The winning stories from this year’s Tales of the Dead short horror story contest have been published, and October is the perfect month for reading spine-chilling stories. So, crawl under the blankets, turn off the lights and read these seven horrifying tales.
Over 21 Winners
1st Place – “Against the Stone and Clouds” by Hilary Hargis of Towson
2nd Place (tie) – “The Soul Painter” by Leo E. Ndelle of Parkville
2nd Place (tie) – “Maui Mark and the Night Marchers” by Mark Andrew Carpenter of Parkville
3rd Place – “Blister” by Sade D. Thompson of Baltimore
Under 21 Winners
1st Place – “Game Night” by Chris Fleschner of Ellicott City (Age 15)
2nd Place – “Dining Alone” by Caden Heiser-Cerrato of Linthicum Heights (Age 15)
3rd Place – “The Secret Facility” by Cody Smith of Towson (Age 17)
All three Under 21 winners attend Loyola Blakefield High School. English teacher Ed Brown’s students took part in the contest as part of a writing assignment. “Contests give people, in this case my students, a chance to prove their abilities to strangers,” said Brown. “It expands and extends the audience beyond me, their teacher and their peers. Most of my students, when they think of writing and contests, believe that only ‘other people’ who are somehow born with magical skills they don’t possess win contests. Three winners from Loyola prove that wrong.”