Congratulations to the 2025 Winners!
Thank you to everyone who dared to scare!
We had an incredible response to our 2025 Spooky Short Story Writing Contest, and the creativity, chills, and eerie imagination did not disappoint. Our judges have spoken, and the winning stories are now featured below. Grab a cozy spot, turn down the lights, and keep scrolling—if you dare—to read the haunting submissions from our community’s storytellers!
Ages 19+ Contest Winners
Very little crime occurs in the affluent town of Greenwich, Connecticut, at least that’s what is officially reported. The residents pay high property taxes to receive a certain level of service, including a very discreet police force. Cases involving domestic violence and teenage vandalism are handled as private matters and never reported in the press. Nevertheless, the police are very much attuned to anything from outside the community that impacts Greenwich citizens. So, it wasn’t a surprise that Officer Murphy and Officer Jones arrived at the home of Marilyn Smyth to investigate an elderly fraud case.
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“No no no! Get off!”
“Say ‘Uncle’! Say ‘Uncle!’” says the bully, laughing at my fear.
I writhe under the weight. The bully is on top of me, on my back, torturing me as always. He’d pounced on me from behind. The splintery wood under me provides no relief. The more I struggle, the more it digs into my thighs and the side of my face, scratching my skin raw. He always thinks it’s funny to bully me, and usually when I’m just trying to get to the playground over the short-cut on the old footbridge. Problem is, the bridge is by his house, and hidden by old-growth trees and overgrown brush, so I can never see him hiding. This footbridge saves me a half mile of walking in the summer sun, so on a rotten-hot day, I’ll sometimes chance it.
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It was definitely a horse sound. Maybe a bovine sneeze, but I heard boogers flying, slopping the other side of the ceiling. Wait? What?
This cannot be a dream. Am I being haunted? I don’t live in an apartment; so no upstairs neighbors dropping spoons. But, there is an attic.
I have never been in the attic. Why would I? There’s nothing to store up there, like Harry-the-Homeowners love to do. Everything I own is present to sit a butt on, or wear. I don’t collect chairs for another day or guests. Piles of clothes in bins do not come back in style. Well, hopefully parachute pants. But, it’s just me and 2 pairs of jeans in a colonial.
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Contest Winners: Ages 13-18
Iris stared at the ceiling, her eyes wide open. She could not sleep, not now. Not after her teacher had told Iris she needed a story idea by tomorrow. “Write a creative fictional story. Anything you want, as long as it’s original. Use your imagination!” Mrs. Taylor had announced to the class.
“Easy for her to say,” Iris thought. Mrs.Taylor wasn’t the one up at 2:58 a.m. stressing over the assignment. Her teacher was really sweet and Iris loved her, but she had no idea what to write. She sat on her bed for several hours, and still she didn’t know what to write about.
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Hazel was deep into her book. This book that Hazel was reading makes you feel like you’re going into another universe. When she glanced at the clock and realized the time, it was 12:25 am and she had to go to sleep.
She shrieked in horror! She slammed her book shut and quickly turned off her lights. She was about to go to sleep but that's when she realized the book that she was reading was glowing. Hazel’s eyes widened and she rubbed her eyes. The book was still glowing. She picked up the book. It was glowing in her hands. Her eyes opened up wide as she gasped!
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I like Mrs. Frough. I like Mrs. Frough a lot. And I like Mrs. Frough’s biscuits. Mrs. Frough’s biscuits. Her brittle, buttery biscuits. Biscuits as brittle as her name and as brittle as her bones. Her home lingers with the scent of her biscuits. That sweet, apple-yness saunters from her oven; a warmth nostalgic of Mother. Déjà Vu, so close, yet so far.
“Mrs. Frough?”
“Child, woul’ you like some biscuits?”
“But—”
“Don’t fret! Have some for ’ye hunger.”
She delicately handed me a biscuit from the oven rack, her pupils dilating with paranoia and anticipation.
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Contest Winners: Ages 6-12
Anna turned up the collar to her jacket against the fierce wind. She was walking down Bedford Street and just passed the Ferguson Library under a crisp, autumn sky. The wind buffeted her as she struggled into the doors of her apartment building. Once inside, she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the twelfth floor. The rusted steel doors clanged closed, and her phone buzzed in her jacket pocket. Anna pulled it out, wondering if it was another message from her boss. Stocks were dropping, and Anna’s boss was having her work overtime. Instead, the message was from someone unknown, and it read: “Don’t trust them.”
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I lay on my back, trying to identify some strange sounding footsteps that appeared to be anything but human: thunk thunk thunk thunk thunk….too hollow to be an adult’s, and too heavy to be a child’s. Here’s how I even got here: I was walking through the annual Greenwich corn maze. I thought I saw the exit, so I shuffled my way through a row of corn, but suddenly the ground wasn’t there and I fell into–well, I don’t really know where. Just somewhere else, I guess. The ground was made of rich, soft and moist soil that looked very good for growing pumpkins. The thunking started pretty soon after I landed on my back. It was getting louder and faster, and soon, an orange circle with a little stick of brown on top came over the nearest hill. Once it got to the top, it rolled down the hill, getting bigger as it came closer. Finally, it came to a stop by my feet, and I realized it was a pumpkin! Then, it looked up at me.
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Me and my friends, Zen, Jayline and Kiyomi are working on our project in the Ferguson Library. It's getting a bit late but then Zen comes up with a horrible idea. “Guys, I feel like doing something dangerous,” Zen says with energy. My eyes widen, “uhh how about no? I’m not trying to put anyone’s life at risk” What is Zen talking about? It's so dark out and we shouldn’t be doing anything dangerous, but obviously Jayline is on Zen’s side and starts defending him. Jayline starts talking about how ‘we only live once’ and we should ‘live it while it lasts’, but I don't think they understand that if we do something dangerous our life could end right there.. Kiyomi also starts defending Zen, but to be honest I’m not shocked. She loves danger and putting her life at risk, but hey, she’s the best. “Well it's 3v1 so we should do something!” Jayline sounds like he’s half asleep. “How about we camp out in the library?”