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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

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. 

“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)

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#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
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4 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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#9

Short But Powerful Horror Story

Reddit post of katsudonlink, short powerful story

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#11

Biblical Horrors

Reddit post of billbill5, biblical horrors

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

I'm sorry but that sociopath ain't gonna let you go, you're in for much worse, Adam.

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

OOhh - I like the creativity / flipped perspective of this one.

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Freya the Wanderer
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you really pay attention while reading the Bible, especially the Old Testament, you realize that Yahweh is a serious @$$hole.

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

But they had thousands of trees they could eat from but only one tree that was forbidden and that was the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in the middle of the garden, also being naked wasn't bad because sin didn't exist and they didn't know it was wrong.

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

Sin does not exist and naked is simply being without any clothing on. Everything is relative and depends on context, context, context.

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

He said they could eat anything in the whole garden except the fruit of that tree.

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

that was just stupid. this is a mockery of my lord and my religion. sin lurks in this world because of those 2 humans in the beggining. its so sad that someone actually wrote this and posted it online. this is extremely offensive and insensitive.

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2023James Roberts
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And that is just to get a point across that exact thing didnt happen

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eezycheezes101
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Adam: *is gardening NOT trying to eat the apple and just trying to listen to God*. Eve: *eats the hecking apple*. Adam: EVE WHAT THE F**K-

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

"Forced to starve" sounds very much the opposite of "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden" (sans the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). As for nakedness, this is prior to the Fall: There's no shame between Adam and Eve because they were so in tune with themselves and God that they never saw each other lustfully. Moreover, they were so in tune with and shared dominion with God over creation that the elements wouldn't dare give them discomfort (think Jesus calming down the storm in the far, far future).

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Jessica Russian Sifontes
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You do know that the Bible is the most edited book in the history of mankind and that no god wrote it, just a bunch of humans with political intentions of control, right? And that god, any god, doesn't exist, but rather is a collective illusion caused by the human need for meaning?

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

It is based on the story of Adam and Eve, but everything is twisted In the origional story:they live in a garden full of things they can eat and they are naked because they have no shame, the only rule is not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they eat it and have to be banished from the garden for their protection because of that sin entered the world

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

and that man casually walking in the woods while calling your name "Adam.... where are you?"

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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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#17

Perfecting The Handwriting

Reddit post of verticalmonkey about perfect handwriting

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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
4 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
4 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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#30

Scrambled Words

Reddit post of icelugger86 about scrambled words

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Note: this post originally had 89 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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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!