Six Words, Six Feet Under: The 2026 Halloween Horror Contest
Back by popular demand to haunt your nightmares! After bringing back our beloved haiku contest and diving into horror last year, we’re doing it again. Welcome to our 2026 Six Words, Six Feet Under Contest, where we prove that sometimes the shortest stories cut the deepest.
Six words. That’s all you get to craft pure terror. No elaborate setups, no lengthy descriptions, just six perfectly chosen words that will make readers’ blood run cold. Think Hemingway’s famous six-word story, but twisted into something that would make him sleep with the lights on.
We want stories that hit like a punch to the gut. The kind that stick with you long after you’ve read them. Stories that make you check your locks twice and avoid dark corners. This is about distilling horror down to its essence, finding that perfect combination of words that unleashes maximum dread.
The Rules:
- Your horror story must be exactly six words, no more, no less
- Each entry will be judged on pure terror factor
- Enter as many spine-chilling stories as you dare
- Deadline: October 29, 2026
- Post your entries in the comments below
The Prizes:
- Bragging rights
- The terrifying treat of scaring your friends
- Being awarded the Master Writer Award from Every Writer
Examples to get your dark creativity flowing:
- “Baby shoes for sale, never worn.” (Hemingway’s original)
- “She smiled back from the mirror.”
- “My reflection blinked without me blinking.”
Drop your most hair-raising six-word horror stories in the comments below. Remember, every single word counts in this battle for horror supremacy. The clock is ticking, and darkness gathers.
Let the nightmares begin!
Leave your 6-word stories in the comments. Enter as many times as you like.
- Six Words of Halloween Nostalgia: The 2026 Contest - August 31, 2026
- Six Words, Six Feet Under: The 2026 Halloween Horror Contest - August 31, 2026
- THE VAMPIRE by Rudyard Kipling - August 31, 2026
Something is squirming under my skin.
“It’s tradition here, eating your lovers.”
Mantises’ prayers are truer than his.
Eat fast. Don’t think. You’ll adjust.
Amanda washed blood from Sunday dresses.
Still hearing your head hit concrete . . .
I can’t survive. I’ve tried thrice.
Now, my birthday’s “Grandma’s death date”.
I’ve learned not to mind dying.
I doubt Mom had scales yesterday . . .
Her scars were old as she.
The human race’ll die with me.
Be honest. Will I die tonight?
Though she’s . . . zombified, I’d date her.
Mother never let me taste sunlight.
I died without ever seeing stars.
Writers never know what they unleash.
My heart’s in another man’s chest.
Heart’s his now. Still feel pulse.
Stay still, sweetheart. This won’t hurt.
Mom didn’t kiss boo-boos. Made ’em.
The drill went into my gum.
My brain’s unraveled on the table.
Only five and already befriending monsters.
She loved people, learned from that.
It dares call itself my grandfather!
Door wouldn’t open. Wolf’s mouth did.
The house collapsed. The dynasty too.