I was reading Chuck Wendig’s blog last week and he put up a challenge. Write a three sentence horror story. http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/10/11/flash-fiction-challenge-horror-in-three-sentences/ You can check out what other people wrote on Chuck’s blog, terribleminds.
Here are three that I did.
Story 1 – Mother’s Love
The wind whistled through the bare maple tree branches as the full moon shed its light on Toby Vertucci who stood just inside the cemetery gate. The flowers for his mother’s grave dropped unnoticed from his nerveless fingers as tendrils of icy mist began to encircle him. As the mist closed around him he heard, “Thank you sweetheart, I’ve been waiting for you.”
Story 2 – They Warned Us
The nuclear war lasted 3 days, 10 years ago, and nearly every city of any real size was destroyed. Parents dead and now alone, fourteen year old Anastasia worked her garden, napping in the sun when she could, so she could guard the garden all night to protect it from predators. Her heart fell at the chittering in the distance warning of the cockroach hoard approaching and eating everything in their path, including her.
Story 3 – The Choice
It was his own fault for honking his horn when the old woman reached the front of his car. Jump or be eaten, she snarled as she pointed at him from the crosswalk. Now Stan stood on the roof ledge of his 20 story apartment building, wind whipping around him, frozen with fear and had to choose between the jump or the red eyed wolf, panting on the roof behind him.
207 Words
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Egads! All three were really creepy, but I’d have to say my favorite is the ghost story!
LoL, many thanks. I think the ghost one is my favorite too.
I agree, all three are terrific! My favorite is the ghost story too, I could see that icy mist surrounding him. Excellent work!
Thanks. And thanks for stopping by for the story.
Very creepy, I love the description of the ghost but I also like the last one, makes me wonder how the old woman knew…
Thanks for stopping by.
I’m going to be a maverick here and say I liked the werewolf one the best.
These all read like out-takes from The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. The last two were my favourites (pretty much tied), but I liked the first one too.
I haven’t heard of Harris Burdick but now I have to have a look. Many thanks for stopping by.
My opinions, worth exactly the zero cents you spend on them:
The first felt the most complete to me, self-contained. The second felt like a snippet or scene from a movie that would’ve been made in the 70s or 80s — Anastasia’s not really a protagonist as much as a background figure. The third seems to leave out an entire story between the second and third sentence.
That said, great work diving into the creativity and working as many different angles as you could!
Thanks, Erin. Yeah, I was experimenting. Like all experiments, some come out better than others.
Excellent experiments! Number 3 was definitely my favourite….I wanted to know more.
Thanks for the comment and stopping by my blog.
Keep experimenting!! My favorites are 1 & 2.
Thanks, Julie