🌟 Our Top Writers 🌟

After much deliberation, we are proud to announce the standout stories that left a lasting impact. These tales captured the spirit of Halloween and the eerie magic of a midnight masquerade, leaving us all spellbound:

Give a standing ovation to the grand winner. The grand winner is:

READ THE BONES - LAURA DOLL

Laura is an aspiring writer who loves stories. She lives in Riceville, Tennessee with her husband, Eric and their three fur babies; Jake (water dog), along with Sprinkles and Turnip (guinea piggies). They all enjoy little adventures, riding roads, picnics, chilling at home with movies. You can find her on Facebook @ 'Scribbles by Laura DeGrave' and Instagram @ JakeWaterDog

Beat the drums. The first runner-up is:

FRONT OF FAIRY - ROB BAILEY

Rob Bailey earned his MFA from California College of the Arts. He has published in Allegory Ridge and Bridge Eight and was short-listed for the On The Premises prize, publication forthcoming. He lives in Chicago with his Shiba Inu.

Cue the confetti. The second runner-up is:

PUSHKIN THE BOKOR - STANISLAV ROMANOV

Stanislav Romanov is a Russian author debuting in English with his short story, Pushkin the
Bokor.

Pop the champagne for our top finalists:

TORTURED UNDER GROUND - K L SINGLETON

K. L. Singleton started as a hobby writer with a passion for creativity. After gaining experience in academic, technical, and grant writing she pursued a degree in creative writing that broadened her professional usage of writing. Singleton writes, "that the purpose of getting a higher education was to write more satisfying books." Her passion remains to create captivating stories for readers to enjoy.

FLESSLESS FREEDOM - ARCHIE DE HALDEVANG

Archie/Ashley De Haldevang is a poet and Scriptwriter, A recent graduate from Falmouth university, and a part time chef. A genderfluid person living in Scotland, they are exploring where to take their Writing to the next level. Being published in Mothtales and a member of the local falmouth poetry club. They are excited to see what being back at home can do for the writing career. They enjoy walking their dogs, playing basketball and attending poetry nights around Edinburgh.

SMITE - KAYLEIGH MARINELLI

Kayleigh Marinelli is a writer, researcher, editor, and teacher. Marinelli’s debut novel, The Fantastic Fabricated Life of Lyle Farker, was published in 2021. Her work has been published in literary journals, short story collections, and poetry collections. She earned her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) in 2019.

MIDNIGHT AWAITS ME - REIA INENAGA

Reia Inenaga is a Japanese-American writer of surreal poetry and short stories. Her passion for art history and literature expands her creative process while her dreams fuel her search for beauty in the strange and unknown. She is currently familiarizing herself with the literary world. When she is not writing, she visits art museums, enjoys morning walks, and shares bizarre yet enthusiastic story ideas with her unsuspecting writing friends. (Note: The name mentioned in the biography is a pen name.)

THE WEREWOLF - HAYLEY GARCIA PARNELL

Hayley Garcia Parnell (she/they) is a nonbinary, Chicana professional lighting designer and emerging writer. She is a New York City transplant hailing from Westminster, Colorado, where she studied Theatre at the University of Colorado at Boulder. IG: @hays_ways

MACABRE MASQUERADE - BAILEY DUNN

Bailey Dunn is a queer biracial poet and writer from Central New York. Their work can be found in Zeniada, Full House Literary, The Normal Review, and elsewhere. Currently, they are an undergraduate at Montclair State University double majoring in German and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies, and minoring in Creative Writing. They love the simple things in life: bowties, weird words, and very climbable trees. You can find them at bailey-dunn.com.

SPECTER’S LULLABY - BRENT MCCULLEY

Brent McCulley is a 34 year old writer, poet, and teacher presently residing in Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA. He holds an undergraduate degree in history, and two graduate degrees in philosophy. His work has recently appeared in Beyond Words and Wingless Dreamer. He has two hairless cats and two kids (with hair).

FLYING THROUGH THE HALLOWEEN NIGHT IN A BLACK DREAM I CANNOT WAK FROM - GAVIN BOURKE

Gavin Bourke grew up in the suburb of Tallaght in West Dublin. Married to Annemarie living in County Meath, he holds a B.A. in Humanities from Dublin City University, an M.A. Degree in Modern Drama Studies and a Higher Diploma in Information Studies from University College Dublin. His work broadly covers nature, time, memory, addiction, mental health, human relationships, the inner and outer life, creating meaning and purpose, politics, contemporary and historical social issues, injustice, the human situation, power and its abuse, absurdism, existentialisms, human psychology, cognition, emotion and behaviour, truth and deception, the sociological imagination, illness, socio-economics, disability, inclusivity, human life, selfishness and its consequences as well as urban and rural life, personal autonomy, ethics, commerce, science, grand schemes and the technological life in
English and to a lesser extent in the Irish Language.

THE CLOCK TOWER - MICHELLE SMITH

Michelle Smith is an award-winning poet and writer whose work has appeared in newspapers, anthologies, and magazines, including The Sun and Ms. Her humor prose won First Place in the 2021 SouthWest Writers annual anthology competition, and her haiku placed First in the 2024 competition. Michelle earned a winning spot in Writer’s Digest’s 2023 Annual Poetry Competition, and her novel excerpt was a top-10 finalist in the 2019 She Writes Press and SparkPress Toward Equality in Publishing competition. In May 2024, Michelle’s monologue, “Ode to Jesse”, was performed on stage in collaboration with Visionary Dance Theatre. For 15 years, she’s penned a monthly column for the Central Coast Branch of the California Writers Club. She’s a member of the Dramatists Guild, Authors Guild, and San Diego Writers, Ink. She also volunteers with WriteGirl, a global nonprofit that mentors and empowers teen girls through writing.


ON HALLOW'S EVE - JACK ST. CROIX
Jack St.Croix is retiree who likes to dabble in short stories and poetry.


Congratulations to our winners and a huge thank you to every author who participated. Your words have brought Halloween to life in the pages of Midnight Masquerade. We must confess that we had a hard time selecting the winners as all the submissions were spine-tingling!
We hope the readers enjoy this anthology as much as we do. Let the spooky celebrations continue!