'What am I?' Unofficial Challenge

Updated: July 6th, 2026

The challenge is now closed. We received 11 fabulous entries and they are all linked below. Our judges, Mr. writes and #1 Daughter are going to make their decisions this week and I should be posting the results by this weekend. Thank you all so much for your participation and/or following my first challenge! 😊

Updated: June 14th, 2026

Hi everyone! Thank you for enthusiastically embracing my first challenge! We have already gotten a few entries which I’ve added below. I also want to take this time to remind you about rule #1, which is not to use AI for your cover art.

If you’ve already entered something with an AI image, then I’d like to give you this opportunity to replace the image with a human-made one. That way it can still be eligible. But going forward, I’ll have to disqualify anything that uses AI.

I know some of you have said that you do not consider yourself a visual artist. That’s okay, you are not being judged on your cover art. I listed some art mediums in the rules, but those are just examples. As long as you are not using AI it’s all good. Someone mentioned sculpture. That would work! Just snap us a pic. You could even arrange some found objects and slap some googly eyes on them. I’m not picky! 😊

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After 5 years on Vocal, it seems I am overdue to host one of these unofficial challenges. It’s not from a lack of ideas. Then what’s been holding me back for so long?

You all have set such a high bar that I wasn’t sure I was up to the challenge of hosting my own challenge. Plus, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and all that jazz.

I’ve enjoyed so many of your wonderful imaginative challenges as both a participant and a reader. Big props to anybody who hosts their own challenge.

Okay. Drumroll, please…🥁

For my challenge I’d like you to write a story about a new cryptid or mythological creature of your own design! It could be a new urban legend like Bigfoot or Mothman. It could be a hybrid like the Centaur, the Minotaur (all the ‘taurs). It could be like something from The Island of Dr. Moreau.

The creature should have their own unique origin. It doesn’t have to be an origin story per se but please include some allusion to where they might have come from. Did they hatch from an egg? Crawl out of the sewer? Maybe they are a freak of nature, supernatural being, or the unfortunate side effect of a scientific experiment gone wrong.

The tone can be funny, tragic, or unhinged.

You can write it from the creature’s point of view or scientists observing them. It could even be their ex-spouse or partner talking shit about them. I don’t know. The world’s your oyster.

Write about the creature’s physical characteristics but also be sure to address what makes them tick. What pisses them off? What’s their primary source of dopamine? Make us have sympathy for them or make us hate them.

How do they interact with the world around them? Are they a hermit? An internet famous influencer? You could get really clever and make it an allegory about one of society’s ills. There are so many to choose from.

Make it weird. Surprise me.

Challenge Rules

• Include a picture of your creature without using AI. This is important. Any human generated medium is welcome (paint, pen, crayon, photo collage) or you can use old school Microsoft Paint. If you don’t want to do it yourself, you could commission a friend or enlist the help of loved one.
• Submit your story to the Fiction, Poetry or horror community.
• Word Count should be 100-600 words.
• Only one entry per person.
• The Challenge starts now and ends on July 4th, 2026.
• Please include a link to this challenge somewhere in your story.
• To submit, just include a link to your story in the comments here.
• I will do my best to update this post with links to all the entries.

Challenge Winners

• I am a bit of a coward with analysis paralysis, so I will not be judging this challenge alone. My husband (age 44) and daughter (age 11) will be assisting me with choosing the winners. Don’t worry. You don’t have to censor yourself too much. It’s fine if you sprinkle in a few curse words here and there. Just keep it PG-13. If the story calls for some gory chainsaw murders or a graphic sex scene, just use the content label and Mr. Writes and I will review those without the kiddo. It’s not a perfect system, but I don’t want to limit your creativity!
• Please give us a week (or two) to read all the entries and make our decisions.
• In honor of my 5-year vocalversary, we’ll choose five winners to receive a $5 tip.

• Tips will be paid through the vocal tipping system, so please be sure you are set up to receive them.

I hope this challenge inspires you. Good luck. We look forward to reading your stories! 🩷

Challenge Entries: