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539 Best Short Story Ideas for Authors in 2026
Showing 539 short story ideas curated by Reedsy.
You're donating blood as normal in October when you notice that the nurse taking care of you is... strangely... pale? And seems to have oddly-shaped teeth... that almost look like fangs...?
As the sun set, the desert wasteland glowed an eerie red.
Set your story at a sunny day in the park.
You're on a train when someone sits across from you and begins to cry.
It was the most epic senior prank your high school had ever seen.
This was the moment you'd been waiting for. Gleefully, you raised your camera to take a picture and then... the battery died.
A group of friends go pumpkin picking at a local farm and have a competition to see who can find the biggest pumpkin. Plot twist: the farm has a previous reputation for being haunted.
Write a story about a catastrophic attempt to use grandma's famous pumpkin pie recipe for the annual Halloween feast.
Someone you believed to be dead "comes back."
Write about a time you failed.
Your mom has just sat you down and told you that you'll have a baby sister.
A bittersweet farewell: bitter for one person, sweet for the other.
You wake up unable to say a word, but can all of a sudden write the most amazing music.
You're digging in your garden when you unearth something that makes you stagger from shock.
Write a story about a group of five friends who set out at night for trick or treating… and when they return, they're only four.
Your mother sits you and your brother down, and says, "Kids, I'm gonna tell you an incredible story the story of how I met your father."
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