Halloween writing contest winning stories
Parnassus Spooky Story Contest
by Abby Burns, first place
Experiment M
Project Type: Classified
Date: December 27, 1942
Subject: Mr. Macht
Status: Pending
anonymous : we’re just testing the microphones. check. check.
…
a: ok mr. macht I have confirmation that the microphones are working. go ahead and talk into your microphone.
M: What do you want me to say?
a: that’s enough. everything we say here today is being recorded for research purposes.
M: Ok
a: mr. macht please touch the button on the right of your headset.
M: This one?
a: yes, just press it once and a little red light will turn on.
M: I found the button… its making a weird noise into the headset.
A: ignore that, its just to make sure the test is completely accurate.
Test Session 1
a: we’re going to start off easy. A series of pictures will appear in front of you rattle them off as you see them.
M: Ok
M: I see a bear.
A squirrel.
Fox
Animal prints
The moon
A wrench
School bus
A heart
I don’t know what that last one is.
a: take your best guess.
M: It’s like a… creature of some sort. The picture’s pretty dark.
End of session 1
a: for this next test the monitor in front of you will change to show a man in front of you. your job is to give the man instructions to the exit.
M: How do I know where the exit is?
a: you don’t.
M: How am I supposed to lead him out if I don’t know where the exit is?
a: you’ll have multiple attempts, so if you don’t get this one, work by trial and error.
M: I see him. Ok…. go straight, and down that hallway. Take a left. Wait! He stopped. He just went the opposite way.
a: I’ll change the monitor. you now have a new subject. direct him as you please.
M: Ok… Go straight.. and down the hallway. Turn left. Good! Turn into this door on the right. …uhhh The screen cut out as he opened the door.
a: that’s to be expected. We’ve concluded this section of the test.
End of session 2
M: Is that it? The helmet is starting to give my head an awful migraine.
a: is that so?
M: Yeah, that was the last section… right?
a: yes, you’re free to exit out that back door.
M: Thank you for your time… hey how do I get this helmet off… it’s stuck pretty good.
a: oh that! well yes I imagine that would be stuck pretty good.
M: the button isn’t doing anything… it won’t budge.
a: …
M: Hey! What’s going on?
a: subject M’s microphone has now been muted. I’m now recording commentary for later review.
a: subject appears quite agitated, and heart rate has increased releasing a significant amount of cortisol.
a: the subject is now trying the door. it is unlocked. gateway feed is open.
Session 2- Trial 4B Test Log
L: ok go right.
a: You need to keep them moving, you’re on a timer.
L: ok, go to quickly straight, then turn left. They stopped. Is that supposed to happen?
a: perfectly normal. continue to direct him.
L: Go left into that room. Is it broken? He isn’t following my orders.
a: we can switch the monitors if that would please-
L: WHAT WAS THAT?
a: what did you see?
L: Something was there… that thing.
a: this is just a simulation. everything you see here is carefully planned for documented, government-funded research. anything you see in there is just a trick of the mind.
L: Al-alright
a: now, I’ve directed you to a new subject.
Experiment M
Project Type: Classified
Date: December 27, 1942
Subject: Mr. Macht
Status: Completed
Results: Successful- Trial 4A
Release Date: Pending
Halloween Poem
by Tristram Alexandar, second place
A time where people happily give candy to you
Or a night where a ghostly man will run you through
This is the night of fright
This is where you may die tonight.
Imagine your best friend, dead before you.
But nobody cares, they just ignore you.
This is not a joke.
But oh my lord, their back is broke.
Their fate is twisted
They never existed
Soon you forget
Why you even sweat.
You don’t know who they are.
You find out that it’s not so bizarre.
Another day, another death
You can take another breath.
Who is this person?
Because life doesn’t seem to worsen
You thought you knew
Because it stuck with you like glue.
You walk off into the distance,
Unknowing of their existence
Suddenly, something crashed,
And look, your blood, it splashed!
Your blood is all over the street
Oh no, where are your feet?
Your head has been crushed!
And your blood has gushed!
Remember how I said it was the night of fright?
The night where you may die tonight?
Well, I was right.
Now look for the light.
Insanity
by Gabby Bruestle, third place
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Running. Running. Hiding where he will never be found. Noises. Noises. They’re all around, enclosing in, never giving a chance of escape. The eyes. The stares. Never giving a moment of hesitation to tear down to the bone and then move on. The laughter. The laughter. Ever sounding. Never stopping, for if it ever stopped… the silence. Oh dear the silence. Like a wave of panic and anxiety closing in on the mind. It should not be quiet, not here, not ever. His time will come, but it’s true being will never be shown, for it is too horrific to be seen in raw by the eyes, or ever heard by the ears. The screaming, oh by God the screaming. Drowning out all that is there, taking only a few seconds to destroy the eternal silence.
Oh ever running, keep on running till he reaches tranquility. Understanding finally how to live freely from It. But he’ll never reach it, not in a million lifetimes, for It stops him in his tracks every time he nears freedom from It. Grabbing him, and shackling him to the ground, where he once stood tall and proud. Taking full control of the life he once knew, flushing out every little aspect of goodness and light. Losing himself to the darkness and to the void. His ever waiting darkness, where It always keep him, shackled here to the ground. Ever waiting where he loses everything right then and there, lost in the madness, lost in his pain. He falls to the ground, forever beaten, by the thing that always kept him awake at night. Losing sight of everything he ever knew, letting in the darkness eternal. He knows he has lost, and so does It. Getting nearer with the second, he hears it, the footsteps, thousands of pounding “feet” all around him, enclosing in. Gasping for air with lungs that no longer listen, he waits for the impending doom. Ever nearing. Ever eternal. Always there. Always watching. They finally close in, and cover him with a drape of black, leaving him slain, while chanting in tongue through unknown language. Circling in, never ending, always eternal. The screaming returns for only second, louder, more painful now, then finally silence. Those who chanted in tongue had gone silent. And now they waited, for what felt like an eternity. What will always be an eternity. Movement. The drape becomes removed and in the place of the damned, comes out a mighty, sneering monster, with razor sharp teeth, and eyes with such a piercing gaze that all who ever gazed at them would go mad, just like him. Rising up now, eternally awoken, the insane king of all darkness. |
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