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• Story may not be published elsewhere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.
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“Help is here”
Owens body lay in the road, neck bent at an unnatural angle, blood pooling beneath him. The deer we’d hit lay unmoving near the treeline. Stumbling down the road, praying for help to arrive, I see someone walking towards me. “Help! Please, he….” I stopped, peering into the darkness. “Owen?”
“The Alley”
Pain pulses with my heartbeat as the thick, warm liquid runs down my face. The pavement scrapes against my bare heels as I am pulled into the darkness. Through the blood and tears I can smell the stink of cheap alcohol on him. Unable to move, I hear the zipper.
“Laundry”
‘It’s just my laundry on the chair.’ I remind myself as I roll over and try to go back to sleep. I hear movement again and peer over my shoulder, squinting at the mound of clothing in the corner. Slowly, clothes fall to the floor as the mass moves forward.
“From Beneath”
Salty spray hits my faces, rousing me from a nap I didn’t mean to take. Realizing my raft has drifted far from shore I scream to get the attention of those on shore. The dark shadow moves beneath me, bumping the flimsy plastic. My screams ripped away by the wind.
“Cantonment road area”
It was hard for me to believe that some strange and spooky things happen in this area,
Until one night i was passing by the said road,
A silent scream escape my lips when the woman runs towards me in an inhuman speed and disappears, there was darkness around me.
Resting Place
My eyes are open but I see nothing. My body lies motionless and rigid. I feel the comfort of cushion beneath me. But it’s cold. And silent. This must be a dream. Then I hear a faint muffled voice saying “Dearly beloved, we are gathered to honor our fallen friend.”
The dark road
I let out a shaky breath as thunder boomed in dark night
I could feel a presence behind me while walking on deserted road.
Holding my breath as the footsteps came nearer
I froze as i feel warm breath prickled my neck
I try to scream but no voice came out.
“Deserted highway”
The wind picks up its speed as I drive my car past the young woman on a deserted highway,
She was asking for lift but i did not stop my car.
I feel my breath stuck as i saw her legs were backside front from the rear view mirror
“Whispers of night”
I am half sleep when i feel a whisper behind me
I try to turn back but was not able to
I could feel cold sweat on my forehead
He whispers my name, i don’t move or breath, afraid it might hear me.
I froze
‘I know you are awake’
“The piano room”
With trembling hand I push the room door open,
Droplets of sweat covered my forehead,
My heart stilled feeling a presence behind me, I turn around
Only to find no one.
It was petrifying to find out the piano lid was open
Which I had closed before going to sleep.
“The Piano Room” part 2
With my heart in my throat I involuntarily take a step back,
I was panic stricken when the piano keys moved,
A bone chilling scream escape past my lips when i was thrown out of the room and the door locked behind me.
Faint music could be heard from inside.
“Reverse timing”
I wake from my sleep and find out that my brother is still not home as it is past 3. Am
Me and my sister both walk out of the house and hear a voice of someone sweeping.
Heart beating violently, the erily quiet night was making us more scared.
“Reverse timing” part 2.
We turned the corner of our street and find a women facing the other side and sweeping.
She was wearing a white saree and her hair was left open in the creepy night
We were alarmed and terrified to find that the women was moving near us slowly sweeping backwards.
“Reverse timing” part 3.
Both us were alarmed, glancing at each other with fear we run back home and close the door.
Our heart was beating and goose bumps on our hands,
My gaze suddenly goes near the wall clock and my spine chilled to find out it was 2.am in the
morning .
The Real Monster
He was a creature of the shadows and a real monster, not some fabled beast that hid under your bed and grabbed your foot if it dangled off the bed; but a demented wretch that came through an open window and took your daughter’s virginity and your wife’s jewels.
“The Stairs”
Eyes are watching with an invisible body. The suffocating presence of evil hangs out by the wooden stairs. Little hairs on my neck rise and I am covered in goosebumps as I peer into the upstairs darkness. “Why do I feel so frightened in this one area of the house?”
dark tales:
“They say if you cheat on your wife she’ll come for you.” Edna gazed up at him flirtatiously… She’ll take your heart just like that; she snapped her fingers.
