The Attic Mirror
You move into an old Victorian house and find a mysterious mirror in the attic that doesn’t reflect reality, but rather the last 24 hours of whoever looks into it. Describe your first week living there as you uncover the mirror's powers and secrets.
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.
- Write it as a document from the world: a letter, a field report, a warning sign.
- Make the magic or technology cost your hero something they can't get back.
- Give the villain a reason that would convince you, if you lived there.
Writing paranormal fiction
Vampires, ghosts and witches, just around the corner.
Paranormal fiction drops supernatural beings into the real, modern world. Unlike horror, the creatures aren't always the threat: they're often the heroes or the love interests. It overlaps heavily with romance and urban fantasy.
What readers expect
- Supernatural beings in our world
- A hidden society with its own rules
- Romance, danger or both
- Secrets ordinary people can't know
A tip before you start
Decide the rules early. Can your vampires cross running water? Readers will hold you to it.
More Supernatural and Paranormal prompts
- The Ancestral LibraryImagine a library that only appears to a person once in their lifetime. In this library, each book contains the untold secrets of one’s ancestors and…
- The Folklore FogDevelop a story about a mystical fog that rolls into a coastal town, bringing with it figures from folklore and legend. The townspeople must navigate…
- The Haunted LibraryImagine a library that allows you to check out haunted books—each containing a trapped spirit with a story to tell. A librarian, who has always…
- The Forest Gate of the DeadEvery century, on the night of the winter solstice, a small, forgotten gate in the heart of an ancient forest opens to a realm of the dead. You are…
Fifteen minutes in? Keep going.
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