Every year, for the winter solstice, Loren Eaton from I Saw Lightning Fall organizes writers to contribute flash fiction stories with a Christmas/Solstice theme – these are all in the category of “scary ghost stories” from Christmas.
The only rule is, these stories are 100 words, no more, no less. Writing flash fiction is an interesting challenge. As a friend said one time, what you leave out is just as important as what you leave in.
Below are my contributions to the fun this year. Below that are links to previous years.
I also highly recommend you visit the Advent Ghosts 2019 page to read the contributions of the many other writers. Some will be funny; some will be scary. You may not like all of them, but there will be one or two that give you chills.
Keep checking back to the main page throughout the day as more contributions will come in.
Read on!
Return Visit
He asked his priest to come.
He spoke to a friend who had been to the South Pacific. That man put him in contact with a witch doctor.
A third friend knew a pagan priest who lived in the mountains to the north.
All three visitors blessed his home in their own ways. They shouted incantations, splashed holy water and burned sage.
He didn’t really believe in any of it. He had changed his ways since last year, giving to the poor and being kind.
But Scrooge wanted to make sure he didn’t get any more visitors like last year.
Keep the Fire Burning
The weather outside was definitely frightful.
But keeping the fire going was all about survival. There was no delight in it at all.
Patrick had a good supply of wood laid in. He just had to stay awake all night and keep adding on fresh logs. He wouldn’t let it go out.
He couldn’t.
This was about life and death. If the fire died, so would he. What was outside would come in.
Terror drove him through the night.
If he kept the fire burning, big and bright, the fat man on the sleigh wouldn’t be able to get inside.
Christmas and Advent Flash Fiction from Previous Years
- Roasting over an open fire and Costume?
- Birth of a god and Data Breach
- I saw mommy kissing… and What if?
- A glass of wine and Parasite
- The End of Darkness and Naughty List
- A little bit of Grandma
Here are a couple other Christmas stories. They aren’t flash fiction, but fit the theme.