When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours on Halloween!
But, beware the unforeseen! It’s Halloweensie year THIRTEEN!
It’s true, my writerly friends!
Halloweensie Number Thirteen is upon us!
Truly auspicious for Halloweensie stories, don’t you think?
Black cats crossing your path. . .
Broken mirrors hung with cobwebs. . .
Rickety ladders just daring you to walk under them. . .
Superstition, er, Inspiration abounds!
So get out your lucky pennies, four-leaf clovers, and rabbits feet, (. . .and keep your broomstick nearby in case of any sudden need to knock on wood!)
A small cauldron of magic potion at the ready might not be amiss either. You never know when THAT might come in handy! (My small cauldron looks a lot like a mug, and the potion bears a strong resemblance to hot chocolate, but don’t be fooled! That’s all part of the magic! 😊)
So now, my pretties, what task shall I set before you???
I’ve got it!
Bring me the broomstick of the Witch of the West!
Oh, wait.
That’s been done.
Not a problem.
How about this?
The guidelines for. . .
The 13th Annual Halloweensie Writing Contest!!!
~ for children’s writers ~
THE CONTEST: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (children here defined as 12 and under) (title not included in word count) using the words werewolf, superstition, and fright.
- Your story can be poetry or prose, scary, funny, sweet, or anything in between, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words. Get it? Halloweensie – because it’s not very long and it’s for little people 😊
- You can go under the word count but not over!
- Title is not included in the word count.
- You may use the words in any form i.e. werewolves (werecub or werepuppy is acceptable as well should your story feature a young werewolf), frighten/frightening/frightful, superstitious etc, etc, whathaveyou 😊
- You are welcome to enter more than one entry – just remember you’ll be competing against yourself 😊
- No illustration notes please!
And yes, I know 100 words is short, but that’s part of the fun and the challenge!
POST: your story in the comment section of the Official Contest Post between 12:01 AM Eastern Sunday October 29th (the day the official contest post will go up here) and 11:59PM Eastern Tuesday October 31st (So you have 3 full days to post – Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.)
- For those of you who would also like to post on your blogs, please feel free to do so! You are welcome to include the link to your blog with your entry in the comment section of the Official Contest Post so that people can come visit your blog, but all entries must be posted in the comment section of the Official Contest Post between 12:01 AM Eastern Sunday October 29th and Tuesday October 31st at 11:59PM Eastern.
- If you have difficulty posting your entry to the comments, which unfortunately sometimes happens, you may email your entry to me and I’ll post it for you! [susanna[at]susannahill[dot]com Please place your entry in the body of the email including your title, byline (that means who the story is by – you! – so for example, By Jane Doe) and word count at the top – NO ATTACHMENTS! and please do not submit any entries before the official opening of the contest at 12:01 AM Sunday October 29th. They will not be accepted.
- I know how hard you all work on your entries, and how anxious you are to get them posted, but please try to be a little patient if your entry doesn’t show up immediately. Many comments have to be manually approved, and it sometimes takes me a little while to post entries that come in by email. I promise I will get to everything as soon as I can. I try never to leave my desk during contests, but sometimes it’s unavoidable 😊
THE JUDGING: over the following days, my devoted assistants and I will read and re-read and narrow down the entries to a finalist field of about 12 which will be posted here for you to vote on I hope by Monday November 6th (though if the judging takes longer than expected it might be a little later – I have school visits that week and a far away book festival over the weekend.) The winners will be announced Thursday or Friday, November 9th or 10th (good lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise 😊)
Judging criteria will be as follows:
- 1. Kid-appeal! – These stories are intended for a young audience (ages 12 and under), so we’re looking for stories that children will enjoy and relate to.
- 2. Halloweeniness – the rules state a Halloween story, so it must be crystal clear that the story is about Halloween, not just some random spooky night.
- 3. Use of all 3 required words and whether you came it at 100 words or less.
- 4. Quality of story – entries must tell a story, including a main character of some kind and a true story arc even if it’s tiny 😊 Entries must not be merely descriptions or mood pieces.
- 5. Quality of Writing: check your spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. If you’re going to rhyme, give us your best 😊 Use and flow of language, correctness of mechanics, excellence of rhyme and meter if you use it, PROOFREADING!
- 6. Originality and creativity – because that is often what sets one story above another.
- 7. How well you followed the Submission Guidelines – agents and editors expect professionalism. This is a chance to practice making sure you read and follow specified guidelines. If you don’t follow agent and editor submission guidelines, they won’t even read your submission.
