“Once Upon a Halloween,” by Miriam Imig: October 2025 Runner Up

On Skullset Avenue everything was the same—the lights, candy corn scents, and the best costumes in the state. Everyone had ordered from a new website, Coraline’s Clothes, claiming “the most authentic costumes.” But Jax didn’t need new costumes; he still fit into his old banana suit from third grade.

“Empty the mailbox on your way out!” his mom called as he ran to meet his friends, Ace and Zoe, dressed as a minion and a doctor. Trick-or-treating started great, but when Jax’s pillowcase was full, he noticed Ace’s skin looked yellower…and his eyes—wait—an eye. “Something weird’s going on,” he murmured.

Zoe stopped suddenly, mumbling about congestion and lymph nodes. “Zoe! Snap out of it!” he shouted, but she walked away talking about appendicitis. With each house they stopped at, people looked and acted more like their costumes. Jax ran home, realizing he might not be imagining things.

About to call for help, he remembered the mailbox. Inside sat a rusty hourglass and a bitten note: “The October Plague has reached your town. Everyone must complete their character’s destiny to escape the costumes. Once the hourglass runs out…” The rest was gone.

“Destiny,” Jax whispered. He ran back toward the orange-tinted neighborhood, warning everyone. People screamed, asking what their “costume destiny” could be. Jax tried finding another banana—bananas come in pairs, he thought. Vampires found blood, witches found brooms, everyone completing their destinies while the sand in the hourglass thinned.

“We’re running out of time!” he cried, racing street to street as people’s costumes morphed back to normal. He reached the last house, desperate. Only seconds left. He knocked—and a strawberry opened the door.

“No!” he yelled as the final grain fell. But… he didn’t feel different. He touched his costume—it came off! Then he froze. Coraline’s Clothes. That was it. The website had caused the chaos. That night, Jax wrote letters warning others. Maybe he didn’t win best costume or best decorations, but he’d saved everyone’s personalities. He sighed, thinking, that was one Halloween for sure—and pretended it was all a dream.