Fright Club Creative Writing Contest for Middle & High School Students, Ideal for 10-18 year-olds

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The free online resources, including a ready-made lesson plan and accompanying slide deck (also available in Google Slides - select 'Make a copy' to save an editable version), will help you teach your students how to write with tension, atmosphere, and suspense to create their creepy tales.

Use the 8-story starter postcards to kick-start their ideas, taking away the fear of the blank page. Where they take the story after that is up to them!

Why enter?
🕯️Boost students' confidence in creative writing

🕯️Opportunity for students to be published

🕯️Give students a sense of pride and achievement

🕯️Allow students to explore their imaginations and creativity

🕯️Fantastic prizes to be won

🕯️Free resources to help you plan and teach creative writing lessons

🕯️Free to enter

If you’d like further entry forms they can be copied or downloaded. If you prefer to go paperless, check out the Online Writing Portal where your students type their work during your lesson!

Tell your colleagues so your whole school can get creative today and join Fright Club!

[Rules] =>

Only one entry per student, there is no limit to the number of entries per school.

Teachers please submit your entries altogether where possible, using one Teacher Entry Form per teacher.

Students can work together to submit a joint story.

Mini sagas can be submitted on the entry form or a sheet of paper or typed (on a computer or using the Online Writing Portal or Word Doc entry form)

Each student's name, age and school name should be included on their entry. (Entries can be submitted with first names only or initials if needed.)

Mini sagas have a 100-word limit. Titles are not included in the word limit.

If a story starter is used, it must be included in the 100-word limit.

US entrants only.

Free to enter.

[School Prizes] =>

Young Writers’ Award of Excellence is awarded to the school that submits the best set of entries for this contest.

PLUS every participating school receives a free copy of the book their students feature in.

(The more entries you send, the more free books you’ll receive: E.g. Send 1-30 entries & you'll receive 1 free copy, send 31-60 entries you'll receive 2 free copies, etc. Every participating school receives at least 1 free copy their students feature in.)

[Student Prizes] =>

Our favorite 3 writers will each win a will each win a $50 Amazon gift card.

PLUS every entrant receives a bookmark for taking part. Students whose work we'd love to publish also receive a certificate.

(The school & student winners will be chosen from the entries received Sept-Nov 2025 that have permission to be published)

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Be inspired to write a spine-tingling mini saga, a story told in up to 100 words with Fright Club. The fun theme is guaranteed to ensnare your imagination as you explore what lurks in the shadows. Will you write a scary story with a thrilling twist or a funny tale of things going bump in the night?

You can use one of the 8-story starter postcards to kick-start your ideas, taking away the fear of the blank page. Where you take the story after that is up to you!

Why enter?
🕯️Boost your confidence in creative writing

🕯️Opportunity to be published

🕯️Gives you a sense of pride and achievement

🕯️Allows you to explore their imagination and creativity

🕯️Fantastic prizes to be won

🕯️Free to enter

Dare you enter Fright Club today?

How To Enter

Email your entry along with your name and full address to: [email protected]

Upload your entry at https://www.youngwritersusa.com/new-uploader or use the link below.

Mail your entry along with your name and full address to:

Young Writers - Fright Club
77 Walnut Street
Unit 11
Peabody, MA, 01960

Closing Date: November 7, 2025

[Independent Rules] =>

Only one entry per person.

If a story starter/ending is used, it must be included in the 100-word limit. Titles are not included in the word limit.

Your child's entry must include their name, age and full home address.

Your child's entry must be their own original work.

Your child's entry can be submitted on the entry form or a sheet of paper or typed (on a computer or the Word Doc Entry Form)

US entrants only.

Free to enter.

[Independent Prizes] =>

Our favorite 3 writers will each win a will each win a $50 Amazon gift card.

PLUS every entrant receives a bookmark for taking part. Entrants whose work we'd love to publish also receive a certificate.

(Entries will be chosen from those received in Sept-Nov 2025 with permission to be published. Independent entrants are eligible for student prizes.)

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[Letters Sent Date] => 2026-01-21 [Letters Sent Satus] => [Books Published Start Date] => 2026-01-12 [Books Published End Date] => 2026-03-30 [Books Published Status] => [Winners Announced Date] => 2026-04-30 [Winners Announced Status] => [How to Enter Image] => [Video Placeholder] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129870-4817-Fright-Club_Video.jpg [School Prize] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1724844811-1885-YoungWritersAwardofExcellence.png [Student Prize] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1724844811-5404-50Amazone-giftcard.png [Banner Background] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129870-2327-Fright-Club_Banner-Background.jpg [Banner Logo] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129870-8841-Fright-Club_Logo.png [Share Image] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129870-3151-Fright-Club_Page-Icon.jpg ) [date_created] => 2025-08-07 09:00:32 [last_updated] => 2025-11-10 09:37:05 [sort_order] => 7 [incoming] => 0 [live] => 1 [archived] => 0 [deleted] => 0 )

This contest is now closed.

If you have late entries, please email us at [email protected] and we'll do our best to accommodate them.

Open contests can be found here.

What happens now?

Our editorial team will process the entries and those that meet the contests criteria will be selected for publication. Letters will be sent out to those selected. Anyone not selected will have the chance to resubmit their work. Winners will be chosen once all the books in the series have been published.

Contest Timeline

Stage	Date	Status
Letters Sent	By 21^st January 2026	⏳ In Progress
Books Published	12^th January 2026 - 30^th March 2026	⏳ Coming Soon
Winners Announced	30^th April 2026	⏳ Coming Soon

Please note we aim to keep these dates as accurate as possible but can be subject to change.

For more detailed information about your school's entries, please log in (or create) your teacher account here using the email you included on your teacher entry form.