He gawked at her frightened, after a second he recovered.
“You’re so full of crap!” Max sighed rolling his eyes.
Edna leaned her body into him kissing him passionately, without hesitation Max complied. Adrenaline blazed through his veins as he let himself fully engage in the kiss, then she quickly pulled away; he glared down at her blood trickled out from the corner of his mouth. With wide eyes he watched her lick his heart in her hand. Edna’s chuckle floated away with the wind.
HIGHWAY PRISONER
It happened on a highway road trip in the summer of ’78. From the backseat, I watched dad overtake an old, dust-grimed truck. There were bars on the windows, and a hand print inside the glass that looked like dried blood. My parents claim they never saw it.
WATER-HORSE
My Scottish Granny used to fear the ‘Each Uisge’: a metamorphosing water-horse with staring eyes, webbed feet and a slimy coat. I laughed at her old wives’ tales. Fifteen years later, police found a pale man hiding in Granny’s attic, spying through a peephole. He had water-weed in his hair.
“Tortured souls”
There is a house near my street which is said to be haunted.
My breath coming in short pants as i pass by the house,
I feel my heart drop at the pit of my stomach hearing the helpless voice.
‘Help me please, Help’.
Her tortured voice still haunts me.
“Tortured souls 2”
There is a famous manshion near by my area.
One day i was admiring the manshion from afar when i see a shadowy figure near the window.
My spine stiffened “They are here, help me” The tortured voice screamed
Letting out a startled gasp i run for my dear life.
“Cantonment road area”
It was hard for me to believe that some strange and spooky things happen in this area,
Until one night i was passing by the said road,
A silent scream escape my lips when the woman runs towards me in an inhuman speed and disappears, there was darkness around me.
Revenge Served Hot
“You made my wife cry.”
Barker said nothing.
“Hurt her bad, see?”
Barker didn’t see.
“She’s afraid of the dark. Afraid of being alone. Afraid of me. Won’t let me touch her. Thanks to you, she’ll never be the same.”
Neither would Barker. No eyes. No tongue. No fingers. No…
“The Basement Guest Room”
Cold, damp silence permeates and old cobwebs hang from the corners of the musty guest room. Heavy footsteps on the wooden steps are heard only at night and the thud, thud sound is disturbing to guests. Sleep is filled with nightmares. What is this invisible presence? A deceased resident?
“The Presence”
It was the middle of night and she awoke with her heart racing. There was someone at the edge of the bed. She had felt it. A movement of the mattress being compressed. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She could only see an antique dresser. Where did “it” go?
“The Cellar”
Chloe looked at her friends, bled out on the oak floors of her father’s cabin. At the furniture piled against the front door. Latin symbols scrawled in chalk everywhere. The shutters banged in the night’s storm. She took a deep breath then entered the cellar once more, to finish it.
The Highway Siren
Her face pales when she sees me before she crashes. Her baby will be the thirteenth life I take this week. It’s worth it when I hear the beautiful song of the emergency services approaching, comforting me and reminding me of the family I lost. Maybe you will be next.
“I’ve Only Just Begun!”
“Please God! I can’t die like this!” Would be my final plea, as my killer threw my bloody, beaten body in a ditch. He smiled at me as he sliced my throat. The last thing I heard was him, ” You make number 43!” then he sang “I’ve only just begun!”
Interview Day
I woke up determined today. One hour left until my big interview. I really need this one. The morning seems brighter than usual. I turn on the news and begin to brush my teeth, but stop silent as I hear the words “I hope everyone remembered to spring forward yesterday!”
The Cost of Stardom
Rose petals on the loveseat, candlelight flickering.
“Happy anniversary, sweetheart.”
His mouth was open, but words couldn’t escape the gag. Her knife playfully sheared the red-tinged cloth. He spat it out.
“Please. Who are you?”
She smiled, teeth bright as the sharpened steel.
“Who else, silly? I’m your biggest fan.”
