Dollar Challenge - Quote Me Baby (Let's Talk About Death, Bay-bee)

I set an unofficial dollar challenge for August and September. Here it is:

TL;DR...

Write something spectacular based on this quote:

"Women are wicked when you're unwanted."

- Jim Morrison

The idea here was to examine how well we write women, and try to do it better. How strong are your female characters? By which, I don't mean, can they hand a man's arse to him. I mean, are they fully realised? Flawed? Do they have their own arc, or are they just propping up a male character, or otherwise fuel for another character? Do they feel real? Are they more than just a victim, or a stand in for a sexy lamp?

The Responses

Here are the entries, in no particular order:

Tea with Friends by Kendall Defoe

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Somewhere Special by Paul (he's not even His Majesty anymore, we're all just referring to him by his first name only. Like Madonna, or Beyonce):

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Excerpts from The Emily Entries by Stephanie Hoogstad

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Same She Is by Jesse Lee

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Outsider by Mike, another first name only Vocal royalty character if ever I knew one:

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Be Women Wicked? by Novel Allen

A shiny dollar is being flung at my favourites as we speak.

Moving on...

As you have no doubt twigged by now, these challenges are always centred around a quote. Since the King of Horror just celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago, I thought I'd pinch a quote from him this time.

A Morbid Prompt For Halloween:

Sometimes dead is better.

- Stephen King (Pet Semetary)

Mission: Triflingly Bothersome

Your mission (should you choose to accept it) is, as usual:

Write me a piece inspired by the quote

Cheat sheet

Here's me throwing my shiny dollars around, feeling all powerful and shit. What am I looking for?

Last year, I did a Hallowe'en-y prompt for October. I asked you to frighten me, to write something spooky.

This year, I'd like to see a slightly different take. That's not to say the pieces can't be scary or involve the paranormal. Not at all. I would love it if they did. But - let's be real (really morbid) for a second here. Death is real, and it's possible there is, for many people, nothing more fascinating or frightening.

There are things worse than death, though.

Have you read Pet Semetary? It's awful. Gut-wrenching stuff. But despite the love and grief expertly portrayed, despite the anguish... Even still, we come to the conclusion that dead is better.

A recent piece from me, so you can see what I mean (it won't land the same as if you'd stumbled on it organically, which is a shame. You have an idea, going in, where it is going. Here goes anyway...)

Maybe you don't agree. Maybe you think death is the worst. Oblivion. The end. The snuffing of a life. Your story might work to convince us of this view. You might not think "dead is better" - but somebody in the story should, if only so you can argue your case against them.

The Stretch

They say that at this time of year, the veil grows thin. If ever we could commune with our long-gone ancestors, now is the time. Summat to do this weekend, innit?

If you'd like to really impress me, someone in your story needs to come back from... wherever it is dead people go... and not be happy about it.

Who is it? Could be anyone. Someone close to you, someone famous, someone you made up.

How did they come back? Unfinished business? Love? A hankering for Halloween snacks?

And why aren't they happy about it? Is Heaven just so lovely? Maybe they're a historical figure, and don't feel like they belong here, or they were traumatised at having to dig their way out of their own grave. Is it Trump? The possibilities are endless.

Them's the rules

Word count: No limit, but if you write a piece that Vocal tells me is longer than a 5 minute read, I'm only promising to read that one from you and not a second one.

Prizes: Same as always - I'll tip my favourites a dollar each. I read every piece, so at minimum you get a hapenny. Can't say fairer than that.

Winners: If more than 10 people enter, I'll pick 3. More than 20, I'll pick 5. More than 50 (unlikely): $20 first prize, $5 runner up, 5x$1 Honorable Mentions.

Content: As ever: you can include the quote, in which case it should feel like it belongs. Or your story can be inspired by it, in which case the link should be clear. You can submit to any community.

Closing date: 11:59PM GMT, 30th November 2026

Important: Do the usual - link back here so others can give it a go, and remember to link your submission in the comments 👇

Thank you for reading!

If you took part in the Women's Edition challenge, THANK YOU!

If you give this one a bash, THANK YOU!!

I can't wait to see what you come up with!