October 2024 Year of the Dragon Bamboo Shoots Writing Contest Prompts

Okay, Halloween is coming so we need some spooky prompts. Remember, you can ignore these prompts and write about whatever. We welcome pieces written in any language. There is no need for an English translation, but if you do provide one, you may reach a wider readership.

Here are the prompts:

Ghosts (what else, right?)
There’s always someone haunting someone
Scary people
The thing that wouldn’t leave
Dangerous treats
Dastardly tricks
Dark encounters
The blackness of darkness
Spine-chillers
Strange sounds
Movies that make you jump in your seat and/or scream
Music that makes you look over your shoulder and check the locks on your doors
TV shows that children should never watch without an adult to hold on to
Parents who let their children watch scary shows that make them cry and/or give them nightmares
Children who scare their parents
Pets who use their minds to control us
People you’ve met who came from Stepford, are pod people, zombies, robots, or space aliens
Living next door to the Terminator
Driving on the wrong side of the road
Driving down a one way street against traffic
Falling asleep at the wheel while driving
You or someone else driven mad
Write a piece that scares the heck out of us

Okay, feel free to ignore these prompts. Come on people now, let’s write.

By participating in the Bamboo Shoots community, you agree to the following rules:

1. We reserve the right to remove content that promotes hate or gratuitous violence. Be respectful and courteous to others.
2. All contest challenge entries must be submitted by the designated
3. Enter as many times as you like using a trigger/prompt (this page).
4. Contest Challenge entries can be prose (including short stories, nonfiction essays, or whatever you write), poetry, or plays -- or any type of hybrid writing you dream up.
5. Every entry must have a title -- unless you choose to enter a haiku, in which case you can simply enter the word haiku in the title section.
6. All content/entries should be original work. You retain ownership of your entries; however, we may ask to use them elsewhere on the site or on social media to help promote Bamboo Ridge and/or the Bamboo Shoots online writing community.
7. Winners will be announced with all possible speed after the end of each month. Winners receive 10 Bamboo Bucks credit to spend in the BRP online bookstore. Bamboo Bucks have no monetary value outside of the online store.
8. Entries may also be selected for publication in the regular Bamboo Ridge Journal. If your piece is chosen, the editors will contact you via the email address on file.
9. Please note that you need not enter the contest challenge in order to post on Bamboo Shoots. You may post other writing if you choose. We welcome that here:  Click this link to go to Shoot da Breeze.