It’s the First of the Month

We know it by many names. October. Spooky Season. Spooktober.

…I’m sure there are more out there.

Anyhow, with an increase in focus on the scary comes an influx of scary content. New horror book unveilings. New spooky challenges on Vocal, coinciding with a decided uptick in the number of unnerving stories making it to the front page with the vaunted crown of Top Story. They even decided to throw in a holiday at some point to cap it all off. Quiet prescient.

And that’s not even factoring in the influx of new horror movies, spooky TV marathons, haunted house attractions, Ghost Adventures specials, and the ever-present existential dread of existence lurking in the depths of our souls.

This is good. It’s logical. It’s the contract we all signed to live, breathe, and write fear for 31 days each year.

But now it’s November 1st, people. Spooktober is dead and buried, people.

So, let’s review what that means so we can get the rest of the year started on the right note. Consider this a friendly reminder 😊

The Rules

1) No more scary stories until October 1st. That means the Horror Community should be as silent as, well, the grave. And don’t think you can get around this by posting to the Fiction Community instead. We’ll be checking.

2) No more Vocal horror challenges. Writing about witches and inventing spells was fun, but it’s time to move on.

Time to write about deserts… and made-up-words… and whatever a “senryu” is. See? Way more fun.

2b) No more community-sourced horror challenges. I’m looking at you, Paul Stewart. The “Unnerve, Unsettle, And Scare Me” challenge needs to be wrapped up. Now. I know you said folks had until November 10th, but clearly you forgot the social contract we all signed here. So make the executive move and cut it off today. Sorry, late entrants. The early bird gets the worm, right?

If you’re not Paul Stewart, please skip the next two paragraphs.

(Hey, Paul. I know this whole date thing might put you in a bit of a bind with your readership, so I came up with a workaround: you can always Quick Edit that date back to today and no one will ever be able to prove it wasn’t always November 1st. Clearly they’re victims of the Mandela Effect. Case closed.

Thanks, buddy. Appreciate your cooperation here even though you outrank me now with your recent 1st place win and don’t have to listen to me. That’s really cool of you.)

Thanks for joining me down here, non-Paul Stewarts (don’t worry, he’ll catch up with us in a minute). Onward to the final rule!

3) No more horror Top Stories. Just as we have all agreed to cease all dark fiction and horror writing on this site, the Vocal moderators have also agreed to cease promoting any and all spooky stories.

And I don’t just mean no more Top Story for new posts, mods. However you’re going back and finding pieces published months and years ago and raising them to the front page, that needs to stop, too. Just because the author got away with sharing something scary outside of October in the past doesn’t mean we condone that behavior now.

So what *can* we write, then?

Great question, Mackenzie. Thanks for asking 😊

Here’s list of all non-horror genres that are ripe for new content:

1. Science Fiction
2. Fantasy
3. Articles about Vocal (Top Story, here you come!)

And there you go, list complete. So many different ways to make the next 11 months exciting and fruitful.

What’s that? There’s more genres than that? Well, I’d love to see just one resource that has a longer inventory than what I’ve so painstakingly compiled.

In fact, why don’t you go ahead and name me some if you’re so in-tune with the writing world? Let’s say, 200?

What’s that? You can’t? That’s what I thought.

See? I’m a reasonable guy. Always open to a discussion 😊

Final Reminder

All these rules may sound spartan, but remember, we all signed this contract. It’s up to us to uphold the norms of this collective or face the collapse of Vocal society* as we know it (*not to be confused with Vocal Social Society). I’m counting on each and every one of you here.

Now, I know there have been a few infractions today: a few new horror stories posted, a few new Top Stories awarded. Transition is hard. I understand. We’re all still hung over from Halloween the night before, including the Vocal editorial team, apparently. So I’m willing to be reasonable and look the other way on these understandable slipups.

But it better not happen again after today. Grace period over.

I mean it.

Don’t think you can just draft your horror stories when I’m not looking. I hear you typing in the corner, Lamar.

Seriously, me and the other Vocal Stephens are on it this year. No more freebies.

Don’t make us come over there.

That's it: put the laptop down and get some sunshine. Great idea.

Okay, now that we’ve all brushed up on the rules of the road and are on track to make the next 11 months our best yet, allow me to conclude in the immortal words of RoboCop:

(He’ll also come for you if he hears you’ve been playing fast and loose with the rules. Remember that.)