So you like scary stories?
You like to be giddy, on the edge of your seat with suspense and fear?
Glenn Middle School is hosting the first annual Scary Story Contest, so that Glenn students can see if they've got the skills to scare their teachers, friends and principals.
Here are the details, and some tips to help you:
Scary Story Contest
Can you spin a tale to terrify your teachers?
Write a one to two page story about:
ghosts, monsters, haunted houses, or anything else that chills the blood and brings on goosebumps.
disappearances, or things that go bump in the night.
Keep us in suspense and guessing what comes next. It is your turn to strike fear into the heart of your readers. To creep them out, and up at night with a nightlight on.
Each grade will be judged separately, and the best story for each grade level will win an iTunes gift card. The best overall scary story will also win the title, "King of Terror."
Submit your scary stories to Mrs. Ball in room C-15 by October 27th, 2015.
Winners will be announced on October 30th, 2015.
Warning:
Stories MUST be school appropriate. So no guts, gore, graphic descriptions of bodily fluids and mutilation. This is about suspense, NOT horror.
What's the difference?
In a suspense story, the reader *imagines* what all bad, and awful and horrible could happen, but never actually has to read about it. They have to use the dark side of their imagination to fill in the blanks and the unknown in the story.
In a horror story, the reader is forced to read about every gruesome detail. There is no mystery or 'what if', and the reader is more grossed out than fearful.
As a scary story author, your goal is to leave enough clues, enough hints that the reader can infer what all can go wrong, what evil lurks around every corner, without showing that evil. That not knowing for sure just makes them even more anxious about what's going to happen.
Here's an example of suspense story:
John stood at the bottom of the stairs. Up was his only option. The staircase hugged the wall, with it's chipped and crumbling wall paper. Suddenly, with a pop and fizzle, the lights went out. John was left in the suffocating darkness. He put his hand against the wall to guide him up the stairs, but instantly pulled it back. His fingertips were wet and sticky. And the slick substance smelled like old keys. He hastily wiped it on his pants.
He took a step up, the stairs creaking under his weight. He was halfway up the stairs when a downdraft of freezing air hit him full on in the face. The rotten stench shoved him backwards, and John fell backwards. John reached out to grab something, anything, and felt a cold hand grab his...
Why it works:
- We are not writing from the killer's or a psychopath's point of view. (Seriously, that just makes us worry about the author's sanity).
- We are left to imagine what the wet stuff is on the wall (it's blood, duh), but having to wonder and figure it out ourselves makes us think more about it. We get to imagine it ourselves, and that grosses us out less than if we read, "John put his hand against the wall into an oozing mess of deep red blood." <-- That line makes me stop reading your story for a second because it's gross.
- Just like John, we are in the dark about what is going on. That scares us more than knowing for sure. What is the rotten stench, did it mean to knock John down, and where is that cold hand coming from, why is that cold hand grabbing John's? Those questions will keep us reading the story to find out.
- Finally, it is original. No Slenderman, no Chucky, no Charlie, no Michael Myers or Freddie Kruger, or Annabelle. Using those characters is plagiarism. (Not to mention those are ALL horror characters). Cheaters never prosper.
So, if you think you've got what it takes...
