Halloween Writing Contest Entries
The following stories were submitted as entries in The Wanderer sixth annual Halloween Writing Contest.
Short Story Contest:
The authors for the stories in our short story contest were:
Entry: #1 - "Vessel in the Mist" by Emma Gabriel
Entry: #2 - "The Ghost of the Gone" By Kira Sarkarati
Entry: #3 - "Terror Of The Haunted House" By Marc Bourgeois (2012 Winner)
Entry: #4 - "The Halloween King" by Emma Elizabeth Higgins
Entry: #5 - "Creepy Swamp Two" by Edward Zyskowski
Entry: #6 - "Aliens, Report to Headquarters (or: How Halloween saved the Earth)" By Christine and Duncan Stewart
Entry: #7 - "The Monsters of Halloween" by Reagan Rock
Entry 1
"Vessel in the Mist" by Emma Gabriel
The year was 2012, and I had gone to the Ned's Point to meet my friend Allison by the lighthouse. It was twilight, and the sky was lit up in a coral colored sunset. Five minutes, ten minutes, and Allison still wasn't there. I got bored and walked around a bit. I walked past the lighthouse door, I knew it would be locked, but I tried, and to my surprise, it opened.
A musty smell hit my nose as I curiously poked around. I could tell no one had been in here for a long time because a layer of dust covered everything. I decided to go up to the balcony so I started to climb the ladder.
I looked around some more and found the operating room. I ran my fingers over the dull colored buttons spread out in front of me. I looked out the window at the never-ending ocean when something caught my eye.
A ship was anchored a short way out to sea in the mist. It seemed slightly transparent, like an illusion, but this ship was quite real. I squinted to make out the name of this massive vessel. The Wanderer. A shiver ran through my spine. It couldn't be, The Wanderer was a famous ship from the early 1900s. How could it be here today?
The Wanderer was on its last voyage in 1924, it had anchored off of Martha's Vineyard to wait out an approaching storm. During the night the anchor let go and the ship was destroyed on the rocks.
That must not be true, that ship was destroyed years ago. Just then a lifeboat was lowered into the water and was coming towards the shore. I quaked with fear. Where should I go, what should I do? Soon the lifeboat was beached by some sweaty sailors and a captain.
They were all slightly transparent too, like distant memories from the past. They all had blank eyes and angry expressions on their faces. The captain said something to the sailors, then left. I looked around but didn't see him. Then I felt someone grab my arm. I whipped my head around and saw the captain holding my arm in an iron grip. I tried to scream but my voice was lost in my throat. He tied my hands behind my back and draped me across his shoulder like a potato sack.
I was blindfolded and gagged after we were down the ladder. I was set down in the lifeboat. All I could hear was the waves lapping against the boat like hungry animals begging for food. Finally we arrived at the ship. I was pulled roughly around until my blindfold was taken off. I was tied to a chair in what I assumed were the captain's chambers. I sat there and after a moment the captain said. "Where is your family." His voice was like a knife cutting through the air. "Why do you want to know?" I spluttered.
"I have come to put a curse on you and your family." He replied coldly. "Why?" I said in a voice fit for a mouse. "Because your great great grandfather was the one who lowered the anchor that night I died and The Wanderer was destroyed." He said. His voice was rising rapidly. "It wasn't his fault though!" I told him. "Of course it was!" He screamed." "GUARDS!" Two came rushing into the room. They pushed me out of the room and below deck. They unlocked the door and threw me in. I could hear it being bolted on the other side. I banged on the door and screamed for help. Then I heard a voice from the corner" I've already tried that, It doesn't work." It was Allison! But who was that man next to her? "I must be your great great grandfather." He said as if he had read my mind."
"You were the one who lowered the anchor the night The Wanderer was destroyed?" He nodded his head sadly. "I should have checked if the anchor was secure before I went to bed." He nodded his head. "Do you have any ideas for an escape plan?" Allison asked hopefully. I thought for a minute and said, "I think I have the perfect idea."
That night I finished making a hook with the help from my great great grandfather. I used the pocketknife my father had given me and a rotting piece of wood from the wall. I handed it to Allison and she stuck it under the door. The snoring guard didn't even notice Allison trying to loop it around the key ring on his belt.
