The Ghost Who Knew the Truth
A detective with the ability to communicate with the spirits of crime victims teams up with the ghost of a woman who claims she was falsely accused of her husband's murder. Together, they seek to uncover the real murderer, while also avoiding sinister forces that want the truth buried forever.
Suggested length: A short story: 1,500 to 5,000 words, or flash fiction under 1,000
Start the clock
Pick a sprint, press start and keep going until it stops. Momentum beats polish on a first draft.
Make it yours
Three ways to take this prompt somewhere nobody else will.
- Raise the stakes from personal to public halfway through.
- Open with the threat already in motion, not the setup.
- Make the person helping your hero the one to worry about.
Writing thriller books
Something terrible is coming. Can they stop it in time?
Where a mystery looks back at a crime, a thriller looks forward at a threat. The reader often knows more than the hero, and the tension comes from watching danger close in. Short chapters, high stakes and a ticking clock are the tools of the trade.
What readers expect
- A clear, escalating threat
- A hero under pressure
- Twists and reversals
- Pace: little time to breathe
A tip before you start
Put a clock on it. A deadline the reader can count down turns every scene into a race.
More Paranormal Thriller prompts
- The Moonlit DisappearancesIn a small coastal town, every full moon results in unexplainable disappearances. A local journalist, whose brother vanished under the full moon…
- The Full Moon DisappearancesImagine a small coastal town that is periodically plagued by inexplicable disappearances every full moon. New to town, a young journalist decides to…
- The Estate Sale JournalAfter the sudden disappearance of three people in a small, sleepy town, a troubled detective discovers an old journal at a local estate sale. The…
- The Medium's Malevolent SpiritDevelop a thriller centered around a medium who initially uses their gift to help spirits pass on but discovers a malevolent spirit aiming to re-enter…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
Chapterly gives a draft somewhere to grow: chapters, daily word goals, and readers when you're ready.
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