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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?

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.

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© 2017 by David O'Hanlon

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