The Medium and Her Ghost
Set in an alternate Victorian era where paranormal entities are integrated into society, the story follows a young medium and her dead partner — a ghost only she can see and communicate with. Together, they solve mysteries involving supernatural occurrences. Their latest case involves a séance that went horribly wrong, leading to a series of hauntings whose secrets could shake the very foundation of their society.
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.
- End a scene on a phone call, a knock or a name.
- Let the reader know something the hero doesn't.
- Cut every scene the moment the tension drops.
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 Ghost Who Knew the TruthA 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…
- 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…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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