Spooky Story Competition
And The Winner Is ...

Prize: Online Novel and Short Story Writing Course Worth £419

Thank you to everyone who entered our Spooky Story Competition. We had a fantastic response to this competition with over 60 entries. The quality of the stories was really high and I struggled to pick a winner. 

Short list

Linda Downs – Southern Gothic

Arijit Ganguly – Jump

Cat Zablocki – Premonition

Paul Norris – Tick, tick, tick

Susan Corfield – The Phantom Doorbell


After much consideration I eventually came to a decision.


And, the winner is …  Linda Downs with:

 

SOUTHERN GOTHIC

The blood moon rises above the bulrushes, slow and watchful, as he views his handiwork from the porch. Thousands of insects take to the fetid night air before settling again over the naked, female, corpses. Sweat pools above his top lip as he hears the reeds rustling, he shouts for his mama.  She arrives carrying a tray of lemonade, cloudy like the mist trailing from the bayou, eager to witness his first crimson harvest without his daddy. Proudly she takes her seat next to the new master of the hunt. As the alligators, appear, an ancient hunger stirring.

 

Authors Bio: Linda Downs is a mental health worker from Manchester who writes poetry and short stories in her spare time. She is currently working on a play and a collection of poems.

 

Thank you, Linda. 


The reason for choosing this story was because it never failed to make my skin crawl, even after many readings. Although this story in only 98 words, Linda has given us some wonderful imagery where we are transported to the heat, humidity and stink of the swamp. The characters come through loud and clear. You can tell Linda’s a poet from her masterly use of words to create a truly awful and unpleasant read. Well done.