Spooky Shorts
Spooky Shorts
This challenge has endedPrizes
First place: $1,000
Second place: $500
Third place: $250
Dates to know
October 9: Submissions open
October 15, 11:59 PM ET: Submissions closed
October 20: Winners announced
About this Challenge
We're giving "ghostwriter" a whole new meaning with this week's challenge: Compose a creative horror story, fiction or creative nonfiction, no longer than 2,000 words. You can take the story in any direction you'd like—the only element of your tale we require is that you include a candle in a window at some point in your narrative. Whether it's an integral element to your story or just a brief detail, it's the only requirement your story must include. 🕯️
Enter the Spooky Shorts Challenge and get those creaky, cobwebby, creative wheels turning. We can't wait to be spooked senseless.
Requirements
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 2,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until October 15, 2020, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Spooky Shorts Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.
How to enter
- Create your story on Vocal.
- When submitting your story for review, select Submit to a challenge and select Spooky Shorts.
- When your story has been approved, it will appear under Submissions on this page.
Submit an existing story:
Challenge Resources
The Mysterious Case of Dr. William Packman
An air of indescribable darkness prevailed in the Packmans’ home on the morning of February 5th, 1956. Martha Packman had never before heard her mother, Victoria, utter as earth-shattering a scream as she did then.
LA Dating ChroniclesPublished 2 days ago in CriminalThe Wrong Heist
It was a lot of money. Like, bundles of it. Mainly fifties and hundreds, all neatly bound with paper wrappers, and I was pretty stunned.
Russell AlexanderPublished 2 days ago in CriminalThe Secrets of the Black Book
“Hey welcome! I’m glad you could make it! Come in, come in, have a seat! Whew, it’s freezing out there! I can’t believe how much snow has fallen, since we last spoke an hour ago, but I’m glad you made it through this snowstorm, safe and sound. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll take your coat, grab the black book out of the study, and then we can get started. You may have a seat by the fireplace, if you’d like, to warm yourself up! I just put some fresh logs on the fire, so that should last us a few hours. Alright, let me go hang up your coat, grab the book, and I’ll be right back.”
A World of ExpressionsPublished 2 days ago in Journal