spooky story contest 2023

"How Easter was Born"

Have you ever heard the tale of the Easter Bunny? 

Sure, you may think you have, that you’ve been hearing the same tale since childhood. The Easter Bunny is the one that comes and leaves little goodies in your yard, the one that brings children joy. 

But that tale is a lie. 

The true story is one that isn’t told often, one that might spoil Easter Day for you. 

It all began on a cool spring night, back hundreds of years ago. Little Mary Ann was sitting outside on a green, grassy hill, the one that sat right up against the Dark Woods, waiting for her mother to come back from

“Middle School Mayhem” by Samuel K., age 12/Grade 6 

The sound of misery, the sound of cries. 
This dreaded vault will not open before my eyes. 
I bang, I hit, I twist the lock. 
It will not open, no matter how hard I’ve fought. 
Oh, the agony! The woe! 
This locker is my sworn and forever foe! 

Then I remember in the locker this day 
there’s something scary, something chilling, something haunting locked away… 
Within the locked chamber is my library book; it’s centuries overdue. 
If I keep it any longer, I will definitely be sued! 
Banned forever from the library, 
like all those words trapped in the

A sigh left my lips as I kicked my feet softly against the sand. My chest constricted slightly at the sound of the waves crashing into the earth-thinking it was something else. 

I’ve always been paranoid about that type of stuff, always thinking a murderer will come out of nowhere and slaughter me. It’s very unlikely to happen obviously, I don’t know why it’s such a big fear. 

I finally felt the wet sand sink beneath me and stopped walking, standing there as I felt the ocean slip through my toes. It burned the tiny cuts on my feet slightly, at this point though I didn’t care. 

I took in a deep

The whole town of Aurora tells rumors about my grandfather's farm. Supposedly, the place is a hotspot for the deceased. 

Ironic, considering that my grandfather, the esteemed Gregory Wilson, rich beyond belief from his many years in the law department, recently passed. 

Everyone in town has a story about meeting a dead friend or relative that is seeking revenge on them in the afterlife. If it were up to them, they’d never have to visit the farm. Unfortunately for them, Gregory was the best lawyer in Aurora. The town has a reputation for getting into trouble, so lawyers were a valuable asset. 

My

Not Very Happy Halloween!

       Alone, scared, and injured, 7-year-old, Jane is one of the only humans still alive.  She whimpers as the zombies moan around her.  “Help us, help me”, they shriek.  The tombstones erupt with hands and heads.  Jane runs franticly to an abandoned cabin.  “Help us”!  She slams the door, bad idea.  Suddenly she’s in total darkness, she’s trapped herself with nowhere to run.  She hears them clawing at the door. “Help us”, they moan!  Then it all stops, the silence is eerie.  Out of nowhere a girl drifts through the wall, blood stains on her face and ghostly clothes. 

The Invitation

By Theo C., grade 4

(transcribed by his mom)

It was a dark and stormy night. I had gotten an invitation to this scary haunted house for free. I thought, “Oh, this is gonna be so lame, like the other haunted houses.” Then, something on the paper appeared in one of the blank spaces. It read “This is going to be like Nothing you have ever experienced.” So I thought, “Letters appearing out of nowhere? Maybe this will be a good haunted house after all. I might even scream.” 

So I went to the place, which looked like a very old Western town. A tumble weed was rolling in front of me