"Got it!" she cried. Allison pulled out the hook with the key ring around the end. She hastily unlocked the door and we all tiptoed out the door, up the stairs and into the lifeboat. "Aren't you coming?" I asked my great great grandfather." He shook his head. "I don't belong in your time, I'm a ghost, but the only way to get rid of the captain is to repeat the event that already happened." I immediately understood. The anchor had to let go and the ship had to be destroyed again. I pulled out my pocketknife and cut the rope that was holding the anchor. I waved good-bye as the ship disappeared beneath the waves.
Entry 2
"The Ghost of the Gone" By Kira Sarkarati
By Kira Sarkarati, Age 7
They say on Halloween night that the Ghost of the Gone comes out. He takes everything in sight. One night, Halloween night, a little girl came out of her room. She walked down the hall. All of a sudden a loud scream came from the kitchen. Her parents woke up, ran down the hall and into the kitchen. All they could see was a misty person. The parents were shocked they could not find their daughter. The ghost cackled and said, "She's far from here." Both parents looked at each other. The parents asked the ghost where their daughter was. The gost did not answer. Then the parents heard big weeps for help. The parents rushed to the attic where they found their daughter curled up and scared. Then, all three went down to their rooms and got changed into super scary costumes. Then, they went to the kitchen and scared the ghost away and lived happily ever after.
Entry 3
"Terror Of The Haunted House" By Marc Bourgeois
By Marc Bourgeois
I hear a knock at the door. I get up from the couch and walk through the kitchen. My bare feet touch the cold tile floor sending a chill through me. I open the door to see my friend Dustin.
"Ready to go Trick-or-Treating?" he said excitedly.
"Dang," I say. "I totally forgot and I don't even have a costume. And don't you think we're a little old to go Trick-or-Treating, I mean we're thirteen."
"Please go, please," begged Dustin.
"Fine, but I have to ask my mom."
I wander around looking for my mom, until I see the basement door ajar. I hear the steady sound of the treadmill leaking through the crack. I walk down the stairs and I see my mom jogging on the treadmill.
There are beads of sweat on her forehead, and her face had a flushed look on it. I walk over to her and start to ask her if I can go, but I notice she has headphones in. I tap her on the shoulder, she looks at me and takes her headphones out.
"What is it honey?" my mom asks
"Can I go trick or treating with Dustin" I ask
"I don't see why not," she replied
"Thanks Mom"I replied.
I go back upstairs and see Dustin or Count Dracula, I wasn't sure which one.
"Are you sure you don't just want to watch a movie and eat the candy my mom bought for trick or treaters?" I asked
"But then the trick or treaters wouldn't get any candy," he pointed out
"Normally that would be true but nobody ever comes to our house because of the creepy decorations my mom puts out on the front yard"
"Ya, last year that clown statue made me scream like a little girl, luckily the only person who saw me was an actual little girl" he said. We both laughed.
"I still want to go though" he said
"Okay"
I go upstairs and grab the extra sheet kept in our closet. I cut holes for the eyes and meet Dustin back downstairs.
"Let's go" I say.
We go outside and it was colder than I expected. The wind seemed to be howling. After we went to a few houses I noticed a group of kids going towards a certain direction.
"Dustin lets go ask those guys where they are going," I say.
"Okay." He replies
We head over and I realize I know one of the kids.
"Hey John" I call out.
I see him turn around so I know that it's him. I wave my arms and he comes over.
"Hey, Tyler is that you?" he asks.
"Ya, where are all of those kids going?" I ask John
"Oh, everybody is going to the haunted house up the street, including me" he tells us.
"I love haunted houses, I've been in tons of them and I've never been scared" I tell John." Hey Dustin do you want to go to the haunted house instead? "I ask hopefully.
"Sure, let's go"
I was surprised that Dustin said that because he gets scared really easily. The three of us walk to the haunted house together. I must've tripped over the sheet I was wearing at least 20 times. When we finally got there we walked through the door into the lobby. We waited in line for about 10 minutes.
When we got to the front of the line the guy at the desk said
"Welcome to the haunted house if you can pass our five floors of terror each one worse than the last you can win a special prize, if you scream then you get sent back down to the lobby to wait for your friends. I'll take you, you, you, you, and you."
