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Discover weekly, the best short stories

Looking for a steady supply of horror short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

150+ Horror Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. From hauntings and murderers to terrifying creatures from the deep, our collection of horror stories will have you breaking out in cold sweats. Take a look… if you dare.

Horror Short Stories – Page 10 of 10

The Day of the Undead

Submitted to Contest #328

Aaron lived in a ghost town. Nestled on the side of an endlessly long road, with more houses than people and overrun by foliage. Reclaimed, more like. Grass was knee-high and barbed like tiny harpoons, vines crawling up the side of buildings, slowly edging out the mortar from between bricks until they lost their structure, one by one. A thick canopy blocked so much sunlight it was hard to differentiate between night and day. His own house hadn’t escaped the grip of nature. The windows were boarded, they always had been, but they did little t...

7 likes 1 comment 1
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It's a Familiar's Life

Submitted to Contest #327

CW: Themes of death, witchcraft, demonology, physical violence and gore Call me Beltane. I’ve had other names through my lives – Grimoire, Sybil, Fluffy (don’t ask, that was a huge mistake), Lilith, and Sabbat – but Beltane is my latest incarnation’s name, and it’s festive. I’m a familiar, the Igor to my current witch Lenora. House cats lie around getting lazy and fat and occasionally slaughtering the local wildlife. Familiars have a more important job to do. No fancy cushions and expensive cat food for me. When I was a little kitten, eyes n...

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The Witch’s Cat

Submitted to Contest #327

There are many things I wish I could tell you. I wish foremost that I had died many moons ago. For me, eternal life is a punishment worse than eternal hell. I waste away here, feeble but mercilessly immortal, unable to communicate with anyone in any way. I wish that I had not bound my soul to hers long ago. I hope that wherever she is now, she is experiencing hell.I wish I could tell you why your children do not come home, and to give up hope, for they never will. But I am effectively mute, and my paws cannot write. Believe me, I have tried ...

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Gallows Hill

Submitted to Contest #327

Marybeth Paxton was twenty-four and fresh out of college. She was smart, driven and ready to start her life. She’d earned her masters in American literature from Wellesby College just four weeks ago. Now she was in Salem, Massachusetts looking for a new place to call home.Cromwell Catholic High had offered her a teaching position, and she’d said yes before she could talk herself out of it. But from the moment she stepped into Salem, something felt off. Marybeth told herself it was just nerves. She was wrong.It was cold for late August, so Ma...

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Breaking Ground

Submitted to Contest #327

The cat is in the tree again.Midnight—because of course the cat is named Midnight—sits on a branch about twenty feet up, tail wrapped around her paws, watching Meredith with that expression that says she knows exactly what she's doing.Three years since her mother died. Three years since the cat appeared on the back porch like an inheritance. Three years of this dance—the tree, the waiting.Meredith stands at the base of the old oak, hands trembling."Come down," she says.Midnight blinks slowly. Doesn't move."I have work to do. I'm in the middl...

29 likes 13 comments 13
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The Island House

Submitted to Contest #327

We were giving the kids a bath when the lights in the bathroom went off by themselves. Sheila and I looked at each other in the dimness and laughed.Funny, I said. Whats weird is the hallway lights are on. In fact, no other lights are off upstairs. Ive never seen that.Our house was new to us and we were still discovering it. I bought this house on the island for my new corporate job. I commuted to the mainland every day on a ferry. Its not that weird, Sheila said, as she scrubbed chocolate pudding off of Isaac’s chest. Our kids were playing w...

4 likes 1 comment 1
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Burning love

Submitted to Contest #327

“Men don’t always make the right choice, darling” I say, stirring honey into her tea. The scent of herbs simmers from the cauldron behind me — rosemary, mugwort, a trace of something darker. Smoke from the burning sage curls around us, and when I inhale, it burns my throat. It always does. Reminds me of that night. The fire. I steady my breath and add, “Sometimes they just need to be guided.” Ellie looks small at my kitchen table, fingers tracing the rim of her cup. My beautiful, clever girl. She reminds me so much of myself at her age — tha...

