Bero-bero baaaaaa~! Did I surprise ya?! Did I?

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first Spooky Month Writing Contest! I’m the Contest Mascot, Kogasa!

Welcome everyone. I’m the host for this contest, known on here as Gooboi. Halloween is a rich time for stories to be told; the most famous of all witching hours. And with Touhou’s repertoire of ghosts and goblins, there’s plenty of fun to be had with them.

Readers beware, you’re in for a scare! :P

THEME

So, I’m sure you’re all wondering, what’s the theme of this competition? You ready for a truly spectacular spooking? Nyeheheheh… this contest’s theme is the Mysterious Masquerade!

In less catchy terms, the theme is things not being quite as they appear. This can be taken any way you like. It could be anything from characters wearing poorly-matching halloween costumes, to an emotional barrier someone’s hiding behind. Of course, you can go with any number of horror-themed ideas. Maybe a particularly cruel youkai is hiding among innocent humans, or someone steps into a party not realizing that they’re one of the dishes… or perhaps, someone who was once human or youkai finds themselves on the other side, and has to maintain their previous status at grievous risk to themselves? There are many, many possibilities…

...Gee. A story about humans becoming youkai. I wonder what inspired THAT suggestion. >:P

CONTEST RULES AND PRIZES

The contest will run through October. Submissions will open with a new Shorts thread on the 28th of October, and continue until the very end of the month! After that, voting will proceed until the 7th of November!

1 Entry per author, 1 vote per voter. I will not be writing nor voting - however, I am open to proofreading anything you’re making.

Oh, and before I forget - please submit your stories anonymously! You can claim credit for them and post them later, but keeping things anonymous keeps it fair!

As for the prizes?
- For the winner, I will pen a short starring a character of your choice, fitting within the boundaries of the theme. Negotiation is expected.
- If there’s five or more entries, I will also provide prizes for second and third places as well. These are likely to be shorter writings, but we’ll see what I can manage.

QUESTIONS

Now… are there any standard questions we should answer…?

If this is a Halloween Contest, does that mean we have to write Horror?

Nyeheheheh… you better not expect to win unless it’s at LEAST as spooky as me!

Like she says, there is nothing stopping you from writing, or even winning, without any spookiness whatsoever. HEY! If you wish to write something about Mokou getting a dopey mask stuck to her face and nobody taking her seriously, that’s fine by me. You don’t even have to make it Halloween-themed - the only condition is that it relates to the theme.

How long should I make my piece? Is there a lower or upper limit?

There’s no hard limits, but just keep in mind your audience is the other voters and contestants. Going too long risks boring them (and running out your writing time), while going too short may be unimpressive. If you’re stuck, you can look up earlier contests and exhibitions on the site, and see how much the winners and favorites did.

As I understand it, in previous contests the general rule of thumb has been Two Full Posts as a soft cap - that's 60000 characters. That’s only a suggestion, though - if you’ve got an idea that’ll take more than that, go for it! And there’s no hard word or character minimum, either... Maybe you can even make a spooky poem if it suits you?

I’m not going to make the deadline, what do I do?!

Wow, you know your schedule this far out in advance? That’s impressive! Well, if it’s just a bit late, I’m sure that we can jiggle something around! As long as you give Gooboi enough warning time, that is!

Specifically, I’m going to ask for at least a day’s notice. The more notice you can give me, the better.

When you say you’re open to proofreading, what specifically do you mean?

Well, it’s not like he’s gonna write a whole story for you! …H-he’s not, right?

Of course not. It’ll largely be spelling/punctuation/grammar. I am open to discussing your story’s premise or execution of the theme, but keep in mind that I’m not voting - you shouldn’t tailor your story just to please me. If you want to find me, talk to me on THP's Discord channel.

Oh, and make sure to say why you’re contacting him if you haven’t talked before. It’s confusing otherwise.

Well, what are you waiting for, everyone? Get writing!

I’m looking forward to what you all can create. Best of luck!

And may the best spook win!