Last Memory
I awake to the sound of chanting, bound to a table by my wrists and ankles. I see candles. Pentagrams. Strangers in black cloaks. I recognize a face. The woman from the Halloween party. I remember inviting her home and taking the drink she offered. She approaches now, dagger raised…
Resting Place
My eyes are open but I see nothing. My body lies motionless and rigid. I feel the comfort of cushion beneath me. But it’s cold. And silent. I must be dreaming. Then I hear a faint, muffled voice saying “Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to honor our fallen friend.”
Regretful End
They said it would eventually happen, but I didn’t listen. “Come on,” I said. “It’s only in the movies.” But now it’s here. They’re here. Surrounding my house. Clawing at my door. I have no bunker. No defense. No escape. It’s too late. I will soon be one of them.
“The Operation”
My eyes snap open and I’m faced with a blinding light. The hairs on my arms stand on end and the clammy, sterile air around me is suffocating. I try to scream, to thrash, but I can’t move. And that’s when I hear it. “Doctor, we are ready to begin.”
Mamma’s Precious Kitty
Jan.
“Kitty, mommy can’t afford expensive food now. Please, try this.”
Feb.
“One more bite?”
Mar.
“You’re mommy’s precious Kitty. Yes!”
Apr.
“Tomorrow, Doc’ll cremate Kitty. No evidence for prying police. ‘Mommy just left.'” Timmy smiled. “Then I’ll get a nicer mommy who’ll love me more than a damned cat.”
“Inherited”
As he stumbled down the rocky path, the cold night hair chilled his bones, but his heart was warmed knowing he soon would be rich. They’d find his uncle’s body tomorrow, and with no other family, Uncle Dave’s fortune would soon be his. The old man never saw his knife coming.
“The Woods”
The trees behind her house moved with the wind. She was both frightened and curious this crisp fall day and heard what sounded like beckoning whispers. The leaves crunched with each step. “Hello” she called out. She felt goosebumps on her body when something or someone grabbed her ankle.
Caged Experiments
I turned a blind eye to the work we were doing because the pay was too damn good. I pretended I didn’t know it was wrong. I didn’t realize until it was too late that the creatures crawling, screaming and writhing in the cages were not the experiments. We were.
The Trance
People think she put me in a trance but I’m telling you, she didn’t. I knew what was happening the whole time. I did it willingly. And if you saw her, if you had the same chance as me, you too would do anything she asked. Even torture and murder.
Roller Coaster Safety
We went to the theme park every October. When Beth screamed, everyone assumed it was just because of the ride. By the time we realized her scream was out of terror and not roller coaster-induced joy, it was too late. Her body was still there, but her head was gone.
The Unbiased Serial
The hatchet buried deep in a skull of no one in particular. Blood oozed. Brain matter pooled at his steel-toed shoe. His way. The others were freaks in profiler’s folders. He did not discriminate. It felt more to just kill instead of deciding. Too much thought in it otherwise.
Title: Vending Death
Carnivorous vending machines hunt by pulling prey in through the slot or door. Report any vending machines in a strange location, exhibiting unusual behavior, or having blood, flesh, or bone inside or around. Authorities will place an “Out of Order” sign on the machine until certified specialists can remove it.
I like how you told the story through a PSA (of sorts). I like a good tour de force.
“My frail wife”
I wake up next to my beautiful, fragile wife.
She says someone is knocking at the door.
Probably our neighbor complaining about the stink again.
I unlock the door and immediately they storm in and start shouting.
With metal clasped around my wrists,
They ask who the decaying body lying in bed was.
please i am new shared can you help me to participate in this contest
Just post your story in a comment Kathwar
The Depths
Shackled by chains at the bottom of this darkened well, I am unsure just how long I have been prisoner to my captor. The hunger pangs swell with intensity. As I wonder if my cries for help were heard, I realize the cold water around my feet is steadily rising.
The Killer
I scream. There is someone coming for me. He has killed thirteen before me. I run as fast as I can. But running is futile as he brings the blade down. Blood sprays. I lose consciousness.
