Can you share some 500 words or less horror stories?

One night, I heard a strange scratching at my window. I peeked out, but saw nothing. Then the doorknob slowly turned. My heart raced as I hid under the bed. I saw a shadow pass by. The next morning, the door was still locked. I still don't know what it was.

There was a man who always sat alone at the bus stop. One day, a young boy offered him a flower. The man was touched. He started to smile more. That simple act of kindness changed his gloomy days. From then on, he looked forward to the boy's visits.

Another story could be a pregnant woman who was in a minor car accident. At first, it seemed like she was okay, but later she started having internal bleeding. Since she was pregnant, the diagnosis and treatment were more complicated. The doctors had to be extremely careful to save both her and the baby.

In the early days of nuclear experimentation, there were cases where workers were exposed to high levels of radiation without proper protection. For example, at some nuclear facilities in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s, workers unknowingly inhaled or were in contact with radioactive substances. This led to various health problems and in some cases, premature deaths. These stories are often overlooked compared to the more famous nuclear disasters.

One common theme is the unknown. For example, in stories where there are strange noises or figures that can't be easily explained. It creates a sense of fear because our minds start to imagine all sorts of terrifying things. Another theme is isolation. Like the man driving alone on a lonely road. When you're alone, there's no one to help you, and that makes the situation scarier. Also, the idea of the supernatural, such as haunted dolls or houses with dark pasts, is often used as it defies our understanding of the normal world.

Another is 'The Most Dangerous Game' by Richard Connell. It tells the story of a big - game hunter who falls off a yacht and washes up on an island where he becomes the prey in a deadly hunt. It's full of suspense and action in just a few hundred words.

I'm alone. They're not gone.

Midnight knock. Nobody there.

How about 'Empty Nursery'? A nursery is supposed to be a place full of life and the sounds of a baby. But when it's empty, it feels wrong. It might make you think of something bad that happened to the baby or that there's some sort of malevolent presence in the room that drove the baby away.

The phone rang at midnight. A voice hissed, 'I'm outside.' I peeked through the curtain. Red eyes stared back. I froze in fear.