Competition WINNERS 2013

There was such a wide variety of impressive entries that it was very difficult to pick outright winners. Our three judges - Mr Pratt, Mr Tam, and Ms Lee - couldn't agree at all, and between them nominated over half of the entrants for a prize!

After some further balloting we arrived at the following result:

1st place  -  Fin McCombe
There is something wrong with this mirror. In fact, there is something wrong with every mirror. I am not there. I have no reflection in mirrors. When someone sees me with no reflection, why do they run away instead of helping me? Am I a man without a reflection, or a reflection without a man?

2nd place  -  Ciara Jacob
"It'll be fun," my mother said. "Three whole days down the coast, three days to meet and bond with your grandfather." I met Granddad's hand at the beach, his leg in the basement and his foot in the garden. It was three days before I met his head, drinking at the bar. Three days to meet all of him. "Granddad's dead," I told my mother. "Don't be ridiculous," she replied.

3rd place  -  Joe Littler
The theatre always had good shows. The girl sat in the back row, engrossed. She heard the people beside her talking about the new theatre, how it was better than the old one. They talked about the murder that had inspired its name. The girl looked up, and saw her name.

Special congratulations to these three (you'll be receiving a hong bao with some prize money shortly), but a big thank-you to everyone who took part.

Maybe this competition will become an annual tradition for Year 10s in Hangzhou. You've got it off to a very good start.

Grace Stevens

I was taking a shortcut through the cemetery yesterday, when I noticed a particularly beautiful tombstone to my left. I went over to take a quick look, and realised that this person had the same name as me.

Jasmine Topp

The nightmares are happening again. Everything's on fire. And there's a man looking at me through the flames. "Who are you?" I yell. He stares at me and whispers something. I wake up yelling. There are burns on my hands. I hear his voice - "I dare you to fall asleep again."

Henry Poon

Two years after little Timmy died falling off a swing, his parents finally returned to the scene. They saw a little kid and his mom playing on the swing. Suddenly, the mom was thrown through the air, and the little kid ran to Timmy's parents in panic. All little Timmy wanted was to play on the swing, as if he'd never died.

Justin Choo

In the toy store I work in, there is a smiling doll that has three fingers raised. One day, after work, I found my mother's decapitated corpse at home. The next day, the doll had four fingers raised, and was laughing.

Abi Yee

It was Christmas Eve. Cookies and milk were on the counter. Suddenly, a puff of soot came from the fireplace. One boot appeared, then another. Then the hiding children's smiles turned to frowns, as Santa's decapitated body fell down the chimney.

Victoria Jooris

'Walk into the light,' they said, 'walk into the light.' I really resent those who told me that. I much prefer to smash their cars at night.

Nick Hildebrandt

Washing dishes in the kitchen, I see my reflection in a dish. I smile, but my reflection doesn't smile back. It picks up a knife and slowly slits its throat, and begins to cough up blood as it laughs. I fall to my knees and die, as my reflection continues to laugh.

Fin McCombe

There is something wrong with this mirror. In fact, there is something wrong with every mirror. I am not there. I have no reflection in mirrors. When someone sees me with no reflection, why do they run away instead of helping me? Am I a man without a reflection, or a reflection without a man?

Lauren Chillington

There was this so-called haunted house down the street from me. It was said that anyone who went in, never came out again. I was dared to go in there once. That was 100 years ago.

Vanessa Tidmarsh

I watched myself glide through the door. We stared at each other. I raised my arm, she raised hers. I jumped, she jumped. She stabbed herself, and I fell to the ground.

Kenny Jeong

The widower did not shoot himself. Just before he departed, a woman in white appeared to him. She held his hand and pushed his fingers together.

Joe Littler

The theatre always had good shows. The girl sat in the back row, engrossed. She heard the people beside her talking about the new theatre, how it was better than the old one. They talked about the murder that had inspired its name. The girl looked up, and saw her name.

Noam Braude

Oscar followed his family across the graveyard. They neared his great-grandfather's grave, and Oscar prepared for the usual flurry of tears and prayers. Yet his family kept on walking, to Oscar's surprise. He had to rush to keep up with them. They stopped at a new grave. Oscar looked down and saw his own name on it.

