slaughterhouse.” Sophie’s screams were silenced by the sound of his cleaver.

76. Lily’s tiny hands clenched her teddy bear as darkness devoured her room. Shadows twisted into grotesque forms, their eyes glowing red. A low growl hummed in the silence. Suddenly, the nightlight flickered to life, revealing a figure looming over her. Lily’s screams were drowned out by her own terrified heartbeat.

77. As midnight struck, vampire girl Emma’s eyes gleamed in the darkness. She floated towards her babysitter, Sarah, who trembled alone in the creaking house. Emma’s icy breath whispered Sarah’s name, her small fangs bared in a mischievous grin. Sarah’s screams were drowned out by Emma’s haunting giggles.

78. Rusted metal and gnashing teeth are the only rewards if one is captured at the Goblin’s Gate. Arrix and her crusaders need cross this twisted obstacle, but the foes are numerous and deadly. The goblin legions face off, quick, unrelenting, and precise until the only option is to flee.

79. The unnamed spawn of witch and beast patrols the river’s eastern shore. Sir Gideon wishes not only to glimpse the creature but claim it’s head to cease the carnage. Claws and fangs met arrows and blades, dueling and dodging until both had no choice but to withdraw. A stalemate.

80. The door creaked open on its own. I stepped inside, heart pounding. A voice whispered my name, but I was alone. I turned to leave, but the door had vanished. My reflection smiled back at me in the mirror—then walked away. I was trapped on the other side.

81. I woke up to scratching sounds under my bed. Too scared to move, I peeked over the edge. Nothing. As I lay back down, I heard a whisper: “You’re looking the wrong way.” I froze, realizing the sound was coming from above me, not beneath.

82. The text appeared on my phone: “Look outside.” I hesitated, but curiosity won. I peeked through the window and saw nothing. Another text buzzed: “Closer.” I leaned in, squinting into the darkness. My phone chimed again: “Now, look behind you.” The reflection in the glass showed someone standing right there.

83. The new student sat quietly, never speaking. After class, I found a note in my desk: “You’re the only one who can see me.” I looked up to see the classroom empty except for the new student, who stared at me with hollow eyes, whispering, “You’re next.”

84. While perusing the library’s dusty archives, Thomas came across a tome bound in weathered leather, inscribed with enigmatic symbols. As he traced the arcane markings, the text shifted and reformed, spelling out: “The summoning has begun. Prepare to fulfill your role.” An unsettling energy filled the air, leaving Thomas paralyzed with dread.

85. “Haunted houses aren’t real,” I admonished myself.

    But crossing the entryway, the damp darkness seemed to swallow me whole.

    And … ugh… that smell … the putrid odor turned my stomach as I choked back bile.

    The first hair-raising shivers of genuine fear gripped me, as did the clawed hand…

86. Jose the Chihuahua hated that cat. The lead was dropped. The moment caught. Who’s the ‘handbag dog’ now?

87. The Devil spun a tale about a cursed village where shadows preyed on unsuspecting souls, leaving behind only screams. The schoolboy, facing the threat of being eaten by the devil, told a chilling story of a woman’s possessiveness that transformed into a terrifying curse, making hell’s torment trivial by comparison.

88. Jean froze, the doppelganger holding her baby. “What do you want with my child?”
    “I am you, Jean. I am here to take what is rightfully mine,” the doppelganger replied.
    Jean trembled. “Why are you torturing us?”
    The doppelganger approached her menacingly. “Because I deserve to live your insignificant life!”

89. “Midnight,” demanded Beelzebub as he vanished into a dark swirling mist. “Signed. Don’t mess up. Little Larry’s soul will be mine, and all the pleasures await you. Remember, 12 o’clock tonight.” Larry’s father grinned. After all, it was All Hallows’ Eve. Trick or treat…or was it?

90. “Don’t touch the piano! Don’t wear that! Don’t go there! You cannot go to the Halloween party.” Sara smiled childishly, both her body and Halloween costume splattered with her mother’s blood. She clutched the kitchen knife, having no intention of letting it go.

91. The man in the painting stared disparagingly at me, or it could’ve just been my imagination. This masterpiece depicts myself, but who’s that in the painting standing very close to my room door? Oh! It appears to be the ghost of the man I murdered last night.

92. “Are you certain you want to stay in that room?” the innkeeper’s daughter whispered, her voice quaking with fear. “We’ve had—oh, we’ve had hangings in there every All Hallows’ Eve.”
    “Sure as hell,” came the eerie reply as the dark figure of the hangman ascended the creaking stairway.

93. The four children knocked on the door, filled with excitement. “Trick or treat.”
    The door flung open. “Come in, children; you have been chosen with great care. All you must do is survive this cursed Halloween night—if you dare.” The Grim Reaper’s laughter echoed through the creepy house.

94. I am _______. This was the prompt. Make an eye-catching statement out of it. Fill any word. The catch? It should tell the truth. I got many responses:
    “I am SAD.”
    “I am a DOG-FOOD TASTER.” I laughed.
    “I am PHOBO-PHOBIC.” That even a word?
    “HOMICIDAL.” Whoa.
    “DEAD”
    “LO—”
    —wait—dead?

95. These bourgeoisie, corporate swine offered up all their bastard children to secure their wealth on Earth and a seat in hell. Yet the Devil chooses its own offerings, so Mammon rose to claim each by possessing the children and allowing them sweet revenge on their treacherous parents.

96. Splendid carnage calls the Raven Knight to the field of battle. Gallant crusaders from the east finally ensnared this butcher and set sail for home. The voyage failed as the knight’s armor shattered revealing great serpents scurrying and slaying the crew. The ‘Raven Pirate’s saga sets sail

97. So vast and treacherous are the Tunnels of D’Ken no explorer could ever chart it. Season by season along different walls and turns emerged strange but delicious growths. Cultivators explored deeper for samples, discovering they were eggs laid by gigantic insects also seeking new food sources.

98. Two primordial boxes bound by human flesh are upmost pleasure for twisted gamblers. A selected victim places one hand in each box to be judged. Extravagant wages are placed on insidious outcomes, but the emergence of a third box yields no games only ultimate annihilation.

99. His illusions debunked and magic satirized, Stavori desired one last fabulous show. Fatal tricks he promised and people flocked and cheered. By the conclusion, Stavori was broken and bleeding, but his audience lay dead with smiles upon their faces. Nitrous oxide poisoning was his grand finale and revenge.

100. Empowered and enslaved to Samhain’s false promises, Benedict’s bloodlust and offerings constructed a monument of suffering with peeled faces as its greatest trophies. When cornered and confronted, trees of bones emerged and impaled the interlopers. By sunrise every trace of malice and death evaporated, destined to someday rise again.

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