Unofficial Challenge: More Howls for Halloween!

Hell-o friends.

I hope you’re glad its spooky season!

If you want to skip my intro and jump right to the unofficial writing challenge simply scroll down towards the bottom of the page and keep an eye out for the section heading: “How to Enter!”

Several months ago I decided I’d post an unofficial writing challenge-- horror themed for October. I've had a specific prompt clawing at the back of my mind for a while now....

I knew right away, the theme would NOT be ghosts or demons— I feel they’re both over-represented in horror fiction and for me, an agnostic, spiritual horror doesn't really feel very compelling unless it's profoundly well done. So haunting and possessions were off the table.

Ditto ghouls, skeletons, and all other reanimated corpses. I’ve got a bone to pick with the way the horror genre has fixated on zombies specifically… while they were once potent stand-ins for the real-world horrors of contagions and mob violence, we seem to have reduced a terrifying hypothetical to an eye-rolling cliche. No offense to people who are happy to flesh out these monsters yet again, but I think we can all agree— zombies have been done to undeath.

I guess I'd say the same for vampires-- Dracula and his fam are all tropes now. I'm almost sad to say it, because vampires are jsut so damn cool. Many of my favorite horror books and movies placed a blood sucker in the role of big bad. Vampire stories can be quite chilling, but they’ve been retold so many times that they risk feeling a little stale.

I also knew from the start I wouldn’t be prompting you folks for your best alien horror stories. I don't think they're overdone the way zombies are, in fact I think extra terrestrial horror stories are kind of rare…. But I find they almost never really scare. I don’t feel any fear when I contemplate the possibility of intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos— because any species who’s achieved a sufficient level of technology to visit us will have by necessity evolved past the fear and greed and conflict which currently plagues our own global society. Not only will they be too advanced to need our resources, they’ll also be too altruistic to intend us any harm. At least that’s my untestable hypothesis on extra terrestrial intelligence.

Neither would I challenge anyone to write cosmic horror, because I almost always find the premise itself boring. A horror that’s beyond comprehension? That doesn’t seems like a cop out. My apologies to Cthulu and his inter-dimensional ministers, I guess.

Yes.

I know…

I said I love horror and I want to see more of it, but then I went on a rant that made me sound like a grumpy old guy shaking his fist at the sky! The truth is, I'm happy to read any well written horror-- even monsters that feel familiar or overplayed can be given new life if they're written fresh.

But there's one cliche horror archetype I'll almost always enjoy: the werewolf.

Aka the lycanthrope, aka the lougarou, aka the wolfman.

Even when this beast is written poorly, like a B-movie monster, I'll enjoy. I'd say the only time I'll turn down a werewolf story would be when they're turned into cuddly fixations for a paranormal romance.

I mean, if that's your thing all the power to you. But it's not my thing and it never will be.

I like werewolves to be mangy, I like them to smell like wet dog from their rampaging in the wild. I like them to be savage and hungry-- keen predators.

I do not like them to be tamed by love or loyalty.

I do not like them to be tender or romantic.

I like them to have blood in their muzzles.

I like them to lose all gentleness and all hesitation.

I like the wolf form to consume all scraps of the werewolf’s humanity, leaving nothing but viciousness and violence.

I like them to be evil.

I love how versatile Werewolf horror can be. Stories can play into so many sub-genres within the field of horror: they can be slashers, creature features, and body horror all in one. The transformation itself can be physical, spiritual, psychological, or all three. There have even been real life cases of “social” transformation, where a person is wrongfully accused, trialed, and executed as a werewolf…

In fiction the condition can be a contagious disease playing into the medical horror sub-genre or it can be supernatural or demonic... Werewolves can even have scifi or extra-terrestrial origins-- but almost always these monsters present elements of psychological horror too.

Our disgust at the werewolf's excruciating personal transformation is the more visceral response to the shift from person to beast, but the terror of what the wolf might do people in range of its violence, that's the deeper, anticipatory horror. And when the werewolf transforms back into a person— with a full belly and anonymous scraps of meat in their teeth— they're left in a state of confused desperation and moral anguish.

To me, that's what makes the werewolf the scariest of the tropey horror monsters. Like Jekyl and Hyde, or even like the Incredible Hulk, the people afflicted with werewolfism face a complete loss of self and sanity. But they do not simply fall into madness. They vacillate between terrible, unrestrained violence and terrible, guilt-ridden lucidity.

And while there’s plenty of outstanding werewolf fiction out there, I want to see more, on vocal and beyond.

So, for this unofficial challenge, I'm hoping to see you write your very best werewolf horror story!

That's the whole prompt, you can take it and run in whatever direction you like.

It's entirely up to you how the werewolf features in your story.

The werewolf's origins can be supernatural, or sciency-- or even purely mental.

You can spin your tale through the werewolf's eyes or from an outside perspective.

Your wolfish character can be tragic or sympathetic-- or they can be a sadistic, gleeful killer who welcomes their transformation. Your character can be a lone wolf or perhaps a member of a pack. They do not necessarily have to be the bad guy, if you are very intent on having the werewolf be the hero or a secondary character that's up to you! As much as I hate how werewolves have been declawed by paranormal romance-- you could even write your werewolf as a romantic character (as long as there's still a horror element in the narrative somewhere).