THE PRIZES: So amazing! What wonderful, generous people we have in our kidlit community! Just wait til you see what you can win! WATCH THIS SPACE for the full list!!!
⭐️ Ask Me Anything Zoom Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Sandra Foreman Sutter, owner and “top gnome” at Gnome Road Publishing, and author of STAN’S FRIGHTFUL HALLOWEEN (Spork, September 2020) and THE REAL FARMER IN THE DELL (Spork, March 2019)!!! Not only will Sandra read and critique your manuscript, you will get to talk to discuss it with her!
⭐️ Rhyme & Meter Self Study Course – Renee LaTulippe Renée M. LaTulippe is the author of The Crab Ballet (Cameron Kids/Abrams, 2022) and Limelight: Theater Poems to Perform (Charlesbridge, 2024) and has poems published in many anthologies including No World Too Big, Night Wishes, School People, National Geographic’s The Poetry of US, One Minute Till Bedtime, Poems Are Teachers, ThankU: Poems of Gratitude, and A World Full of Poems.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique or Zoom Chat About A Project You’re Working On PLUS a Signed Copy of THE PIE THAT MOLLY GREW from Sue Heavenrich, author of THE PIE THAT MOLLY GREW (Sleeping Bear Press, August 2023), 13 WAYS TO EAT A FLY (Charlesbridge, 2021), DIET FOR A CHANGING CLIMATE (21st Century Books, August, 2018), FUNKY FUNGI (Chicago Review Press, July, 2022), the Super Science Series, and The Human Machine Series.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming, 700 words or less) PLUS a Query Letter Critique from author Steena Hernandez! Her debut picture book, LUPITA’S BROWN BALLET SLIPPERS, comes out with Beaming Books in Fall 2024. She’s an active member of SCBWI, Julie Hedlund’s 12×12 Picture Book Challenge, and Las Musas. Her poems and stories have appeared in Highlights High Five Magazine, and Little Thoughts Press Magazine. She’s represented by Lynnette Novak from the Seymour Agency. Visit her website at www.steenahernandez.com.
Author Steena Hernandez (photo credit Laura Squire)
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique from Hanh Bui, author of The Yellow Áo Dài (Feiwel & Friends, April 25, 2023) and the forthcoming Ánh’s New Word: A Story About Learning a New Language (Feiwel & Friends, May 14, 2024) PLUS a signed copy of The Yellow Áo Dài!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming, 750 words or less) from Dara Henry, author of HANUKKAH PAJAMAKKAHS, forthcoming from Sourcebooks, September 2024! Dara is a former teacher and has twice been named Honorable Mention in the Children’s Fiction Category of the 88th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, KIDLIT411, Writing for Children, 12×12, and PB_Soar 24. She is represented by Rena Rossner of The Deborah Harris Agency.
Author Dara Henry
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (Rhyming) PLUS Zoom Chat from developmental editor Lou Piccolo! Lou studied English Literature, creative writing and teaching at university in South Africa. After working as an EFL teacher in France for twenty years, she studied proofreading and editing before becoming a developmental editor of children’s and young adult’s literature for independent authors. She is a graduate of Renee LaTulippe’s Lyrical Language Lab – Punching Up Prose With Poetry course and Making Picture Book Magic, the in-house writer for Editions Entrefilet’s language-learning magazine ‘Go English Kids’ for children of 8-12 in France, and a traditionally published author of MG and YA fiction with Burlington Books.
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (non-rhyming) or Dummy Critique from Bonnie Kelso, author/illustrator of NUDI GILL: POISON POWERHOUSE OF THE SEA (Gnome Road, April 4, 2023), illustrator for IN A CAVE (written by Heather Ferranti Kinser, Gnome Road, October 3, 2023), and author-illustrator of a three-book series with GRP starting next spring!
⭐️ Picture Book Manuscript Critique (fiction) from Melissa Stoller, author of SCARLET’S MAGIC PAINTBRUSH (Spork 2018), READY, SET, GORILLA! (Spork 2018), THE ENCHANTED SNOW GLOBE COLLECTION (chapter books) (Spork 2017), SADIE’S SHABAT STORIES (Spork, 2020) and PLANTING FRIENDSHIP: PEACE, SALAAM, SHALOM
⭐️ 30 Minute Ask Me Anything with Rebecca Gardyn Levington, author of BRAINSTORM! (Sleeping Bear Press, 2022), WHATEVER COMES TOMORROW (Barefoot Books, Mar 7, 2023), I WILL ALWAYS BE…(HarperCollins, Spring 2024), and AFIKOMAN, WHERE’D YOU GO? (Penguin/Rocky Pond, Spring 2024)
⭐️ Signed Copy of Roxanne Troup’s beautiful MY GRANDPA, MY TREE, AND ME (Yeehoo Press, April, 2023)
⭐️ Signed Copies of Kizzi Roberts‘s books THE ELVES GO MARCHING and THE EGGS GO ROLLING!
