The now fully official Author’s Hangout Halloween 2025 competition support thread

[yowser]

Question regarding the story categories here - I take it not every entry is automatically "Erotic Horror?"

I consider entering something I'd rather classify as Erotic couplings or Romance, it's just that one of the lovebirds is a cannibal hermit who butchers people in the woods (not mean spirited or anything, that's just how they roll)

All over the map (altho lots of Horror, Non-human). 22 categories and counting, the theme is broad enough to gather a variety of tales.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Holy fuckballs I completed a story.

it still needs editing. Probably lots of editing.

But it's done! Wow that feels good.

So pleased for you!

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Mine is in NonHuman. The ghost is more than benevolent and the only horror in the whole story is he had to leave the hotel.

Question regarding the story categories here - I take it not every entry is automatically "Erotic Horror?"

I consider entering something I'd rather classify as Erotic couplings or Romance, it's just that one of the lovebirds is a cannibal hermit who butchers people in the woods (not mean spirited or anything, that's just how they roll)

 

[WeShallUnclench]

How risky is -Romance' - do readers punish stories that are too... let's say, halloween-y (in my case, weird and a bit gross)?

EDIT: Probably gonna put it in 'First Time'. The cannibal already had some people inside of them, but not like that, so this feels fitting.

 

[SouthernCrossfire]

My story, Tanya’s Tutor and the Romani Ring, has been published in Mature and it has immediately picked up an initial one-bomb to make the scoring a challenge.

“As Halloween approaches, a lonely jeweler encounters a curious young woman, a strange old ring, an evil from the past, and, maybe, a touch of magic.”

Edit: While I was typing the message above, two more votes came in. Compared to that first vote, it’s no longer as likely to scare off vote-influenced readers.

 

[WeShallUnclench]

My story, Tanya’s Tutor and the Romani Ring, has been published in Mature and it has immediately picked up an initial one-bomb to make the scoring a challenge.

We had a little debate about this a while back, how scoring influences readers. Most people in the forums say they only look at the title, description and category and then form their own opinion, but one has to keep in mind that that's mostly the opinion of fellow writers, whereas most readers might think a bit more like "consumers", so I dunno.

 

[Actingup]

So, I submitted my story on Sunday evening in Australia (ie in the early hours of Sunday morning in the US), and to my astonishment it was approved within a few hours for publication on Monday. They're clearly putting the hard yards in to catch up (note - user experience may vary, and I still have a Crime and Punishment story stuck in Pending).

I went with 'Erotic Horror' in the end, and if the readers don't like references to corporate change management strategies, organic gardening, and the right wine pairings to go with a particular meat, they can vote with their feet.



By the way, for some reason I'm feeling like writing a twisted story about cheerleaders, @EmilyMiller . I know nothing about cheerleaders.

 

[DEFCOM5]

My Halloween story has been published! My first competition entry.

It is in SF/F. Let's see if we can get 2 or 3K views.

 

[DEFCOM5]

@EmilyMiller,

I have been wrecking my brain trying to find the movie reference with the two cheerleaders (we call them pom pom girls in French )

The only movie I could think off is "But I am a cheerleader" which is not about made up horror but the real horror of conversion and pray the gay away therapy.

 

[EmilyMiller]

@EmilyMiller,

I have been wrecking my brain trying to find the movie reference with the two cheerleaders (we call them pom pom girls in French )

The only movie I could think off is "But I am a cheerleader" which is not about made up horror but the real horror of conversion and pray the gay away therapy.

That was just a one off for @Djmac1031

 

[EmilyMiller]

Welcome to Day Eleven of The Halloween 2025 Competition

https://www.literotica.com/stories/contest.php/halloween-2025

 

[EmilyMiller]

By the way, for some reason I'm feeling like writing a twisted story about cheerleaders, @EmilyMiller . I know nothing about cheerleaders.

I wrote a - wholly fictional - cheerleader FFM threesome with water sports in one of my early stories. Haven’t gone back to the well since.

 

[DEFCOM5]

@EmilyMiller,

You got me again with the shower scene. The only shower scene in horror that I can think off is Psycho.

Well there is also the shower scene is Scarface but it is not an horror movie although it is an horrific scene.

 

[Djmac1031]

So pleased for you!

View attachment 2570548

I have been wrecking my brain trying to find the movie reference with the two cheerleaders (we call them pom pom girls in French )

We could just call it a reference to this one and be done...

https://imgur.com/a/O79GBul

 

[Djmac1031]

You got me again with the shower scene. The only shower scene in horror that I can think off is Psycho

Nailed it and didn't even realize it lol

 

[EmilyMiller]

Psycho

 

[BryanRichardson]

I think I just counted 132 stories on the list!

But only 42 that used Halloween 2025 as a tag?

 

[Actingup]

I wrote a - wholly fictional - cheerleader FFM threesome with water sports in one of my early stories. Haven’t gone back to the well since.

I love that you needed to put the wholly fictional qualifier in there…

 

[EmilyMiller]

I love that you needed to put the wholly fictional qualifier in there…

It was injected into an ‘inspired by actual events’ story. I guess I didn’t think it was sexy enough without embellishment. I’ve learned a lot about writing in the last three years .

 

[DEFCOM5]

I think I just counted 132 stories on the list!

But only 42 that used Halloween 2025 as a tag?

I did a search on the tag and got 136 stories

 

[GemmaGemmaGemma]

I was really hoping to make this contest my first, but got into the idea too late and couldn't develop it quickly enough. I suppose that gives me close to a year to get it right in time for next Halloween, because I did like the basic premise I had. Hopefully Christmas will be my contest debut instead.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I was really hoping to make this contest my first, but got into the idea too late and couldn't develop it quickly enough. I suppose that gives me close to a year to get it right in time for next Halloween, because I did like the basic premise I had. Hopefully Christmas will be my contest debut instead.

You still have a few days.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I did a search on the tag and got 136 stories

Halloween 2025 yields 44 stories, did you look for just Halloween, which will pick up some from earlier years?

People are working out that tagging in a comp can make you a target.

 

[GemmaGemmaGemma]

You still have a few days.

I never really pinned down the exact version of the story that I wanted to tell, and I'm a little bit busy this week unfortunately so it'll have to wait until next year. Plenty of time to get it right before then

 

[EmilyMiller]

I never really pinned down the exact version of the story that I wanted to tell, and I'm a little bit busy this week unfortunately so it'll have to wait until next year. Plenty of time to get it right before then

OK