He pointed to me, John, Dustin, and two girls behind us. We all walked through a door and it was dark but not pitch black. An intercom announcement said that you would reach a ladder that would lead you to a new floor. All 5 of us started walking. The room got very foggy. A ghost dropped down in front of our faces but didn't scare us. Soon enough we reached the ladder. We started walking on the next floor.
When we were almost to the end a million little fake spiders dropped down on us. One of the girls screamed, and so did John. I honestly didn't know what they were until I studied them closer.
"Please exit to the door on your left" the announcer said. An exit light went on, and the two left, the light went off, and we continued walking. I flicked a spider off of my shoulder and continued. We reached the ladder and went up it. We walked for a little while when suddenly a werewolf jumped out in front of us. His teeth bearing, while he stared at you with his bloodshot eyes. Dustin screamed and exited the floor. We reached the end of the floor but there was no ladder only two ropes hanging down from the ceiling. The girl and I climbed the ropes and started walking on the fourth floor. I saw the girl look behind her and she said something that I couldn't make out and started running. I looked back and saw a clown chasing us with a chainsaw; I jumped a little bit but not enough to get sent to the lobby. I probably would have screamed about the clown thing but I'm used to seeing it in my front yard so I didn't scare me. I started running and I caught up to the girl. We both climbed up the ladder and went up into the final floor. I was starting to get a little scared. A flashlight was in the middle of the room, so I ran to get it and ran back to the girl. I turned it on and saw a ton of fake dead bodies. I was shocked and I could tell the girl was too by the horrified look on her face. Suddenly something grabbed my ankle, I screamed -immediately covering my mouth wishing I hadn't and I heard the girl scream too. The scream almost made me go deaf. The lights went on and we were told to exit the room. As we approached my house I was finished telling Dustin and John what happened.
"Wow, that must have been really scary" Dustin told me.
When we got home my mom made us hot chocolate and we decided to have a sleep over.
We told ghost stories all night, but none of them had compared to the terror I had faced earlier that night. One month later I had gone to the local market to get some food, and I saw her. The girl from the haunted house. I walked over to her and said," Are you the girl who I was with in the haunted house?" She seemed to think for a moment and then replied
"Yes, I remember now!" "You were the one who made it to the final floor with me!"
"Yep," I say. "I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
"Vanessa, you?" she asked in return
"Tyler" I responded.
"I'm having a party tonight, would you and the two other boys you were with like to go?" Vanessa asked.
"Love to."
Later that night, when we were leaving the party talking about how fun it was we moved to the side of the road to let a car pass by.
"Hold on, I need to tie my shoe" said John.
As the car passed by the driver looked at me and I looked at him. He seemed so familiar...
Suddenly I remembered. He was the werewolf with the bloodshot eyes!
"You know what- why don't you tie your shoe back at my house, we're almost there." I said.
I always thought I would forget about it, but even years later I cannot forget his bloodshot eyes.
Entry 4
"The Halloween King" by Emma Elizabeth Higgins
MORNING !! 9 HOURS UNTILL ATTACK
I awake alarmed and scared! I had a pain in my leg and did not know where or who I was. I Looked around and saw thousands of trees on every side. There were thousands of birds singing. In the distance I could here the soft thuds of deer walking against rocks and the running of a stream. I laid back on a rock, the moss gently tickling my neck. The sun was like a blanket against my cut and bruised face. "OW!" I cry out as a pain I felt that I didn't expect shoots through my head, then all of a sudden the pain was gone. I feel awake and refreshed. I run my hand over the back of my head and pulled out a small syringe and realized that someone just gave me a shot in the back of my neck. "Sorry about sneaking up behind you, Chosen One, but you needed that medicine. You put up an awesome fight last night but you hit your head pretty hard. Sorry Nikki I know you hate it when I call you "The Chosen One" even though I believe that you are."
