Ghost Story Contest






Since 1989, the Helen Creighton Folklore Society co-sponsors an annual ghost-story writing contest with Halifax Public Libraries (the Alderney Gate Branch hosts an awards ceremony online). In 2022, Nimbus Publishing became a co-sponsor offering book prizes.
Contestants from age 7 to 15 are invited to submit either an original ghost story or a retelling of a story in their own words that they have heard. The contest runs from June to August 31st of every year. Helen Creighton’s book, Bluenose Ghosts, has some excellent stories to inspire a retelling.

2022 winners:

7-9 Year Olds

Evelyn Harding – The Lady with the Red Eye 

Vada Horne – The Jumping Jelly Bean 

Violet DeSouza – What Happened 

10-12 Year Olds

Kierra D’Penha – The Ghost Writer 

Charlotte Hall – The Man on the Stairs 

Savini Bamunsingha – Friend From the Past 

13-15 Year Olds

Manuela Roemer – Painted Rocks 

Chyanne Hinks – Strike 

Kaelin Caporicci – Welcome to the Salty Manor 

2021 winners:

Ages 7-9

Declan Tom – The Spirit of George’s Island

Amelia Mooy – Ghostmaids of Lake George

Alison MacSween – Not at Night

Ages 10-12

Kayleigh Monette – Break a Mirror

Penelope Lawy – The Journal of Mark Hughes

Kierra D’Penha – Bella the Abandoned Doll

Ages 13-15

Catherine Khaperska – The Light Goes on at Night

Salini Nguyen Bamunusingha – The Purple Dress

Ricky yang – Lost Boy

2020 winners:

Ages 7-9

Aubree Carter, Bethany the Ghost
Holly Elizabeth Dyer,The Seventh

Ages 10-12

Iris McCallum,The Cursed House
Waverleigh Roberts, A Father’s Goodbye

Ages 10-12

Geneviève French,We Meet Again in the Tiny Kitchen
Tasnima Fabiha, The Box
Zoe Leck, The Picture

2019 winners:

Ages 7-9

Kieran Naugle, The Game
Ummamah (no last name given),Knock Knock, WHO’S THERE?

Ages 10-12

Nethra Sivakumar, Ghost Bro
Cormac Franz, Death Reflection
Penelope Lawy, Shade: a record 

Ages 13-15

Yvan Lee Guy, Doubts in the Dark
Zoe Leck, Shadows
Tasnima Fabiha, Reverse

2018 winners:

Ages 7-9

Channel Hinks, Cursed Campfire


Adèle Lacroix, The Murder at Midnight

Ages 10-12

Catherine Khaperska, In The Woods

Saba Khan, My Imaginary Friend
Tasnima Fabiha, The Nupur

Ages 13-1

Zoe Leck, The Painting

Yvan Lee Guy, Cold Tile

2017 winners:

Ages 7-9

William Colpitts, The Basement
Isla Cohen, The Old Haunted Restaurant

Ages 10-12

Zoe Leck, Flesh
Yvan Lee Guy, Crew

Ages 13-15

Lauren Wamboldt, Fourteen
Penelope Duran, Room 209
Jerry Xia, Jane

2016 winners:

Ages 7-9

The Library Mystery by Jackson Smith
The Haunted House by Kayleigh Garrisoni

Ages 10-12
Bad Wolf by Zoe Leck
The Creature by Yvan Lee Guy

Ages 13-15
The Wind Blows with a Vengeance by Mariella Lindsay-Botten
Haunted? by Jenna McConnell 
Ghost Writer by Lindsey McNamara

2015 winners:

Ages 7-9
The Haunted House by Sasha Hoque
No Easy Way Out by Kaelin Caporicci
The Murder Monster by Taylor Hollett

Ages 10-12
The Harp by Mya Barnett
The Blood Stone by Isabel Binder

Ages 13-15
The Town by Kyle Hardy
The Crooked Man by Erin Inglis 
Campfire Stories by Jenna McConnell

2014 winners:

  • Ages 7-9
    The Ghost Made of Nothing by Hamza Abawajy
    The Deerhound of 60 Willow Street by Zoe Leck
  • Ages 10-12
    Plague by Erin Inglis
    The Staircase Ghost by Gillian Currie
  • Ages 13-15
    The Baby’s Cry by Kura Broadnax
    The Strange Ripples on the Mersey River by Avery Opalka 
    Oh Sthree Raypura by Pranathi Challa

2013 winners:

  • Ages 7-9
    Will you be my Friend? By Ruth Lundrigan
    The Hour, by Taya Hooper-Dixon
  • Ages 10-12
    The Face in the Window, by Erin Inglis 
    Eleven and the One Remaining, by Avery Opalka
  • Ages 13-15
    Anna, by Jordan Galbraith 
    The Legend of Maplewood Library, by Madeline Biso

2012 winners:

  • Ages 7-9
    The Night of the Zombie Animals, by Angus Hussey-Tallon
    The Window, by Sasha Oreskovich
  • Ages 10-12
    Acadian Ghosts, by Geneviève Doiron
    Eyes in the Cabin, by Zoe Hogue 
    Angel, by Erin Inglis
  • Ages 13-15
    The Cove, by Anna DeWolfe
    Together Beneath the Waves, by Olivia Malley

2011 winners:

  • Ages 7-9
    Save the Ghosts!, by Jenna Garagan
    December 6, by Erin Inglis
  • Ages 10-12
    Ghostly Visions, by Shizza Hassan 
    Noppera Bo: the Faceless Ghosts, by Hugh Soucy
  • Ages 13-15
    Mr. Carter the Lighthouse Keeper, by Samantha Dill 
    Lover’s Lullaby, by Maya Gantar

2010 winners:

  • Ages 7-9
    The Murdered Bird, by Avery Opalka
    School Spirit, by Erin Inglis
  • Ages 10-12
    The Abandoned High School, by Natalie Comeau
    The Shadow, by Cory McConnell 
    Shadow Lands, by Madeline Toal
  • Ages 13-15
    The Pure Curse, by Amel Bensalim 
    A Monsoon Night’s Tale, by Abdiel Samuel James