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Write a story about someone spending the night in an old Victorian home-turned-hotel on Halloween.

Posted in Halloween on Nov 1, 2022

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✍️ 45 stories

Mystic Shores

Submitted to Contest #13

Elyse Tapley sat as passengers spilled out of the buses accordion door, all in a rush, to be where? The quaint drugstore was the bus stop in Niantic, Connecticut and where everyone bought their bus tickets in the small town on Long Island Sound. She waited until the last person was off, and then walked down the aisle to the door pausing before stepping down to the brick sidewalk. Elyse froze for a moment feeling as if she were instantly transported back to the 1950’s.  She walked toward the bay where she had rented a room...

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The Halloween House

Submitted to Contest #13

The Halloween Hotel: Join us, if you dare….“This sounds lame.” Casey groaned. “The Halloween Hotel? Couldn’t they at least think of a better name for this gimmick? Ugh.” “Maybe you should have pitched them your marketing services.” Erica grinned. “I know you would have come up with a great name. But names aside, read the history. Some serial killer holed himself up in this house in the 1920s. Women were going missing and the maid there at the time worked out he was behind it. Doesn’t actually say how she worked that out.” “Perhaps because it...

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The Invitation

Submitted to Contest #13

Silver grey drops of water crashed against my window. It had been raining for four days and nights. The skies were streaked with dark endless clouds and the streets were running with dark streams. The coursing cars drove headlong into undaunting pools. Only one poor fool with a black umbrella dared to walk the streets. He had to be crazy to go out in this kind of weather. I sat at the kitchen table, deciding what to cook for dinner. My options were thin.  I needed to go to the grocery store, but I was not excited about venturing into th...

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One's love of Halloween

Submitted to Contest #13

The screaming. The loud echoes for help. The bloody hand print on the door. My heart pounded as the fear ran its icy grip along my spine. I adored Halloween: the preparation leading up to the holiday, the fear inducing costumes and decorations, the constant reminder horror and evil exists. It was different to all the other holidays with their fluffy, chocolate giving bunnies and jolly, fat men in red. Halloween was fear and a reminder that not everything is all good and nice in the world. The most realistic holiday in my opinion. It was a sp...

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Staring Back at Me

Submitted to Contest #13

Gravel gray clouds filled the once crisp clear blue sky. Rain cascades from the confident sky, striking the Earth with such a powerful force that I stand paralyzed for a few seconds. As I stare out the window, I focus on two raindrops racing against each other. If the left one wins, I’m not a loser, I thought.  “April, I’ll pay you 100 dollars if you stay the night,” Daniel joked, snapping me out of my trance.  “Where?” I asked curiously.   “The old hotel on the corner of Woods and Pine Street. Legend has it that no kid h...

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The House on Russel Piver Dr

Submitted to Contest #13

Evelyn, is a single mother of three. Linda was 16; Douglas was 15, and Samantha was five. Each year, she takes them apple picking at the Orchard near Mansfield. This year, she wanted to go the extra mile. “For an entire weekend?” Linda groaned. “You mean, like spend the night?!” Sam exclaimed before leaping in to her mother’s arms. “Oh boy!” “But what about Adam?” Linda asked Douglas rolled his eyes. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to be rid of you for a few days.” he replied. Linda elbowed him in the rib cage before he could get away....

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A Tale of Masks

Submitted to Contest #13

It was supposed to be fun. Fun was the main objective. Fun is all that I wanted to have. But boy were we off. My parents booked a hotel for the Halloween weekend to see my cousins. My family is very large, my grandfather has 4 brothers who all had kids. We were going to see my uncle who has three kids. All of them are older than me, which is just like all my brothers. My oldest brother is the C.O.O of a tech company. His name is Owen.  My second brother is in college and he is a major in emerging at Stanford. His name is James. My olde...

