Halloween Ghost Story Challenge

[caddyman]

Okay.

Back on 21st of this month I mooted a writing challenge – just for fun – to create a ghost or horror story for Halloween. A number of you expressed an interest, so I think it’s a ‘go’.

The challenge is simple: write a ghost or horror story in no more than 500 words, based upon a song lyric or a couple of lines from a song lyric of your choice.

Post the story in your LiveJournal, but don’t tell anyone what the lyric that inspired it is, though it may be worth dropping a clue, cryptic or otherwise and we’ll see if anyone can guess where you got your idea. (Thanks to jfs for that refinement).

Can I ask people who customarily friends lock their journals to leave that one post unlocked, please and I shall post an entry with links on Halloween itself, so that anyone who is not on your friends list, but who is interested, can read it. I intend to cross post to just_writing too, unless anyone objects (many of you are there anyway).

Once all the entries are linked together, does anyone think that it would be worth putting up a poll for people to rate the stories from 1-5 stars, or is that just a potential soul crusher for any poor sap who gets a single star, when what we should really be celebrating is the fact they took part?

Anyway, with that one question to be answered, get writing and I’ll post links in a month!

Good luck!

(cross posted)

Edited to add: I'll repost this a couple of times over the month for anyone who missed it first time around.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

My vote is for no rating. If people like a story presumably they'll post a comment.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

I think I was edging in that direction myself, which is why I mentioned it.

No rating it is, then!

[snorkel-maiden.livejournal.com]

Yes I agree. I'd probably either not vote at all or just give everyone 5, for fear of giving offence!

[littleonionz.livejournal.com]

Yay for peeps writing scary stories:) woe for scoring:(

[failing-angel.livejournal.com]

As much as I'd like to take part, I don't think I'm going to have the time - moving house is going to gobble up too much time and focus.

[budgie-uk.livejournal.com]

Not intended to come over as sour grapes, but unless you make it easy-peasy for people to express their opinion (and that means some kind of poll/ratings), people simply won't comment.

I used to get five or six responses if I did a Fast Fiction the first year. The past couple of years, I'm LUCKY if I get two, and one of those is usually the person I wrote the story for; if I get more than three comments, I know it was a spectacular story.

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Not sour grapey at all; it's a fair point.

I am perpetually baffled about what raises comments - something well written and incisive attracts nothing, but a throway comment on the fact Spider-Man couldn't have a secret identity because simply walking should leave either tearing velcro noises or suction cup sounds (depending on current origin story) brings in dozens!

That said, I did get several bites from people who I know like to write when I mooted the idea on 21 Sept, but I also realised that having the idea so early meant that I would need to remind the buggers!

I'll be posting something in the next few days. We'll see if that generates anything; it's only supposed to be a bit of fun, after all. I'll be happy if I get five stories.

[snorkel-maiden.livejournal.com]

Mine is here:

http://snorkel-maiden.livejournal.com/136114.html

I had much fun writing it :)

[geekette8.livejournal.com]

Mine is here:
http://geekette8.livejournal.com/509506.html

[bopeepsheep.livejournal.com]

http://bopeepsheep.livejournal.com/486336.html

A chance to play with a song I always thought was rather creepy!