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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

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

Posted in Horror on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 34 stories

“The Consequences” by Babyann Hernandez

Submitted to Contest #117

****Trigger Warning: content Contains Sexaul assualt, Blood, Violence and Lots of Cursing.**** What’s the definition of a bad person? I used to think it was just those who harmed others. Sexual predators, serial killers, murderers. Lately, I’ve regressed. I don’t believe bad people exist anymore. I believe people are just driven to extremes from deep severe pain or anger. Turning minds back to primal times. Kill or be killed. Protect or die trying. I’m just a woman. One might say I had a promising future. Looks? Check. Street smarts? C...

14 comments 14
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“Not the T.F.” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #117

“If you follow the herd, you will be treated like cattle.” He knew he needed a good opening line. He began this speech in the right way. Most of the people in the crowd knew it; those who were new to the group chuckled, smiled and thought that he had said something quite profound. “I am not going to forget that one.” “Like something that Mark Twain or that Wilde guy would have said.” “Did anyone write that down? You have a pen?” He was proud of the effect produced. Looking over his notes, he realized that he knew this speech so well that he ...

9 comments 9
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“Bitter Revenge” by Howard Seeley

Submitted to Contest #117

It felt as if I was dreaming, when I heard the news. Of all the ladies of the court, I was the one chosen to serve the king. Mother always told me I had more courage than my father and when they announced this position and though I was only sixteen, I didn’t hesitate to apply for it. Tears of joy poured down my mother’s face when I told her the news. “I’m so proud of you, Clare,” she cried. “Go and do our family proud.” Playfully, she brushed me to my room to pack my belongings. The next day, had I found myself standing in line for inspect...

11 comments 11
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“A House so Deadly” by Kenna Stacks

Submitted to Contest #117

Trigger warning: Murder, death, violence, blood.I hate Halloween. You could call me whatever the orange and black version of the Grinch would be because I wanted to trip every little sticky brat filling the sidewalks demanding to have treats thrown into their pillowcases. I wanted to rip down every stupid, gaudy decoration and take a bat to the jack-o'-lanterns lining my street. Those crude carvings of faces in bright orange, circular fruits never kept the evil away like it was supposed to, anyway. But that would make me a monster, and Belli...

7 comments 7
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“An Uninvited Guest” by Cait McNeal

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #117

Dancers spun past in whirling flurries of color:  scarlets, golds, midnight blues and deep luxurious purples. Wine flowed freely and tables stood piled high with succulent dishes too tempting for even the solomnest guest to resist. Revelers drifted past on feet made light by merriment. Lightning split the sky outside, and a heavy rain beat a martial rhythm against the enormous windows but inside laughter echoed through the ornate hall, reverberating off marble columns and a domed ceiling gilded with filigree. The walls were adorned with...

6 comments 6
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“A Halloween Cat-astrophe” by Tanya Humphreys

Submitted to Contest #117

As I lounged on the tree branch, I observed the witches below me, engaged in their spooky yet hypnotic dance. I imagined I was a powerful panther, my silky coat of black making me one with the inky shadows. ‘Invisible.’ I froze perfectly still to not give away my watchful perch. Well, almost perfectly still. The tip of my tail twitched, giving away my anxiety concerning the scene below me. They were not real witches of course, but young hopefuls in costume. The thirteen young women gyrated and swayed around the bonfir...

3 comments 3
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“A Chainsaw Masquerade” by Allie Guilderson

Submitted to Contest #117

 TRIGGER WARNING: Violence, Gore, Domestic violenceTravis slumps into the tattered recliner and kicks his feet up. Though the mud on his work boots will no doubt smear the fabric, he doesn’t care. He doesn’t have the energy to remove them. There’s a knock at the door, but he ignores it. They’re just trick or treaters, he saw them on his way home.He shifts, trying to find a comfortable position in the squeaky, decrepit chair, and gazes longingly at the sofa. The mustard yellow shams wink at him, begging him to come and lay against its un...

6 comments 6
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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...

0 comments 0
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“Is Everyone a Monster on Halloween?” by Elizabeth Fenley

Submitted to Contest #117

SorchaEveryone is a monster on Halloween. I am a monster every day. On Halloween, I don’t have to hide.I was human once, cursed after death for my supposed sins, condemned to an eternity of insatiable hunger for human flesh—living is delicious, succulent, but dead will suffice. We are the Jikininki, widely known in the US as wendigos. We retain our basic humanoid, bipedal structure, but our facial features are grotesquely distorted. Deep-set glowing silver eyes shelter under a prominent, hairless brow ridge of early humans, homo erectus. A f...

7 comments 7
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“Unmasked at Last” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #117

                                       Unmasked at Last    For many years the rundown farmhouse had stood abandoned at the end of the country road in one of the dark forests of the northern Delmarva Peninsula.    The farmhouse appeared to have no useful value to anyone and, as far as anyone knew, no one had liv...

5 comments 5
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“Humphrey's Ice Party” by Karena G

Submitted to Contest #117

Travelers come to our small southern town of Humphrey from all over the world just to see the permanently frozen pond. Naturally, tourism is more rampant in the summer when the outside temperature hovers around ninety degrees. In the 1970s, geologists migrated from all over the world to study it; none ever able to find the root of the phenomenon or the age of the pond. The town was smart enough to make a civic campground in the footprint of the scientists’ departure, though. When kids can go skating outdoors in mid-July, tourists will pay ...

0 comments 0
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“The Costume and The Game” by K.E. Thomas

Submitted to Contest #117

The invite intrigued me. It was a standard Halloween party invitation but printed at the bottom was the slightest mention of a game. There wasn’t an explanation of the game, just that a great reward would be involved for those who played. I loved Halloween and couldn’t wait to go to the party. I began to get ready. A zombie bride was sure to make a splash. Besides, I’d wanted to do something with my wedding dress after my husband ran off with some girl. Finally, I was ready. The costume was complete with a tiara and death white skin. I’d tak...

3 comments 3
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“Halloween Party ” by Karen Lethlean

Submitted to Contest #117

Halloween Party Phone, as always, interrupts. Damn I will never get this mess of forms finished nor reduce patients queued outside in the waiting room. Complaints about waiting time in public hospitals clinics, already enormous will grow gargantuan. ‘We’re organising a Halloween party. It will be fancy dress, ghosts, monsters, Halloween-ish things. Do you want to come?’ Jill gushes. ‘Should I bring anything?’ ‘If you like, bring something for supper.’ ‘No’, I interjected when Jill takes a breath, ‘I really meant to say – anyone? A da...

4 comments 4
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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...

4 comments 4
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