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Jump Scare

The Archetype Spooky Microfiction Challenge

Jump scare: a sudden, scripted moment, intended to startle an audience.

Spooky season has arrived and we’re celebrating with a microfiction challenge full of chills & thrills.

Can you spook a reader in 150 words or less? This spooky season, Archetype is hosting Jump Scare: A Scary-Story Microfiction challenge, designed to challenge writers to use a brief moment to tell their story. We’re looking for short, sweet and spooky.

The title “jump scare” is intended to reference the short nature of microfiction for a tongue-in-cheek challenge title—your story does NOT have to involve an actual jump scare to qualify (but it can!).

See below for challenge rules, FAQs, and prizes. Must be 18 years old or older to register.

The challenge:

Participants will have 72 hours to write a micro-story (150 words or less) based on a prompt that will be sent out to kick off the challenge on Friday, October 24. Writers must use the prompt to convey an original short & spooky narrative.

“Spooky” can apply to a range of style and scariness. If writing scary stories isn’t your jam but you want to participate, no worries! “Cozy spooky” and “creepy” are totally acceptable—your story doesn’t have to be horror.

Horror stories will be accepted, but we are not looking for stories with graphic or gratuitous violence. Stories with excessive depictions of violence and/or hateful content will be disqualified. While violence can be a part of horror stories and ghost stories in particular, please keep it reasonable. We’re here for fun spooky vibes and everyone having a good time.

If you are unsure what the distinction is or where your writing style falls, please reference our spooky sub-genres below!

Giving FAQs

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.