Short stories are a must-do activity for writers, in my opinion. They allow you to practice a variety of skills, boost your productivity, gain exposure, work in new genres, and develop characters and concepts before dedicating a year or two writing a novel that sucks. Whenever I have time, I love using photo prompts and I've built up quite the collection. I'll be posting sixteen at a time for you to use and switching the photos about every three months.
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Of course, most of them have horror potential, but don't limit yourselves. For one, we need more horror writers in the world. Secondly, a good writer can make a story out of anything. Bend these to your will (and tastes) and go in a direction no one saw coming. Try to get three- to ten-thousand words out of one or more of these and send them my way. I love reading new writers. If I like it, I'll even post it on here. I'm also editing a horror anthology with Bona Fide Outlaw Free Press, so you might just get yourself published!
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The most important thing to do as a writer is write. So here you go. I'm handing you sixteen new stories on a silver platter. Go out and write that shit!
 Cult headquarters? The Pearly Gates on Earth? Hipster funeral home? Afterlife timeshares? |  She should have listened. But where has she gone? Can she get out? Does she even want to leave? |
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 Hero or villain? Her blood or someone else's? Maybe it's stage blood, maybe it's spaghetti sauce. You decide. |  If you're a genre writer, you have to be able to bend the story to your genre. This is clearly horror...so, make it something else. Or don't--I love slashers! |
 What's this guy's story? Is he a god that's lost his faith in us? A hero that's seen too much? A burnout who has finally reached his limits? |  Who really is under that mask? Make it romance, make it comedy, make it anything at all. |
 Anyone this suave is up to no good. Or is he? |  Romance, horror, erotica...why not all of the above? Maybe there's a twisted comedy to come. |
 Is that the dreaded outhouse of doom? :O |  Not all magic is black and not all wicked deeds are undeserved. What's really happening here? |
 This chick is up to no good and there's probably a man to blame. Tell me what schemes are spinning through that mind of hers. |  Nothing to see here folks, just the spirits of the vengeful dead. Or the shadows of the Home Makeover crew. |
 There's probably a perfectly good reason Farmer John is carrying a pick ax in the hood...probably... |  Revenge? Survival? Cold blooded murder? Maybe she's just out picking up a new cleaver for the house. Is this a case of mistaken identity or does this lady mean to do harm? |
 Helpful hero or highway horror? This could go a lot of great ways. |  A cemetery in the yard? Wonder if they told the kids never to play with dead things. |