The familiar voice belonged to Brandi. A friend and an ally. The sound of her voice triggers my memory. My name is Nikki. I am 12. I live in the ORR Tri Town. It's Halloween. There was a fight last night and there was gonna be a bigger one tonight I quickly remembered. "Come sit Brandi, tell me what happened." Brandi walked out from behind the moss spotted boulder. She had dark skin and brown sharp eyes. She wore black, beat up jean short shorts. Her plain black shirt seemed tight and comfortable. She had her black hair in a side braid, but what really caught my eye was the leather grape vine belt around her waist holding a dagger and a red water jug. Looking down I realized I was wearing the same thing but my water jug was blue. I also had a second grape vine design around my forehead and long light brown hair that waves just a bit. Brandi sat on a low thick branch of a tree as she reminded me of the events from the night before. "The Halloween King attacked last night. He joined forces with the Headless Horseman's Army. A lot of the children of Mattapoisett, Marion and Rochester helped our army. It was a brutal fight. It was an epic battle and when the fight was nearly won, the Halloween King was about to throw a rock at an injured girl. You saved her life by grabbing his hand and kicking his head and knocking the rock to the ground. That kick made a loud thud!" She said laughing "I thought he was gonna join the Headless Horsemen's League but he surprisingly got up and kept fighting. Then he hit you in the head... hard. That shot I gave should have already cleared away the cobwebs. We will attack tonight. He will be at his highest power because it is Halloween. If we succeed we will take him down tonight and he will stay dead forever. If we fail, well.........lets try not to fail." The Halloween King had once been Robert, Nikkis friend. He had been kind and taught her about fighting. Then one day, something happened and he became rough and rude. His smile and his sweet ways were gone. His smile was a sneer. His kind look was now an accusing evil glare. Nikki had lost a friend. Robert became the Halloween King. Brandi had lost more; she had lost her brother. Brandi had been adopted into his family when she was 8 years old. She was 12 years old when he was turned into the Halloween King and now she was 17 and sensitive on the subject. She pretended it didn't bother her, I knew it did. "I don't think we can kill him! He might be bad but.....but...." said Nikki. The word kill and Robert didn't sound true on her lips. "We have to!" said Brandi "It's the sad truth"
ATTACK HOUR
Nikki held a dagger, her weapon of choice, in her sweating hands. Brandi held a knife that was glistening in the moon light. They were spying on Robert the Halloween King for over an hour. It seemed to them as they watched that the Halloween King was inside Roberts body and the two souls were fighting over who would win, good or evil. The tone kept changing with the each side of the argument, "But i am tired of hurting people! let me out!" "No! your body is the only one the only on that is strong enough to hold my soul until you decompose and I take my form! You're twisted! Who do you think you are? Voldemort?! Hate to brake it to you but someone already did that!" "GRRR! stupid kid!!" The Halloween King began to struggle and curse as Robert fought for his body but soon the Halloween King had won and regaining his posture went back to the clearing. Little did he know every child under 18 in the tri town stood with their knives ready to fight. This was not including that one kid who brought numb chucks that he bought at the dollar store. A girl that Nikki recognized from school climbed over the chain link fence and started charging with three others close behind. The battle had begun. Nikki had fought furiously for over 2 hours and took down many evil warriors. However no matter how hard she tried she could not get any where close to Robert...no...the Halloween King. She had to forget Robert. A small Mattapoiset girl ran up and kicked The Halloween King in the back. A little blue flicker came out of his mouth. The ghost seemed to be coming out. Robert's body fell to the ground and an ugly sneering Halloween King Ghost came out, peeling away from his host body he looked down at Robert. "I am free and I will destroy you allllllllll!" He cried as he began to take shape of his own body leaving Robert's body behind. Brandi was such a tough and talented fighter and now she could go after the Halloween King without going after her brother. She was filled with so much pain and hate that had been building up inside her for so many years. She was wielding her knife that Robert had given to her many years ago. She tackled the Halloween King. All the fighting had stopped and both sides watched as Brandi beat the Halloween King. As the he started to fade, the forest went silent, more silent than ever. Even the stream had seemed to stop
"Die" It was just above a whisper but the girl that held so much emotion in that one word that the Headless Horsemen's Army went running. The halloween King.......was gone. Vanished. Nikki and Brandi carried Robert's limp body home. All three returned home exhausted but relieved that Nikki's friend was back and Brandi once again had a brother who cared for her. None of them could ever forget the years of their lives that had been taken away by the Halloween King. Well at least their lives could return to normal for a little while anyway....
Entry 5
"Creepy Swamp Two" by Edward Zyskowski
The highways and byways of Rochester are familiar to those who live there.
There are little known byways hardly anyone goes.
Some of these places entertain paranormal activities, particularly on HALLOWED EVE.
When I got out of school for the summer vacation I was so happy and it felt like I was free as a bird.
