By COOPER RATHMANN
The spookiest season of all has graced its presence upon us once again, and it is only deemed fit for everyone to get a little bit scared. To enhance the pleasantly large Halloween love on campus, the WBCR hosted a competition for students to write their most creative and scariest two-sentence horror stories for some prizes and, more importantly, partake in the holiday spirit. Brace yourself; the winner’s submissions are listed below and will surely send chills down your spine and get a good laugh out of you.
Truly Terrifying Award nominees:
“I high-fived myself in the mirror to get a good day started. Only I didn’t expect my reflection to not let go and pull in.” Tessa Goodman’28 (they/she)
“The little girl giggled as she let go of the tree branch she swung from. She never touched the ground.” Vanessa Skildum’27 (she/her)
“I love painting. There’s nothing like the scent of the warm metallic medium as it coats my fingers.” Spooky Sea Otter (they/them)
Truly Terrifying award winner:
“‘Be home soon’ was the text from her husband that appeared on her lock screen with a ding, the only sound startling Marina from the clandestine grave she was digging. She looked down at the tarp she’d wrapped her husband in after killing him, the tarp still motionless and lumpy with a body that, until now, she’d been certain was his.” E. Chernikoff’28 (any pronouns)
Humorously Horrific Award nominee:
“‘I’m home!’ I shouted as I came back from work early. I went to greet my wife, who I caught kissing The Creature.” Anonymous contributor (she/her)
Humorously Horrific Award winner:
Before me stood a translucent turquoise figure with tattered clothes and fleshy wounds on full display, floating only a couple of feet away. I would have been terrified for my life if I only hadn’t just checked my student bill for college.” Madison Burdick’28 (she/her)
Best Bonechiller award winner:
“A slip of the tongue almost got me in trouble with the police when I was young. Luckily, I managed to tuck it back into my pocket before the officer noticed.” Anonymous contributor (she/her)
During the fall season, it’s nice to embrace some of the Halloween traditions on campus, especially through the creativity of other aspiring writers. The two-sentence horror story format, although obviously short in nature, still packs a punch to the reader and hopefully makes them a little more on edge for the spooky aspects of this time of year.
However, while the stories were being submitted throughout the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen a similar style of storytelling on Instagram on accounts like idkcatmemes that utilize really bad grammar with pictures of cats. These stories cover a range of genres, primarily horror or sadness, to get the corresponding emotion of the story itself, usually indicated by the narrator saying, “Try not to get scared. Scariest stories”. The stories continuously create more lore after every post, with the introduction of scary characters like Larry or The Creature, which allows viewers to resonate with these cats on a personal level.
Therefore, my submission for the contest takes right from the format of these “scary stories” with a little of Beloit lore. It goes like this: “God hides in the clouds because hes cants lives with whats hes created. His most scariests creation, Evil Torty the Turtle”. While it’s not on the caliber of the contest winners, it was fun to create something spooky that contributes to the joy of all Halloween enthusiasts.
While the poor grammar horror stories diverge from the Halloween theme a bit, it’s nice to see that format of storytelling is taking off in other directions as well.
Featured Image: idkcatmemes on Instagram
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