You're walking through the woods in the late afternoon. You can feel the crisp autumn air envelop you as your feet crunch the leaves below you. It's getting dark, but you know the way. You've been walking it for years, after all. The path is partially obscured by a light fog that thickens by the minute. Owls hoot nearby, their eyes fixed upon you as you step over a stone. Wolves howl in the distance. The moon becomes visible in the sky as the sun sets in the West. You take a deep breath and take in the smells of fall.
But something is not right.
Out of the corner of your eye, you spot it. What 'it' was is beyond you at the moment, all you know is that whatever it is, it has seen you and is following you. That alone sends a shiver down your spine. Your leisurely walk turns into a brisk jog in an attempt to get away from whatever spotted you. But it is not enough. You can hear it trailing behind you. You break into a cold sweat as the fog makes it impossible to see five feet in front of you.
You start to run. Sweat drips down your forehead as you frantically try to get away from your pursuer. In your head, you start praying to whatever god is listening to let you get away unharmed. Suddenly, you trip over a rock and are sent tumbling down. You grasp your head as you sit up, looking in the direction you were just running from when you see its eyes piercing through the fog like daggers. You scramble backward in a panic as it approaches, desperately trying to get away, but your leg is caught in a snarled tree root.
Then, it speaks, its voice like nails on a chalkboard…
"WELCOME TO HALLOWEENCON 2022!"
Hello! We are 
Dexanote, 
Agent Whitney, and 
Uncle Nicolini, your contest marshalls! Halloween is our favorite time of year; the costumes, the candy, the campfire stories, the spooky atmosphere… It brings a tear to our eye just thinking about it. So we figured we should celebrate the occasion with a Tale and Art contest! That's right, no SCP's this time around, just good old-fashioned prose and art, but with a twist! We have taken the liberty of selecting a handful of prompts to hand out as treats for all authors and artists willing to participate. Make sure you check out the rules and prompts for more information on how to participate in Halloweencon 2022!
We are super excited to see what you come up with!
PROMPTS FOR AUTHORS
Take your pick of the five stipulations. Tricks and treats; take two and incorporate them into your tale!
- The tale must be set at a Halloween party.
- The tale must be from the perspective of a civilian, someone who's outside the Veil.
- A character must say the word 'spooky' at least once.
- An otherwise not scary or horror-based SCP must be made terrifying in your tale.
- A skeleton must play an important role in your tale.
DA RULES FOR AUTHORS
- This is a Halloween-themed contest and you must use any two (2) of the above stipulations, minimum, in your tale. That is, two is what we're asking, you may incorporate more than that, but you will not get any bonus for doing so.
- This is a solo contest. No exceptions.
- You are permitted to enter both the writing and art divisions of this contest with one entry each.
- Comics will be counted as Tales for the purposes of this contest, despite being tagged with both Artwork and Tale.
- Entries will be subject to the usual deletion process.
- Minor edits are permitted - grammar edits, formatting, etc. Try not to change the tale fundamentally.
- Your tale must include Halloween with an SCP Backdrop or The SCP Foundation with a Halloween backdrop. No Die Hard situations where Halloween (or Christmas, in the case of Die Hard) is only vaguely referenced.
- Your tale must have a rating of at least +20 to qualify for the winning prize. If everyone writes crap, no one wins. Put effort in! The season deserves it.
- You must write something new. If you've got something close already on the site, you don't get to enter it just because the contest came along.
- Any member who takes unusual and/or negative actions to increase their vote total, or decrease that of their competitors, will be disqualified for the involved contest and potentially banned from further contests. Site members who are not participating in the contest but do this sort of thing may be subject to Disciplinary action. Examples of shenanigans include, but are in no way limited to: Downvoting all of your competitors' work within minutes of them being posted, Spamming people with PMs about your work, and Spurring Malicious Upvoting/Downvoting, whether on your work or anyone else's. If you're not sure if something counts as shenanigans, then it probably does, but feel free to PM us asking.
Posting opens up on midnight October 10th, 2022.
After writing your tale, tag it "halloweencon2022" and it will be linked to the bottom of this page! The winner’s piece will be featured on the front page.
No entries will be accepted after October 25th, 2022, at 12:01 AM, Eastern Standard Time.
Voting will continue up until November 1st, 2022, 12:01 AM.
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PROMPTS FOR ARTISTS
Take your pick from one of the four prompts and create a piece to submit to the contest!
- Illustrate a monster based on the spirit of Halloween.
- Illustrate an SCP or character celebrating the in-season festivities!
- Illustrate an otherwise not scary or horror-based SCP as terrifying.
- Illustrate the Foundation dealing with or otherwise containing Halloween.
DA RULES FOR ARTISTS
- This is a Halloween-themed contest and you must use one (1) of the above stipulations in your piece. You may incorporate more than that, but you will not get any bonus for doing so.
- This is a solo contest. No exceptions.
- You are permitted to enter both the writing and art divisions of this contest with one entry each.
- Entries will be subject to the usual deletion process.
- If you want to enter a comic, you must submit it as a Tale.
- You may only submit one illustration to the contest.
- You must illustrate something new. If you've got something close already on the site, you don't get to enter it just because the contest came along.
- If you trace any part of your work, you must use a reference image compliant with the site's license, as well as include a link to it in your post.
- Art may use license-compliant components, however, the use of the component used must be stated in your post.
- AI-generated images are banned for this contest.
- Any member who takes unusual and/or negative actions to increase their vote total, or decrease that of their competitors, will be disqualified for the involved contest and potentially banned from further contests. Site members who are not participating in the contest but do this sort of thing may be subject to Disciplinary action. Examples of shenanigans include, but are in no way limited to: Downvoting all of your competitors' work within minutes of them being posted, Spamming people with PMs about your work, and Spurring Malicious Upvoting/Downvoting, whether on your work or anyone else's. If you're not sure if something counts as shenanigans, then it probably does, but feel free to PM us asking.
Posting opens up on midnight October 10th, 2022.
After creating your art page, tag it "halloweencon2022" and it will be linked to the bottom of this page! The winner’s piece will be featured on the front page.
No entries will be accepted after October 25th, 2022, at 12:01 AM, Eastern Standard Time.
Voting will continue up until November 1st, 2022, 12:01 AM.
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ENTRIES
IronShears for their Art Submission, and 
J Dune for their Writing Submission!
