On the first day of #Frightmas, The Midnight Society gave to me… haunting writing prompts and a Gremlins live tweet.

Today is the first day of #Frightmas and many of us are coming off of a #NaNoWriMo writer’s high. Chances are, even if you didn’t finish or “win” NaNoWriMo, you walked away with more words than before or better writing habits (hopefully both of those things).

Today, we’re gifting you writing prompts!

Below you’ll find 5 spooky writing prompts to keep you writing through the holidays. Extra credit points to those of you who dare go back to your NaNoWriMo projects and plug this in!

Share your short stories or what you write using the #Frightmas hashtag and we’ll leave you a comment and feature it on our blog.

#Frightmas Prompts

1. The house is dark on Christmas Eve. There’s rustling downstairs. Who is it? What do they want? And what happens next? Go as light or as dark as you want.

2. Someone’s been watching and it’s not to see if your main character is naughty or nice. Write a scene where your MC discovers this and confronts the watcher. What happens next? Why are they being watched?

3. Write a scene where someone breaks the news to your MC that shatters this person’s beliefs or views on something very important. What does that look like? How do they handle it?

4. A gift is left for your MC. What does it look like? How is it wrapped? Who is it from? And does your MC open it? If so, what’s inside?

5. The holidays are known for being a time of giving and family. Is this what your MC experiences? How do they celebrate (if at all)? How do they feel about it?

We’d love to hear what you’ve written—however long or short they are! Feel free to paste your short stories or responses below or linked to them on social media using #Frightmas. We’ll read them and feature them here!

Jingle bells and ghost moans,

The Midnight Society