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29 Best Dark Short Story Ideas
Showing 29 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
Write about a power hungry wizard summoning an eldritch creature from a blood-stained spellbook.
Your diary has started leaking blood. You have to find out what this means, but you have a time limit because the more blood that leaks from it, the weaker you seem to get.
You wake up trapped in a strange castle with no memory of how you got there and there's something lurking in the shadows as you explore the halls.
Set your story at a graveyard overnight.
Stuff has been mysteriously disappearing from your home for weeks, but you live alone.
Write a story with these words: "teddy bear," "black," "blood."
The monster from your nightmare is standing next to you when you wake up.
You start hearing sounds, but when you ask your friend about it, they look at you with a confused expression.
You went to sleep in a bed, but you woke up on the cold dark floor the forest.
You're digging in your garden when you unearth something that makes you stagger from shock.
You know how when you see a bear, you should stay calm and make loud noises? For this… creature… you have to do the opposite. You have to run.
Write a story that takes place entirely in the dark.
Only one swordsman emerges alive from a bloody battle. And without a single wound. How does he explain his survival?
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