– September 30, 2011

We want your candy. All of it. Yes, even the Smartees and the Bit O’ Honey and the endless Tootsie Rolls that seem to litter the bottom of every Halloween bag after all the Reese’s Cups and Snickers Bars have been gobbled down.

Okay, no, not literally. We here at Creative Commoners love our metaphors every bit as much as we love our candy. It’s officially our Favorite Time of Year, when the leaves are drying up and making that raspy sound when the wind blows them across the pavement, when the chilly air smells of nature getting ready for its long nap, when the spirits are ready to come out and make mischief. It’s when macabre and fake blood and catering to our inner-children or dressing up like Undead Snooki is in vogue. It’s Halloween time, and if loving it is wrong, we don’t wanna be right!

We always feel creatively inspired this time of year, and we don’t think we’re alone. So in that vein, we want all of your artistic expressions to that effect. Spooky stories, pictures, video, art, cooking… whatever you have, whatever you want to make or have made in the past for this most lovely of holidays, we want it.

Let’s get down to the specifics:

WRITING

We’re casting a wide net here. Fiction, essay, non-fiction. If it’s in the Halloween theme and around 500 words or less, we’d love to have it. Maybe you had a scary supernatural event happen to you in real life that you’d like to share. Maybe a favorite childhood memory of Halloween. Maybe a chilling fictional ghost story. Whatever you have, send it to us!

But we’re asking something extra this time. If possible, record yourself reading it and attach it to your email along with the story. We want to add as many voices as we can to this very special Halloween podcast! You can use your phone recording software or even the one that comes pre-installed on Windows or whatever operating system you use. If you want, you can even add in special effects! Send it to us in .wav or .mp3 for mat. Either way, we’d love to have your story told in your own voice.

If you can’t do that, we’re still happy to read it ourselves, but we want to give you the chance to do your work the proper justice. In case you didn’t listen to our last Creative Challenge, we tend to flub the best lines from time to time.

PICTURES/ARTWORK/VIDEO/POTPOURRI

Got some super creepy pictures you took from the inside of an abandoned mental hospital? Maybe a particularly pernicious looking sunset? Or how about something that looks suspiciously like an apparition? A painting that people swear is haunted? Those sick looking severed finger cookies you made for your Halloween party? Or how about a particularly creative Halloween costume or house decoration?

We want it.

How about that amateur (non-porn) scary video you made? Send us the YouTube link. Or send us the video or recording of a boo-licious song you wrote and performed. We want our Compendium stuffed full of your creepiest delights. No, we can’t exactly put it all on the recorded show, but you’ll get full acknowledgments on the podcast, and it will grace our website.

There’s going to be something for everyone with this Halloween Challenge, so we don’t expect to have just a few entries. We want variety and volume. We want to celebrate our favorite holiday immersed in your creepy creative offerings!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS/DEADLINE

Creative Commoners Challenges are all about the sharing and celebration of creative work. All submissions are to be the original work of the submitter or are to be properly credited to the original creator otherwise. We indemnify ourselves against any liability for stolen or plagiarized works. All rights are retained by the creators. Creative Commoners has no interest in keeping or leasing any of your work or profiting from it any way.

You have until October 20th to send us your wares, and we will remind (or berate and harass) you periodically between now and then. All entries go to creativecommoners@gmail.com.

So bring it on, little ghoulies! Let the frights begin!