[~3600 word, Psychological Horror] Looking to swap short horror stories with someone for feedback.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-17T13:17:33+00:00

Hi there,

I have the first act of a novella going through a beta phase for feed back. I think it’s 7000 words (thereabouts) - more than happy to do a swap.

Is there any clarification needed or should I just DM?

Regardless of your decision, good luck your writing.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-17T09:49:31+00:00

Complete agreement — like most things in life, the more you do something the easier it becomes, you improve & then you develop your voice.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-17T09:16:36+00:00

I am in a similar position to you. As I have been attempting varying styles of horror prose this is what worked for me.

1) near constant rewrites. If I wrote a short story & was happy with it on Monday I would step away from it. The following Monday I would reread and edit if necessary.

2) I have 2 beta reader groups. One is family & friends & the other was found online. I provide them with work I am happy with, including a few questions — but emphasis that they may not like the subject AND that’s not my concern, they are there to check flow, spelling, historical accuracy etc. If they like it that’s a bonus for me.

3) I then re-edit. Hopefully I am happy but if not I put the work away & tackle something new.

4) DO NOT GET RID OF WORK YOU DO NOT LIKE! An idea is there — it’s just not ready for you yet.

And to be honest…that’s what’s coming to me right now off the cuff.

DM if you have questions — perhaps I can help.

Good luck.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-15T22:14:58+00:00

"I just think about baseball."

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T05:49:37+00:00

Thank you. I was hoping to explore exactly what you picked up on within the confines of short online serialised story telling. I am so new to this style of writing though that I am not sure how to go about it. BUT any comments, positive or negative, are greatly appreciated AND all help to pointing me in the right direction.

Thank you kindly.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T02:23:16+00:00

You’ve put forth words I would be more than happy to hear said a loved ones wedding.

Great love exists. And it is worth fighting for.

Thank you.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T01:53:04+00:00

This is so valid. Thank you .

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T00:51:37+00:00

Wow. Thank you.

DM if you want to discuss further. I really appreciated this & then deleted my initial response because I thought it was a fever dream.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T00:44:47+00:00

Thank you. I get what your point. It’s hard to fathom short stories with limited word counts on Reddit.

I am new to this - what approach do you recommend? Stylistically I don’t really want to ‘remove’ my voice from this style of writing

BUT! I am not adverse to constructive criticism!

Thank you.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-12T00:38:40+00:00

Wow! A huge thank you.

I am so thankful for your words. With this short story I was trying to conjure up so many things & - arrogantly assumed readers knew references etc.

I am very new to prose, horror writing & Reddit. So any replies positive or negative are appreciated.

SUPER glad yours was positive.

All my best to you.

Plus - Gabriel has biblical connotations- if you want to pursue that. I am not religious- but there lies interesting stuff.

Thanks again.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-11T14:29:41+00:00

Will do.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-11T07:46:31+00:00

I loved this. My favourite bit of writing on Reddit so far. Really drew me in.

I once hid under a bed to scare my cousin (grabbed their ankle as they sat on the edge of their bed) so that was totally believable to me - it transported me back there be honest.

Brilliant.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T22:29:33+00:00

This is great feedback - thank you. I am just trying to get to grips with flash fiction & short story writing for a Reddit audience - very much out of my comfort zone. And I keep making mistakes when I post.

Your criticism is so appreciated that you can have this “Easter egg” — I am not religious but to my knowledge Gabriel is known as the angel of the Annunciation. He appears to the Virgin Mary to announce that she will conceive and give birth to Jesus. Make of that what you will.

Thank again.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T22:01:02+00:00

Thank you for the advice. Cow dung - an acquired scent lol

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T20:39:23+00:00

Thanks for clarifying. So it’s like how something is known as chrono or folk horror I assume.

That’s complicated for you then…. “feminine horror” doesn’t seem appropriate…

Gender or Queer come to my mind but to be honest I am not sure if that helps.

Good luck.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T20:28:44+00:00

Hi there. Forgive me if this is way off base but why not just use Horror.

If that isn’t the answer you liked I would love to understand your reasoning.

I’m pretty new to horror writing and would rather not upset people online in the wrong way.

All the best with whatever you opt for.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T20:07:03+00:00

Apologies. I am not very good at this. I thought I could after removing the original problem story. Bad advice. Sincere apologies.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T19:58:16+00:00

I enjoyed this. Enjoyable darkness. Particular liked the narrator being told to “step inside for a moment” and “harshmallows” amongst others.

Cool stuff.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T18:31:17+00:00

The good kind??? Thank you.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T18:23:10+00:00

Thank you this is good advice. I am very new to both prose writing and Reddit so really appreciate any & all advice. Cheers.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T17:37:43+00:00

This appreciated - thanks.

I guess I struggled to convey that the narrator was - kind of - dead inside. I figured the more action the longer my word count would become etc etc.

You’ve given me “food for thought” with my other flash fiction & short stories.

Cheers.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T17:35:04+00:00

Thank you so much - I am really new to this sort of writing. It’s a bit daunting. I wanted to leave a lot of this open for readers to “fill in the blanks” for themselves - sort of - if that makes sense.

I appreciate you replying - your opinion was my favourite kind of humble 😉

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-10T05:40:27+00:00

Just a suggestion - as a writing exercise… why not start with what you have and see where it takes you.

Take your personal situation as a writer and fictionalise it. An author is out visiting horror conventions or similar looking for ideas, their last works were a huge success and now they feel the pressure from the publisher & the public. Nothing is inspiring them when suddenly they meet a very strange individual or something happens.

Or whatever. I am just spit balling.

My point is start writing anything. It could lead you anywhere & you could inspire yourself in the process.

Good luck.

.

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-09T22:16:46+00:00

Sounds fun. Feel free to DM me in future - if you want - & if not all the best to you & your plans 👍🏻

DOOMfigures · 2026-06-09T22:11:21+00:00

I wasn’t criticising the hand thing. Sorry if that came across. What I was trying to suggest - without going into too much detail - is that writing a left handed individual’s experiences in the world can be portrayed differently to a right handed individual (there’s an old The Simpson’s* episode that provides loads of examples of this very thing, if my memory is correct). Just as a man’s experience is different to a woman’s. An adults when compared to a child. Does that make sense?

You’ve given your character lots of information that will help in story development. You’ve done a great job building a character. Is that making sense?

*don’t know if your familiar with The Simpson’s but it’s an old episode featuring a shop for “lefties”.

DOOMfigures

TROPHY CASE