Forced Proximity Stories
Explore our collection of 188 amazing stories tagged with forced proximity. Each story offers unique adventures and unforgettable characters you can chat with.
The Lacquered Smile
Author:Rita Tucker
Remi works the graveyard shift, lives a quiet life, and is terrified of dolls. So when her sister sends her a souvenir from a ruined Japanese temple—a vintage geisha doll with a serene, painted smile—her life unravels. At first, it's just whispers in the static and moved objects. But the doll's attention becomes an obsession, watching her favorite shows, spending her money, rearranging her home. Now, a message has appeared on her wall in blood-red crayon: 'MY TURN.' The doll doesn't just want to haunt her apartment; it wants to live her life.
The Aperture
Author:Wanda Hopkins
Desperate for cash, college student Leo Vance accepts a mysterious job paying an impossible $500 an hour. The task is simple: sit in a white room and watch an antique mirror. But the thing looking back from the glass isn't his reflection. It's a predator wearing his face, learning his secrets, and waiting for the perfect moment to switch places. Trapped in a sterile nightmare, Leo must unravel the mirror's secrets before he loses himself to the man in the glass.
The Mannequin on the Boardwalk
Author:Cassandra Bailey
My dream job at a seaside haunted house becomes a living nightmare. A bizarre street performer, a twisted mimic of Michael Jackson, sets his sights on me. What starts as an unnerving prank escalates into a terrifying obsession, as this man reveals a power to distort reality, time, and even his own body. He whispers things my mind can hear but his lips never speak. He wants more than a scare—he wants in. And for some reason, he won't stop talking about my eyes.
The Rotting Vow
Author:Cassandra Duncan
On his wedding day, Leo lifted his bride's veil and discovered she was a corpse. Forced into an ancient, terrifying ritual by his own mother, he is now bound by a vow to the dead girl, Elowen. As her coldness seeps into his soul and the scent of decay follows his every step, Leo must unravel the horrific secret of Wren Orchard: a pact that feeds on death to grant life. But the bride is hungry, and the vow is eternal. He must find a way to break it before he becomes the next sacrifice.
Blackwood's Tithe
Author:Jasper Briar
Desperate for his dream job, recent graduate Liam Thorne accepts a mysterious offer to become a ranger at the idyllic Blackwood Creek National Park. He's welcomed by unnervingly healthy, elderly colleagues who speak of the park's 'magic' which grants them eternal vitality. But paradise has a price. Liam soon discovers the park is a sentient, hungry entity, and its keepers must provide a periodic, bloody sacrifice. Now, he's been chosen to help hunt the very visitors he swore to protect, trapped in a gilded cage where the trails lead to a gruesome end.
The Echo in the Floorboards
Author:Silas Croft
Leo needed a cheap place to live, but the basement suite came with a soundtrack: the relentless pacing of the old man upstairs. Then came the scratching, and a dry whisper begging to be let back in. But after the old man is found dead, his body twisted into an impossible shape, the noises don't stop. They get louder. And now, a note on the sealed door says it all: 'I remember the way through the walls.' The thing upstairs is still there, and it's looking for a new door.
The Empty Seat
Author:Bonnie Garza
After a minor car accident, Samantha's daughter, Sophia, is no longer the sweet, joyful child she once was. She's become cold, quiet, and unnervingly strange. As Samantha tries to nurse her daughter back to health, the world around her insists on a different, more terrifying reality: that Sophia died two years ago. Now, Samantha must fight for her sanity against a truth she can't accept and protect a child that no one else can see, a child whose hunger is growing and whose presence is becoming colder by the day.
The Thing in Charlie's Skin
Author:Elias Veil
My best friend Charlie went to Germany for the summer. The thing that came back is wearing his face, sleeping in his bed, and charming my parents. But I see the truth in its dead eyes and its unnatural hunger. I see the peeling skin and the impossible strength. It’s not Charlie anymore, and I’m afraid I’m the only one who knows. Now, it wants to speak to my parents alone, and I fear I’m next on its list.
The Day It Blinked
Author:Anya Glare
When a second, blood-red sun appears in the sky, humanity is given a single, terrifying command: do not look. But its gaze is everywhere—on every screen, in every reflection, burning into the minds of all who see it. For Leo, trapped in his apartment, the true horror begins when the screams outside stop and the woman he loves starts bleeding from her eyes, a serene smile on her face. She has seen the new god, and now, she wants him to see it too. The light doesn't just drive you mad; it remakes you into something new.
The 5 PM Rule
Author:Yvonne Castillo
For Lena, the job at the Orphic Library was a dream: eight hours of paid silence. But the dream has rules. Clock in at 9 AM. Clock out at 5 PM. Not a second early, not a second late. When a ghostly woman from 1986 appears with a frantic warning and the library's charming owner reveals a predatory obsession with the clock, Lena realizes she hasn't been hired—she's been trapped. The books are screaming clues, the shelves rearrange themselves into a maze, and every tick of the clock brings her closer to becoming a permanent part of the collection.
The Chhayagarh Line
Author:Renee Wheeler
To escape his haunted village, Arjun breaks a generations-old taboo and boards a train with his father. But this is no ordinary train. It is a living, breathing predator of steel and flesh, and the price of a ticket is far more than money. Trapped in a carriage that digests its passengers, Arjun discovers the horrifying pact that binds his village to the monstrous engine, a deal that is about to expire. The ride has just begun, and the final destination is damnation.
What Liora Keeps
Author:Vesper Thorne
To find his missing sister, Elio must use his volatile psychic ability—a power he can only access when blackout drunk. His desperate search attracts an old shadow from his past: the enigmatic Liora, who offers him answers at a terrible price. Pulled into her world of sensual depravity and occult horror, Elio discovers the truth about his sister is tied to a monstrous secret Liora keeps in her gothic mansion—twin entities that feed on souls. He must master his power before they consume his sister completely, but some doors, once opened, can never be closed.