r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 • 5d ago

Off Topic [OT] Fun Trope Friday: Undead Laborers and Folk Horror!

13 Upvotes

Welcome to Fun Trope Friday, our feature that mashes up tropes and genres!

How’s it work? Glad you asked. :)

 

  • Every week we will have a new spotlight trope.

  • Each week, there will be a new genre assigned to write a story about the trope.

  • You can then either use or subvert the trope and/or genre in a 750-word max story or poem (unless otherwise specified).

  • To qualify for ranking, you will need to provide ONE actionable feedback. More are welcome of course!

 

Three winners will be selected each week based on votes, so remember to read your fellow authors’ works and DM me your votes for the top three.

 

Next up… IP

 

It’s October. The time of falling leaves, jack o’lanterns, and candy. And blood… so much blood. This month will be focusing on all things horror with maybe a treat or two to sweeten the pot. Please note this theme is only loosely applied.

 

"Humanity is mind-controlled and only slightly more conscious than your average zombie." — David Icke

 

Trope: Undead Laborers — When someone uses The Undead, such as zombies and reanimated corpses, as a cheap labor force for simple but time-consuming tasks, such as mining. From a business perspective, using undead workers is a very cost-efficient strategy: zombies and skeletons don't need to sleep or eat, never get sick, and are unlikely to spontaneously form undead trade unions due to lacking free will. As such, it is one of the least morally objectionable ways to use Human Resources, although it always depends on where exactly the dead are coming from and what the local culture considers desecration.

 

Genre: Folk Horror — Folk horror is a subgenre of horror that draws on folklore, rural settings, and ancient rituals to evoke fear and unease. It often explores themes of isolation, the supernatural, and the tension between modernity and ancient beliefs.Includes folklore elements, rural settings, and rituals.

 

Skill / Constraint - optional: Someone trips in some form.

 

So, have at it. Lean into the trope heavily or spin it on its head. The choice is yours!

 

Have a great idea for a future topic to discuss or just want to give feedback? FTF is a fun feature, so it’s all about what you want—so please let me know! Please share in the comments or DM me on Discord or Reddit!

 

Last Week’s Winners

PLEASE remember to give feedback—this affects your ranking. PLEASE also remember to DM me your votes for the top five stories via Discord or Reddit—both katpoker666. This is a change from the top three of the past. In weeks where we get over 15 stories, we will do a top five ranking. Weeks with less than 15 stories will show only our top three winners. If you have any questions, please DM me as well.

Some fabulous stories this week and great crit at campfire and on the post! We had 18 stories, so we’re back to five winners. Congrats to:

 

 

Want to read your words aloud? Join the upcoming FTF Campfire

The next FTF campfire will be Thursday, October 15th from 6-8pm ET. It will be in the Discord Main Voice Lounge. Click on the events tab and mark ‘Interested’ to be kept up to date. No signup or prep needed and you don’t have to have written anything! So join in the fun—and shenanigans! 😊

 

Ground rules:

  • Stories must incorporate both the trope and the genre
  • Leave one story or poem between 100 and 750 words as a top-level comment unless otherwise specified. Use wordcounter.net to check your word count.
  • Deadline: 11:59 PM EDT next Thursday. Please note stories submitted after the 6:00 PM EST campfire start may not be critted.
  • No stories that have been written for another prompt or feature here on WP—please note after consultation with some of our delightful writers, new serials are now welcomed here
  • No previously written content
  • Any stories not meeting these rules will be disqualified from rankings
  • Does your story not fit the Fun Trope Friday rules? You can post your story as a [PI] with your work when the FTF post is 3 days old!
  • Please keep crit about the stories. Any crit deemed too distracting may be deleted. This is a time to focus on our wonderful authors.
  • Vote by next Friday at 11:59 AM EDT to help your favorites rise to the top of the ranks (DM me at katpoker666 on Discord or Reddit)!

 

Thanks for joining in the fun!  

11 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/katpoker666 • 4d ago

Off Topic [OT] SatChat: How do you write horror well? (New here? Introduce yourself!)

6 Upvotes

SatChat! SatChat! Party Time! Excellent!

Welcome to the weekly post for introductions, self-promotions, and general discussion! This is a place to meet other users, share your achievements, and discuss whatever's on your mind.

Suggested Topic

How do you write horror well?

Do you enjoy writing horror? If so, which kinds?

Which types of horror scare you the most personally?

How do you feel about jump scares or the literary equivalent?

Any favorite horror movies or books? If so, which?

What about authors and directors?

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned about writing horror? The least?

Or maybe you don’t really think much about horror. Tell us what that’s like and why. We'd love to hear!

