Eye of newt and toe of frog! It’s finally time for
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| courtesy google images |
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words spooky, black cat, and cackle. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words (you can count black cat as one word) and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!) Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people 🙂 [Note: of you choose to use cackle as a verb, any form is acceptable – cackles, cackled, cackling…]
Post your story on your blog between now and Thursday October 31st by 11:59 PM EDT and add your post-specific link to the list below. There will be no Would You Read It or Perfect Picture Books this week, so the post and the list of links will stay up all week for everyone to enjoy. I hope everyone will visit everyone and you’ll all get your friends and relations to visit, read and enjoy too! If you don’t have a blog and would like to enter, you can simply copy and paste your entry in the comments section below. (If you have trouble, and alas, people sometimes do, just email your entry to susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com and I’ll post it in the comments for you!)
The Judging: my lovely assistant and I will narrow down the entrants to 3 (hee hee hee – you know how much trouble I have with only 3, so we’ll see) top choices which will be posted here and voted on for a winner on Monday November 4th. The winner will be announced with Would You Read It on Wednesday November 6th. If we get more than 20 entries, I will post 6 finalists and give prizes for 1st through 3rd.
The Prizes:
Second Prize is a PB manuscript and query letter critique from talented author Heather Ayris Burnell, author of Bedtime Monster.
Third Prize is a set of personalized signed picture books just in time for the holidays – Charlotte Gunnufson‘s Halloween Hustle, Tiffany Haber’s The Monster Who Lost His Mean, and Amy Dixon’s Marathon Mouse (perfect timing because NYC Marathon Sunday is next weekend!)
Please join me again in thanking these very generous authors for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books for holiday purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N or anywhere else if you like them, or supporting them in any other way you can dream up 🙂
I’m actually a little amazed (and worried) because the inaugural Halloweensie Contest, won by Cathy with Untitled was postponed due to 2 feet of snow – which around here is unusual for the end of October. The 2nd Annual Halloweensie Contest, won by Julie with Hallow’s Eve was delayed and interfered with by Hurricane Sandy! So fingers crossed we don’t get any wild weather this year!
Now then. Time for my sample entry which I provide both because I wouldn’t ask you to do anything I wouldn’t do myself, and because in case anyone is worried about the quality of their entry they have only to read my abysmal attempts to be filled with confidence that their’s is MUCH better!
So without further ado:
A Witch For Spooky (100 words)
Spooky was a black cat with no witch.
Things just never worked out.
Grimelda’s potions were too stinky for his delicate nose.
“Scram!” said Grimelda when he kept sneezing.
Hauntabelle flew her broomstick like a maniac.
“Scat!” said Hauntabelle when he got broomsick.
Armathystle’s cackle made Spooky run and hide!
Spooky had almost given up when he found Serena. She was very small, but she didn’t smell bad or fly fast or cackle.
“You can be my Pookie,” she crooned (which was close enough!), and she carried him home in a candy-filled plastic pumpkin.
Spooky had a witch at last!
and, to provide one in rhyme (kinda storta :))
Spooked! (100 words)
A pirate, a witch, and a gypsy queen
Went trick-or-treating one Halloween.
Away past the farthest edge of town
To the ramshackle home of Farmer Brown.
Up the dark lane where no one dared.
The gyspsy queen said, “We’re not scared!”
A spooky shadow loomed ahead!
“Relax,” said the pirate. “It’s just a shed.”
“Eeeek!” shrieked the witch as she danced about.
“Something touched my leg! Look out!”
“It’s just a black cat. Come on, let’s go.”
But then came a sound they didn’t know.
Cackle-cackle! “It’s witches on the loose!”
And they ran helter-skelter from the Farmer’s goose!
Everyone feeling better about their stories now? I HOPE so! 🙂
I can’t wait to read all of yours! I hope there will be a lot – the more the merrier! And there are still 4 days to write, so you have time if you haven’t written yet. Feel free to spread the word to your writing friends as well.
Remember to put your post-specific link (not your general blog link or people will find the wrong page if you post again before the contest is over) in the list below!
Happy Writing and Happy Halloween!!! 🙂
Don’t miss 19 entries in the comments section from Megan, Pia, Linda, Michele, Stacy, Laurie, Kathy, Patricia, Eileen, Nancy, Pam, Pat, Kristen, Teresa R., Teresa S., Suzy, Tracy, Heather, and Karen! (Marcie is now on the link list at #15, Jackie is now on the link list at #33 – she has a brand new blog!, Laura S is on the list at #40, and Deirdre is on the link list at #52. I hope I’ve caught all the doubles, but there may be a couple more.)
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Thanks Stacy!
Thanks Beth! My sons wanted to here more, but I was too close to my word limit 😉
Super entry, Nancy! I can just see the illustrations…love the cat who goes to the salon to have her hair color changed!
I loved the idea of a cat with a sparkly fur coat fit for a princess!
I'm with the black cat, wishing to stay home all comfy and warm! 😉
The creatures of the dark rising from the earth and floating from the sky, really had me shivering with fright.
I had goosebumps reading this, I want to back and hide under the duvet!
I'm so glad you're enjoying it, Nancy! And so glad you entered! I just love these contests from beginning to end. Everyone is so creative, so willing to write and put themselves out there, and we all have such a good time visiting each other's blogs, meeting new people, and reading all the wonderful stories!
Settings
I loved the ending, We are all brave until…..!