Rain
Water drips onto my face and I shriek with pain. I am writhing. The cuts of my face are burned by the salt in the water. A tear slips down and mixes with the water coming onto me.
Thalassophobia
The boat start swinging slowly, there was no wind.
Three days adrift.
Can’t sleep, the vastest of the ocean underneath means only one thing,
is coming for me and I can’t face it!
The swing increases, the swirl grow wider…
Then I saw the gargantuan teeth coming straight to me.
“Melting”
The lava was inching closer above her waist. “I have got to pull that lever,” she hoarsely whispered. Screaming pleas of the children around her was the only thing keeping her lucid. Just when she was close enough to reach it, she watched in horror as her hand melted away.
“Not Just a Nightmare”
Tossing and turning in his sleep, Doc finally awoke from his recurring nightmare. Swinging his legs to the edge of the bed he breathed a sigh of relief until he saw a ghostly figure in the corner of the room. The twisted apparition whispered, “Why did you kill me Doc.”
THERE’S NOTHING GOOD ON
You ghost hunters are so cute. You stumble through the dark with your fancy tech, your night vision whatever, and you ask if anyone is here. You think it will bring you ratings. Superstardom.
Trust me, you mortal hacks, when I answer, you’ll wish you’d stayed on The Food Network.
Nice job. (I watch the Food Network)
Dead or Alive?
Her fingers were bloodied from trying to dig her way out of the coffin she had been buried alive in. She knew her oxygen would soon run out but she closed her eyes to rest and when she awoke, she heard a familiar voice say,” Grandma has missed you, Sarah.”
STONE DEAD
“Dude,quit it.”
“Quit what?”
“Moving that ouija board thing. You got it hooked to a string or something?”
“You’re drunk. That thing ain’t moving.”
“I’m gonna look.”
“Whatever.”
“Oh crap. Dude, it’s spelling D.E.A.D. What the hell? Dead? What does it … dude? You okay? DUDE?”
“Not What She Seems”
“We want your brains,” said the Zombies. “But first we’ll delight in taking a bite of your heart.” The dead stabbed away at her chest while she stared into space. They looked in horror once they seen that there was only emptiness in her shallow chest. She began to laugh.
DEAR DIARY
“If I had any guts, this would be my suicide note.
But I don’t, so I guess it isn’t.”
I drop the pen as the moonlight blazes through my window.
I can’t fight what I am.
My fangs lengthen, and my howl can be heard for miles.
Time to hunt.
The Anglers
Alfred, the sweeper was selected by lot. The crew tied his hands. Cellotape suppressed his screams. They pierced the thick barbless hook through his calves. Holding the line they threw him overboard. A glimpse of something black followed the splash. “This bait will surely trap the ichthyosaur”, whispered the captain.
Love
I used to watch her dancing naked, while the moon pale light was reflecting on her blonde hair.
She shouts my name while the fire is approaching her skin, the crowd screams:
Witch!
She gazes at me , through the smoke she shouts again:
I love you Satan!
me too,I said.
“The Baby Monitor”
The clock reads 2:37 am.
I groggily awaken and see the glow emitting from our baby monitor.
I hear his giggles. My son always has a hard time sleeping.
As I begin to check on him, I notice he’s sleeping next to me.
What is in my son’s room?
Standing in the room with the corridor behind her.
Faint moonlight glistening on her face.
She caught the floorboard creak.
Trying, consuming her tears as a warm breath brushed her neck.
The luminescence wasn’t only shining on her. But the individuals with a deranged grin.
“Got you,” they said.
Descent
My wife just got off the phone with our daughter. She’s coming home from college in a week, she says.
“I can’t wait to see you both,” she tells us. Her voice is flat. Monotonous. “We’re going to have a killer time.”
We murdered our daughter 10 years ago.
LIVE TWEET TRAGEDY
The wreck looks like a bad one.
The EMTs are there, and the vultures are already gathering. It’s disgusting; who live-tweets an accident?