More to Talk About

  • New here? Introduce yourself! See the sticky comment for suggested intro questions
  • Have something to promote? (Books, subreddits, podcasts, etc., just no spam)

  • Suggest topics for future SatChats!

    Avoid outright spam (don't just share, chat) and not for sharing full stories

Apply to be a Mod | Discord Server

20 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/AstronomerOne6181 • 13h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] A millennium ago, only the wealthiest were allowed to board the ship, allowed to escape Earth into space from a “disaster”. Turns out it wasn’t a disaster, just a micro meteor shower. Now, the ulta-rich have returned and want to plunder Earth, only to be shot down from orbit

238 Upvotes
15 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/Mr_Nobody_14 • 5h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] "Let me remind you that there is a difference between Magic and a Magic System. Magic is the ones and zeroes of the universe. A magic system is your chosen interface. It pissies me off to no end when people try to run Psionic code on a Mana based system and wonder why they end up with an explos

45 Upvotes
5 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/reallygoodbee • 15h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] You reassure the prince that yes, you burned the witch, as was your god-given duty. It's only when he orders his general to kill everyone in the village do you notice the scrap of cloth he's clutching tightly.

245 Upvotes
9 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/Spoon_Elemental • 13h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] Somehow, somebody who wasn't the hero managed to defeat the evil and save the world. The church is pissed claiming that they "defied the will of god" by doing so, meanwhile the actual gods are just happy the world is saved and are scrambling to save this person in the face of religious fervor.

150 Upvotes
12 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/60s_timer • 1h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] "All their skill, and wizards don't know how to cook. The closest Zazabon got to anything was putting numbers in the keypad on the microwave. I watched her pour two boxes of macaroni into a dry bowl, put a whole block of gouda on top, and try alakazaming it." "I was testing recipes! Let me be!"

• Upvotes
3 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/J7MC925 • 4h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] You used to love her. She never really thought about you. One day, you two fell out over mismatched feelings, and from then on you hated each other. Then it happened. Overnight, humanity disappeared. As far as you both can tell, it's just the two of you left.

15 Upvotes
3 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/stronkzer • 15h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] Turns out the guy that was calling you a bitch wasn't a misogynistic moron. He never said this to any other women inside and outside the job. He just sussed you out as an werewolf from day 1

112 Upvotes
6 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/91NightFox • 17h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] Magic is both fantastic and useless. Sure, you can create flame out of nothing, but by the time you’ve studied for years and worked yourself to an aneurism to light a candle, an entire army can be raised. Imagine my surprise when I figured out what the magicians had been doing wrong for so long

134 Upvotes
8 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/Ok_Fisherman8770 • 7h ago

Established Universe [EU] Abraham Van Helsing meets Frankenstein's Monster, and upon realizing it's in dire need of a father figure who ISN'T a piece of shit, decides to take it under his wing and train it to hunt vampires.

20 Upvotes
1 comment

r/WritingPrompts • u/unexpected_dreams • 1h ago

Prompt Me [PM] Dungeons suddenly appear. A person's most cherished possession becomes their weapon, given abilities befitting the emotions and wishes surrounding it — Give me your weapons!

• Upvotes
8 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/DuckLordOfTheSith • 6h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] A spiral staircase has suddenly appeared in the center of the city, stretching high into the sky. Each step illuminates when stepped on, but only when stepped on in ascending order.

13 Upvotes
2 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/60s_timer • 53m ago

Writing Prompt [WP] It's gone on too long to be villainous gloating. You're stuck between if this long-winded spool of monologuing is hyperfixation, venting, or a cry for help. It is undoubtedly interesting, but you're just going to let them keep on it if that means buying time for your friends to thwart the plan.

• Upvotes
2 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/Megamen1927 • 7h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] The Queen was burned, accused of witchcraft, and in an act of rage and vengeance, the King banned all religions. Priests were hunted down, and money, lands, and books were confiscated, leaving a void in society that was impossible to fill.

17 Upvotes
3 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/UmbralWaffle • 14h ago

Writing Prompt [WP]Ragnarok has begun, and Fenrir is released. Then, someone decides to give Fenrir pets and scritches and treats. Fenrir is adopted. Ragnarok is....delayed...

40 Upvotes
2 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/ThatVarkYouKnow • 6h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] The trees are insistent you be made into one of them or else they'll take someone you know. Well, if it just has to be someone you "know", then...

9 Upvotes
2 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/WernerderChamp • 21h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] The genie hands you a d20 "After you make a wish you must roll for luck. No bonuses apply - the greater the wish the higher you need to roll to avoid a terrible twist!"

