Adulting Children's Stories Challenge Winners

Happy Saturday again, folks! It’s only been ten days since the end of my Adulting Children’s Stories Challenge, but I can’t wait any longer to reveal the winners, so I decided to do so early (and, thankfully, I am able to do so despite work commitments).

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who entered the Challenge. I received nine entries from seven participants. For me, that’s a lot. I know that a couple of people weren’t able to make the deadline, so if you still come up with “adulted” children’s stories, please feel free to leave a link to them here and I’ll make sure to read them. I know, that’s nothing compared to a $1, $3, or $5 tip, but a read is still a read, right?

Now, on to the main event: the winners! I would like to remind you that the primary criteria for winning were based on my personal enjoyment of the stories. However, it also involved how well you stretched the stories into an adult form while keeping it connected to the original story.

I’ll have to admit, this was a hard Challenge to judge based on those criteria. I loved all the stories submitted, and each one did a great job of making these stories into adults ones, some of them almost unrecognizable from their original stories except for slight nods and references. However, three stood out to me:

First Place: The Goddess of Misery by Paul Stewart

Prize: $5 tip

Based on the classic Grimm fairy tale “The Elves and the Shoemaker”, Paul Stewart’s “The Goddess of Misery” takes the original tale and turns a lesson of kindness and generosity into something much more gruesome and about the downside of greed, selfishness, and lying. Paul’s trademark Glasgow accent takes the telling of the tale a step further, making it feel like a classic oral tale told through the centuries—even though he created it himself.

Second Place: You’ve Got a Friend in Me by Sara Wilson

Prize: $3 tip

I’ll admit to a slight bias when it comes to Disney stories. Sara Wilson took the penultimate Disney-Pixar tale Toy Story and turned it upside-down, creating a true horror story that gripped me from beginning to end. Of course, there was always something a little off about Woody and his obsession with being Andy’s favorite toy…

Third Place: I Was Framed! by Harper Lewis

Prize: $1 tip

Last, but certainly not least, is Harper Lewis’s retelling of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”, “I Was Framed!” Harper had two excellent entries to this contest, but this one really stood out not only because of her ability to turn Goldilocks into a NSFTW tale but also because of her ability to weave in references to other fairy tales in the most natural and yet hilarious way.

I would also like to recognize, with a special $1 tip, the inspiration for this challenge, Jesse Lee. If it weren’t for his original comment on my “Neverland Lost”, I wouldn’t have ever thought to start this Challenge in the first place. He also gets the distinction of having the longest entry into this Challenge, since his retelling of Bambi, a war story called “What is Truth?”, is told in seven bite-sized chapters!

The rest of the entries can be found below, in no particular order:

Twisted Tale: Hansel & Gretel by Dharrsheena Raja Segarran (Based on “Hansel and Gretel”)

The Third Chair: Just Right by Diane Foster (Based on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”)

Charlie’s Web by Julie Lacksonen (Based on Charlotte’s Web)

Goldie and the Three Bearskin Rugs by Julie Lacksonen (Based on “Goldilocks and the Three Bears”)

Thank you again to everyone who entered! It was a fun Challenge to run! Tips will be sent out today, barring any Vocal technical difficulties.