Menu

More apps built by Reedsy

reedsymarketplace

Assemble a team of professionals

reedsystudio

The writing app for authors

reedsylearning

Writing courses, events and memberships

reedsydiscovery

Get your book reviewed

reedsyprompts

Weekly writing prompts and contests

REEDSY PROMPTS

Write your book in Reedsy Studio. Try the beloved writing app for free today.

Win up to $250 in our weekly writing contest

Submit your short story on Reedsy Prompts.

Add filters

Categories

Are you ready to write but don’t know what to write about? Prepare to kick your writing into gear by browsing through our list of 200+ short story ideas. New prompts are added each week, and you can search by genre. But don’t let our categories stop you from putting your own spin on a writing prompt: if you find a short story idea tagged as sci-fi, but you think it would make a great romance plot, run with it! For tips on how to come up with your own story ideas, scroll to the bottom of the page.

DIRECTORY

30 Best Halloween Short Story Ideas

Showing 30 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.

← Prev

Page 2

Write a story about the local scarecrow coming to life and going on a revenge mission against all of those people who had dressed it badly in previous years.

You signed up for what you thought was a sweepstakes to win the latest Apple iPhone model, only to discover to your horror when you get to the fall festival that it's actually a competition to see who can eat the most apples in 30 minutes.

Write a story using the Halloween colors somewhere in the piece: orange, black, purple, and green.

Write a story about an ongoing rivalry between a vampire and a werewolf for supremacy over Halloween.

Write a story about pumpkin picking… in the middle of a storm.

You're haunted by a ghost. That's not the problem. The problem is that this ghost is really, really, really chatty.

A group of kids get an invite to a costume party in the neighborhood… but when they arrive, the monsters aren't costumes. They're real.

Write a story about a catastrophic attempt to use grandma's famous pumpkin pie recipe for the annual Halloween feast.

You've been turned into a ghost! Now the fun part begins. Who do you pick to haunt, and why?

Set your story on a hayride. Bonus points if a headless horseman makes an appearance.

Write a Halloween story based on your latest nightmare.

Write a story about a festive neighborhood battle between one family who loves Halloween and another family who loves Christmas.

Spin a scary story that could be told around a bonfire at night.

Write a story about a family who goes pumpkin picking, only to discover that at some point their prize pumpkins have been mysteriously switched with others from the patch. What happens next?