Mini-Contest #20

The 20th mini-contest was held in April 2013. This mini-contest asked contestants to write up to 25 words to describe a person, place, or thing in which a specific detail is unsettling, or unnerving, or even downright creepy. We also asked contestants to aim for subtlety, not huge drama.

Here are our winners, then our honorable mentions.


Third Place ($5) by Dennis McDougle (last seen in mini-contest #12)

Black Cadillac limousine. Low mileage. Seven years old. One owner. Garage kept. Exceptionally clean. Crimson leather interior. Full bar with sink. Driven only at night.


Second Place ($10) by Tanja Chilja (new to OTP)

The house had been neglected for fifty years. The garden was overgrown with weeds. Inside, there were vases filled with fresh flowers, covered in cobwebs.


First Place ($15) by Mike Deller (new to OTP)

What really sickened him was finding fluff in his bellybuttons.


Honorable Mentions (no money, just fame)

Three other entries scored highly enough to earn honorable mentions.

A child with cornflower blue eyes and tousled copper curls was peeping into her window. “He’s lovely!” she thought. “But this is the twenty-second floor…”
(by Theresa Rovillo, who had a story published in Issue #18)


A modest church, the bell tolls and the parishioners pray silently in the afternoon light. Iron bars cover the windows in place of stained glass.
(by Mustafa Moiz, new to OTP)


As Robb slammed out of the apartment, he suddenly realized he hadn’t heard the baby cry the entire time he’d been there.
(by Jennifer Einstein, new to OTP)


Congratulations to the winners and our sincere thanks to everyone who entered the mini-contest.