October — Scared Out of My Wits by Six Words & a Photo: Conclusion
SWPSC: “Scary” & Freestyle Stories — October’s Conclusion
Scorched deadwood or dead creature rising?
I stumbled across this deadwood piece during a walk along the beach. I swear it howled. Did he rise from the dead seeking revenge after his bark was ignited into flames — by man?
I don’t know — I didn’t stick around to find out. I can still hear the howling.
Today Marks the 61-Day Anniversary
We’re 61 days in since the launch of Six Word Photo Story Challenge! October haunted us with a scary start with our “Scary” challenge and frightened writers into crawling, digging, and tiptoeing into the darkness to seek ghosts, shadows, and mysteries and explore the meaning behind “scared out of your wits!”
I’ve lost count of the stories published this month, but I’m guessing it’s about 125+. The publication settings don’t tally up the number of stories, so I can’t keep track unless I manually count them.
On October 6, SWPSC reached 101 followers! As of today, we’re at 130 followers. There have been over 10k views over the last 30 days and an average of 145 unique visitors per day. I don’t know how the math works with the views and visitor numbers with a 130 follower count, but something must be working!
A big village hug and gratitude to readers and writers for supporting this fun publication and playing a crucial part in its early success. Please remember to grow our writing village by reading, clapping, highlighting, or commenting on the stories in this publication to support your fellow writers.
Here are 10 stories that stuck out in my mind, in no particular order, out of the 125+ stories published this October.
“Scary” Challenge Stories
For the “October Monthly Challenge: “Scary,” check out the latest stories under the “Monthly Challenge” tab.
Five photos that scared me out of my wits were:
Daniel J Klein’s Creepy! (mysterious creature) — check out Daniel’s past scary six word stories — his photos are pro-quality and eerie! DJK was also on a howling Halloween roll and submitted 5 scary stories tonight before the deadline.
Emma Tiger Lee’s Cabin in the Woods (run!) — check out Emma’s other stories — she’s got a cool scary movie theme going. Sara Wade Gray’s Things That Go Bump (look again!), Crystal A. Walker’s Dancing Ghost Orbs (creepy cemetery), and Vidya Sury, Collecting Smiles’ Woods are Lovely, Dark, Deep (wild imagination!)
Freestyle Stories
For the “Freestyle category,” check out the latest stories under the “Freestyle” tab.
Five stories that intrigued me were:
Penny Grubb’s Illegally Blocked (unusual photo), Rod Baker’s Cool Breakfast (peaceful scene), Bingz Huang’s Sweetest Gesture (sweet story!), Anne Bonfert’s Nature’s Beauty (a pink vibrant moment!) and B.R. Shenoy’s Mama Duck (check out her expression!)
Note: This article officially ends the October “Scary” Challenge and submissions are now closed. Stay tuned for the new November Challenge which will be announced tomorrow — you can subscribe to my emails so you don’t miss it.
Stay tuned for the November Six Word Photo Story Challenge!
It’ll be posted on this publication on November 1st. Get those cameras clicking or dig into your photo archives! If you’d like to be added as a writer and submit to Six Word Photo Story Challenge, please read and follow the submission guidelines.
Please follow Mary Chang Story Writer and this publication to stay tuned for guideline updates (yes I change them sometimes!) and new monthly challenges.
— Village hugs, Mary Chang Story Writer — Editor of SWPSC
Looking for stories in this publication?
This publication only displays the most recent 25 stories on the main page and the most recent 25 stories under each of the Monthly Challenge and Freestyle tabs.
To view archived Monthly Challenge tagged stories, click on this Monthly Challenge link. To view archived Freestyle tagged stories, click on this Freestyle link. This will list all the stories under each tag from the latest to the oldest.
If you’re looking for a particular story, you can also type the name of the author or part of the story title using the search tool — located at the top right corner to the left of your profile picture.
About the Editor
Mary Chang is an award-winning short story fiction writer, memoir writer, blogger, and editor of the Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication — inspired by her original 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge writing prompt (2021) on Medium.
She’s also a parent, fitness enthusiast, snaps a good photo sometimes— and loves creating monthly challenges!
Read her blog at www.marychangstorywriter.com.
