‘What am I?’ Unofficial Challenge Results

For those of you who are new here, the ‘What am I?’ Challenge is about creating a new creature and telling us about them in the form of a story or poem. You can read all about the challenge (prompt, rules, etc.) here in my original post.

For the rest of you waiting on the results, thank you for your patience! Life stuff just gets in the way sometimes. You may recall that I added reinforcements to help me select the five winning entries. Mr. Writes, #1 Daughter, and I have been reading and discussing your fascinating creatures for the past week or so. Finally the results are in! ✉️

First, I want to shine a light on our six runners-up. Here they are linked in the order that they were received.

I’m sorry, I have no idea what makes some appear smaller and others larger when I embed the rich previews to the links. If someone can explain how to make them all the same size, please help me out in the comments and I’ll fix that pronto!

We were impressed by all the entries. You have very vivid imaginations and untapped artistic abilities! Thank you for humoring me with my no AI image rule. I appreciate every one of your lovely drawings! My little green challenge mascot is so proud.

And what a diverse group of creatures! Everybody took the prompt in a different direction. We got a little bit of everything here. Some were creepy. Some were cute. We had man-made and natural phenomena, even a little divine intervention. I call it a success all around!

This short and sweet poem by Mike Singleton taps into our childlike sense of wonder.

A candy machine springs to life inside an abandoned shopping mall in Margy’s atmospheric tale.

A golem (supernatural being made of clay) is a sworn protector taken for granted in this touching metaphor by Jessie Lee.

Paul Stewart outdid himself with the discovery of a creepy species that feeds on human experience. The story is told in a series of case studies of the people affected by its frightening presence. This story also comes with fun extras. Fascinating read!

Sasha Desideri’s delightfully catchy song introduces us to a new hybrid that sees us humans as pets!

Lamar Wiggins’ Megalopherous is a technology that spirals out of control and consumes it too!

Now we present our five challenge winners. Each of them will receive a $5 tip in honor of my 5 year vocalversary 💌

Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin’s cryptid is elusive but extremely effective at catching and correcting mistakes.

Kelli Sheckler-Amsden’s poem will make you think twice about thunderstorms.

This fierce creature by Julie Lackonsen was born for murder and mayhem.

Sara Wilson’s Stinky Pinky creature is such an adorable contradiction. #1 Daughter was especially fond of this one.

Do Not Reply by Ophelia Keene Braeden is a cautionary tale for the way we live online.

The tips will be transferred soon. Thank you all for participating and following my first unofficial challenge! I might even consider a part 2 for those that might have missed the deadline or would like another chance.

Author’s Note: That’s all there is. There isn’t anymore, but since I must reach the minimum word count, here’s a list of awesome ‘creature features.’ To the uninitiated, that’s a horror film sub-genre about a specific monster, alien, or mutant that the heroes must fight.

Let’s start with a classic, the Japanese original, ‘Godzilla!’ What began as a story about the fallout after nuclear bombs fell on Japan became a whole movie franchise with a host of bizarre kaju monsters.

John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ is another great example. Its insidious monster serves as a metaphor for Cold War paranoia of the 1980’s.

And last but not least, The Blob is a creature feature on my watch list. There is a 1950’s version and a 1980’s remake that I hear is pretty good. Don’t look for any deep meaning in this one. It’s just good fun.