Writers win 5 Steem! Oct 16 Twenty-four Hour Short Story Contest--The Jack-o-Lanterns in a town come to life.

in #twentyfourhourshortstory • 6 years ago (edited)

 The 24 hour short story challenge

(But you'll get a little more time than that...)  I am fascinated by science fiction writer Harlan Ellison writing short stories in a book store window.  He wrote short stories, with everyone watching, for years.  People started to questioned if he already had the stories, so he began to take suggestions for topics from people watching.  Chris Carter of X-files fame gave him the topic of a 102-year-old pregnant corpse, and he wrote a story based on that idea.

So thus the idea behind this contest was born.  You can write a short story in a short amount of time.

Click here for last week's winners and entries.  

Here are the terms of the contest.

Write a short story no longer than 2,000 words, based on the topic phrase.

Here is the topic for you short story:

The Jack-o-Lanterns in a town all come to life.

(Fyi Jack-o-Lanterns are the decorated pumpkins people put out during Halloween.) 



Here are the rules for entry

1. Upvote this post. 

2. Resteem this post  (And actually even you don't enter this contest and you read this post, resteeming this would be greatly appreciated to get the word out for more participants.  Thanks!)  (I've gotten comments about this policy.  The reason for the upvotes and resteem is help provide funding for the contest.)

3. In your post put a link to this post. 

4. Post a link to your story in the comments below. (This is really important, this is how I keep track of entries.  I check my replies for entries.) Entries are due by 9 p.m. EST (New York/D.C. Time) Tuesday October 16. 

This actually gives you a little over 48 hours from when I make this post.  But I want to give more time to allow for more people to enter the contest.

5. Use the tag twentyfourhourshortstory for your first tag. (Don't use # before the tag or it goes over the 24 character limit.  24...24 hour short story contest...Ironic don't you think...)Feel free to use other tags as you wish. 

Prizes are:

5 Steem for First Place.

3 Steem for Second Place

1 Steem for Third Place And depending on how many entries I receive I may give out Steem for other entries.  But again that all depends on the amount and quality of posts. (I am personally putting up the rewards for this contest, there be no whales here capt’in.  So upvoting and resteeming helps keep this thing going.)

So please upvote with as much power as you can.  That helps fund the contest. 

Currently @curie has funded the contest for a couple months.  Extra Steem earned can go back to more rewards for the contest.

Here's what you get for participating, even if you don't win.

1. I upvote every entry, and I resteem every entry to over 1,000  2,000 followers. 

2. I create a post at the end of every contest and I mention and link to your post. Again going out to over a 1,000 2,000 followers.

3. A regular community of participants has developed around this contest and they read and comment on the entries.

4. (Then of course there is the chance for winning some extra Steem!)Thanks for reading and good luck! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

P.S. If by Friday you see I have not resteemed or upvoted your entry, shoot me a comment.  I may have missed it.  I am getting more entries to read, and contrary to rumor...I am human. Thanks!  

I look forward to reading your entry!  

#fiction #contest #shortstory #writing
6 years ago in #twentyfourhourshortstory by
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    • [-]
     6 years ago  

    MVIMG_20181016_172149.jpg

    Jokes and existential dread are par for the course in my entry.

    I look forward to reading everyone's stories!

    [-]
     6 years ago  

    It was already the day close to the night of the dead, when my eldest son decided to collect all the pumpkins that were in the garden. One by one he collected them, with the intention of making a large pumpkin soup to celebrate the day of the dead, plus that would allow him to have the carapacho to decorate during that holiday.
    To each pumpkin I work them meticulously with the object that these inspired fear between their friends, to whom I had invited to share the soup, cake and how much sweet they could imagine that is done with the pulp of the pumpkin.
    Arrived that night where everything seemed to look wonderful, the courtyard decorated with pumpkins and all guests ate and drank cheerfully, was then when to the sound of music and noise was heard a shout among the present.
    Everyone looked towards a point near the door of the house, there was then a great silence, it could be said that they were paralyzed with fear, with eyes wide open without being able to move, you could almost hear the breath of those present, when from inside the pumpkins began to come out noises, terrifying screams as if something was causing great damage inside, at the same time a very bright, blinding light was emitted from these that did not clearly identify what was happening.
    It was thus, as my son without thinking twice took an axe that was hanging, the drawing trying to destroy the pumpkins, while people ran and if fixed course, only guided by his instinct of salvation.
    Upright with a force that can only be attributed to the terror that invaded it, my son began to destroy those hundreds of pumpkins that tried to surround him until he could no longer.
    Since that night I wander through the streets of my village trying to find my son, and every day of dead party I try to rescue him from the claws of the pumpkins.

    https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@aiskelzurita/writers-win-5-steem-oct-16-twenty-four-hour-short-story-contest-the-jack-o-lanterns-in-a-town-come-to-life

    [-]
     6 years ago  

    Thank you for your story.

    But please repost this as a blog post on your own blog. I cannot resteem a comment. I can resteem the story if you post it as post on your own blog.

    Then leave a comment with a link to your blog post with the story.

    Thanks!

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      [-]
       6 years ago  

      I will try over this....

      Posted using Partiko Android

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        [-]
         6 years ago  

        Hi, @mctiller!

        You just got a 1.37% upvote from SteemPlus!
        To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
        If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.

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          [-]
           6 years ago  

          It's been a while since I entered but I couldn't resist this excellent prompt @mctiller

          My entry - https://steemit.com/twentyfourhourshortstory/@cizzo/smashing-pumpkins-a-shorty-story

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            [-]
             6 years ago  

            Hi @mctiller!

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            Your UA account score is currently 4.840 which ranks you at #1277 across all Steem accounts.
            Your rank has improved 1 places in the last three days (old rank 1278).

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