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

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Inspiration
All the classics:

🏚️Exploring an abandoned building

🎃Halloween that turns real

🪦A graveyard at midnight

🌩️A dark and stormy night...

And the not-so-classics:

🚀A knock on the spaceship door

🏖️A sunny day that turns sinister

👻A ghost who is terrible at haunting

😱The horror of no wi-fi!

The theme is open to interpretation, so your students can unleash their unique ideas - we can't wait to see what they come up with!

Planning

A graphic organizer with planning sections and more ideas to write about
Story-starter sentences to help to kick-start their story
100 words to focus their ideas

Knowledge

A lesson plan to teach them about writing with atmosphere, suspense, and tension.
Accompanying slide deck (also available in Google Slides) as a visual lesson guide.

Confidence

The resources will guide them through the writing process
The 100-word limit takes away the fear of long-form writing
Everyone stands a good chance of being published!

Get everything you need from the Downloads tab now!⬆️

Will your students be crowned the top writers and take home the trophy? Enter Fright Club today and find out!

[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.
Copyright remains with the author.
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] =>

A $50 Amazon gift card will be awarded to our 3 favorite writers.

PLUS every entrant receives a bookmark for taking part. A certificate of merit will be sent out to every student whose work we'd like to publish.

(Winners will be chosen from published entries received April-June 2026.)

[Tips] =>
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[Winner Word] => [Schools/Clubs] => Schools [Thumbnail] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129869-1893-Fright-Club_Page-Icon.jpg [Background] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129869-3587-Fright-Club_Background.jpg [Logo] => https://bonacia-sites.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/young-writers/ems/competitions/1725129870-9768-Fright-Club_Logo.png [Independent Intro] =>

Enter Fright Club, where shadows lurk and mysteries swirl. Explore your imagination with this fun theme and try to terrify your reader. You could write a scary, tension-filled tale with a thrilling twist, or a funny story of ghosts and ghouls causing havoc.

Stories need to be written in 100 words or fewer, so think carefully about what needs to be included. The 8 story-starter postcards will help to kick-start your ideas, and there are loads more on the graphic organizer. Where the story ends 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 imagination and creativity

🕯️Fantastic prizes to be won

🕯️Free to enter

Dare you enter Fright Club? Download the graphic organizer 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.

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: June 19, 2026

[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.
Entry must include the author's 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.
Copyright remains with the author.

[Independent Prizes] =>

A $50 Amazon gift card will be awarded to our 3 favorite writers.

PLUS every entrant receives a bookmark for taking part. A certificate of merit will be sent out to every student whose work we'd like to publish.

(Winners will be chosen from published entries received April-June 2026. Independent entrants are eligible for student prizes.)

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[Letters Sent Date] => 2026-09-23 [Letters Sent Satus] => [Books Published Start Date] => 2026-11-16 [Books Published End Date] => 2026-11-30 [Books Published Status] => [Winners Announced Date] => 2026-12-14 [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/1777977513-4497-50Amazon284x215px.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] => 2026-04-01 07:33:31 [last_updated] => 2026-07-06 10:02:49 [sort_order] => 3 [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 read every single entry. Any child whose work they'd love to publish in a book will be sent a letter and certificate. Children whose work hasn't met the contest criteria will have the chance to resubmit their work. Winners will be chosen from published pieces once all the books in the series have been published.

Contest Timeline

Stage	Date	Status
Letters Sent	By 23^rd September 2026	⏳ In Progress
Books Published	16^th November 2026 - 30^th November 2026	⏳ Coming Soon
Winners Announced	14^th December 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.