Haunted Tales Halloween Writing Contest

The Wick is grateful to the approximately forty students in grades 6-8 who submitted their “haunted tales” to our Halloween writing competition! Here are this year’s winning pieces, selected by the Wick editorial team. Congratulations to all participants!

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“Spirits” by Elizabeth Biemer

St. Giles School, Grade 6

    “Emmaline, is this it?” Eliza asks, running towards me.

     I nod and she keeps running.

     Crunch, Crunch. The leaves beneath her shatter silence’s song into a million and one-pieces. The arched gateway looms above us. Creak… the gate’s moans are echoing through the night air. The cold air. Chitter, chit, chatter, my teeth attack each other in the freezing before-dawn air.

     I shiver, as a new cold breeze pushes past me.

     Crunch, crunch. The dead, dry, crinkled leaves’ sound escapes from beneath my feet. The tree’s shadows tower and creep behind me.

     My long dress sweeps the filthy, dirt ground. The pathway was old and gravely, sunken into the ground. Graves from all around me began to reappear as the sun lifted from behind the trees. My eyes danced, watching the light illuminate those forgotten in the shadows.

     The glittering, shining graveyard seemed dark in comparison to the now radiant outside world. The sun was almost fully perched in the sky, now risen above the crimson autumn trees.

     From all around us, thousands of ghosts fly in from every direction imaginable. Cackling, while being drawn back to their graves as they are every single morning once their freedom of the night is over.

     Eliza, the first time seeing this many spirits at once, was shocked and appalled. Somehow, she was smiling, laughing in glee at the memorizing view of the souls.

     Finally, I reach the center of the gated-in cemetery. I arrive at the gravestone, just in time. I brush off the dirt on the grave, so I can read it.

     “Are we here?”

     “We’re here,” I confirm.

     “My first time with the dead,” Eliza breathes spinning on the hard ground.

     “You’re lucky that you were honored with a level four apparition position when you died, you can actually walk and act like one of those- breathing folks.” Emmaline grinned.

     The gravestones in front of us read, “Emmaline Dons. 2006-2018” and the other is “Eliza Dons 2006-2020”. I open my coffin and climb back inside. Eliza shovels dirt above my tomb, before climbing into her own.

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Haunted tale by Sofia Frech

St. Josaphat School, Grade 7

    The whistling of the wind out my window. The shadows creeping towards my door. The lights flickering. The staircase creaking. Every October 13. Shadows. Moans. Rapping on the glass. This all happened exactly a year ago today. And every year before. Whispering, creaking, moaning. It just had to be ghosts.

     It’s October 13 yet again, and I just can’t stay here. I throw open the front door, and grab a flashlight. I need a place to be alone, so I walk across the street, into the woods. As the sun dips below the horizon, I hear a sharp howl in the distance. I walk faster. The next thing I know, I’m running. The deeper into the woods I run, the thicker the trees. My foot catches on something. I trip and dirt covers my face. I reach for my flashlight and flick it on. I point it on the ground and see an ivory white stick. Wait…

     “Is that a bone?” I shriek. All of a sudden, the bone shoots up off the ground, and behind me. I turn around and see a full skeleton staring at me. I scream. The skeleton runs toward me. I stumble back and start running again. I turn my head and see about a dozen more skeletons following. I run faster. As I look ahead, I run into a tree. The skeletons surround me. As they close in, I panic. Not knowing what to do, I flick the switch of my flashlight, and turn it towards the nearest skeleton. The ivory bone turns gray, then begins disintegrating. Does the light hurt them?, I wonder. I point my flashlight at the other skeletons. They begin to disintegrate too. I turn back to the first skeleton and see that the bone is fully formed again. The light must have to stay on it.

     “Gotta run!” I yell. I shine my flashlight towards a few skeletons at the edge of the circle, and start running. I run over the bone-dust. The end of the forest nears, and I stumble into the street. My jaw drops. Bodies covered with pale gray skin, and blood, limping around, and shimmering white silhouettes throughout the sky. Luckily, all zombies and ghosts seem to ignore me. The skeletons shoot out of the forest, and towards me. I sprint towards the streetlamp. They stop a few feet from me, out of the light, so I keep running from lamp to lamp.

     As I near the end of the town, I slow and sit down under a lamp as skeletons surround me yet again, but this time they can’t touch me. I watch as the sun rises along the horizon. The skeleton’s bones turn gray, and they start to disintegrate. I breathe a sigh of relief. Feeling pleased with myself, I look around and notice the zombies staring at me. I guess they aren’t affected by light. I realize what that can mean to me. I bolt away yelling, “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!”

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“The Haunted Escape Room” by Cole Ude

St. Michael School, Grade 8

    “Alrighty. Have a good time. There are a few others in there right now, you can  collaborate with them or work on your own.”

     I moved past the registration desk of the escape room and opened the door that led into it. I journeyed down a hall that made a few twists and turns. When I made the final turn, I stepped onto a grassy lawn at night. There was a building with a warm glow coming from its  windows a hundred or so feet away, so I went that way. Inside, there was a small kitchenette.  After going through a pantry and opening another door, I found myself on another grassy lawn  at night.

     “What? Did I go in a circle?”

     Then I realized that the patterns in the windows of the building were slightly different. This must be a different building! I went inside the new building. Here, everything looked the  same as the first building, except for a small model of a knight on the table. I moved through  the pantry, opened the door…

     Yet another grassy lawn at night.

     I repeated these movements through the buildings several times, until I got to a pantry  with a note that said:

     “LAST ONE.”

     Okay, so that was good news. I opened the door that before had always led to the lawns  and popped out in a living room-type setting. I heard voices and looked around. There were  two staircases leading down out of this area. At the bottom of one I could see flickering lights  and…was that a skeleton? I shivered and looked down the other staircase. There was a small table and a few armchairs, two of which were currently occupied by people apparently  discussing their next move. There was another door out of the room. I went that way, not  wanting to disturb the other people and not wanting to go near the skeleton.

     Inside the connecting room there was a staircase going up and a picture on the wall, but  not much else. Then I got the sense someone was watching me. I looked up. There was an  alcove cut into the wall right below the ceiling, and inside there was a large knight in shining  armor, the kind you see in castle entry halls. I couldn’t seem to tear my gaze away from it. And  then a creaking noise came from the knight as it turned, pointed right at me, and in a deep,  raspy voice said…

     “STAY THERE, OR WE WILL CATCH YOU.”

     I looked around. I was surrounded by all different shapes and sizes of knights, including  the one from the table in the second building. I yelled for help as they closed in…