Mystery Writing Prompts

Centuries into a generation ship's journey, the ship has a constant plethora of tiny issues and malfunctions overlooked by most of the crew's mechanics in favour of the larger issues. In your off-time, you decide to start fixing some of these minor issues and discover some interesting functions.

You tried an online ancestral DNA test just for fun. To your surprise, just after an hour, the FBI broke into your house and arrested you.

Your starship was badly damaged during a routine cargo run. Your distress beacon was answered by a ship full of immortal and beautiful people. You now sit at a bar, trying to make heads or tails as to why they won't let you go after your ship was fixed.

You suddenly gain the uncontrollable ability to "jump" randomly through time. It was difficult to adjust to the changing time periods until you encounter an elderly version of yourself, who hands you a worn out journal, detailing every date and destination of your jumps in the future.

Your job is to guard a button that no one may push. Things get complex when both legendary heroes and villains arrive to attempt to push the mysterious button. Everyone seems to have a different idea about what the button does, but they all want to push it.

You and several other scientists agree to be frozen in hopes you’ll have more time to find a cure for a plague that has wrecked havoc on the world. It’s finally your turn to wake up. The others’ notes say you’ve only been asleep for 60 years, but the dust and ruin around you says otherwise

You are a vampire, and as far as you know you were born one. That's what your mother has always told you, of course. But today you ran into a vampire hunter on your way to you cottage, he didn't attack you, however, he only said two words: "Poor thing."

Many gunslingers carve notches into their weapons each time they kill somebody. One day a stranger arrives in town. The metal of his gun(s) is completely covered in notches.

A murder mystery, without a murderer. The victim just choked on a drink, but nobody believes it was an accident because of the victim's importance.

Whenever someone is buried in your town, plants grow and surround the grave, representing what sort of life they lived. When a pillar of the community dies, their grave is covered in thick, gnarled brambles.

You came home from work early and when you entered your bedroom you heard your spouse exclaim "It's not what it looks like!" in surprise. But after taking in the scene for a few minutes you have to admit that you have no clue *what* exactly you are looking at.

"Sir, we found the ghost ship The Delenora." "Where is it?" "In... Um... The Bridgewater Triangle.." "You mean Bermuda Triangle?" "No... It's in the middle of the woods in Massachusetts..."

You and your crush made a promise back in highschool, "If we are still single by age 30, we'll get married." Well, the morning after celebrating your 30th birthday, you hear that your old crush's grave has been dug up during the night.

An Elf wakes up one day to suddenly realize that their human spouse hasn't aged a single day since they met 50 years ago.

You are born with a large birthmark on the back of your hand that looks like an arrow. On your 18th birthday you notice that it starts pointing in one direction no matter which way you're facing. You decide to start walking in that direction.

"Your job is to sit in this room and answer this phone. No matter what you are asked or told, no matter what the voice sounds like, respond only with 'yes' or 'no', whatever feels right. And never, ever say your name. Hang up only after it does."

All mirrors in the world suddenly stop showing reflections. After a few days of worldwide panic, they slowly begin to reveal something else.

"And in this painting is Lord Straten, who had this castle constructed for his beloved daughter after she developed a severe sunlight allergy. In fact, she still resides here, even today!" "Wait... isn't this castle, like, two hundred years old?" "Why, yes, it is! Two-hundred-and-nine."

Your new friends are really obsessed with the upcoming full moon. You thought nothing of it until you overheard them guessing and gossiping about what "species" you could be.

Despite learning from one of the greatest wizards in the world, you're utterly horrible at magic. Then you discover why: he/she deliberately trained you incorrectly as a sick joke.

After inventing time travel, you send agents back in time to change the future and conquer the world. Instead you get back several dead agents and a note saying “Never try that again.”

In a world of super heroes and villains, you are a historian. You are convinced that something is altering time, changing history so that super powered events only happened “a few years ago” when they should be far older.

Your name, your face are everywhere! From massive global celebrations, to tons of fan mail, everyone is treating you like the biggest hero-celebrity in the history of the world. There's just one tiny issue- you haven't the foggiest idea why.

As soon as the titan materialized, it pointed down to single person and declared in its booming, dreadful voice, "THIS ONE IS CORRECT." Then, without elaboration, vanished without a trace.

Moments after your death you wake up in the body of your child self several decades in the past. The only context you have is a voice in your head that tells you "Welcome back Returner, this is your {ERROR} attempt at breaking the cycle. We wish you luck on this attempt to {DATA MISSING}".

You got pulled over after a weekend camping trip. When the officer returns to your car, he says you've been missing for fifteen years.

You exist, despite no country having a record of either your birth or your residence and none claiming you as their citizen, everyone forgetting you when they stop interacting with you and you even disappearing from photos and videos the moment they are taken. It is a rather interesting life.

You're receiving hush money from your boss to the tune of a few thousand dollars a month. The problem is that whatever they're trying to keep quiet, you weren't aware of until this started happening.

“Alright. You’re paid $1000 an hour, full benefits, full international accommodations of all types, and more. All you have to do is push 1 button, at a specific time, once a day.” “What happened to the last person?” The man sighed and started shaking “Um… you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

"Your town... I mean, it's delightful, but do you know if it has always been... here? As in, in this specific location? Because I could have sworn there was a forest here, like, yesterday."