Hawthorne High School Creative Writing Club has announced the winner of its Scary Short Story Contest. Freshman Alexa Gassler took home the top prize of $100. Gassler wrote a story called “Let’s Play” about three teenage girls who spend a weekend at a lake house but only one returns. Second place prize was awarded to sophomore Lauren Rivera for her story “Dear Lucy,” written in letter format from a male teen to his “lost” friend.  Rivera earned a copy of the book Great Tales and Poems by Edgar Allan Poe.

All participants wrote “scary” stories during the month of October when witches and zombies grab the imagination.  Contributors included: Danielle Maggiore, Nadia Barouk, Hamze Barouk, Alennys Nieves, Chris Branagh, Hilary Castillo, Victoria Jungermann, Jessica Mulkey, Nick Rosendale, and Maizie Baltes .

The stories were judged by four professional writers using a standard rubric evaluating story elements such as plot, character, and conflict development.  The New Jersey authors all specialize in young adult fiction. The judges and their latest novels were: Margie Gelbwasser (Chloe by Design: Making the Cut, 2015), Lynn Maddalena Menna (Piece of my Heart, 2013), Greg D’Alessandro (Ava Blue: The Lorelei, 2014) and Sandy Hall (Signs Point to Yes (2015).