I move among them, wishing I could help, but the body on the ground says it’s too late.
Wait. The body…
“No…”
It looks like… me?
The Hoofed Beauty
In walked through the swinging doors was this flawless beauty queen.
Shane jumped on his chance and led her straight to the dance floor.
He was in shock when the entire bar was running towards the exit, until he looked down and realized this beauty had hoofs instead of feet.
Witchy Suprise
The neighbor girl was known for being a witch.
I walk outside and hear cackling noises coming from next door.
I couldn’t believe what I saw, an owl perched on the roof with human legs dangling over the edge.
Back at school she approached me,”Do you believe me now?”
Human-Wolf
After last night it finally made more sense.
I was sleeping when I heard the familiar sounds of scratching & growling at my door.
When later checking the camera I saw instantly the neighbor go from human to wolf.
The only time I hear these noises is every full moon.
Prize Possession
My brother and sister use
to tease me about the
“witch girl” neighbor
that supposedly had this obsession with me.
I’d laugh it off until
she moved away.
We went inside her bedroom
to find an alter
with my picture in the center
surrounded by
7 black burning candles.
Floating Balloons
It was 3:33 a. m. and
I hear pounding at my door.
I see a single red balloon.
I then peer out the window
and see a clown
floating up in the night sky.
He’s holding onto more balloons with a note
that reads
“NEXT TIME YOU WILL DIE!”
when my grandmother died i went 2 sleep at my parents house just about 2 fall asleep i felt a hand on my right hip did she follow me home
Blackout
The tiny, flying-goblin flecks that interrupted his vision only periodically had grown into a menacing cloud, compelling him to make mid-air excuses and consign important duties to his co-pilots. Then, waking on the day of his annual re-certification, he opened his eyes and gazed in horror into the conquering blackness.
IN THE SEWER IT WAITS
In the sewer, it waits. When you turn out the lights, it slithers. Through the plumbing, into your home. Out of your bathroom, it emerges. Fast asleep you fall. Under the covers you sleep. Under the covers it creeps.When you awake you’ll find lumps. Inside of you they wait.
THE RITUAL
Like it said online, I sprinkled the salt on top of my newly deceased cat. I said the ritual and waited in the darkness. I shut my eyes and listened for a meow. Then it came. Meow. My eyes open. It was true what they say. Sometimes, dead is better.
Really? You’re just going to steal Pet Semetary?
I think it would be funnier with a dead girlfriend 😉
THREE-FINGERED WILLY
At camp, a crafts counselor loved kids. Until one day, a camper accidentally cut off two of Willy’s fingers.
Thereafter, Willy hated kids. Willy left camp without a trace – so all thought!
One night, there was a scream. They found that same camper – dead – each cheek with three claw marks.
Thing
A chill ran down his spine.
Like a spider spinning silk down his back.
The thing watched him.
He swallowed his everwaiting saliva.
Its arms beyond its head.
Elbows pointed upwards, head hung below.
Pale as white, skin as loose.
The thing wheezed before him.
It laughed in his face.
Mother/ Daughter Gift
“Mom, it called my name. You never told me they knew that. Its footsteps started outside my window, ran down the hall, stopped by my bed. It was there, but I couldn’t see it.”
“Want a description of how it looked?”
“No! I’m hating this ‘gift’.”
“It gets easier sweetheart.”
Back To Sleep
They came while I curled up to sleep. Darkness enveloped them as a claw came toward me. I woke with a start. Around me was darkness again, except for the bright, yellow eyes at the edge of the bed.
“Go back to sleep,” they said.
Darkness came once again.
Chinook
Strapped against the metal wall, the weapon hanging off the side. Today you will be shot down.
Today you will die.
Or…you might go “home” tonight?
A sleeping bag with its lightly dusted sand waits.
Rattling, the bags sing their own lament.
Your 4 day R&R is never worth this.
The dark does not scare me because dark is silent. When the light flicks on and he enters, boozed, kicks the table and swears his vengeance; when he falls about the bed and asks if I’m ready, then I yearn for the silence of the cold dark while he finishes.
