500 words or less horror stories

One common theme is the unknown. For example, in stories where there are strange noises or figures that can't be easily explained. It creates a sense of fear because our minds start to imagine all sorts of terrifying things. Another theme is isolation. Like the man driving alone on a lonely road. When you're alone, there's no one to help you, and that makes the situation scarier. Also, the idea of the supernatural, such as haunted dolls or houses with dark pasts, is often used as it defies our understanding of the normal world.

One horror story could be about a girl who moves into an old house. At night, she hears strange scratching noises coming from the attic. Every time she tries to go up there during the day to investigate, the door is locked. One night, the scratching gets so loud it wakes her up. She decides to break the attic door down. Inside, she finds a diary that reveals the previous owner was a serial killer who hid his victims in the attic. She suddenly feels a cold hand on her shoulder.

The phone rang at midnight. A voice hissed, 'I'm outside.' I peeked through the curtain. Red eyes stared back. I froze in fear.

I woke in the dark. A cold hand touched my face. I saw a shadow. Then, silence. I'm still not sure if it was a dream.

One night, I heard a strange scratching at my window. I peeked out, but saw nothing. Then the doorknob slowly turned. My heart raced as I hid under the bed. I saw a shadow pass by. The next morning, the door was still locked. I still don't know what it was.

Here is a short story of less than 10,000 words that I hope you will like: The Lost Treasure There was a mysterious ancient tomb in a small village. Legend has it that there are countless treasures hidden inside, but no one has been able to find its true location. One day, a young archaeologist came to this small village. He heard that there was an ancient tomb here and decided to go and look for it. During his exploration, he met an ancient witch. The witch told him that the tomb was full of treasures, but only a true warrior could find them. The young archaeologist listened to the witch and decided to become a real warrior to find the treasure. He met with many difficulties on his journey. He needed to overcome the cold, hunger, and fear to find the treasure. In the end, he found the treasure, but he also paid a heavy price. He lost his family and friends just to find that mysterious tomb. When he returned to the small village, he found that he had become a lonely old man. He had already lost everything, leaving only a lonely heart. This story tells us that sometimes we have to give up something in order to gain something more precious.

1. Late at night, a young woman was walking alone in the forest when she suddenly heard a strange man's call. When she got closer, she realized that the man was walking towards her, and the trees around her were also moving rapidly. A young couple was on their way home at night when they heard a scream. They followed the sound and found a black shadow rushing towards them. When they saw it clearly, they realized that it was a faceless person. A couple was taking a walk in the forest when they suddenly heard the cry of a baby. They walked in the direction of the sound and found a dark shadow approaching them from a bottomless cave. A young girl suddenly felt a chill on her way home at night. She walked to the street and found a masked man walking towards her. She was afraid but had nowhere to run. A man was patrolling the streets at night when he suddenly heard a woman's scream. When he approached the voice, he found that it was a faceless person. He was already dead.

I'm alone. They're not gone.

Midnight knock. Nobody there.

How about 'Empty Nursery'? A nursery is supposed to be a place full of life and the sounds of a baby. But when it's empty, it feels wrong. It might make you think of something bad that happened to the baby or that there's some sort of malevolent presence in the room that drove the baby away.