Through the Keyhole Challenge Winners

It starts with a look you were not supposed to take. Through the Keyhole asked writers to explore what happens next, the truth that seeps in, the lines that blur, the things we cannot unsee. Here are the pieces that hold that moment open just long enough to let the light in...

🏆 Winners

A Silent Life of Borrowed Movements by Imola Tóth

Imola Tóth's story draws you in with its visceral sense of place and the haunting simplicity of Rose’s journey. The keyhole isn’t just a divide between spaces; it becomes a lens through which innocence fades and understanding deepens.

Revelation 17:4 by Hannah Moore

Hannah Moore's piece lands hard right from the start with a child’s innocent and unsettling gaze through a literal keyhole. The voice feels hauntingly authentic, drawing you into a world where innocence and institutional darkness collide.

It is now by Cali Loria

Cali Loria hooks you right away with an eerie eye-test setup that slips into a blurred mix of memory and identity. What begins as something routine turns quietly unsettling, full of vivid detail and unease. The keyhole becomes a mirror here, reflecting how we see ourselves and what we try to hide.

The Brass Eye by Paul Stewart

Paul's The Brass Eye pulls you in with a slow, uneasy rhythm that never lets up. The tension builds line by line until watching starts to feel like being watched. The way he uses the keyhole isn’t just clever; it turns into a question about what we choose to see and what we ignore.

Double Life by Raistlin Allen

Raistlin Allen's piece sinks its teeth in right from the start with its dark, uneasy closeness. The voice feels personal in a way that makes you lean in, even when it gets uncomfortable. The keyhole becomes a mirror here, turning the act of watching into something risky and real.

🎖️ Runners-up

• Laid To Rest by Matthew Fromm
• *Do Not Read* by Tyler C Clark (he/they)
• The Illiterate Laureate by D. J. Reddall
• Noise Complaint by Lindsay Shiner Packard
• Blue Peepshow by Edward Swafford
• Cosmic Microcosms by Gerard DiLeo
• Hoag’s Object by Amos Glade
• Through The Keyhole Blooms A Flower by John R. Godwin
• Across the Way by Julie Lacksonen
• Her Hopes Up in Smoke by Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
• Aubade by Guia Nocon
• Sibyl's Stream by C. Rommial Butler
• I Wish for Fish by Thomas Speer
• The Crossing by K.H. Obergfoll
• Unnatural Predators by Douglas Romoser

🏅 Honorable Mentions

• Rebirth by Stephen A. Roddewig
• Through the Keyhole by mesa
• Safer Inside by Aubrey Rebecca
• Through 6B by Steph Marie
• The Willowbrook Home for Foundlings by Aaron Morrison
• Peep by S. A. Crawford
• Tattered Riches by Cathy Schieffelin
• The Unwilling Resistance by Kaitlin Oster
• Clarity by Simon Curtis
• The League of the Jaguar by Natalie Demoss

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