Notes of latest meeting

Our meeting of 15th Oct 2025 was a competition evening for a Halloween Flash story. x8g3qyt

Acceptances were announced by Denise with the piece she read at the previous meeting, “Going Underground”

First to read was Peter with “Hardware shop”. This told of a local vendor who provides special handmade items for his customers at Halloween. These include brooms which are constructed to a design handed down through his family line. But he also provides kittens from his own familiar to seduce the local children into the black arts.

Then Denise read a story about the Clark sisters, who everyone knew were witches. Their house was different from the other houses in the neighbourhood. Their garden was a jungle and the path lead to a dark wooded door and a rusty handle. The narrator and her companions urge each other to knock on their door. But then the door opens by itself. The sisters then beckon in the narrator. She takes a breath and runs for her life.

Then Joan read “The 31st of October”. There were small children who demanded treats then took their treats into the forest. The children then argued but the sweets started to talk, admonishing the children for stealing the sweets from the kind, local people. Then they began to sing in a loud, squeaky voice.The lights of the street went off at midnight but the sound of the singing sweets continued.

The members voted for their favourite and Denise was announced as the winner.

There was then a discussion about where the ideas of the stories came from.

Then people read some Halloween stories from the archives.

Denise read “The Treasure's House Ghost.” Peter read a story which was from a competition which started with the line “It all happened on Halloween” called “Which Hazel?” This told of a denizen who arrives at the wrong house. Joan read “The Whisper of the Wind” which was an atmospheric tale of a character admiring the coastal views and deciding what she would do with the rest of her life. Denise read the story “Going Underground” which has been accepted for publication.

Our next meeting on 29th October is the Adjudication of the Short Story Competition. Details of our programme can be found online at https://harrogatewriterscircle.weebly.com. If you want to improve your writing then why don't you pop into the next meeting.