They tore her shirt and bent her down. She fought for breath. She imagined a better place. After, she would return to her cage after, as always, with the smell still on her, where she would eat drink from her drip and hear her daughter cry, “Mommy?”
In the wood the pixie flute is heard amidst the nymph patter as nubile voices sing of sweet Colambria, with its alabaster pillars built tall for the Titans. In the wood we revel in our journey to sweet Colambria. In the wood of my bed I plant the empty syringe.
HUNTED
Their footsteps are getting louder now.
I can hear their breathing, quick and heavy.
Closer now… so close…
My heart is racing, pounding painfully against my ribs while my leg muscles grow tight.
But I keep going.
And feel my knife puncture their flesh.
God, I always love the hunt.
My Friend.
My friend’s…..peculiar.
He shows me things.
Traumatizing things, like bombs raining down on shrieking children, thick red liquid oozing from the pit of empty eyelids.
He makes me do things, sinister, unquestionably unforgivable…..things.
He torments me, my friend. Dissillusionally torments.
He plauges me.
Apparently, my friend isn’t real.
Late Night Drive
Her heart hammered in her chest. She cursed herself for not ensuring that she had enough gas to make it back home. Now it was dark, with one run-down station in sight, and to her nervousness, a lone figure sitting by the door. Her phone battery dead, she felt terrified.
Date Night
It didn’t make sense, she thought, blood pounding in her ears as she hid, gripping her bleeding arm. They’d been seeing each other for a few weeks now. She thought he was okay. Every warning she’d been given about meeting someone online came rushing back as footsteps inched ever closer.
Tequila
A worm in my tequila bottle. That’s all it took that triggered the flashbacks.
Worms, eating flesh.
That cursed night working as a paramedic – the almost pulverized male body, a broken motorbike on fire.
And weeks later, the first words he dared murmur:
“You… saved her too, right?”
IN THE BACK OF MY MIND
Nightmares plague the back of my mind.
Awake or asleep they sit there, niggling and nibbling my brain. Their teeth dig in deep, the shadows whispering and writhing like snakes.
It hurts so much.
I hate having to hear them.
I wish I could cut them out.
I need scissors.
Terror gripped me as my screams faded away in horror. Death, had followed me, to the point of no return. Driving me to the ground, the beast’s powerful jaws locked, around my neck and snapped.
DAMNED!!!
The traffic was a deception. But I had no choice. Like a wraith, I dashed through. But the demon was faster. Springing into the air, it snapped me up, and took me back to hell.
GOT YOU NOW
The musty air seemed heavy with portent. She had been abandoned in what she assumed was a long abandoned place. And by trembling candlelight, she could almost discern a shape in the corner… watching. Suddenly, the sound of rushing footsteps, a gasp of terror, and darkness as the candle died.
ABOUT TIME
Tick, tock.
He sat in the quiet of the evening, a cold sweat running down his neck.
Tick, tock.
He peered out from behind ebony curtains, a sitting duck.
Tick, tock.
It was all over. The end was upon him. It-
Knock, knock…
AM I…?
The hospital looked deserted. But the second, I entered…it became busy with rushing porters, rolling beds, and covered bodies. “Am I, dead,” I asked no one in particular. “Not Yet,” a nurse appeared, “but you will be soon.” She cackled, plunging a giant syringe into my chest and disappearing.
FINAL JUDGEMENT…
The traffic was a deception, and I knew it. But I had no choice. Like a wraith, I dashed through. But the demon was faster. Springing into the air, it seized me, and took me back to the one place I feared the most. My own personal place in hell.
NEVER AGAIN…
Terror gripped me, as, my frightened screams faded away. Death, had me cornered, and it knew it. Driving me to the ground, it celebrated its victory, with piercing eyes and giant teeth, locked around my neck. ‘Never again,’ I thought, hearing the eerie sounds of bones break, under his bite.
The Giver.
He loosened his grip and the warmth fell towards the floor. Michael gazed upon her haunting beauty once more, his beating heart drowning the sound of his burning mother.
