The Witching Hour - Voting Stage

[bury the year]

This portion of the competition will be open until November 20. I've decided to eliminate my judging portion of the results, so the winner will be determined entirely through this vote. Please vote based on quality, and don't just choose based on your relation to the author. (This includes not voting for yourself.) That's not fair.

 

Umbra - "The Lady in Red"

Verz Bahamut - "The Vengeful Ghost"

~ Epic Hero - Saber ~ - "Hollow's Eve"

Fusion X. Denver - "The Crimson Jackal"

AggroDrago - "Warden"

DarkLink401 - "It'll be Fine"

Quiksilver - "Enjoy Your Meal"

Rai of the Illuminence - "The Spectral Queen"

[Agro]

So are the writers allowed to make a vote? (I don't see a 'don't vote for yourself' clause. Unless you include that 'don't vote based on relation' clause)

 

Well, now I actually have to read everything.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

Getting my vote in early so it is not influenced by 'trying not to let a competitor win' if you know what I mean. Not that I'm going to win this :3

 

Was really, really hard actually. A lot of goos stories, that followed by the horror mantra of 'I can see exactly where this is going, but I still can't look away or find it any less gripping'. Fasinatingly horrifying reading on each count, and thats from someone who finds horror mostly boring and pointless.

 

However voted for one that truly did surprise me with the twist at the end.

[Guest ~ Epic Hero - Saber ~]

For me it was "It'll be fine" that did it. I liked a lot of the stories, but that was the one that made me shiver, and caught me by surprise with the twist ending. I think "The Crimson Jackal" and "Enjoy your Meal" deserve special mention. Very well written and creepy.

[bury the year]

So are the writers allowed to make a vote? (I don't see a 'don't vote for yourself' clause. Unless you include that 'don't vote based on relation' clause)

 

Well, now I actually have to read everything.

 

Yah. You can't vote for yourself, but authors can still vote.

[Guest Fusion X. Denver]

I liked reading all of these, but once again, DL has proven to astound me with his unconventional storytelling.

I'll surpass you one day, I swear.

EDIT: Please please don't believe I just voted him because he's a good friend, he wouldn't accept my vote if that were the case :T

[DL]

I liked reading all of these, but once again, DL has proven to astound me with his unconventional storytelling.

I'll surpass you one day, I swear.

EDIT: Please please don't believe I just voted him because he's a good friend, he wouldn't accept my vote if that were the case :T

Actually, yes I would, but I'd feel bad.

 

Regardless, I'm torn between Lady in Red and Crimson Jackal

 

One seems to be Jump Horror, one seems to be a Slasher (yay for using horror terms I hardly know about)

 

I'm not familiar with horror at all, but both surprised me. The other fics all have good talent, but those 2 stand out the most I think.

 

I'd say they're about equal, but I face some bias

 

not the "Fuse is my best friend" kind of bias, but rather, I know him more, and I've seen his work from BEFORE. He's improved a lot in this past year of writing, and honestly it surprised me he was able to write something I was like "...o.o" at.

 

IDK if that counts as good terms for voting, so if it doesn't, I'll either not vote, or flip a coin.

[Umbra]

See, guys? Told you I wouldn't win.

 

That said, Enjoy Your Meal earned itself a vote from yours truly, as the only one that actually made me shiver. Coming from an avid Stephen King reader who doesn't blink twice at your usual horror, that should say something. Definitely a cut above the rest.

[Agro]

Being such a short story, one of the main problems people can find is characterization. Especially in a horror, it's very important to feel empathetic to the characters. None of the stories, in my opinion, do this very well, but none did it better than the Crimson Jackal and Enjoy your Meal. After that, it just comes down to whether it does well to scare someone and if it works to make a meaning out of it all. Of course, there isn't too much time to hold a meaning, horror, and characterization here, so in the end it's just horror. Both, the Crimson Jackal and Enjoy your Meal do it well, but I felt the Crimson Jackal did that with more empathy, so my vote goes to that.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

I did enjoy reading Enjoy Your Meal, but I couldn't consider it my favourite because it didn't scare me, because as soon as I read 'I'm a nerd being asked to dinner by a hot girl' then yeah, you're dead. Same with a few of the others. I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, but It'll be Fine was the one that really made me jump a little at the end.

 

So, I take it we're really just waiting for Rai's vote now, since its only the eight entrants who seem to have noticed this contest at all :lol:

[DL]

Muuu...after a lot of thought...I'm going to vote for The Crimson Jackal

 

It might mean my defeat, but the ending honestly surprised me a bit for some reason.

[Umbra]

I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, but It'll be Fine was the one that really made me jump a little at the end.

 

That's interesting. I walked away from It'll Be Fine with a flat "What?" plastered to my lips. The "twist" just doesn't make any sense whatsoever and has no place in the story. It's one of the reasons I didn't vote for it, if not the main reason.