12 likes 6 comments 6
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How to Resurrect Your Headmistress (And Other Mistakes)

Submitted to Contest #327

My name is Thraxil'von'Keth of the Ninth Vermilion Descent, defiler of all things unholy and keeper of nightmares.But you can call me Keth.Before you ask: yes, I am a demon, and yes, I currently exist as a cat. Right now, I would very much like to be asleep.Clara, however, had other plans.She'd waited until the housekeeper made his last pass before slipping out of bed and turning on her lamplight. The sudden brightness stabbed directly into my night vision.Clara pulled on her cloak over her nightgown and flicked her frantic blonde hair out f...

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The Apprentice

Submitted to Contest #327

The grimy block looked much like all the rest in Queens. Soot streaked red brick, decorated with a cacophony of tags and graffiti. Cathy approached the metal panel of names and glanced once again at the folded tear of newspaper. MM, the owner of the ad wasn’t much to go on. Could this be it? She took a breath and pressed the button. Nothing. She pressed it again - longer. A red light appeared above the board next to a speaker grate. “What do you want?” came an annoyed, distorted voice. “Ah, I saw your ad in the newspaper.” Cathy replied with...

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Look what the cat dragged in

Submitted to Contest #327

The soft breeze caressed my face, bringing with it the scent of the ocean. Small waves washed up against the shore, embracing my feet. It was calming, yet my heart was still racing, the pounding of the organ echoing throughout my body—in my ears, my veins, my vision was flickering with each beat. I felt an urge to go farther into the ocean that awaited me. I listened. The water that surrounded me like a blanket, dulling my senses, calming me. The water reached my shoulders, but the urge to go farther stayed. I did. I moved farther till I was...

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The Clockmaker's Son

Submitted to Contest #328

Trigger Warning: This story contains themes of grief, death, substance use, and psychological distress. The town of Greybridge crept along at its own quiet pace - never quite keeping up with everywhere else.The trains arrived behind schedule, while the river slowed right down under the hot sun; folks - mostly elders - insisted their timepieces never matched up with others’. A few figured it was on account of all clocks being built by Arthur Quinn. More believed Greybridge just refused to release its own pieces of time.As Elias Quinn got off...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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Here, Kitty

Submitted to Contest #327

Philip decided to stay in on Friday night which was also Halloween. He planned to catch up on some reading, do laundry and work on his paper. His roommate, Adam, had traveled with the college football varsity team for a game and would not be back until the next day. His dormitory was left empty due to the parties being held at all of the fraternity and sorority houses on campus. Philip returned to his quad from the downstairs laundry area after transferring his laundry from the washer to the dryer. He grabbed the Introduction to Psychology b...

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The Gift

Submitted to Contest #327

Last night I brought home the most wonderful gift for The Sad Ones. I know it was a good gift because of the their reaction. But before I continue, I should explain why I call them that. I call them The Sad Ones because ever since they found out they’re unable to make a small version of themselves, it seems like all they do is cry. I feel sorry for them, I truly do but life was much better for me before they tried to make a small version. It was a time when they called me their ‘baby’. I didn’t like the name baby but I liked the attention I ...

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A Familiar's Place

Submitted to Contest #327

“Yes, yes, good job, dear. Set it there.” The Witch pointed to the table beside her. She had an assortment of plants strewn across it with some dried ingredients that Wulven did not recognize. They had a fierce smell to them that made Wulven’s nose scrunch with wrinkles. It felt like acid in his nostrils, so he quickly dropped the ingredients from his jaws onto the table. He shook his head to get the odor out of his snout as he took to his witch’s side. He gazed inside her cauldron while standing on his back legs. It was not often that a wit...

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One of the Nine Lives of Nyx: Fourth Life

Submitted to Contest #327

I saw the bird before she did. Fat little bastard, puffed up like it owned the morning. I crouched low in the weeds, tail swerving, heartbeat steady. One jump, one breath, one quick crunch and breakfast was over.Feathers in my teeth, warm blood on my tongue. I like the sound they make when the life goes out of them; it's quiet, but then it sounds like a sigh through wet paper. I dragged the thing home, proud as hell.Clara says pride’s a sin. So is breathing, apparently.Last month she whispered a man’s name into a jar of honey and left it on ...

11 likes 2 comments 2
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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