Tales From Beyond: The Haunted Letter Challenge

Greetings Ghouls, Demons, and Banshees!!! 🙂

I want to begin this by saying that I am so grateful for the honor of being part of the Vocal Media community. This community has been a Godsend for me and gives me the opportunity to explore my creativity and share it with like minded individuals.

Here I am today teaming up with Lamar Wiggins (and two guest judges: Marie Wilson and Raymond G. Taylor) for another Unofficial Vocal Challenge.

The beautiful yet eerily haunting Autumn season is upon us. Tucked, right smack dab in the middle of the season is the creepiest, scariest, most shiver inducing day of the year: Halloween.

In honor of the spookiest day of the year our challenge to you is to write a Haunted Letter, from any perspective. It can be from your perspective or from the perspective of a monster, a ghost, or any other haunted spirit.

The Sinister Protocols of the Challenge

1. Your letter should be between 200 to 500 words. It should be published in the fiction category under the micro-fiction option.
2. Please link or embed the URL to this challenge in your letter post.
3. Also please leave the link to your story in the comments of this announcement. As we will be reviewing the entries from this story.
4. The deadline to submit your entries is Monday October 20, 2025, using California (USA) time. Maximum two submissions per entrant.
5. The prizes are as follows: Third Place = $30, Second Place = $40, and First Place = $70 (Top Prizes are sponsored by Marie Wilson, Ray Taylor, and Rick Henry Christopher)
6. Four $5 Runner’s Up Prizes will be awarded (Runner’s Up Prizes are sponsored by Lamar Wiggins) All prizes will be awarded as a Vocal tip.
7. Each entry will be critiqued and rated by our panel of four well experienced judges. The ratings criteria will be published after we’ve received all the entries.

...And Now From the Shadows... Emerge Your Judges...

(Listed in alphabetical order by first name)

Lamar Wiggins: Lamar has been writing with Vocal since February 2021. He displays versatility in his writing style and the topics he writes about are equally varied from poetry to horror and everything in between.

Lamar is well decorated, having placed 1st in two Vocal challenges, along with several runners-up and honorable mention badges. He anxiously lends his support to the community, spreading positivity throughout, lifting others while being lifted himself.

You can also check him out on the Vocal + Assist Facebook group. As a senior admin he’ll keep you on your toes, prompting you with simple, on-the-spot writing exercises.

But keep your eye on this seemingly mild mannered man... as he holds the goblet of hemlock which may end up in your haunted highball.

😱😱😱😱😱

Marie Wilson: Marie Wilson has written for Toronto’s NOW magazine and The Globe and Mail, among other publications. HarperCollins published her novel "The Gorgeous Girls", and a number of her screenplays have received awards at film festivals. On Vocal she has 21 Top Stories, 8 Runners-Up, numerous Honourable Mentions and a 3rd place win. Most notably (for her), her story "A Red Letter Day for Tatlow" was a recent Challenge winner.

She may be filled with charm and beauty, but beneath hides a demon witch who may cast an incurable spell upon your body, if you let your focus wander.

😱😱😱😱😱

Raymond G. Taylor: Ray Taylor is a PTC-qualified (Periodicals Training Council, UK) magazine journalist and former editor with subsequent career history in business, law, and government. Since joining Vocal+ in August 2022 he has won two Vocal Challenge awards, one in the Critique community and one in the Nourished community and has earned 40 Top Story honors across the Fiction, Art, Poets, Futures, and Writers communities. He has published one novel, two collections of short stories, and one collection of poetry.

Since 2010 Ray has served on the Editorial Board of the Prison Service Journal, where he is responsible for peer-reviews of academic articles submitted to the journal, writes book reviews, and helps to decide the content of future issues.

Don't look away Ray Taylor has been known to take a midnight bite at the neck for a bloody cocktail. Don't let yourself become his next Bloody Mary.

😱😱😱😱😱

Rick Henry Christopher: Rick Henry Christopher: Joined Vocal in May 2021 as an outlet for dealing with the loss of his brother, Chris. Writing became a way to escape and cope with the pain.

As of September 2025 RHC has published 339 stories to Vocal and has achieved 66 Top Stories and has placed as a runner-up in two official challenges.

Rick is best known for his “Best Of” music lists and his recurring “Blackbird Fly” and “The Adventures of Gloria Cupidon” series.

Rick created and developed the popular Facebook group Vocal + Assist as a means of bringing Vocalites together and to foster more reads for their writing.

Don't be fooled by his sweet and demure disposition... RHC is hiding in the shadows waiting to eat some brains for dinner... Watch out he hasn't eaten in weeks!!!

😱😱😱😱😱

We look forward to your deliciously horrifying letters!!! 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