I'm glad you came out for the contest! 🙂
Pouncing ninja ballerinas, Stacy, Olivia did well to get the candy! Well done!
Sweet! I love how the fear slipped away.
Yowling tip-toe prowls did it for me! Nicely done!
Thanks, Stacy, glad you enjoyed!
Thanks, Jackie!
So nice of you to say, Beth! Thanks.
bwa-ha-ha worthy!! Well done.
lovely images! Sweet words.
a very nice twist!
You've captured the spirit!
loved “howling wind, slamming door”! Well done!
Woooo. A frightfully delightful batch of stories. Thanks for running another fun contest. It's not a holiday without a Susannah and crew story hour! 🙂
Thanks, Linda.
Thanks, Joanna.
I am just like you. Reading and commenting on everyone to show support. I am loving it. The creativity is awesome. I have to learn to rhyme. The rhyming ones are my favorite. I am not good at rhyming so I don't do it. But for PiBoIdMo, I am going to research and write a rhyming stanza each day. That is a goal for me. Thanks for the conversation. It is appreciated.
I like the switch. Why shouldn't beauty be respected all year long. I loved it. Thanks for sharing.
Scare-D-Cat
by Kirsten Bock
Scare-D-Cat hated Halloween.
The ghoulish ghosts,
spooky spiders,
and menacing monsters were scary.
And he wasn’t.
Black cats were supposed to be scary!
He tried cackling,
but coughed instead.
He tried pouncing,
but bellyflopped instead, “oof!”
He tried lurking,
but was found. “Hey little kitty!”
Scare D. scooted through legs and bolted.
Smack! Right into a sheet on a clothesline.
“Meow!” he cried, swerving back and forth.
He ran past some trick or treaters.
“Ahhh!” they screamed, “Ghost!”
Scare D. peered out of the sheet.
He might not be a scary cat, but he was certainly a terrifying ghost!
The link list worked for me, but I had so much fun writing my entry, I'm sharing it here, too. Thanks for a great writing prompt!
The Old Hotel
by Laura Shovan
There was a cackle in the hall,
a creak, a heavy footstep fall
that night we spent in Montreal.
My mother said, “An old hotel!
Haunted, but we might as well
enjoy the spooky clientele.”
And that is when she passed out cold,
leaving me, more shy than bold,
to watch the long, long night unfold.
I fell asleep, and it was dark
as black cat’s fur when some odd spark
or shimmer caused me to remark,
“Are you awake?” for standing near
my mother’s bed, a woman sheer
as smoke had not yet disappeared.
Here's my story. Hope you enjoy it!
A Halloween Party
Callie and her black cat Spooky
Threw a party every year,
For all her friends on Halloween
Who came from places far and near.
There was dunking for boo-berries
Cackle contests, ghostly bands,
The monster mash to start the dance
On carpets shaped like boney hands.
When the guests had gotten sleepy
Callie wished them all adieu,
And gave them all a special treat
Her secret Halloween witch brew.
Very cute Kirsten!
My entry's a bit off-color. But, I figure if Jon Klassen can make his protagonist a hat-thieving fish, I can have a witch who enjoys scaring kids. Hope you enjoy it. 🙂 I look forward to reading everyone else's entries soon.
Witchy Wanda
The witch Wanda hated Halloween.
Every year kids would interrupt her brew-making to beg for candy. Just as Black Cat would bring her some frog legs, the doorbell would ring, and she’d have to hide all her witchy things.
“Trick or treat!” kids shrieked. Wanda tossed them some pencils, and they ran away. But before she could boil her brew, another group arrived. Then another.
Black Cat got tired of hiding and leaped into Wanda’s arms.
Hiss!
“Spooky!” the kids cried and raced to the next house.
Wanda let out a cackle. “Happy Halloween!”
And she realized, it was!
Thanks, Beth! Love how Cackle found his inner ninja too!
I love giving them the pencils. Who knows, Wanda might inspired some writers this Halloween. Thanks for sharing.
I love parties especially a Halloween party. Thanks for throwing it and I accept the invite. This was fun. thanks for sharing it with me.
Thanks, Grannymar! So glad she didn't pet the big black cat!
This was great. I am a lover of rhyme and this did not disappoint. I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.
I love the cat ghost theme. Great read. Thanks for sharing
Pencil-throwing, kid-scaring witch? She's happy, and the kids get to write!
Nice and creepy! Love the image of a carpet made of boney hands.
Spooky! The haunted hotel is a great setting, first one I've seen for Halloweensie.
Cute! Love that he gets what he wants after “screwing up.”
Nice flow, very natural! And I love the black cat gone princess!
Thanks, Stacy. It *was* a great setting, but a long time ago. I wonder if the old hotel is still there (and still haunted.)
Thank you for the kind feedback, Jackie.
I agree. Great story!
You are welcome. Great use of words and I enjoyed reading it.
Love the 'carpets shaped like boney hands'…great imagery! And the secret Halloween witch brew sounds delightful…maybe it will wake up the guests so they will be ready to party again.:)
Thanks, Hannah! And oh boy did people come out of the pumpkin patch for this one! I'm amazed by the number of entries and the overall high quality! I'm having SO much fun reading all these! I hope everyone else is having fun reading too and that everyone's sharing with people they know so all these stories will be richly enjoyed!
🙂
Very Halloweenish, Patricia! Well done. Love the ending. 🙂