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All The Right Answers

Submitted to Contest #13

All The Right AnswersA dark place. Somewhat, a sacred place. Is anyone ever safe? A question asked by many. The only way to answer is by not answering. Some questions are best left a mystery. The death of a loved one may mean the awakening of another. Or not. Life can be very confusing. You never know what might happen. Or what won't. Confused? Confused is just another word for curious, and curiosity is the gateway to answers. Curious? Read on for All The Right Answers. "Must we be here?" Janine said. "I mean, it is cold and dark and frankly...

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The White Raven Inn

Submitted to Contest #13

Wanda Matthews and Shelby Jones were the last people to check into the White Raven Inn before it closed its doors for good in 1987. It all started when Wanda made a bet that Shelby couldn’t make it through Halloween Night without running out of the Victorian home-turned-hotel screaming. Although Shelby hated being scared, she was always extremely competitive. It didn’t matter if it involved boys, haunted houses, or dangerous stunts; she hated losing and being seen as weak. It didn’t take long for the college student from Boston to give into ...

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THE GRIEVING TRAVELLER

Submitted to Contest #13

The gods must have cursed me, Samuel thought as he looked at the flooded road and the downed street light.Emergency lights and police vehicles were around the Mount Gretna road redirecting every driver to the Bellaire road that would take them past the minor accident and blocked road. His nine-hour drive from Indianapolis to his home would now eat more of his time. It did not help that darkness had already started to creep in, unnoticeable unless you were specifically looking for it. The churning sky and rumbles of distant thunder promised a...

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The Ghost on Church Hill

Submitted to Contest #13

The old brick house with its gabled roof and stained-glass windows had been converted into a church building. The church was on a hill. A narrow path bordered by wild ferns led up to it from the main street. It looked quite odd among the few cottages scattered here and there in the tiny community of Meadow Valley. Travelers passing by often stopped to take pictures of this Gothic looking church in the middle of ‘nowhere’. Right behind the church building was a cemetery where members of the church who died were buried. Rumors had it that...

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A Night at Mama Marie's

Submitted to Contest #13

Like the sound of a homemade ice cream maker on a hot summer day, the tires of the old white truck churned along the gravel driveway. Pete had gotten off from his shift working at a nursing home in Nashville and immediately got on the road. He was headed to visit his family in Tampa for Halloween and didn’t want to waste any time. He had been driving for many hours and somehow gotten lost off the main highway. As he tried to determine exactly where he was between Clio and Dothan, AL; he came across a once Victorian home turned hotel and deci...

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The Carlyle House

Submitted to Contest #13

It was storming outside. It was nearly always storming at the Carlyle House. There wasn’t any kind of scientific explanation for it, as far as Coretta Stump knew, but there you had it. Of course, it hadn’t been storming the day she’d toured and bought the old Carlyle House, oh no. It had been sunny that day, and the manor had seemed warm and inviting, the perfect place to open the bed-and-breakfast she’d always dreamed of. She had heard the rumors about the ghosts, of course. But Coretta was a Stump, and Stumps did not hold with such nonsens...

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Halloween Secrets

Submitted to Contest #13

Your eyes grow tired trying to see through the dark, gloomy night. The fog only continues to thicken as the night drags on. But at least I’m able to admire the night during my drive, you think to yourself gazing into the cloudy trees. The Halloween spirit slowly creeps up on you, throwing you back in time. ***You placed your hand on the cold glass of the front window. You used to watch the kids in costumes pass for hours. You never knew why your mother despised Halloween so much. ***Spotting a sign on the side of the road, you slow...

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Night Ride

Submitted to Contest #13

The rain continued to beat down on to the windshield of Eric Bellinger’s black ‘95 Toyota Avalon. That combined with the fast approaching night made it more and more difficult to drive along the highway properly. In addition he had now been on the road for 20 hours. He had stayed up this long because of the pure adrenaline rush from his crime, but that was depleting. He took a look at his rearview mirror and saw how bloodshot and droopy his eyes appeared. “Next exit.” He muttered as his eyelids gained weight with each blink.  There he s...

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