Announcing the Winners of our Halloweenie Competition

As much as I love to see so many people entering, this was an absolutely horrible competition to shortlist and judge, because with nearly 170 entries, there were of course many delightful stories which missed out on placing.

So before we get into the results, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part. This was a fun competition which really brought out people's imagination, and that was reflected in the diversity of stories we had, from the outrageously funny, to the downright terrifying.

So without further ado, I want to say a massive congratulations to El Henke, who takes the top spot with his delightfully witty tale of a slightly misremembered night.

Second place goes to the always on form WannabeWordsmith who had me double-checking his word count given how much story he packed in there, and the third place spot goes to TheShyThespian whose mischievous shenanigans were a hit with the judges.

The full list of winners is below, and I've also included the stories which just narrowly missed out on a place. Winners, I'll be in touch shortly re your prizes and the rest of the competition admin will be sorted over the weekend.

A new (festive) competition will be announced next week.

Jen x

Full List of Winners:

Top Ten

1. El_Henke - Tricked Into A Treat -$150

2. WannabeWordsmith - The Moment It Ends $100

3. TheShyThespian-Samhain Shenanigans Of The Satyr $50

4. Toreador - My Treat

5. Deviantwriter98 - Sweet Pumpkin

6. K. Kikkiriccio - Pump-kin

7. Footie - Master Of Dark Arts

8. 2bespanked - Treated

9. Kistinspencil - My Jack O'Lantern

10. chris21235 - Whipped Cream

Honourable Mentions

Seeker4 - Statement By Constable S. October 31 20xx

KevinQuinn - Night Of The Dildo

ChumbaPoxwally - Ella's Revenge

samthornhill - The Interview

Leftlingula - The Lewd Latte

Sprite - Trick or Treat

James Llewellyn - Something Wick-ed This Way Cums

LaurenK - The Pumpkin Delight

DeviantSusie - Head

CuriousAnnie - Double, Double Toil and Trouble; Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

Congratulations to the winners and everyone involved (a big shout-out to the shortlisters, this time).

Micros are tricky, and there were many, many, many treats amongst them.

It's always great to see so many new faces in the comps!

Thank you all!

:worship: huge congrats to Henke, WW, and MrThespian for taking the podium! And great job Top Ten, honorable mentions, and every one brave enough to enter.

I didn’t get to read even half because of eye strain due to a lot of screen time at work, but the ones I got to read were fabulous!

Thanks Jen, shortlister, judges for all your work on this crowded comp.

❤️

Congratulations to the winners. I’m proud of everyone that entered. I’m excited to know what the next one will have in store.

Congratulations to the podium trio! I can't say I had picks made for this one like I do some comps but these are good ones.

And to the top ten and my fellow honourable mentions as well.

It was quite a marvelous, if busy, comp. Thanks to Jen and the judges for the work to bring this off.

Congratulations to El Henke on his winning entry, to the runner's up, and to everyone who dared to enter their prose. Well deserved all.

Wowzer, what a comp this was! True praise for the triumphant trio up there on the podium wearing their pumpkin crowns. Everyone did such a wonderful job, with such a range of inspired stories, all in 100 words.

And Jen -- I've ordered a jumbo gift basket assortment of edibles from HighTime2 for distribution to all your helpers with my heartfelt thanks. (The pink gummy bunnies are really good, but one at a time!).

Congratulations to el_henke, WannabeWordsmith and TheShyThespian! Also, well done to the runners-up in such a fierce competition!

What a great comp! Congratulations to El_Henke, WannabeWordsmith & TheShyThespian and well done everyone!

Congrats to the podium holders and top 10!

Wait, really? rubs eyes Wowsers. What an honour to even be shortlisted out of all the great entries, let alone sharing the podium with two other excellent stories. I have no idea how anybody even began to whittle that lot down to 20, let alone 10. The judges need a holiday. Thank you.

Major congratulations to all the entrants for sharing your talents, and of course my fellow podiumers and the top 20. And thank you to everyone who read, commented on, and enjoyed the diverse array of stories on display. Readers are the reason we write, and it means more than you can imagine that our work is enjoyed.

Thank you all again.

Wow! Chuffed to bits to be on the podium! So much variety in this competition - it was so difficult to know what direction to take with the theme. Well done to everyone who took part - I read most of those in the top 20 and enjoyed them all (those I didn't, I will make sure to catch up on). Thank you so much to Jen, the judges, and particularly those who had the job of shortlisting - not an enviable task on this occasion!

Congratulations everyone!!! ❤️

Massive congratulations!! 🎊 👏 💐 🥳 🙌

This was so much fun, thank you! Buzzed!

Congratulations to the podium, top ten, and honorable mentions. Fabulous entries indeed!

to Henke for the win! Also to WW and TheShyThespian for taking the top. Well done to everyone else who placed and to everyone else who participated!

WOW! congrats to you all! This was a real fun one to read!

It's nice to see so many not so regular names on the author list too!!

I feel so sorry for the judges of this one, it must have been really difficult!

fucking hell. no, seriously. lol i am impressed that i even got an HM. that was fun. let's do another one!

That story cover photo🤣 Congratulations, El henke!

When I logged in this morning, I was like:

Six messages in my inbox? For real? Where's the fire?

When I read this thread:

Five seconds (and half a bottle of vodka) later:

Holy fuuuuuuck!

Has everyone lost their mind?

I never saw that coming!

Holy shit! I can't believe it!

Thank you so much, everyone. That's beyond amazing! Un-fucking-believable!

And huge congrats to everyone who participated! There are quite a few I'll have to catch up on, it seems.

Congratulations to everyone who entered, the podium placers, and the runners-up. Great comp.

Well done guys, great efforts....

Congratulations to the winners! 🥳

Well done!

Congrats to all who entered, so many enjoyable stories in and beyond Jen’s 20. So cool to see El Henke top a great leaderboard. Well done to all who organized and judged.

Congratulations to the top ten and all who placed. Thank you to everyone who submitted a story. It's not always easy to hit send. The ones I got to read were very well done.

Congrats! I haven't had a chance to sit down and read these yet, but so happy to see familiar and new names on the list 😊

Not only were the winners excellent, but having read nearly all of them, I can say the same of the entries as a whole.

With so many submissions rolling in and a short word count potentially posing a low bar for entry, I initially wondered if there would be quite a few mediocre stories. There simply weren’t. Just amazing.

I only dipped my toes into the entries, but man what a fun comp! So many entries, so much talent, and an impossible job of picking out the winners. Congrats to the winners for rising to the top amidst a huge turnout.

The last two comps have drawn a crazy number of people. Nice to see

Congratulations to the winners, runners up and honorable mentions! What a fun competition in 100 words! Very well done, everyone.

Okay, I have just finished the top 10... Holy fricken schidt that was fun!

A serious congrats, such good writing in so few words!