The following were the selected stories from our Best of Mystery/Thriller contest. Congratulations to all our winners!

The full list of entries can be found here.

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Among the Pines

by LennoxFields

One tiny town. Seven students. One huge mystery. Welcome to Pine Hill.

A town drenched in secrets and drama, where an innocuous autumn is tainted by a series of sinister disappearances. Accusations begin to fly as secrets are unravelled and the town is swallowed by shadows.

Stella, thrust into the drama by her own dark and disturbing circumstances, comes to understand the bond between the other students and finds herself pulled deeper and deeper into the heart of the town.

But not everything to be discovered there is as innocent as it appears. The senior class of Pine Hill High is embroiled in a deep web of lies and deceit, not to mention drama, secrets, romance and mystery that will keep you on your toes from page one.

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Black Rose

by star-lite

Every year, on winter's morning, a black rose sits on a doorstep. Every year, the same chain of events follows. And every year, a young girl dies. Why?

Isn't it obvious? The king has gone mad.

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Blood Red Secrets

by violetlsmith

Hallows Island is home to the most elite supernatural school in the country, Westwood Academy. For Amietti Monet her acceptance into the school is a chance for her to escape her hateful coven and possibly learn more about her missing parents. But upon her arrival, Amy realizes that the school is a lot different than what she had been expecting.

While dealing with keeping a secret from her new friends, two boys vying for her attention, and a supernatural social ladder she wasn't aware of, Amy will also have to solve the mysteries of the killings of several girls. Amy is sure whoever is killing them is coming after her, but who can she really trust in a school of lies?

No one said being a witch would be easy.

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Confessions About Victoria

by heartsails

Victoria Becky's life is like any another normal eighteen year old teenager: fun with friends, crying over homework, procasination on point and Friday night parties. But this normal, decent life bubble flies over her head and kisses goodbye to her the day, she discovers a website in her school's computer lab with her photos and confessions about crush. The more she reads, the more she is intrigued, the more she is scared and the more she is willing to take risks to find this person who has a massive crush on her.

Because either she can start swimming for answers or wait for someone to drown her with 'em. And being a good swimmer, Victoria knows better than to drown.

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Cryptic

by north_light

There's been a killer in Ash's hometown, raging kills for over four years. No one has lived to tell anyone of their encounter with him. The police have scrambled around, trying to catch the ghostly menace. But when they come close, he slips through their fingers. He's a ghost story, some would say, killing those that find his truth.

But how can you catch a ghost?

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Demon of the Night

by MaskedObsession

Barbara Gordon, daughter of the police commissioner, is determined to follow in her father's footsteps. After a series of brutal murders and disappearances occur around Gotham City, she begins her own investigation into who- or what- is behind these slayings.

However, as she gets closer to the truth she finds herself tangled in a game of mystery, the supernatural, and pure evil.

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Emphasized Point

by fanatic_4_life

"You're weak," they say. "Hopeless. Just disappear."

But what if I did? That would be better for everyone. right? The nightmare that is so-called her life will finally come to an end. In a spiraling conflict, with catastrophic events, and the tables turned, one question daunts around all of humanity:

"How will my journey end?"

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Erase & Rewind

by GMTSchuilling

If you could go back in time and redo one thing in your life, what would it be?
Anaya, a disillusioned, thirty-five-year old doctor, has been looking after Gregory, a retired watchmaker and resident of an aged care facility. On her last visit, he gifts her his final creation, an exquisitely-crafted watch, knowing she will die tragically that very day. What he doesn't reveal is that it will turn back time.

With one condition: she must choose the time and place to reset the clock, and redo just one thing in her life. Regrets, it seems, are easy to realise when you're dying, or trying to stop it from happening.

But what if, after one small change, her life would become much worse than it was? Or if this one decision she'd made was meant to be, would changing her course lead her to be punished in other, unimaginable ways?

When the alternative is die now, her choice makes itself. And so, Anaya's story begins with her last thought. Would she have done this if she had any option but the grave?

Would you?

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Eutopia

by melancholygss

As time passes and a world of dystopian realities surround her; Lee-Xang begins to notice that the world she once knew wasn't the same.

Everything is confirmed when a set of mysterious events begin to happen; one in which she meets a boy by the name of Taeyong who soon changes her existence neither for the better or the worse.

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Got Guts?

by Ellen_Reese

Kidnap, torture, kill, repeat. That's how this serial killer rolls. Now, what will it take for one boy to escape his horrifying captivity? It takes guts!

Kevin and Josh, two college best friends, are trying to launch a chemistry startup. Their lives turn into a living hell when Kevin's bad luck drives him to the doorstep of a serial killer. While Josh is freaking out and trying to solve the mystery of his friend's sudden disappearance, the psycho killer is enjoying torturing his little victim in every possible way.