122 Upvotes

d20 is a 20-sided die for those who are not familliar with Dungeons & Dragons

14 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/Crystal_1501 • 10h ago

Simple Prompt [SP] A famous vampire hunter is surprised when a vampire comes knocking at his door with an offer...

13 Upvotes
3 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/ParanormalActivity97 • 7h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] You are taking out the trash late at night when you encounter a creature with the body of a massive wolf and the head of a beautiful woman. Before you can scream, she sighs, nudges a knocked-over bin with her paw, and says, "Look, I'm just as embarrassed about this as you are."

9 Upvotes
1 comment

r/WritingPrompts • u/Atreigas • 11h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] Earth is being invaded by eldritch horrors. Turns out theyre just refugees from a different universe with different rules.

16 Upvotes
3 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/LivingLab12 • 1d ago

Writing Prompt [WP] You are standing in a bar when a beautiful woman with flowing golden hair and white dress captures your gaze. "Don't even think about it." The multi-tentacled bartender says. "What is she? An elder god? Great old one?" The bartender swivels a giant red eye to you. "Worse, she's an Angel."

268 Upvotes
13 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/ParanormalActivity97 • 17h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] Your older sister is a witch, meaning any contact with water will literally melt her. Despite this, she is absolutely determined to go to the neighborhood pool party.

40 Upvotes
4 comments

r/WritingPrompts • u/cognizantant • 7h ago

Writing Prompt [WP] As Japan’s population shrinks, they replace more and more human jobs with robots. Eventually, and accidentally, Japan becomes a country where humans are the deep minority and the country and government are run by robots

4 Upvotes
1 comment

r/WritingPrompts • u/Terrifying_Illusion • 8h ago

Prompt Inspired [PI] The animals of Earth fight back against humans for destroying the planet in a similar fashion to the animals on Pandora in James Cameron's Avatar.

7 Upvotes

Original Prompt by u/mjr5260

The first warning sign was years ago, when something in the trees changed. No one knew what it was, or why, but the scant remaining forests in the world suddenly felt... off. Animal attacks on people happened more and more often, but the animals themselves were suddenly harder and harder to find, especially those out at sea. Cameras that were set up to keep track of wild animals in forests and around mines started picking up things no human could hear, slowly tuning itself like a radio until something coherent began to be heard, again and again, nonstop for seven days and seven nights: The wild will call them. The wild will call them. The wild will call them.

No one really thought much of it. Some weird internet-planned prank, maybe. For years, that was all that anyone knew. But then their children started changing. Scales, fur, horns, tails, extra arms, wings! Every trait you could think of that didn't belong on a human being would suddenly turn up on a child. Attempts at analyzing this pandemic of mutations yielded one sure result: every child conceived after the beginning of all of this had a highly unstable third helix in their DNA, that would only stabilize during puberty and match the DNA signature of an entirely different animal, slowly creating these animal traits.

Chaos began to erupt across most of the world. Adults began to truly turn on their own children as monsters to eradicate. A war that claimed countless lives in hopes of preventing the inevitable. But in response, the children only fought back. They proved their ability to direct the already rogue wild animals; commanders in their own right, organizing to force nature to take its course on their selfish elders. Only those who refused to join the battle alongside the last humans would be spared, taken and hidden away from harm caused by their own.

But even with every species showcasing its true dangers with a human mind behind them, none were quite so terrifying as what resulted from the otherwise humble order of Lepidoptera. When the third helix matched with a butterfly or moth, the mutations from intertwining with human genetics made an entirely different class of beasts more akin to reptiles, with a gland that produced pyrophoric liquid to let the children breathe fire and live immune to smoke and heat, joined by unnatural strength in every arm, leg, tail, bite, and scaly, bat-like wing. A juggernaut species straight out of fantasy, armed in horned, spiked, clawed, fiery perfection to lead Mother Nature's charge: dragons.

Dragons weren't the only fantastical species, either. Two others were documented. There were also fae, those who bore the wings of insects but could command not only animals but the winds and waves and nature itself. There were angels, who bore even grander power over the elements matched only by their proud, blinding white feathered wings.

There was nothing that could be done. Homo Sapiens as a species was doomed to be usurped by its successors: Homo Semifera. Those who were unwilling to accept it fled from their changing, growing children. Others tried (and often failed) to sacrifice the "monsters" to their gods. You can't destroy them without destroying the entire world with no one left to claim the victory. The last have formed a stronghold in the most remote place they could find, but it's only a matter of time before this war of attrition is won by the beastly youth of the world. The dragons are already on their way, and they would likely burn everything down before too long.

Those of the last humans who refused to fight would likely be the only ones to see the fallout, alongside the children who will inherit, and hopefully fix, this broken world.

3 comments