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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

“Kirzin's Revenge” by Shelby Baertl

Submitted to Contest #117

Everything was ready for the ritual. Kirzin had gathered all the ingredients: some toe of frog, some lizards’ legs, an apple, some salt, and a small chunk of rainbow obsidian. He had raised an eyebrow at the last ingredient, but hey. He had learned by now that certain demons had certain wants and that it wasn’t always the best idea to question them. Especially not when it came to the likes of what he was about to summon. “Sor’Lazn, Creator of Chaos,” the half-disintegrated (but fully ominous) page read. “Do not summon under any ...

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“Miss Halloween ” by L.J. Wright

Submitted to Contest #117

Every year, Ambers holds an annual costume contest at the high school. As an incentive, the winner of Mister and Miss Halloween wins 10k and has a chance to win in a state contest. This year was going to be different—since my wife, Shane, is a judge. The night before the show, I sat at the kitchen table while she talked on the phone. She joined me after hanging up. “Is something wrong?” I asked, taking out my phone. Hannah, my former college roommate, sent me a photo of her dress on a mannequin. She was one of the 25 contestants for Mi...

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“Ball Caps and Costumes” by Kaylee Aleece

Submitted to Contest #117

The riverbank was lonesome, not a soul in sight, but the critters of the forest are alive and well. The birds chirp, some of them sing, and the others hum. They gather in flocks, and they dance through the air whizzing around each other like dragonflies. The sun is hot for the fall season, but the South is usually warm around this time of year. Many locals come here weekly; some of the more dedicated ones come daily, but there is no one today. A pair of trails lead to the river; a person may decide they do not want to swim. Instead, they may...

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“Old Bones by a Yew ” by Kaia Meredith

Submitted to Contest #117

I like to think of my untimely demise as murder. If only because it made my story sound more epic. An unnatural culling told better than the story of a poor, unsuspecting fool struck down by a rogue arrow. Arrows, as far as I’m concerned, are not a naturally occurring phenomenon. Regardless, the tiny spear entered the left side of my head and exited the other. I can’t necessarily recall if I screamed in pain or if I futilely attempted to stop the bleeding. (These sudden lapses of memory have become rather common lately. I can’t help b...

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“Missing a Long Time” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #117

Missing for a Long Time The phone rang. Tom, a young officer picked it up and tried to say, “Hello, Police Station Number Five” with as much authority as he could muster. It was his first week of work, and he wanted to sound as professional as he could.The reply was short and straight forward, which was a good thing, as the connection was weak. The male voice on the phone simply said, “Sarah is missing.”“How long has she been missing?”“I am not sure. We haven’t seen her for a while.”“Where did you last see her?”“On Fleetw...

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“The Little Skeleton” by Krys Parcher

Submitted to Contest #117

The October wind blew through the dark sky, howling like a dozen wolves to the moon, leaves swirling through the streets like cyclones. Frost begins to form, blanketing each blade of grass in icy crystals. Children crowd the sidewalks with pumpkin pails and pillow cases and wagons full to the brims with candy. Doorbells are ringing and the street echoes with “trick or treat” howls. Little fairies and princesses and superheroes and ghouls shivering as they make their way from house to house. A group of children are walking down Maple Meadow...

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“Saltery Cove Road” by Renee Mack

Submitted to Contest #117

The problem with living in Kodiak is that it is very easy to hide a body. Even if there were no bodies to be found, there’s no way to tell the difference. Our town, this beautiful emerald island, could be hiding countless mysteries. I hadn’t even considered this possibility until Granddad brought in the paper that morning. Normally, he reads the whole thing, front to back—save for the comic strips; he leaves those for me—but on that Monday morning, when Mom and Jessie had just left for work, he was staring at the front page with an expressio...