However, there is one thing that the killer doesn't know; he picked the wrong victim to mess with.

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I Can't Save You

by mrs-sandman

I Can't Save You is a mystery thriller following the life of Thayer Wilson; a seventeen year old boy who has moved to a new town named Everett alongside his father Jonathan Wilson. But, the move that was meant to be an escape from the bad influences in his former hometown Marshfield, takes a drastic turn for the worse when Thayer Wilson finds himself in the forest, inches away from the corpse of Sarah Duncan. Her death is ruled as a suicide—but Thayer isn't so sure. And he begins to think that maybe he has something to do with it.

Afterwards, Thayer begins to form a relationship with the daughter of Sarah, named Allison Duncan, as the two perform an English project. Thayer battles with guilt and nightmares, alongside the trauma of the domestic violence he endures behind closed doors. And eventually, upon realising that there is something terribly wrong with himself, Thayer begins to question if he was really an innocent bystander in the death of Sarah Duncan.

Or something much worse.

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Jack in the Box

by KittyKash92

Jackson Wolfe is WoodVille Asylum's most notorious patient with a history of atrocious violence. The doctors and the nurses are aware of Jacks previous history. Jack is the ring leader in the institution. He is also handsome and charming, doesn't hurt with the fact that he is a psychopath. He wants something done, he gets it done. No questions asked.

Riley Fraser is the hospital nurse who gets assigned as Jack's nurse. At first Riley is just curious about Jack, but soon curiosity gets the better of her and Jack maybe a bit infatuated with the nurse.

And that's when the murders start. Someone is carving up the patients in the asylum. Could it be Jack getting creative or is it someone else?

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Lake Bellinor: Whispers of the Lake

by Loutka

No one forgets the first time they lived through someone else's nightmare. You can't get rid of it . . . you can't ignore it . . . you can only control it.

Tyler Loftman comes to realize that when he is given a gift in which he has no idea why or how. Living through the dead isn't something anyone wants to experience, yet to his distaste, he has no choice but to live with it. Whether it's a curse or a blessing, remains unsaid.

So, when a girl turns up in the middle of the lake; no name and no witnesses, this may be his chance to figure it out. In the town of Lake Bellinor, anything is possible.

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Levittown

by siremay

On the night of Sebastián's annual Beginning of Summer Bash, amiable and adventurous Melody Tryniski went missing. What might have appeared as a juvenile escapade - a casual incident in eerie Levittown, Utah - turned into a missing person's case. Nobody knows what happened, but what they do know is that Melody was last seen with best friend Alexa King and boyfriend Logan Price.

After two months with no trace of her, she returns to Levittown unharmed, unresponsive, personifying the town itself: solemn, eerie, quiet. However, Melody's long-awaited return is cut short when she's found brutally murdered in the comfort of her room.

Questions begin to arise and it seems everyone in Levittown believes someone from her group of friends committed the awful crime. With outside media taking an interest in a town that's best left alone and a terror-stricken town willing to accuse anyone of the murder, Alexa King must find the truth behind Melody's death. But the truth is not always simple, it can sometimes be dangerous - and, as the scandalous revelation comes to the surface, she realizes she's challenging something more sinister.

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Lola

by 1nkSlayer

Dani Chapman is the only friend of Lola Bailey who speaks at her funeral.

Cameron Keyes is furious.

Both claim to have lost their best friend, and neither are satisfied with the explanation of her death. Their plan is simple - find out what really happened to Lola, without killing each other along the way.

Soon they will discover that secrets never die.

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Mine

by hellocheeky

A series of kidnappings and missing cases have emerged in the small town of Kingstown. The lack of leads to a possible suspect have left the police and people hopeless. This may just be the worst crime that has ever shook the once merry town.

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Perfection

by ellanigh

A nobody and a wrongly-accused fugitive, Valentina Linkin, jumps at the offer of a free trip to Dell Island, a small tropical paradise. Here, with no pressure to leave, Linkin hopes to start over from the mayhem she has caused with her unique intelligence. However, the longer she stays, the more strange things she notices: freak illnesses, terrible accidents, and the people who go into the hospital never come back.

It all started with a crumpled note telling her to look on the inside. What's on the inside? Ira Konstantinov could tell her, but she can't get above ground.

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Revenge

by henry_scott

After your unlikely murder, old classmates will post on social media. Good friends will cry at the funeral. Best friends will get revenge.

Luckless Jakob Chase rushes home after he gets the news of his friend's murder. The surviving best friends gather to grieve and remember the good times. However, that is not good enough for Jake, the former detective. He makes it his mission to find his friend's killer. Yet, when the man is identified, the gears of justice slip and he is released.

