20 Micro Horror Stories That Prove You Can Be Terrified In Just Two Sentences
Listen — sometimes you don't have time to read a whole-ass horror novel, and you're trying to get scared STAT!
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Well, that's where one of my personal favorite corners of the internet — the subreddit r/TwoSentenceHorror — comes in! The subreddit is precisely what it sounds like: people sharing their favorite scary stories that are all precisely two sentences, usually consisting of one set-up sentence and one punchline scare!
Dimension Films
Think of the most classic example of this style of short story: "The last man on Earth sat alone in a room. There was a knock on the door."
So, in the spirit of ~spooky season~, we've compiled just a few of the most popular stories in the r/TwoSentenceHorror subreddit for your viewing pleasure!
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Ready? I sure hope so, because to quoth R. L. Stine, "Readers, beware, you're in for a scare!" Here we go:
1."All my life, my parents have told me not to open the basement door, but I got curious and disobeyed them. What is that glowing ball in the sky and why does it hurt my eyes?"
2."I decided to kill off a few characters in the book I’m writing. It should definitely spice up this autobiography a little."
3."The last thing I saw was my alarm clock flashing 12:07 before she pushed her long, rotting nails through my chest, her other hand muffling my screams. I sat bolt upright, relieved it was only a dream, but — as I saw my alarm clock read 12:06 — I heard my closet door creak open."
4."My family can all remember their past lives, so one day I told my son I was a girl who was murdered. He grinned and responded, 'What are the odds we’d meet again?'"
5."My daughter won't stop crying and screaming in the middle of the night. I visit her grave and ask her to stop, but it doesn't help."
6."I finished my final perfect pirouette to thunderous applause. If only I could speak, and tell the little girl who owned my music box of the living hell I was trapped in."
7."Being buried alive was bad enough. Realizing I wasn't alone in my own grave was worse."
8."My blind date texted that he'd finally arrived, and was sorry for being 15 minutes late to pick me up. The issue was, we'd already been driving for 10 minutes."
9."People always ask how many kids come to my house for trick-or-treating. None of them ever ask how many leave."
10."After the psychic told Mike that he would 'die of a heart attack,' he picked up biking and would do five mile rides into town every weekend. But — when a car suddenly swerved, coming right at him with an old man slumped over the steering wheel — he realized with final clarity that it wasn’t his heart attack she'd meant."
11."Another young couple came in through the door, and I hurried to get a table ready, sighing, 'Weekends are always so busy!' Car accidents, murders, drug overdoses; it's always the worst shift in the morgue."
12."I kept hearing a strange giggle coming from my TV, regardless of what channel or volume it was on. I never thought to check behind the TV."
13."I can't move, breathe, speak, or hear and it's so dark all the time. If I knew it would be this lonely, I would have been cremated instead."
14."I'm not scared that I’ve been seeing 'missing' posters for myself. It’s the fact that the news is now saying that my body has been found."
15."I'm tucking my son into bed when he tells me, 'Daddy, check for monsters under my bed!' I look underneath for his amusement, and I see him — another him, under the bed — staring back at me, quivering and whispering, 'Daddy, there’s somebody on my bed.'"
16."I recently taught myself Morse code, but I wish I hadn't. Now the birds peck at my window, warning me that 'It's coming.'"
17."'Our son always screams when we cut his hair,' we told the psychiatrist, hoping for guidance. Several tests and doctors later, guilt brought me to my knees when the genetic specialist described what was believed to be unique condition — there were live nerve endings in the boy's hair."
18."You know, they say once you become a murderer, you can tell who else has murdered. 'He’s innocent,' I announce with the bang of my gavel, dismissing the court."
19."I woke up, got myself a drink of water, and returned to get back into bed. There I was, still laying there, my face blue and my hollow eyes staring off into the distance."
20."Out of breath, I sat in the front hall knowing I was safe, as the Fae could not enter my home without an invitation. Imagine my surprise when the creature burst through the door, a sneer on its face and my 'WELCOME' mat in its hands."
Which two-sentence horror story was your favorite? Do you have any micro horror stories of your own? Share all of your thoughts in the comments below!
Some stories were edited for clarity. H/T: Reddit.