The following is a top entry from our A Daring Halloween contest in conjunction with Ghost and Paranormal. Congratulations to our winner!
The full list of winning entries can be found here.
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PROMPT
It's All Hallows' Eve, and you're gearing up for the most eventful night of your life. While young children are out trick-or-treating, you've made your way to the one house people always skip. It's the abandoned mansion, rumoured to be haunted.
Dared by your friends to spend a night in the haunted house, will you survive the night, or will you uncover the truth behind the rumours?
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Tell No One
He drowned. That's what they say. On that terrible night, when the wind was blowing hard, he stood on the shore of the lake, darkness swimming around him. His hands fumbled with the knot around his middle until the gown came loose and fell in a pool around his feet. Then, he slipped into the oily water, staring into the green, murky depths, feeling the chill seeping into his bones. And then he dipped his head under.
When they drew him out, his skin was icy, eyes blank, lips blue.
That was the story Kelsey told us when we first became friends. The death of her brother that summer, a tragic suicide: a tale she told with streaming eyes and a running nose.
I remember her face now, though. Those large, doe eyes, glittering green in the moonlight. She'd bought those contacts cheaply on eBay, anything she could find to fit with her cat costume.
"Go into the house," she'd said. "I dare you."
Her words slapped me. And yet with a look round at the others, no one objected.
"The house where your brother died?" I replied, pulling the bag of sweets closer towards me as the biting wind whipped through the folds of my witch's cloak. "The one that's haunted?"
"Yes," Kelsey said, leaning forward so that her necklace slipped out from the inside of her collar, the small cross swinging from its chain.
She took my hand and led me to the gate. Our other friends trotted behind us faithfully; I felt like turning and telling them to speak up, but I knew none of them would. We were all Kelsey-bound.
The door loomed huge in front of us. It creaked as Kelsey's pale hand pushed it open.
"Laters, Lydia," she'd called and she took the sweets from my hands.
The last thing I saw was her sardonic smile as the door slammed closed behind me.
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Chills & Thrills Anthology
Mystery / ThrillerCatch up with the best of the best in our brand new anthology! These thrilling stories will keep you on the edge of your seat. Enter our Contests & Writing Prompts for a chance to be featured in this book.