“Now pray” she demanded “Worship me”, Michael fell to his knees as flames grew higher, “Freyja” he gasped, only darkness responded.
NIGHTSCAPES
Woken up with a start, sweat seeping through my nightgown, I touched my arm expecting blood. Eyelids melting into face, I saw them—wan figure obscured by a hollowed out lion’s head. Dressed in nothing but pink lace underthings. Coming towards me with kisses, sweet whispers. And a sharpened knife.
CLEAN SLATE
She’d walked that thin, precarious rope a hundred times before. Thought she knew the way in her sleep. Yet, this time, a bright crimson light flashed before her washing away all her practice. Like, forgetting the lines of a well-rehearsed script, she tripped over her own foot into the onyx abyss.
TRAPPED
Leaning over his desk, rubbing colored pencil on paper as he did every night, every day, every moment—alone in that dust ridden basement bedroom—he felt an unwelcome tuft sprout from his shoulder. Could it be? In the desk’s glass reflection he saw that his nose had grown whiskers.
Beyond the Words
The author gathers his thoughts; then, click, click, click.
Genre: Horror.
Title: Unknown.
Chapter One: The silence of the black, moonless sky screams danger and death is near; someone will disappear.
He pauses, unhappily pounds the delete key until he succeeds.
Silence lingers…his words of warning prevail…he’s deleted himself gone.
STITCHES
I think a nice peach colour will match the skin tone. I’ll do it double, keep it strong.
Do stop wriggling, I can’t patch you up if you wriggle.
A little cross stitch for the heart, just push the needle in and…
Oh dear.
That’s a lot of red thread.
YOUR SILENT FACE
Legs dangling, my arm drapes over your silence; the black water begins to flicker and glow. Finally, the fluorescent serpents of white light cloak my naked legs. They pull-I pull- I sink into the brine and hold your bloodless flesh tight against my chest. Together. Alone. Goodbye.
Babies
A reclining infant makes adorable spit bubble. But wait-it’s not made of spittle. A ball? A sac? An egg? Gums clamp, object bursts, and tiny white specks flow from within, filling nostrils, covering eyes, and entering ears. Mother is worried-too quiet-checks on baby, then screams. Baby giggles- spider babies tickle.
In case some other writers might make this rookie mistake like I did, if you don’t put a space after a dash it treats the two words as one, falsely decreasing word count, thus this story is a few words over.
Another Tinder Date
A Tinder date where I wait. And wait. Twenty minutes is enough I decide, down my cold bitter coffee, and make my exit. Another heart I won’t be adding to my collection. Or digestion. Such nice eyes too, I can see them on my mantle. Oh well, there’s always Bumble.
Should be ‘Another Tinder date’ first line rather than ‘A Tinder date’
and Michael Devine, not Deving
MOMMY
“I want mommy,” squeezed through swollen lips. “Shhhh,” the answer, saliva dripping on his naked chest. Cold fingers clench tiny neck and squeeze. As child’s eyes bulge, the ecstasy was the killer’s, and his alone. “Your mommy’s not here.” Oh, but she was. And that’s when his head did explode.
Hmmm, wont let me edit for some reason even though I have plenty of time left- still red. Just wanted to take out word Oh last line. It was 51, now 50.
I can see how making corrections in the comments is annoying- won’t do it again ?
Full Moon
Full moon out, but werewolves night in. “Go,” he says. “More time,” she insists. “Arrrgh.” “There, A-N,” she proclaims. He shouts, “A-N?!!”, and claws come out. A mighty swipe and the neck is sliced over blood splattered board. A is removed, L-U-N-A-C-Y is placed- triple word score. “Take my spot-Ha!”
Michael Devine
Vincent’s Lament
The golfer was surrounded by his nightmares- Dwight, Ethyl, black widow, clones, a desperado with a halo of flies, a billion dead babies pouring out of school, and other sick things. “But I’m a born again Christian!” God placed his hand on his shoulder and said, “Welcome to Hell, Alice.”