Hi, everyone! As promised in my last post, here is my entry to Susanna Hill’s 5th Annual Halloweensie Contest. I can’t begin to tell you how many starts and stops I made. Every time I finished introducing my main character and setting up his problem, I was pushing the 100-word limit–seriously pushing it! This was truly an enjoyable exercise in staying within a low word count. At times, I was frustrated. At other times, I devoured insane quantities of chocolate to keep my creative energy charged. And looking back at the experience I can honestly say I LOVED every minute of it.
The Contest: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (title not included in the 100 words), using the words costume, dark, and haunt. Your story can be scary, funny or anything in between, poetry or prose, but it will only count for the contest if it includes those 3 words and is 100 words (you can go under, but not over!
by Leslie Leibhardt Goodman
Leslie Leibhardt Goodman 
So cute! Awww, he just wanted to be a ghost. Bedsheet is a smart idea.
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Thanks, Jen,
I’m glad you like my Halloweenie story. This is such a wonderful contest. I can’t wait to read all the entries.
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Ha! Poor kid. I think I might have to replicate that costume and save a bit on dentist bills. 🙂
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Too funny! That’s got me thinking… I’ve never been big on candy, so maybe I should make a sandwich costume for Halloween.
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Hilarious! Love the originality! Good luck in the contest!
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I’m glad you liked my story, Jilanne, Writing such a short story proved more fun than I expected. Thanks for the good wishes on the contest. Win or lose, I enjoyed the writing process and plan on writing more of these 100-word pieces.
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Leslie…this is AWESOME! You picked a rhyming pattern that is so so so hard to do…kudos for a job well done. And you story is HILARIOUS…I love it! And is that your illustration? Oh my goodness…you are GOOD!
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Thank you, Vivian! I’m popping buttons from your compliments. Yes, the illustration is mine. I had so much fun breaking out my watercolors and playing.
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Oh, poor kid. That is a rough Halloween scene. Loved the illustration.
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Not sure which I enjoyed more, writing this piece or illustrating it. Creating stories for children is a rewarding profession.
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Poor kid! I’d love to say it could be worse, but I ‘m not sure how. Great picture, too. Good Luck.
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Hi Maria! I’m happy you visitetd my blog. Thankfully I never once had to wear a costume I didn’t like. But, growing up in the midwest, I always had to wear my winter coat over my costume if I wanted to go trick or treating.
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This made me chuckle – Halloween toast! What a great idea!
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Thank you, Kim. This was a fun story to write. 100 words isn’t much, but after three or four attempts, I found, telling it in limerick rhyme worked. I’m glad you liked it.
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But it’s such a cute costume….
Great job!
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If I were the kid in my story, I think I’d like waddling down the street, squeezed between enormous toast. And… receiving pickles and mustard is WAY healthier than candy–unless we’re talking dark chocolate…
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Clever idea to write in limericks–and poor kid. His Halloween is toast!
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Keeping to 100 words was a challenge, but somehow when I set the story in limerick form I found the process more playful.
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Wow — limericks! I enjoyed this creative and funny entry. Good luck, Leslie. Happy Halloween!
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Thanks, Gabi! I’m glad you liked my story. It came from an idea I had a while back and didn’t know how best to put in story form. Suzanna’s contest gave me the solution I needed. Thank you for the good luck wishes!
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OH WOW! Laugh and laugh. so funny! Poor little guy.
Loved your story so creative and cute!
Loved your illustration as well. Next year I’ll bring a hanky for my tears from laughing. 🙂
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You are sooo sweet! Thank you for the oodles of compliments. I had a ball writing this Halloweensie story for Susanna’s contest, and I’m glad you liked it.
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This one made me hungry. =) Very funny imagining my son as a sandwich. I think he’d like it.
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Thanks, Gregory, I’m glad my Halloweensie story could inspire a possible costume for your son. If I were a kid, I would TOTALLY love trick or treating as a sandwich.
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Funny! I love the illustration, too. Good luck 🙂
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Thanks, Christie,
I appreciate the good luck wishes!
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Your struggles were not in vain, Leslie! What a fun story! Your poor little MC, outwitted at every turn by his/her well-meaning but inattentive/hard of hearing mom 🙂 Nicely done! Thanks so much for joining in the Halloweensie fun! (And see? Chocolate IS important to the writing process! :))
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Susanna! Thanks for popping over here.
At first I thought that writing a 100-word story for your Halloweensie contest was going to be easy peasy (to quote my 4th grader) But as it turned out, I struggled to fit in as many elements of a story arc as possible into the small space. Rewrite! Rewrite! Edit! More chocolate! Rewrite! Who ate my dark chocolate? Get some more. Edit. Edit. Once I made myself a diagram of how many words I could allot to the introduction of my main character, his problem, and his struggles through to the denouement, I could do it. I’m hooked! And I’m off to write another. Happy Halloween, Susanna. And thank you for offering this annual contest.
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You did a fantastic job with the 100 word limit! It is a roast worthy of a chocolate glaze, no? Happy Halloween!
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Mmmm. Yum! Now why didn’t I think to add chocolate glaze to the roast?. Preferably dark chocolate.
Happy Halloween to you, too!
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LOL-funny and clever 🙂 Good luck!
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Thanks, Charlotte,
I enjoyed writing the Halloweensie story. 100 words was quite a challenge. Thanks for the good luck wishes!
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