Please join me in thanking these very generous authors and other writing professionals for contributing their books and writing expertise as prizes by visiting their websites and blogs, considering their books and services for birthday, holiday or other gift purchases, rating and/or reviewing their books on GoodReads, Amazon, B&N, or anywhere else if you like them, recommending them for school and library visits, recommending their books for school and library purchases, and supporting them in any other way you can dream up! 😊
Now! Lay in a good chocolate supply (no better time than right before Halloween for THAT!)! Bones In Chair! Pencils, pens, or keyboards ready! Put on your pointy black thinking cap (you know, to get in that Halloween mood 🧙🏿♀️ 😊!) And write those prize-winning stories!!!
I can’t wait to read them!!! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
Yay, Susanna! Thirteen years?! Wow! Thank you, thank you for giving us grown-ups this Halloween ‘treat’! 🙂
Beth
My pleasure, Beth! I love Halloweensie! And I can’t believe this is the 13th year! Where does the time go? 🤣
Witches and warlocks,
phantoms and ghosts,
I’m itching to write this,
and read all your posts!
Goblins and ghosties
and darkness of night,
werewolves and black cats
and witches in flight,
old superstitions
may fill me with fright,
but I’ll wait by the flicker
of dim pumpkin light
to read the great story
that you’re sure to write!
🤣🤣
Ha, ha, perfect!
The thirteenth annual Halloweensie contest, you say? OH MY! Think it’s time to put my thinking cap on and flex those writing fingers! Thirteen is my lucky number!
Terrific, Patricia! I await your story eagerly! 😊
Wahoo-sie Halloween-sie! My mind is bubbling with ideas. Thanks Susanna.
So glad you’re excited, Deb! I can’t wait to read this year’s stories!
My very first Halloweensie and on year 13?!?! I can’t wait!!!
I hope you have fun, Jessica!!! 😊
13!!! it’s bad luck eslewhere but in Italy it’s n. 17, lucky me. I’ll try to come up with soemthing, mayba a doodle too. Thanks for organizing these fun contests and a big thank you to the prize donors.
I’ll look forward to what you come up with, Eleanor! 😊
Looking forward to this! Aside from Halloween and the prompts, number 13 is also a great source of inspiration! Thanks Susanna and the prize donors!
I’m glad you’re looking forward to it, Laura! I am too!!! 😊
The “Halloweensie: Contest is always a “Treat”!
. . .unless it’s a trick! 🤣
UH OH!!!! 🎃👻
🤣🤣🤣
And here we go! I am a little superstitious about the number 13, yet I am ready! BwaaaaHahaha!
Number 13 can be lucky too, Joyce! 😊
My first time participating in this one! I love the challenge of being given words to include. Thanks for your fun competitions!
Halloweensie story time and lucky number 13…could there be a more perfect combination on this auspicious occasion?! Looking forward to reading all the frightful, superstitious and werewolf-y posts! Heeeere we go!
Thank you for the 13th year, Susannah and the prize donors, this is always a fun contest! I need to compose something in honor of it!
13th is a charm—I think.
Hope my entry doesn’t stink.
But if it does, it’s mostly cause,
I brewed a potion—took a drink.
Ever since it’s hard to write,
I can’t see black, I can’t see white!
The paper fades, the letters gone.
I hope I’m better soon. Goodnight!
Haha! Very cute, Katie!
Thank you Susannah! It’s that time of year – Halloweensie —inspiring, challanging – and fun!
A Frightful Howl’oween
by Lucretia Schafroth
WC: 100
“C’mon!” urged Wendalyn. “Sun’s almost up. We gotta get home!”
“Afraid we’ll turn into jack-o’-lanterns on Halloween?” Werner winked.
“I’m not superstitious!” she insisted. “Let’s cut through the graveyard!”
The two werewolves watched moonlit skeletons skittering around the headstones.
Suddenly—
“AAA-RRROOO!” howled something.
“That’s frightful—”
“RUUNNN!”
Glowing eyes galloped in pursuit. Glimmering teeth drooled slime.
“SMELL…W-ERRR-NER!” it bayed.
They dove, crouching beside a crypt.
“FIND…W-ERRRR-NER!”
