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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#117: All Hallows' Eve

October 31st: Halloween — or All Hallows’ Eve, to give it its spookier name. Just an excuse to wear a costume? Or, for one night a year, do spirits walk among us? 


The Celts certainly thought so — and many of our own holiday pastimes stem from the methods they used to keep Halloween ghosts at bay. Others, like bobbing for apples, evolved from Halloween rituals for matchmaking and divining the future. 


Personally, I prefer to spend the holiday with my nose in a spooky story rather than a bowl of icy water, which is why this week’s prompts are designed to put you in touch with your macabre side. Happy Halloween!

This week's prompts

Start your story with the words “Everything was ready for the ritual.”

Horror – 48 stories

Write about a character who uses a night where everyone’s in costume as cover for something sinister.

Horror – 34 stories

Write about a missing person nobody seems to know or remember.

Thriller and Suspense – 49 stories

Set your story at the boundary between two realms.

Halloween – 69 stories

Write about someone whose busiest night of the year is Halloween.

Halloween – 26 stories

Stories

“Changeling ” by Kaleigh Johnson

Submitted to Contest #117

A chill bit through Hanna’s thin shawl. She wrapped it tighter around herself, brushing off errant leaves. Her head hurt and the world slightly spun. She put a slender hand on the trunk near her and took in the sight and smell of the forest. It didn’t make sense. How did she get here? Her mind was a fog, but Hanna was sure it had been a beautiful spring day when she had come to pick mushrooms for dinner. Now, she hardly recognized where she was in this picturesque fall forest. A slight breeze ruffled orange and red leaves, scattering them ...

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“Trees” by Leah Murphy

Submitted to Contest #117

**Warning: Coarse Language** Outskirts of Salem Town, Massachusetts. 1694 A brutal February wind rattled the front door of the lonely farmhouse. Small wisps of cool air wafting in through the thin walls tested the warmth of the dull fire burning.  The sisters dined on salt pork stew in an awkward silence. “Abigail, the trial-” “Enough about the trial, Mary. There is no evidence.” “But it did not go well, it’s only a matter of time before-” “I said enough about the damned trial.” Abigail glared at her sister across the tabl...

4 comments 4
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“You're Not Wearing Makeup” by Michael Regan

Submitted to Contest #117

[Scientists tell us there could be an infinite number of universes, some almost the same as ours. Of course travelling between them is impossible. . . . Or is it?]John Smith, a boring name for a boring man, is hurrying to get dressed. His wife is dragging him to a lecture on travelling to another astral plane. ‘Just a load of crap’ As usual, he is late. His wife, Margret, is waiting at the bottom of the stairs.‘If we are late for the lecture I will be hearing about it for the next month.’ Margret Smith is a tall, slim woman. She had bee...

2 comments 2
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“Come Play with Me” by Lexi Duckett

Submitted to Contest #117

October 31, 1982. North Carolina.Six-year-old Alice Anderson woke up and sat up in bed. She pulled the covers back and climbed out of bed. She chose an outfit and got dressed. Nothing felt weird about that day. Why would it? She didn't feel scared, she felt no uneasiness, the day felt normal just like every other day.Alice liked Halloween, she liked getting to pick a costume and dress up. She loved carving a pumpkin, all aspects of the holiday were fun to her. At the age of six, Alice had no idea what the day held. She had no idea that was t...

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“The Changeling” by Emma Wood

Submitted to Contest #117

God, Ailsa had wished that getting Poppy back from the fairies would have been the end of the matter. But it was just the beginning. *** Ailsa had only seen the girl a few times around the department. She was a transfer, Ailsa had been able to pick up from her colleagues’ idle chatter, and showed a lot of promise in her classes, according to Professor Hannock. Ailsa felt for the girl as she watched the redhead stand awkwardly to the side as the party descended into an avid philosophical debate about the term “Celt”—everyone in there had k...

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“Fuzzball Fry’s” by Ophelia McBride

Submitted to Contest #117

The old electronics store had closed down years ago. But those who remembered it knew it was so much more. Every child would beg their mother to stop on their errands to run into the store and see him. The pride of the quiet town. He played every Friday and Sunday, from 12:30 to 1, a schedule every kid had engraved into their brains. And on those days, when the summer days got hot, or when the winter wind rushed through the playgrounds, people of all ages would sit down on the cold marble floor, stare up at the blinking lights and the bright...

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“The Last Of Us” by Evan Jackson

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. Elijah had been up all morning checking and double checking the preparations they made for this night. It was just after sundown when he woke her up. " Are you sure about this?” Elijah asks his wife. " I’m sure” Miriam yawns, still waking up. She searches her husband’s face in the failing candlelight. He looks afraid even though he’s trying not to. She reaches a hand up to caress his worried face. He responds by kissing her hand and then her forehead. He pulls her into an embrace and says. " Well I’m not ...

