The holidays are a fun time, yeah?
From Thanksgiving to New Year’s, a stretch of joyous merriment! Tinsel and blinky lights! Snow and elves and great meals and good cheer and magic all around.
Which sounds to me like a phenomenal recipe for horror.
The holidays are in fact ripe with horror — meat and candy, mythological creatures who spy on you, winter hellscapes, animated toys. So many options for terror!
And so, that is your job, this week. To write a flash fiction — let’s up the story length to 2000 words — where you write a holiday horror story. Theme it to this time of year and to the holidays nestled in over the next month, and have fun with it. You can be gory or reserved, you can aim for psychological horror or more mythic madness. Lovecraftian? Slasher tale? Ghost story?
YOUR MOVE.
Your story is due by next Friday, noon EST.
Post at your website and link back here.
Ho ho ho horror! On monster, on necromancer, on vomit, on cancer!
Ahem.
Oh! And this is also the time when I recommend the EROTIC HORROR CLASSIC —
Santa Steps Out.
By Robert Devereaux.
It is seriously fucking amazing.
No, I’m not kidding.
74 responses to “Flash Fiction Challenge: Holiday Horror Extravaganza!”
And I’ll go ahead and recommend Overtime by Charles Stross, which is on Kindle but also free to read on Tor.com. http://www.tor.com/stories/2009/12/overtime
Anywho. On with this bleak holiday scariment!
http://www.scottroche.com/index.php/blog/curse-christmas-christmas-horror-short/
Horror Buddha here. How do I get my own website? I would like to enter this flash fiction contest. Thanks.
Tumblr and Squarespace are both good places to look!
Thanks Chuck. I have your seven point ” put your muse through the meat grinder a centimeter at a time” encouragement one sheet. 350 words a day has made it much easier to face. Enjoy the daily mental cattle prod to the mind! Thanks again.
Visit wordpress.com – all free but with extra features you can add on if you wish.
Thanks Mikey. I tried Tumblr and have had nothing but problems with getting something started so I will go with wordpress. And than kyou Raven as well.
Or you head over to wordpress and get your own blog. WordPress is free too.
I’m using Blogger… it’s also good.
[…] Chuck Wendig’s Flash Fiction Challenge: Holiday Horror Extravaganza! […]
Here’s mine: http://wickedflagon.wordpress.com/2014/12/06/chuck-wendigs-flash-fiction-challenge-holiday-horror-extravaganza-eternal/ Hope you guys like it!
All dialogue! I’m impressed!
Thanks! Sometimes it’s easier to write that way! 🙂
http://miriah.net/2014/12/01/a-frosty-transaction/
This may be cheating, because I actually put this Christmas-Horror flash up on my blog on Monday. (I’ve been angst-ing all day over whether or not it was okay to post the link here. If not, I’m happy to delete:)
This will be fun! Years ago I brought my three sons to see Santa. Santa’s Elf was a young girl dressed as an elf. She was also 9 months pregnant. Not a horror story, but I had to sit down because I was laughing so hard. Santa got up a chimney? Ho ho ho!
I’ve loved Christmas each year… and this year, I’ve heard a lot about Krampus… Santa’s evil cousin… so I thought to give it a go at writing about him. 😀
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2014/12/krampus-all-way.html
“The Snow Was Falling Christmas Eve” Dark back-story to Dan Fogelberg’s song “Same Auld Lang Syne” about meeting that old lover of yours at the grocery store on Christmas Eve. The story’s a retread, so I am not eligible to win the chocolate factory.
http://www.markmatthewsauthor.com/p/wrote-following-short-storyflash.html
Mine might only be horror if you’re forced to live it. lol. plus, it rhymes.
http://angelacavanaugh.com/2014/12/06/flash-fiction-friday-holiday-horror/
Love that! Great job with the rhyming. 🙂
Thanks everybody. Will get to it right away.
[…] Chuck’s challenge for the week: Holiday Horror. […]
I was at first delighted by this challenge, but now I feel a bit upset by what I’ve written. I guess even in my jaded, irreverent heart, there are still some things I hold sacred. Then along comes Chuck and shatters my holiday happiness.
Santa takes a turn in this one. It ain’t pretty. Here’s “All in One Night”.
http://wp.me/p4p1YR-jh
I see what you mean, lol. Great story, didn’t see that coming!
Right on. Thanks!
Great story!
Glad you liked it 🙂
I loved this one though I wasn’t too sure which route to take initially. Here goes: https://bathoryssecret.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/chuck-made-me-do-it/
http://byronvonbleck.blogspot.com/2014/12/flash-fiction-challenge.html
Amateur horror? I’m not sure what I’ve written to be honest.
I don’t know if this is horror, but I hope it’s macabre. I also hope you enjoy it. I present to you:
Christmas Comes but Once a Year
http://mikeycampling.com/free-short-story-christmas-comes-year/
Don’t know if this is a story, but there’s certainly a story to it. Enjoy. http://ericcposts.tumblr.com/post/104616207194/my-holiday-gift-to-you
Oh, I do love a bit of horror. Here’s my entry:
http://suziehunt.co.uk/fiction/flash-fiction/good-goodness-sake
Oh brilliant – loved this concept! I grinned at “we knew he would not be stopping at this house.”
