In Fall 2019 we had the idea to host a new competition in order to keep our creators and our readers engaged more during the year. This new competition would be a short story competition unique to Halloween, and as such submitted stories would be spooky or fun Halloween themed stories. The top stories submitted would be included in a special Halloween Spooky Story Telling event where writers, judges, and the audience would dress in their Halloween costumes and enjoy a night of Spooky Story Telling. The 1st place winner, would have their story turned into an audio drama produced and shared here on our Central Review Website. Be sure to read the submissions from all of our wonderful writers, and listen to the audio dramas from past winners. So without further ado, we present our Spooky Stories.
Halloween 2020
2020 Winner: Kenton Smalley
Meet our 2020 Spooky Story Competition Winner, Kenton Smalley! Kenton is a senior majoring in English and working towards a Creative Writing certificate. He lives in the wilds of northern Michigan with his beautiful wife and two lovely daughters, where he writes for both business and pleasure. Between the pages he goes for long walks with his beagle, Macaroni. His piece titled “Effigy” just won our annual Halloween competition, congratulations! (Audio Drama Coming Soon)
“Mother” by Xitlalic A. Arellano Cardenas
“The Day of Reckoning” by Brooke Wallace
“Hunger” by Ainsley McCracken
“Vanishing Hope” by Emily Clement
Halloween 2019
2019 Winner: Lindsay Smith
Lindsay graduated in December 2019 with a degree in Natural Resource Biology and a certificate in creative writing. Although she usually sticks to poetry, she’s been working to write out of her comfort zone. Much of her work reflects her passion for science and the natural world. Lindsay enjoys dancing, hiking, camping, and telling people that “the air smells really good today”. She has a bearded dragon named Pancake and once spent 2 months looking for a bird (successfully, in the end). She’s thankful to the Central Review for this opportunity to share her piece “Mimic“! (Link to the audio drama)
“Dirt Devil” by Isabelle Fleszar
“The Manor” by Kaitlyn Weisdorfer
“The Study Group” by Mike Gottschalk
“The Symbol” by Lauren Brown
“Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Katie Raker
Desserts
Chocolate Macarons
A classic French delicacy, filled with rich chocolate ganache
$12.00
Crêpe Suzette
Delicate crêpe in buttery, orange sauce; served flambé
$13.00
Praline Cake
Multi-layer praline and chocolate cake with caramel cream cheese
$12.00
Tarte Tatin
Sticky caramel sauce with apples, served with whipped cream
$12.00
Lemon Tart
zesty lemon tang, creamy custard and topped with meringue
$12.00
Trio of Fruit
Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, plums and passion fruit
$28.00
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