“Wh-what is that?” stammered Werner. “M-maybe a vampire?”
“Their eyes don’t glow!” whispered Wendalyn.
“Ghost?” he wondered.
“Don’t have glimmering teeth!”
“Zombie?”
“Slimy…but can’t run!”
Then—
SLURP!
“Ahhh-haha, it’s Lurch—our bloodhound!”
Love your title with ‘HOWL’oween! Your story had me riveted to end!
This entry was posted on the wrong post. Please move it to the correct contest post!
THE WEREWOLF (WC-100)
By Michelle S. Kennedy
While cloaked in fur with fangs and claws,
as Moon hangs ever near…
In woods aglow, a creature stirs,
of superstitious fear…
By day, he is a gentleman.
By dark, he is—The Beast.
The transformation frightens him!
Foreboding is increased.
Each Halloween, his woeful cries
impersonate a ‘BOOOOOOOO.’
The woeful wail? A tortured sound:
AWOO-AWOO-AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
But soon he’ll dread the nightfall when,
the moon will twist his form,
with howls that shriek from deep within,
like thunder, from a storm.
Although he’ll pray, “No Halloween!”
for Werewolf, it’s in vain.
The vexing moon will beckon him…
to something inhumane.
Oooh….scary good Michelle! Lots of scary words, perfect rhyme and meter! Love all the AWOOING…and ‘to something inhumane’!
Howl-a-ween (WC=100)
Denise Seidman
Mom scowled at my Halloween werewolf costume. I rushed out before she could object.
My costume earned me lots of candy.
At the last house, a woman cackled by her front door, “Trick-or-treat?”
“Treat,” I said as her dog nipped my leg.
I ran away until my breathing rasped. My bones cracked and reformed. Hair grew everywhere.
Passing a window, my reflection frightened me. I was living proof that werewolves did exist .
What was I going to do now? I howled at the moon.
My family joined in!
“We’ve been waiting for you to change,” Mom exclaimed. “Happy Howl-a-ween!”
Great job! I especially love the lines: “my breathing rasped. My bones cracked and reformed.”
This entry was posted on the wrong post. Please move it to the correct contest post!
The Most Frightening Halloween of All!
By Katie Schwartz
w/c – 100
Hocus Pocus…Hallow’s Eve.
I’m seeing things I can’t believe!
Friendly werewolves? Bright-white cats?
Holy ghosts?? Enchanting bats?!
Zombies—darling, sparkling, charming.
Unbelievable—alarming!
Moon is beaming, not a cloud…
dark and gloomy’s not allowed.
Mummies dance on twinkle-toes.
Dressed in razzmatazzy clothes!
Everything is strange and changed…
superstitions rearranged!
Skulls exclaiming “Mercy-me.
We have eyeballs—we can see!”
Skeletons spin round and round.
Jazz hands waving, getting down!
Nothing frightful…not a boo…
WHAT’S NEXT ?! I’m shaking…aren’t you?!
A witch…she’s flying, high and fast.
Cackling…SCARY…phew—at last!
“Not to worry, boys and ghouls…
BWAH-HA-HA—October Fools!”
So much fun, Katie! I love the twist at the end ‘October Fools!’ My favorite line:
Mummies dance on twinkle-toes.
Dressed in razzmatazzy clothes!
Such great language. Good luck!
This entry was posted too early and on the wrong post. Please move it to the correct contest post!
Sorry – not too early – but in the wrong place
Thank you Susanna, I ‘fixed’ this – well, it’s posted in 2 places, so maybe the incorrect posting fades away?
The Superstition (99 words)
By: Allison Gray
“Tonight is CABBAGE NIGHT,” Bobby said. “Because if you eat cabbage the night before Halloween, a werewolf will…”
“Uh huh,” Sam interjected.
“You’ll see because Mom said we’re having cabbage soup for dinner.”
At supper, Bobby whispered, “Tomorrow is FRIGHT NIGHT! In more ways than one…”
“I’m not superstitious,” Sam muttered.
On Halloween, Sam’s dread for bedtime grew with the dark.
Scrrrritchhhh, claws dragged.
“AHHH-WOOOOO!!”
A shadow loomed in the doorway. A robed figure… with a cabbage head?!
Bobby laughed. “It can’t be ‘Fright Night’ without a little fright!”
He peeled a leaf off the cabbage. “Happy Halloween, Sam.”
Allison – this is not the official contest post! Please move your entry to the correct post https://susannahill.com/2023/10/29/the-13th-annual-halloweensie-writing-contest-aahhhrrrooooooo/ so it can be counted! 😊