Thank you! I had a lot of fun writing this one XD
Nice! Very spooky!
Thank you 🙂
I’ve just left a comment on your site. Really enjoyed the building tension. Nicely horrific.
Thanks! It was a lot of fun to write.
This was fun! Here goes mine….ELFPOCALYPSE NOW
http://ryanjamesblack.com/2014/12/08/elfpocalypse-now/
This was hilarious! Loved it.
Thanks!
[…] to the task at hand. Chuck Wendig put forth yet another intriguing flash fiction challenge: to write a horror story that is holiday themed in 2,000 words or […]
I think this is the strangest thing I’ve written. But I think it’s adequately horrifying. http://allisonmaruska.com/2014/12/07/flash-fiction-tinsel-lights-and-spirits/
New here and not sure how to link back, so I hope it’s okay to post this on my blog and present my story below.
just copy and paste the URL (website address) and it will automatically make a link to your story.
have you done your christmas shopping yet?
if not watch out for two smiling men in festive ties.
https://adamskistoryblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/flash-fiction-challenge/
i think i’ll go finish my shopping now…
This is my first attempt at Flash Fiction. I hope you like it! http://alissareads.tumblr.com/post/104680736006/i-know-this-blog-is-still-in-its-infancy-but
Used the Flash Fiction prompt to write a daily Strange News article.
Beware the Krampus!
http://strangenewsfromnowhere.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/december-9-2014-beware-the-krampus/
Careful what you wish for….
http://sabrakay.com/flash-fiction-challenge-christmas-wish/
Anybody else look at their submissions AFTER they have hit publish and think: Gosh, there’s a lot wrong here. Anyone ever go back post-publish and edit? Or do you just leave it alone and move on?
Yes, I had the same thought! It’s on my website, so I edit for things that are clearly wrong like spelling or if there’s an unreadable passage. But for me, the challenge of flash-fiction is sitting at my keyboard for the hours it takes to finish a story and then seeing what I’ve got. Others might have a different take, I don’t think there are any rules!
What is Christmas without a gift?
http://www.blueinkalchemy.com/2014/12/09/flash-fiction-the-gift/
It begins with the scratching…
http://mjdiedrich.com/2014/12/10/lonely-night/
Here’s mine http://authorderrickdavis.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/christmas-flash-fiction/
Drive safe, my friends.
http://doctorfrankwrites.blogspot.com/2014/12/rodeo.html
My virgin blog post and my virgin flash fiction. Be gentle.
I love writing holiday horror – this isn’t my first time doing it – but this week and this story didn’t work like I wanted it to. But, here it is, and if you know what the title refers to, you probably know what this story’s about: Season’s Greetings From R’lyeh – http://andreaspeed.com/2014/flash-fic-challenge-seasons-greetings-from-rlyeh/
very good. i really liked the reveal of a certain old one. well done.
Thank you. I was afraid the ending was too abrupt. But I loved the idea of an attacking Christmas tree.
[…] week’s flash fiction challenge from Chuck Wendig was “Holiday Horror Extravaganza!” My take on this topic was the Twelve Days of Christmas. […]
My take on the Holiday Horror was “The 12 Days of Christmas” –
http://nickolaskusen.com/2014/12/11/flash-fiction-challenge-4-holiday-horror-extravaganza/
Thanks for the challenge, Chuck! Here’s mine, a surreal winter tale I call…THE RINGER.
http://www.ggsilverman.com/holiday-horror-flash-fiction-challenge-the-ringer/
BT-dubs, I really loved smkay70’s story above. Awesome! Gotta go read everyone else’s now. 😉
I didn’t meet the 2000 words, but I am happy with what I came up with. I got the idea from the whole “War on Christmas” thing that’s been going around for the past decade.
https://darkvirtue1974.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/flash-fiction-challenge-holiday-horror-extravaganza/
Coming in under the wire as usual. I was merciful and only used 1374 words. Including the title.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2014/12/friday-flash-fiction-christmas-horror.html
So I’ve never written a piece of flash fiction before but this one needed out of my head. http://akdrees.tumblr.com/post/104978591814/all-i-want-for-christmas
I’m not really a horror person. So this isn’t really horror. More ‘slightly weird’. But I give you “The Yule Log of Doom” and hope you enjoy it!
http://jemimapett.com/blog/2014/12/12/friday-flash-fiction-the-yule-log-of-doom/
I enjoyed it!
Thanks!
here is my entry, a dark tale from the North Woods of Canada, titled Le Loup de Garou.
http://yeyeright.wordpress.com/2014/12/12/have-a-horrible-horrible-christmas/
[…] Last week’s challenge: Holiday Horror! […]
Very short: Merry’s Christmas Tale
http://bethturnage.com/?p=299
Well it’s in under the wire but here it is. I hope you enjoy “Greensleeves”.
http://wp.me/p3l9OS-8a
goshdarnit this is good.
That’s what it reminds me of! Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill
[…] Place me on the naughty list cause I’m a day late and 100 words over on this bit of flash. The challenge comes from the Terrible Mind of Chuck Wendig. […]
[…] around for some flash fiction to share with you. On my hunt I found a great writting challenge on terribleminds.com . I read my way through the submissions and figured I’d share some of the awesome work that […]