[Agro]

That's interesting. I walked away from It'll Be Fine with a flat "What?" plastered to my lips. The "twist" just doesn't make any sense whatsoever and has no place in the story. It's one of the reasons I didn't vote for it, if not the main reason.

You know, I kind of aggree with that. Though then again, it took me a few times to even understand it anyway.

[DL]

I expected as much xD

 

Mine was kinda non-mainstream in that it was more about psychological horror (so it'll likely appeal to some more than others, etc)

 

Tho the actual ending probably shouldn't need an explanation, considering at the end, the girl said exactly what her father had been saying.

[Umbra]

I expected as much xD

 

Mine was kinda non-mainstream in that it was more about psychological horror (so it'll likely appeal to some more than others, etc)

 

Tho the actual ending probably shouldn't need an explanation, considering at the end, the girl said exactly what her father had been saying.

 

Trust me, I'm a fan of psychological horror, but this wasn't it. This is about as physical of a horror as you're going to get without giving someone a chainsaw.

 

It's not as much an explanation I'm looking for as a justification. If this isn't set in some aftermath of Cell where the signal is toned down a little and the girl and her dad both dialled 911, they have absolutely no reason to go as batshit as they do.

[DL]

Trust me, I'm a fan of psychological horror, but this wasn't it. This is about as physical of a horror as you're going to get without giving someone a chainsaw.

 

It's not as much an explanation I'm looking for as a justification. If this isn't set in some aftermath of Cell where the signal is toned down a little and the girl and her dad both dialled 911, they have absolutely no reason to go as batshit as they do.

 

It's kinda physical, in a way, but the main theme is that the girl is scarred by her dad's....spasm, I guess? It's all to help set up for the jolt at the finale. Apparently 5 people were at least mildly surprised with it, so I'm happy.

 

 

Granted, I assure you their going crazy wasn't totally natural, kinda rushed.

 

But for a 1000 word story, you gotta make do with what you have.

[Guest Fusion X. Denver]

But for a 1000 word story, you gotta make do with what you have.

 

This, really.

I felt Jackal's ending was rushed, I wanted him to see the dead bodies of his attackers before seeing his twisted reflection but ran out of room, so I settled for the splattered blood on his face.

Though I do think the limit served as a creative stimulus for most of us, so I appreciated the challenge.

[DL]

This, really.

I felt Jackal's ending was rushed, I wanted him to see the dead bodies of his attackers before seeing his twisted reflection but ran out of room, so I settled for the splattered blood on his face.

Though I do think the limit served as a creative stimulus for most of us, so I appreciated the challenge.

Same here

 

It was fun having to chop 400 words off my story.

[Umbra]

So scared she... killed her cousin? (Also, the title being dropped again didn't really add to the story either.) The dad snapping after seeing his wife crushed (even if that whole scene was kind of iffy, what with only one side of the car being utterly demolished) is understandable, but after that everything just descends into unlikability.

 

Having to cut about 2-300 words from Lady wasn't entertaining, but it was informative.

[DL]

She wasn't scared =o

 

She was doing what a child normally does, follow what their parents do. She was scarred by the incident, as in, it left an imprint on her. She just did exactly what her father wanted to do to her.

 

And only one side was smashed because that's the side the car was hit on. xD

 

And the first time you hear the dad say "it'll be fine" you think that's what the title refers to =o but it's the hidden surprise that it refers to the fact the daughter repeated that after she killed her cousin.

[Bahamut - Envoy of the End]

So... er... am I alright to selfishly ask how utterly hopeless my effort was now?

 

I want to improve and know where I went right/wrong... nothing to do with being attention-seeking and paranoid etc... honest :D

[Guest Fusion X. Denver]

So... er... am I alright to selfishly ask how utterly hopeless my effort was now?

 

I want to improve and know where I went right/wrong... nothing to do with being attention-seeking and paranoid etc... honest :D

 

*trying to remember specific feedback from a week ago*

Yours was good/well-written and the idea wasn't bad, I just don't think I got why the ghost decided to protect the therapist all of a sudden.

[DL]

So... er... am I alright to selfishly ask how utterly hopeless my effort was now?

 

I want to improve and know where I went right/wrong... nothing to do with being attention-seeking and paranoid etc... honest :D

It would have been interesting if in the end the girl was the ghost all along

 

And she was dead.

 

Woulda been creepy as hell.

 

 

Anyway, it in itself wasn't bad, I'm glad I got to actually SEE one of the characters (as opposed to mine where she just has blond hair, but oh well, had nothing left to chop, so I had to go for a bit of description xD)

[Agro]

So... er... am I alright to selfishly ask how utterly hopeless my effort was now?

 

I want to improve and know where I went right/wrong... nothing to do with being attention-seeking and paranoid etc... honest :D

It's not utterly hopeless. I mean, for all you know, people had you second on all of their ballots, but couldn't vote you in because they each liked a different one better (it's like what you said about mine)

[DL]

My top 3 choices

 

1. Crimson Jackal

2. Lady in Red

3. Enjoy your Meal

 

I think /half-asleep