How you cast the werewolf element is entirely up to you.

BUT

If you want to win some of the prize money your story should attempt to scare me!

Ultimately the tips will go to the three stories which scare me the most, three prizes up for grabs, one five dollar tip each! I suppose, if nobody scares me then I'll begrudgingly award the prize money to the three stories which I like best-- and while this is incredibly subjective I want to give you some insight into what kind of stuff I might award-- so if you refuse to write horror but still want to participate in the challenge, try and write a werewolf comedy or tragedy, and if nobody else writes anything scary you could win a 5 dollar tip for it!

To sweeten the deal, I’m offering a free, bonus award to each and every entry: unfiltered feedback— on an opt in basis! I know not everybody wishes to receive constructive feedback on their work, criticism can be difficult to hear. So I won’t offer unsolicited critique. But if you think honest feedback is valuable and wish to receive some on your writing, I’m able and willing to give you my honest thoughts— not as and expert but as an average reader. To receive feedback on your entry you must make it clear you’re comfortable with constructive criticism by granting permission to critique in an authors note at the bottom of your story.

Whether or not you opt in for critical feedback is entirely up to you and your comfort level, and will have no bearing on your eligibility to win then prize money.

For those who really want to win the prize money, I’ll give you a little more insight into my tastes when it comes to werewolf horror: my all-time favorite werewolf movie was probably Ginger Snaps and my all-time favorite werewolf novel was The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore.

That being said, I’d really love to see something that subverts my expectations in some way. Stories that are unpredictable (but not so absurdly random that they disrupt suspension of disbelief) will appeal to me.

As for length, I recommend a word count between 500 and 2000 words, but there is no hard limit. Use however many words you feel you need to tell your story well, but do your best to trim the fat. I've got ADHD and the longer your story goes the higher the risk of my focus (and reading comprehension) taking a dive. So for word count, less is more.

This unofficial challenge will close for submissions on midnight, October 31st, Eastern Standard time. You have until the end of Halloween night to write a gnarly werewolf horror story!

Winners will be announced on or before November 30th, depending on how many stories I have to read and rate….

If you feel stumped by the prompt, perhaps reading a bit about some werewolf myths and legends may spur your creativity! These monsters have shown up in story telling all over the globe from the cannibalistic myths surrounding the Greek king Lycaon to the ferocity of the Viking warriors who wore wolfskins and fought like animals in battle, to the child stealing lougarou of Haiti. If you want to dive into the folklore surrounding werewolves the wikipedia page is actually a great place to start.

And here’s some songs that might get your creative juices flowing— some make direct reference to the werewolf as B-movie camp, others sing of the chaos and grief that can be found even in our real world wilderness.

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Also, since I don't think it would be very kind or fair to ask you to write some werewolf stuff without ever having tried to do so myself, here's what I've posted on the subject.

A micro-horror, 1 minute read:

A much longer story, on clinical lycanthropy. 20 minute read:

A haiku about someone waking from a rampage:

And a haiku about Peter Stumpp, the man who was executed in real life after confessing to being a werewolf:

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How to Enter!

Here’s the rules for participation and the prompt:

1. Absolutely no AI! No AI writing, no AI music, and no AI generated images in the text of your story. Bonus points if you include visual art of your own making!

2. Your story must include an element of werewolfism as a transformation. This transformation can be any combination of a physical, spiritual, psychological, or social shift.

3. Your story should be horror! Try to make me dread what’s coming or revolted by what’s happened, or both.

4. No hard limits on word count, but do your best to keep it under 2,000 words. Generally less is more, and a sweet spot would probably be around 500 words. But use however few or many words you need to tell a great werewolf horror story :)

5. Only one entry per person, so make it a good one!

6. To participate you must submit your story to the “horror” community. At the bottom of your story, please be sure to mention and link this unofficial challenge announcement! This will clarify your intention of participating in the contest.

7. Once your story is live comment on THIS challenge, to let me know— be sure to drop a link so I can find your entry! If you do not drop a link on this page, I will probably not know that your story exists.

8. You must submit your entry before midnight on October 31st, 2025, Eastern Standard Time. After the contest closes, I will need time to read each entry. Winners will be announced via a new post from me on November 30th, or sooner if there aren’t many entries.

9. To be eligible to receive tip awards, you must have a stripe account linked to your vocal profile. Tips will ONLY be sent to stripe accounts. If you are declared the winner but lack a stripe account at the time when the winners are announced you will forfeit your tip and it will go back into the pot for future contests.

10. To be eligible to receive the bonus award of unfiltered feedback you must include an author’s note at the bottom of your entry making it crystal clear that you’re willing to receive honest and potentially critical feedback! Include this link in the comment section of this challenge! Participation in this bonus award does NOT impact your eligibility to win the prize money, so don’t participate in this part unless you truly want to!

I’ll still give some general feedback on what I liked about each story, but critical feedback will only be offered if it is requested.

Have fun, can’t wait to see what you come up with!