Jake is face with the ultimate moral dilemma. Will he let his best friend's killer get away with the crime or will he get revenge?

The answer to Jake's question is complicated by his troubled past, a forbidden love, and a child that might be his.

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Rule Number 5

by amidthestorms

Rhaea Rhys is forced to become independent after the mass killing of her family.

Being the last member standing of Rhys Gang, Rhaea confronts the harsh journey where she is left to fulfil her father's final wishes of getting revenge on her rival gang, Noir Ravens. Taking in her father's final words, she is determined to unlock the secrets. This is a story about revenge and sacrifice and her ability to connect romantically with an alliance that helps Rhaea accomplish her mission.

But when it comes to confronting the most lethal people of all, will Rhaea be able to fulfil her father's final wishes?

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Sink

by EricJames16

An experimental psychiatrist investigates a murder by analyzing a victim's dreams.

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Sovereign

by Lirusen

Yoo Sungkyung decides parties aren't worth the trouble, especially when she goes to one for the first time in her life and is almost immediately disappointed.

Except she's shoved into a lake and wakes up a week later next to Jung Jaehyun who knows no better of the situation.

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Stitched

by softbled

Charlotte "Lottie" Nasir is wrapped up in the past, picking at the stitches that link her and her memories together, trying her hardest to forget. However, when she is thrown into the middle of a serial murder investigation, receiving calls and cryptic messages from the killer, she finds that maybe those stitches were the only things left holding her together.

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The Harshmarked Girl

by OkMeghan

5 years ago, they used her as a human test subject.

Her skin is marked with reminders and the side effects still linger, the past haunting her as she tries to lead a normal life, until one day she catches sight of a news bulletin regarding the opening of a new, experiments pharmaceutical company...

And sees the faces of her captors.

Now, Tally must find a way to reveal them for who they truly are. With the help of a fellow victim, Tally races against time to try to find the evidence needed to bring her captors to justice, but will it be worth it in the long run? Or will the two of them find themselves being victims once more?

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The Long Strip. Hamilton.

by CrustDust

Yearly, the Mighty Waikato River ingests its inhabitants in its vapours causing confusion, frustration and deathly mishaps. Hamiltonians are oblivious to this long strip of water that recorded an annual statistic of 85 river-related deaths. First, it drowned them and then sucked the life out of splashing innocent victims to reinvigorate itself. Who could blame it? It seemed as if the river was dying, polluted by humans and taking revenge.

One winter night, the river allegedly claimed the lives of a couple of high-schoolers leading to a media frenzy. A courageous bunch of local teenagers began to strip away the mystery and change the city forever.

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The Last Case

by Trekkiehood

Detective Evyn Zuess is known throughout the small town of Compton, Ohio as an arrogant detective who can solve any crime. But after an attempt is made on his life, his detective skills are being put to the ultimate test. Now he must race against time to solve his own murder before he succumbs to an incurable poison.

"The Last Case" is a modern mystery novel told through the eyes of both Detective Evyn Zuess and his partner, Clara Hound containing suspense, secrets, and revenge.

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The Truths We See

by slybatspidow

After a drunk driving accident took an innocent man's life, Brenda's father is behind bars. Her life will never be the same. With only her brother and his wife left, she doesn't know if she can take losing anyone else.

The evening news shows her brother being arrested and Brenda's certain the police are wrong. They have to be. She's seen her brother's honesty, and she's seen his kindness. The handcuffs glinting in the camera's light can't be true.

She's determined to prove Ben's innocent, no matter what it takes.

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Traveling Salesman: Astronomgonist

by Amaboo

This isn't Earth or a parallel universe. This isn't another planet. It's countries and worlds that exist not on a plane, but exist nonetheless in a multi-ultimate diverse reality beyond realities' standard comprehension.

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Unprecedented

by saxophone94

Seoul is an enchanting city.

But not for a doctor, a cop and a dead teenager struggling to find their sanity amidst the bustling streets of the 'enchantress' herself; she hides the wicked behind her deceptive beauty, she protects them in the depths of her coveted womb. It's a thin line between dreams and reality. And Dr. Yoona might have lost focus of that, trapped in the abyss of a hallucinatory realm.

Officer Jimin might follow her down that rabbit-hole too.

It wasn't their place, but Dr. Kim Yoona and Officer Park Jimin might've fumbled their way into a haunting reality of two friends who witnessed the mysterious death of a fourteen-year-old girl—the teenager.

Will the duo uncover her truth? Or will they lose themselves in this camouflage of dark verity and efficient masquerades...and a phantom so ambiguous, 'she' barely exists?