Discussion Thread -- June 2018 75-word Writing Challenge

[Shyrka]

Here's my shortlist, favourites in bold. Strange month this one - there were quite a few that didn't quite click as horror for me. The ones I liked tended to feature either very vivid description (not necessarily gore, but something striking nonetheless) or something that really made me feel the protagonist's own personal horror.

Upgrade, @Peter V
Those Who Read, Write, @Ihe
Security Update, @Travis Woodward
Turtles All the Way Down, @Dan Jones
What Was I Thinking, @Ashleyne
Horror Story, @TheDustyZebra
Patent Pending, @Cat's Cradle

In the end, my vote went to Travis for the clever concept and the sheer helpless horror that his protagonists had to endure.

 

[nixie]

We still have a few hours to go hopefully we will have a surge of last minute votes.

 

[mosaix]

My vote goes to TDZ. Very clever.

 

[Dave]

We still have a few hours to go hopefully we will have a surge of last minute votes.

There are two days yet! Hopefully, people are still deciding.

I agree that these competitions are Chronicles at its best.

 

[Ursa major]

There are, as I type, 30 hours and 44 minutes left before the poll automatically closes

 

[nixie]

My bad, I thought today was 28th.

 

[Danny McG]

Two votes!
I got 2!
Thanks @Luiglin and @Bob Senior
You've gladdened me (if that's not a word then it should be - I think it is )

 

[The Judge]

We still have a few hours to go hopefully we will have a surge of last minute votes.

Eh? It's only the 27th today, isn't it? We've got a whole day to go before voting ends. I hope. *desperately checks the calendar again*

EDIT: Oops. I see Dave and the bear got in before me! That'll teach me to read to the end of the page.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

Eh? It's only the 27th today, isn't it? We've got a whole day to go before voting ends. I hope. *desperately checks the calendar again*

EDIT: Oops. I see Dave and the bear got in before me! That'll teach me to read to the end of the page.

Me too! It doesn’t help that half my work is done on tomorrow’s schedule, so I’m always looking at the wrong date. You guys scared me. Which, of course, may have been the point.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

I've posted about this before, but I'll mention it again. This forum software has a feature called Notices which could be used with regards to increasing writing challenge participation and voting. @The Judge and @Brian G Turner are aware of this.

Perhaps it could be trialled for next month's challenge to see if there is an increase, and to see if it is annoying or not to members.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I've posted about this before, but I'll mention it again. This forum software has a feature called Notices which could be used with regards to increasing writing challenge participation and voting. @The Judge and @Brian G Turner are aware of this.

Perhaps it could be trialled for next month's challenge to see if there is an increase, and to see if it is annoying or not to members.

I did think to put it up on the new homepage - but the trouble is that stories there are ordered by date, and as the original thread was already a couple of weeks old, it would have been right at the bottom with limited visibility.

I'm waiting to headline the next challenges - 300 and 75 worders - which should hopefully gain them more attention (notoriety? ) in the longer term.

 

[M. Robert Gibson]

Many thanks for the stealth vote

I liked the viewpoint that scientific innovation has been going on for a very long time and no matter what the benefits,will always have detractors.

 

[Ashleyne]

My shortlistings:

Patent Pending by Cat's Cradle

A class trip to the farm by Venusian Broom

Tommorow by Hugh

Who Wants to Live Forever? by Perpetual Man

Clean Energy, Dirty Hands by The Judge


Thanks to Graymalkin, Parson, Venusian Broon, Peter V, johnnyjet, Travis Woodward, Hugh and Shyrka for the listings. Another thanks to Parson for the review, and to Victoria.

A ginormous thanks to nixie, Dave, Cat's Cradle and Stable for the votes.

Finally, my vote goes to Comparative Anatomy by Victoria Silverwolf.

 

[Starbeast]

Scientists of Horror​

@D.A. Xiaolin Spires
@Victoria Silverwolf
@Cat's Cradle
@dannymcg
@Ihe
@Calliopenjo
@Cathbad
@nixie
@Pedro Del Mar
@s.d. Ervin
@Venusian Broon - Patent Granted
@mosaix
@johnnyjet
@Parson
@Perpetual Man
@Bob Senior
@Stable
@M. Robert Gibson
@scarpelius
@Luiglin
@chrispenycate
@Mr Orange
@Ashleyne
@TheDustyZebra
@The Judge
@Ursa major

 

[jackwin]

I read that mssg about 12:59 am and wanted to get my vote in. So no shortlist right now, then I realized we had another day so maybe later. My vote went to S.D. Ervin, Neoscience. At first it was because it was set in roughly the same time period as my entry and I thought that maybe his fictional character and mine could get together and form the 1st Manhattan Project. But then I kept reading it and liked it just cause I liked it and really started to feel Tuskcat's horror. 47 stories, "Wow". Everybody deserves credit for making this one of the best sites ever. Later.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