Ciara Jacob

"It'll be fun," my mother said. "Three whole days down the coast, three days to meet and bond with your grandfather." I met Granddad's hand at the beach, his leg in the basement and his foot in the garden. It was three days before I met his head, drinking at the bar. Three days to meet all of him. "Granddad's dead," I told my mother. "Don't be ridiculous," she replied.

Ariel Lam

Peter looked into his bathroom mirror. He closed his eyes to think. Suddenly he felt a presence near him. He turned around, but saw no-one. He looked back into the mirror and saw a figure behind him. He spun around, but again saw no-one. Then the lights flickered off.

Amy Hopkins

"Sarah, Sarah, talk to me." She doesn't care any more, doesn't listen to what I say. It's like I don't exist. She doesn't seem to notice as I follow her to work and back home again. But finally, as she walks down the street, she turns and acknowledges me, opens her arms to hug me - but passes right through me, into the arms of another man.

David Zhang

I see him everywhere, following me, calling out to me. I scream. "Why?" I scream. That's when he shows me our graves.

Nick Berry

I came home last night to see my family crying. I wondered why they were crying so much. Did grandma die? Did Uncle Joe die? Oh, wait - I forgot. I hanged myself yesterday.

Natalie Lui

The boy stepped over the threshold into the notorious mansion house. It was all he had expected it to be, with huge rooms and luxurious couches. Suddenly the lights flickered out and the curtains began to sway as if a strong wind was blowing. The boy panicked and ran for the door, but now there was only a blank wall in its place.

Tynan Eurwongpravit

It all started that night I left Diana waiting there - waiting in that dark alley where she was murdered. Tonight I was supposed to be meeting Kelly, but she stood me up. When I got back home, I found her hanging there. On the wall there were these words written in her blood: "How does it feel to be kept waiting?"

Catherine Wang

The pale man lets her in and leads her to the kitchen. "Your parents will be here soon. Wait here." The light is dim, the room smells bad. There is only the drip, drip of a liquid beating on the floor. Her heart begins to race. The liquid is red.

Kelly Kwok

"Oh dear! I thought I was dead. Glad I'm back to reality," she thought, as she woke from a nightmare. It was time to go to church for her friend's wedding. When she arrived at the church, everyone was tearful, holding tissues, wearing black. She approached the coffin and was shocked to find herself inside it. She had not dreamed of the car crash.

Hayson Chu

"Anyone home?" His voice made its way through the shack and was quickly extinguished by the howl of the winter snow. There was no-one home, but there it was, a big, inviting fireplace beckoning the young traveller to curl and up and sleep in the warm. That's just what he did. When the Yeti returned from his tour in the mountains, things got quite messy.

Sierra Chiao

"I awoke, paralyzed. I saw something move in the corner of my eye, and it hopped up onto my bed and sat. It was grotesque and smiling. The thing raised a knife, and began clawing out my insides as I lay watching. I couldn’t scream - my sleep paralysis was back."

Bianca Banks

Silence. The sound of breathing penetrated Ryan from the inside. His lungs were on the verge of explosion. Silence. The sound of light footsteps ‘click clack click clack’. A shadow of evil engulfed the cupboard in which Ryan was hiding. Silence…

Gabbie DeSombre

It was past midnight, and she crept down the stairs to find something to drink. The darkness encompassed her whole figure as she reached for the light switch. She looked at the palely lit wall, wondering why she was casting two shadows. After all, there was only a single lightbulb. 

Some micro ghost story examples

Here are a few 'micro ghost stories' (Twitter-length!) that I wrote a few years ago.

A tweet is limited to 140 characters (including the spaces between words): that usually works out to about 20-30 words. For your competition entries, you can use up to 50 words.

The barman's in a mood: ignores us regulars, chats only to these new guys; says things haven't been the same since the fire.

He couldn't help himself. Every day he drove down that street, the little girl always waiting to run out in front of him.

The perfect man, she thought. He walked her home. They kissed by moonlight. And then he showed her the place where he died.

"One careful owner," the salesman said. He never told me she gassed herself in this car. Now she bitches at my driving!

See what you can do with this very short format!  Good luck!!