“Becoming of the Costumes,” by Kit Fagnant: October 2025 3rd Place

Halloween night had always dripped with sugar and excitement. Maya adjusted her plastic vampire fangs, grinning at her friends as they set off with pillowcases ready to burst. The neighborhood was alive, pirates lashing in driveways, princesses squealing under falling leaves, and superheroes dashing through lawns.

At first, Maya thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. A boy in a werewolf costume scratched his arm until fur burst through his skin, his snarl rattling through Maya’s bones. A girl with cardboard fairy wings lifted into the sky, her giggles turning to screeches as feathers grew from her back.

“Animatronics,” Maya’s friend Izzy muttered, “some new trend.”

But then her own plastic fangs ached, then sank deeper, rooting into her gums, she realized it wasn’t a trick. Blood trickled down her chin. Candy seemed gross, but stranger's blood was appetizing. They kept going. A knight collapsed from the weight of metal armor that wasn't there before. A child dressed as a mummy cried for help, as her bandages slowly suffocated her. Friends dressed as zombies began groaning with hunger. Some kids cheered at their newfound powers; others begged for help as costumes devoured them.

By midnight, the town was a nightmare carnival. Foam swords became jagged steel. Witches whispering real curses, voices carried by the wind. The faster people ran, the faster costumes consumed them.

Maya’s reflection in a dark window shop showed hollow cheeks, crimson eyes, and lips split by fangs. Her friends reached for her, their skin grey and peeling. They wanted flesh, she wanted blood.

The transformations surged like the tides, swallowing identities. She fought to remember her name, her mother's face, even the laughter from earlier that night, but the hunger drowned out everything.

As the sun rose, the streets emptied. Some awoke on lawns, their costumes shredded, but they were human again. But Maya didn't change back; her reflection remained monstrous, and her fangs still reflected the sunlight. Her skin was pale and gloomy, and the hunger for blood was still lurching.

Halloween ended for some, but for Maya, this Halloween was just getting started.