ATHOL – The Athol Public Library is bringing back its Scary Story Writing Contest this fall, expanding the competition to children, teens and adults.
The contest is divided into three age categories – 10 and under; 11 to 18; and 19 and older, with entries due by midnight on Oct. 25. Participants are asked to write their “scariest short story,” with one winner selected in each age category.
In 2024, the library held its first Scary Story Writing Contest, which was open only to teens. Children’s Librarian Emily Boughton said people have been asking for the contest to return since then.
“We know our community enjoys it, and we definitely have writers in our community of all ages,” she said. “So we thought, ‘Why limit it to just one age group?’”
Boughton said the first contest drew nine entries.
“They were all over the place as far as topic, even though they were all under ‘short scary story,’” she said. “So it’s just going to be fun to see what everybody does with the prompt.”
According to the Athol Public Library, stories must be original and no longer than 1,500 words, with one entry allowed per person. The use of AI writing tools is prohibited, and submissions will be judged on creativity, originality and writing style.
Boughton said the library has not finalized who will judge this year’s contest, but is reaching out to members of the Friends of the Library and local authors. She said one winner from each age category will receive a “Scary Story Season” tote bag from the company Out of Print, filled with additional goodies.
After the judging is complete, Boughton said the library plans to gather the stories so people can read them at the library and online. Under the contest rules, entries become property of the Athol Public Library and may be shared on its website and social media.
Boughton said she hopes participants enjoy taking part in the contest.
“I hope they get to enjoy spending the time being creative in writing their story, and also enjoy seeing what everybody else writes,” she said.
Entries should be emailed as a PDF or Word document to Boughton at eboughton@cwmars.org, with the writer’s name, town, age and telephone number included in the body of the email.