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“The Curse of Blackwater” by Rik Lelic

Submitted to Contest #117

(Trigger Warning: Rape, Abortion, Violence) Ages ago, when petty kings fought for dominance over the land, lawlessness and cruelty were sovereign. Chaos was most rampant in the neglected countryside, far removed from the trappings of civilization. The Lords, busy with their squabbles, cared naught for the common folk. They waged war as long as there were boys to be taken and armed for their hosts. One such Lord, a knight no less, was a man of bravery but also fierce temperament. His victories in war made him rich both from its spoils, as...

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“The Broken Dollhouse” by Darlene McDonald

Submitted to Contest #117

I dropped the bloody ax to the ground and dragged it behind me down the hallway. This eerie thudding sound caused the couple in front of me to glance nervously over their shoulders and pick up their pace, feeling along the walls as they went. I knew they couldn’t see me in the darkness. They had just been semi-blinded by bright lights in the last room they were in and I was dressed all in black, with even my face shrouded.  I also knew they were about to run into a dead end.  As they felt along the wall and real...

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“The Blood Moon's Other Side” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything is ready for the ritual.”Four Blood Demons surrounded a figure in a desolate room, abandoned by its inhabitants, left for decades to the forces of entropy, decay, and chaos.Thresh, tall, pale grey, and skeletal with six horns atop her head, another set on her shoulders, used a talon to slice the burlap sack from the person’s head.Teegen winced, biting her lips to keep herself from screaming. Her eyes adjusted to the faint light—and wished she could crawl back inside the safety of the bag.Thresh opened her Jack-o’-lantern peaked j...

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“Beyond Yon Hedge” by Don Green

Submitted to Contest #117

I stood on the front porch next to my wife and swayed just a bit. It required only three stabs with my forefinger to actually trigger the doorbell. To be completely transparent, I'd already had a little too much to drink. "Pregaming," was what I called it. "Stupidity," was the term my wife used. In retrospect, she was right. There would be, after all, plenty of free alcohol at the party, and as someone who doesn't always understand his own limits, there'd likely be more than enough for me to exceed them. Still, we arrived at the pa...

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“Day of the Dead, Night of the Reaper” by Heather Johnsen-Gisi

Submitted to Contest #117

"Do I really have to go?" I smile compassionately at the young man in front of me. "No Son, you have fortunately died on a very special night and can take your time." The young man looks around the mess of the car crash and gathered observers to the pumpkins in the yards beyond. He looked back at the people. "Why can't they see us?" "You are no longer here, my friend. Not your flesh and blood anyway. Now stop wasting time. Go see your family for I will be back at midnight." The eighteen-year-old, still dressed in a skeleton costume, nods and...

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“Trick or Treat” by Gabi Coatsworth

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual of Halloween. The doorbell rang at intervals, as tiny dragons, gangsters, and princesses giggled their way up the porch steps looking for candy. Inside, she and Rick had been talking, yet again, about their marriage. Twenty years moving at speed, to begin with, but now as exhausted as a patient dying of cancer. Perhaps the reason she’d brought the subject up was that they were bound to be interrupted, and each hiatus would give her time to consider her tactics. As the evening wore on, the debate had st...

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“A Morning Walk - To The Other Side ” by John Maes

Submitted to Contest #117

A glorious morning seemed at hand as I stepped out for a walk. A few thin cloud patches floated above but they did little to hide the brilliant blue of the sky. The sights and sounds of summer abounded. A hummingbird hovered near me. A small airplane droned lazily overhead. A mower engine sputtered in the distance, scenting the air with the aroma of newly-mowed lawn.      I wanted badly to adopt the mood of the morning as my own but I just couldn’t. My nerves were completely raw from the stresses of the day befo...

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“The Dying Grass.” by Ben Cerasi

Submitted to Contest #117

“Everything was ready for the ritual.” The Dying Grass Moon burned red as it set itself upon the land. As the seeds and the green broke through the dire earth, The valley was kind to its tenants. But it asked for a tithe in kind.   The canal passageways once nourished the roots, the hoofed beasts and the tiller . The ripples shifted from black to red alongside the night fires. Smoke and ash danced across the twilight. old almond groves had to be purged and returned to the soil. The charred haze from brush fires in Sonora and Nap...

1 comment 1
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$250

Prize money

226

Contest entries

153

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 29, 2021 EST

Won by John Merino 🏆

Title: Sleep Story

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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