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There’s an urban legend saying that the famous “For sale, baby shoes, never worn” story by Ernest Hemingway came from a $10 bet. Supposedly, he made it during lunch with other writers to prove he could create a scary story in just six words. After penning the famous line on a napkin, he passed it around the table and pocketed his winnings.

At least, that’s the popular version. Whether true or not, the average person is no Hemingway, so we need a few more words to scribble a captivating horror story. And a subreddit called r/TwoSentenceHorror seems to have found the perfect limit. Two-sentence horror stories. 

It’s still short, so readers get through the spooky stories really fast, yet it’s vague enough to give the writers space to work with. It turns out that quite a few Internet users have dark thoughts and the ability to express them. That or Stephen King made a lot of Reddit accounts.

And since we’ve mentioned Stephen King, the master of creepy stories believes there are three types of terror:

  • The Gross-out: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a flight of stairs, it’s when the lights go out or something green and slimy splatters against your arm.
  • The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears, the dead waking up and walking around, it’s when the lights go out, and something with claws grabs you by the arm. 
  • The Terror: the worst one, when you come home and notice everything you own has been taken away and replaced by an exact substitute. It’s when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear, but when you turn around, there’s nothing there.

RELATED: 112 Stephen King Quotes On Everything That’s Life

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    According to novelist R.L. Stine, an author has to get inside their narrator’s head to be effective in all of these real horror fields. If we’re seeing through the eyes of a character in a scary situation, we start to feel like we are in a scary situation. 

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    “There’s no formula, I think you have to create a very close point of view. You have to be in the eyes of the narrator. Everything that happens, all the smells, all the sounds; then your reader starts to identify with that character and that’s what makes something really scary.” (via AdWeek)

    #4

    Monster In A Closet

    Reddit post of Monghostwriter about monster in a closet

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    #5

    The Horrors Of Uber

    Reddit post of Thecoldflame about the horrors of uber

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    TheExtremeSmell
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I mean wasn’t there just a case where someone got into a car thinking it was their Uber and was killed or something?

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    #7

    Somebody's There

    Reddit post of Shape81 about somebody’s being there

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    Rachel Hamrick
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The first sentence is a run on, so this is technically three sentences.

    Jace
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s not two sentences. It’s a bunch of run-on sentences. FAIL.

    Avery August
    Community Member
    9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I looked down, and I see a man grinning, I say," Oh c**p" and I was never seen again.

    Amelia Scaggs
    Community Member
    1 year ago

    This comment has been deleted.

    xXmonkey doodlesXx
    Community Member
    3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    she said calmly: don't worry i was playing hide and seek with my nephew and hes been hiding there for hours. and then he says: does your nephew look like a middle aged man?

    Katie Mccumber
    Community Member
    4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One time a woman would always come to her house and the door was open so eventually she put up a camera borrowed of what she saw on the camera she called the police to make sure the man didn't come in that night when she was sitting on her bed she realized she never saw the man leave.. So she ran out and told a police officer when he checked under her bed he saw the man with a knife and a camera in his hands..

    Prakash Khanal
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Mine secret had been torn apart, First my ex boyfriend, then the boy from KFC, now its my husband. Today morning is so rush.

    Teri Donovan
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dropped my phone IN the floor?? If your floor is swallowing your phone you have major problems beyond the fact your hubby just spotted your boyfriend hiding under your bed.

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    #9

    Short But Powerful Horror Story

    Reddit post of katsudonlink, short powerful story

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    #13

    The Woods Are Full Of Horrors

    Reddit post of luciferthecat about monster in the woods

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    #15

    Fade Into Oblivion

    Reddit post of SapphireLycanrock about fading into oblivion

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    #18

    Drawing The X

    Reddit post of BrianHotshot about drawing "x" on a map

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    Rowlie
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's freezing and dark, the constant movement is making me naseous, everything hurts, I'm lonely and scared. I wish I didnt' ask for my ashes to be spread into the ocean

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    #19

    Alien Horror

    Reddit post of Mr7000000 about wife being pregnant with alien baby

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    Dann999
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    think positive. self pregnant. some reptile can do that. oh wait, that’s even scarier..

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    #23

    Double-Sided Horror

    Reddit post of Alfieski25 about homework

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    There you have it, a collection of scary two-sentence stories to add a quick dose of fear to your day! Which short horror story freaked you out the most? Drop a comment and let us know. Feel free to upvote your favorites and, if you’re feeling brave, share your own terrifying two-liner. Let’s see if you can give these short spooky stories a run for their money!

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    #39

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    logical fallacy
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's interesting, because there's a couple of movies where this happens with 911, where basically the helper calls back, the invader notices the call and kills the 'last girl'. I'm very curious on what the official guidelines say.

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    #40

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    Pretty Pangolin
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This one's sad bc it's reality based - Alzheimer's is way scarier than a zombie invasion.

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    #44

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    #45

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    #53

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    #60

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    Zoe's Mom
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There was a law series on TV when I was very young about a serial killer of women. When caught he said that they ALL TOLD HIM THAT THEY WOULD RATHER DIE THAN DATE HIM. I can't remember the name of the series but I always remembered that line.

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    #61

    Two-Sentence-Horror-Stories

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    Julie He
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My interpretation is that the dog hurt a person that came to the door, so the owner is driving the dog to be put down for violent behavior. I'm crying.

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    #63

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    Jocelyn
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well f**k. Hope you dont get too attached then. How did u end up marrying an anti-vaxx chick anyways?

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    #64

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    nanashi
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    sadly this is not just a horror story; it happened IRL too many times.

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    #81

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    BusLady
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Only one guy survived. He thought to bring a pocket knife.

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    #82

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    NoobMaster69
    Community Member
    5 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The golden idol sent him a human to eat. It is funny because it's a joke on Reddit's gold system as people say "thanks for the gold, kind stranger" when you get a gold medal.

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    #88

    Two-Sentence-Horror-Stories

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