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“Cora Isaacs” by Lin Macredie

Submitted to Contest #117

*Trigger Warning* Disturbing subject matter (pregnancy) The spotlight drew enough attention without flashing lights to alarm folks. They were going forty in a sixty-five zone and people passed the cruiser like it had a flat in the Indy 500. The brake lights and screeching tires when people realized they’d bombed past the fuzz provided Deputy Blake and Deputy Taylor with needed entertainment. They’d made two passes for each side of the old highway and no girl with black hair, mid-twenties, or teens, depending on the caller, had turned up. ...

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“The Baseball Incident” by McKeon Gardella

Submitted to Contest #117

It was a perfect Saturday morning in the town of Melville for a youth baseball game. The game was between the Melville Raiders and the Townsend Barons at Kingsley field. The late Spring weather was warm and sunny. The only barometric atmospheric pressure was in the mind of the Raider’s twelve-year-old pitcher, Mitchell LeFlore. Mitchell stood on the pitching mound trying to throw strikes to the opposing Batter. “You got this sweetie!” Maureen LeFlore yelled from the stands to Mitchell. Mitchell was embarrassed by his Mom’s outburst but had ...

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“What Happened to Mason Keating?” by Kellen Geneva

Submitted to Contest #117

A year has passed since the night twenty-three-year-old Mason Keating, older brother to seventeen-year-old Layla Keating, went into the woods on Halloween and never returned. Search teams canvased the surrounding trees to no avail. Foul play was not expected, and lack of a body has led to many speculations. If anyone has any information, they should contact the Sheriff’s office. Layla shoved the news clipping she had found at the gas station outside of town into her pocket. She now stood in the clearing in those woods where many liked to v...

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“The Kids from the Woods” by Daniel Roueche

Submitted to Contest #117

“Where’re your parents at?” Brendon asked the small boy standing in front of him. The boy, who couldn’t be any older than seven, looked at him like Brendon was speaking a foreign language. “You lost?” he asked. The boy remained a statue. His tiny frame barely visible through the large trees of the forest. ...

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“The Unhallowed Horseman ” by Jude S. Walko

Submitted to Contest #117

Content warning: horror and some goreIt was a particularly rainy All Hollow’s Eve, just on the outskirts of Tarrytown, New York, a sleepy little hamlet nestled in the Catskills of upstate.There at the covered bridge, just on the outskirts of town was the boundary between two worlds. One being the here-and-now earth dimension most of us are familiar with, and the other being the netherworld part of the multiverse where the Unhallowed Horseman resided.Many had heard of his tale. A particularly astute scholar by the name of Washington Irving ha...

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“Deadman speaking” by Mikeal Oakley

Submitted to Contest #117

Malcolm sat on his bench dressed in thick warm clothing, drinking a cup of hot tea, listening to music in his ear buds. Peace, no stress, no hallucination, just peace of mind. He sipped his tea, when he noticed a glowing string out on the fire escape. Malcolm's eyes followed it up to his lap, he picked it up and tugged on it, feeling it loosely around his neck. It tugged back, and he was encircled in warmth. Something he usually felt when Tala showed her face. ‘Go,’ a hush voice said, ‘Momma, wait for you at the tree.’ Malcolm could only...

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“The Well” by Brandon Redding

Submitted to Contest #117

The WellIt feels like it’s been raining for days. A stubborn mist smothers the sky, blotting out any semblance of the sun. It’s been like this since he’s been gone. For weeks the weather has served as a good excuse not to come here. That, and the fact I don’t believe in this place. But with each passing day, its pull draws me closer. I can’t put it off any longer. You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone in our sleepy, little town who doesn’t know the legend of the well...

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“Please Help, I've Lost My Friend” by Sharon Farnsworth

Submitted to Contest #117

Please Help, I’ve Lost My FriendI raced into the elevator tapping fingers as we went down to the first floor. I rushed into daycare saying hello to everyone on the way in and on the way out. I gripped my boy’s hand as we ran through the parking garage trying to beat as many drivers as we could.My briefcase and pocketbook slid back and forth on the passenger seat as I drove up the ramp while winding the...

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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!

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