Living not far from Dexters Lane I would jump on my bike and head down to the end where Florendos pig farm and cranberry bog was located.
I would ditch my bike in the woods and continue on with my pellet gun, knife and matches, you know like Daniel Boone.
Now I'm following a path into Haskell's swamp and it's kind of creepy. The path goes up to a mound. I guess it is part of an old railroad bed that went to Wareham.
I followed it along until I came upon an old trestle. Under the rail road bed was like a cave. You could tell that it was used for some thing, tools, storage, shelter, more recently for wild animals and bats. It was musty and spooky and I could tell that some human activity took place there.
On my way out a pentagram was smeared on the wall with old dry blood. Around the corner there was a fire pit with old charcoal and bones in it. Human, animal, I couldn't tell.
On my way back home I kept thinking it was a sacrificial pit used by devil worshipers. Not here in Rochester, could it be so? I told my friend Ricky about it and he was curious too.
Halloween I found out was a time the ancient druids would finish off their year after the harvest, dress up and conjure up some spirits of the dead for some unfinished business.
When we went back to school Ricky and I planned that at the right time we would go back to that place. It was getting close to Halloween and the spirits were getting restless. In early evening we rode our bikes to the start of the trail and ditched them in the woods. It felt different now, a sense of decay and urgency. We wanted to see or hear something but it was hard to put your finger on.
A black van was moving up the lane with the marker lights on. A man in the passenger seat stuck a flashlight out the window and the beam was getting close to us. We hit the dirt in fright and the beam went right over our head. The deep voice of the guy in the van said there is the cave, shut this thing off and bring the stuff.
Ricky and I were really scared now, but they didn't know we were there. We moved towards the cave thru the brush a safe distance away. An owl spotted us and gave us a hoot and we watched the men in black robes light the fire in the pit. they began ranting in some strange tongue. One of them pulled out some bones out of the bag he had and threw them into the fire.
Then the other man said, take these bones as an offering for the souls of the dead. The man with the bag pulled out a bottle of blood and sprinkled some on the fire. The fire flamed up and it hissed and popped and the man yelled out, take this blood of a virgin and in exchange give me rulership over men. A voice came out of the cave saying "it is written that the power of Satan is yours until next year". The man with the bottle walked over to the entrance to the cave and reached in and smeared a pentagram of blood on the wall while the other man held the light. Then they turned to each other and in unison said, "it is done".
They got into the van and left and we did too and in unison we said "we will never go back again".
Entry 6
"Aliens, Report to Headquarters (or: How Halloween saved the Earth)" By Christine and Duncan Stewart
To: Headquarters
From: Alien Scout Team
Sirs,
On October 31, our spaceship touched down on planet Earth, unseen by all due to our cloaking device. Our mission that night: to scout the area. One day our population may need to relocate, and Earth is only 1 billion light years away from our own planet.
We quickly observed that the darkened landscape crawled with all manner of monster:
Werewolf! Vampire! Pretty, pretty princess! Oh, the horror! All proceeded to march in rapid succession from dwelling to dwelling. They screamed the code phrase, "TRICK OR TREAT", and received in return many multi-colored objects, which they proceeded to consume.
Cautiously, curiously, we attempted to mimic their behavior. At house after house, we received brightly colored objects of our own, along with compliments on our "costumes" and the occasional pat on the cranium.
After consuming said multi-colored objects, as we had observed the Earthlings doing, we became quite ill indeed. We felt our teeth rotting, our brains buzzing from the "sugar" substance, and then proceeded to violently expel the contents from our bodies in a shameful stream of vomit.
We fled earth as soon as we could manage to pilot our spaceship again. We recommend never returning. What kind of planet IS this? Any invasion plans should be immediately terminated.
TRANSMISSION OUT
Entry 7
"The Monsters of Halloween" by Reagan Rock
One Halloween night after trick-or-treating, a little girl went to bed. She couldn't sleep because she heard weird noises.
She went downstairs, What did she see? Ghosts, goblins, skeletons and vampires! She tried to fight them off but she couldn't!
Her parents came down stairs. All they saw was their daughter's bones. They brought her upstairs and went to bed. Something magical happened!
The next morning the parents woke up. The bones were gone! They ran into the girls old room....what did they see? The little girl laying in bed!
They lived happily ever after!