CC -- Patent Pending
Peter V -- Upgrade
dannymcg -- Pull the Plug
Graymalkin -- Trial and Error
Ihe -- Those Who Read, Write
D3athw4lker -- The Curse of Progress
nixie -- Home Comforts
mosaix -- Trust Me. I'm a Series 11 Robo-doc
johnnyjet -- Our Streets Are Always Clean
Perp -- Who Wants to Live Forever? (very close second, made more horrific by certain knowledge)
Bob Senior -- The Chair
Phyrebrat -- What Parents Cannot Fix
Shyrka -- Purgatory
*Ashleyne -- What was I thinking?*

 

[Peter V]

A bumper bunch of gruesomeness, with a lot of high quality entries. I have listed my personal favourites:

Victoria Silverwolf. Beautifully horrific & well written. Would have been a very strong contender but I am not sure how scientifically innovative dissection is J

Dave. Nicely twisted tale of the cure being worse than the affliction… the protagonists relative lack of emotion to his horrific fate just counting against it.

Cat's Cradle. Brilliantly hideous (shortlist)

Dannymcg. Again brilliant hideous. If hideouser was a word I would have used it! (shortlist)

Ihe. Oh but we are a twisted community

Venusian Broon. I think by the time I finish reading these I will need therapy (shortlist)

Mosaix. Clever, keeps the reading wondering… except in the context of what I have been reading.. we KNOW it’s going to hurt (shortlist)

reiver33. What a heinous protagonist… but unfortunately understandable too.

Bob Senior. Oh but this is horrible… family and all!!

Shyrka. A terrifying waking nightmare!

Dan Jones. Just when I thought it was safe to read on… this literal nightmare rears its ugly head! (shortlist)

Fivestrings. Yuck. Just yuck

Ashleyne. Sobering, poignant and very powerful (shortlist)

The Judge. A job is a job at the end of the day and its only a little more demanding than chimney sweeping

Well done all - I am still debating which of my shortlist to give my vote to. Its a tough one. I will update as soon as I have decided.

Well it was tough. After several re-reads I narrowed it down to Mosaix and Ashleyne... one humorous but subtly twisted and the other horrifically sad.

In the end Ashleyne pipped it. I can really feel the despair of the protagonist.

 

[The Judge]

Well horror was in abundance this month -- *shudders* -- though I wasn't so sure of scientific innovation for one or two of the stories. Anyhow, my shortlist:

Ashleyne -- What Was I Thinking?​

Cathbad -- Success​

Dan Jones -- Turtles All The Way Down​

dannymcg -- Pull the Plug​

johnnyjet -- Our Streets Are Always Clean​

Peter V -- Upgrade​

Phyrebrat -- What Parents Cannot Fix​

TheDustyZebra -- Horror Story​

Venusian Broon -- A class trip to the farm​

Took a while to make a choice among this plethora of horrificality, but in the end I picked VB's cloned farm horror. I went vegetarian for dinner tonight...

Horror isn't a genre I enjoy reading or writing, so I'm pleased my effort picked up a bit of notice. So some pierced bio-suited (all bloodstains removed) thanks for the mention/shorlistings Peter V, johnnyjet, CC, Ashleyne and Starbeast, and very clean and energetic thanks for the lovely vote, Parson!

 

[Mr Orange]

creeping in under cover of darkness to carve my vote with a rusty nail in an unsuspecting forehead...

a lot of good stories this month but, to be honest, i thought most of them missed the genre. there weren't many that induced a feeling of horror for me.

so, my short shortlist:

Patent Pending -- Cat's Cradle
Trial and Error -- Graymalkin
Our Streets Are Always Clean -- johnnyjet
WHAT WAS I THINKING? -- Ashleyne
Horror Story -- TheDustyZebra

i carved Cat's Cradle with that rusty nail for a story that made me shiver and was very Creepy Pasta ( a good Creepy Pasta story, not like most of the rubbish that is out there)

 

[Ursa major]

For some reason, I got rather cut up reading some of this month's entries.... Anyway, it's time to divide the winner from the not-quite winners and the a-little-bit-further-from-being-the winner, so here are the results of the Ursa Jury (in which the stories are in posting order within the categories):


Honourable Mentions:

• Silent Watchers by Joshua Jones
• Our Streets Are Always Clean by johnnyjet
• Rearguard by reiver33
• Who Wants to Live Forever by Perpetual Man

Runners Up:

• Those Who Read, Write by Ihe
• The Chair by Bob Senior
• What Was I Thinking by Ashleyne

Winner:

• Patent Pending by Cat's Cradle

​