What Was That Noise?… Fill-in-the-Blank Story Reveal & Book Giveaway Winners!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my October story activity and book giveaway! You’ve waited long enough, so let’s get to the good stuff.

I received 32 entries for my fill-in-the-blank story activity and laughed so hard reading the various tales they created. I narrowed the entries down to 14 finalists and sent those anonymously to my guest judges… my niece and nephew! Austin and Caitlin, both recent graduates of Texas Tech University, are qualified judges of spooky, silly stories due to their excellent senses of humor and the fact that they grew up in our crazy Halloween-loving family and spent their childhood being scared by the annual haunted trail through my parents’ backyard. A big thanks for the time they took to select the story winners.

Interesting note: Austin and Caitlin did not judge together. I sent the finalists to them separately, and they both chose the SAME FOUR ENTRIES, so these were obviously the best. Without further ado, I give you the four most entertaining versions of…

What Was That Noise?

“What Was That Noise?” by Logan L.

It’s after midnight, and you’re alone in your SPOOKY, BLACK house. At least, you think you are. You’ve just finished eating a bowl of TURKEY and are brushing your SKULL when you hear an ORANGE noise from the living room. Tiptoeing CREEPILY down the hallway, you whisper, “I hope it’s not a PUMPKIN PATCH .” Suddenly, something lands in front of you with a loud MWUHHAHAHAHA. You SQUISH backwards in fright, then relax as you realize it’s only a GRIM REAPER. But where did it come from? Slowly, you round the corner of the living room. In the darkness, two GREEN glowing eyes appear. All the hairs on your SPINE stand up as the eyes RUN closer and closer. Then, they pounce! “HOLY JESUS!” you scream as something WHITE and GREY collides with you. That’s when you realize, it’s only CLYDE , your pet GIRAFFE . You lift them up, laughing at how much FEAR you felt before. But that’s only because you don’t know what CLYDE was really staring at. Their eyes grow large as over your shoulder they see the DARK BLUE AND GREEN monster with 9767.1 heads RUNNING up behind you with BLOOD dripping from all of its fangs.  

“What Was That Noise?” by Abigail H.

It’s after midnight, and you’re alone in your HAIRY, SLIMY house. At least, you think you are. You’ve just finished eating a bowl of TIRAMISU and are brushing your HIPS when you hear a BUMPY noise from the living room. Tiptoeing QUICKLY down the hallway, you whisper, “I hope it’s not a HIPPOPOTAMUS.” Suddenly, something lands in front of you with a loud CRUNCHING. You DOUBLE PIKE backwards in fright, then relax as you realize it’s only a PUMPKIN. But where did it come from? Slowly, you round the corner of the living room. In the darkness, two OLIVE GREEN glowing eyes appear. All the hairs on your THUMB stand up as the eyes SKIPPING closer and closer. Then, they pounce! “OMG !” you scream as something FLUFFY and STINKY collides with you. That’s when you realize, it’s only LAYLA , your pet PLATYPUS . You lift them up, laughing at how much GUILT you felt before. But that’s only because you don’t know what LAYLA was really staring at. Their eyes grow large as over your shoulder they see the MAGENTA, SHINY monster with 65,910 heads FROLICKING up behind you with PINK LEMONADE dripping from all of its fangs.

“What Was That Noise?” by Pat Kinder

It’s after midnight, and you’re alone in your EERIE, MISSHAPEN house. At least, you think you are. You’ve just finished eating a bowl of CHILI CHEESE DOGS and are brushing your LEFT NOSTRIL when you hear a REPULSIVE noise from the living room. Tiptoeing CLUMSILY down the hallway, you whisper, “I hope it’s not a CHANDELIER.” Suddenly, something lands in front of you with a loud THUNDEROUS BOOM. You SKITTER backwards in fright, then relax as you realize it’s only a WITCH’S CAULDRON. But where did it come from? Slowly, you round the corner of the living room. In the darkness, two SMOKE GREY glowing eyes appear. All the hairs on your TONGUE stand up as the eyes BOUND closer and closer. Then, they pounce! “GHASTLY GOBLIN EYES!” you scream as something SHIMMERING and BONE-CHILLING collides with you. That’s when you realize, it’s only STONEY, your pet ANTEATER. You lift them up, laughing at how much FEAR you felt before. But that’s only because you don’t know what STONEY was really staring at. Their eyes grow large as over your shoulder they see the ENORMOUS, EXHAUSTED monster with SEVEN heads HYPERVENTILATING up behind you with VINEGAR dripping from all of its fangs.

“What Was That Noise?” by Annie Neugebauer

It’s after midnight, and you’re alone in your SPRITELY, STINKY house. At least, you think you are. You’ve just finished eating a bowl of CANDY CORN and are brushing your SKULL when you hear a FUNKY noise from the living room. Tiptoeing SWIFTLY down the hallway, you whisper, “I hope it’s not a PUMPKIN.” Suddenly, something lands in front of you with a loud SNORT . You FLY backwards in fright, then relax as you realize it’s only a BOOGER. But where did it come from? Slowly, you round the corner of the living room. In the darkness, two ORANGE glowing eyes appear. All the hairs on your NOSE stand up as the eyes SQUEEZE closer and closer. Then, they pounce! “YIKES !” you scream as something SNARKY and MACABRE collides with you. That’s when you realize, it’s only ELIZABETH SPRIGSLY , your pet PENGUIN . You lift them up, laughing at how much ANGER you felt before. But that’s only because you don’t know what ELIZABETH SPRIGSLY was really staring at. Their eyes grow large as over your shoulder they see the HAUGHTY, GOOEY monster with NINE heads SPURTING up behind you with SUNNY DELIGHT dripping from all of its fangs.

Awesome job, Logan, Abigail, Pat and Annie! Those were some creative word lists. I can’t stop laughing at the idea of the hair on your tongue standing up (ew) and the fact that in Annie’s story, the sound was a “snort” and the object turned out to be a booger. LOL! If your story didn’t make the cut, don’t worry. You can read your version of “What Was That Noise?” by filling in your words to the blanks below.

“What Was That Noise?” — A Fill-in-the-Blanks Story

It’s after midnight, and you’re alone in your 1. ________, 2. ________ house. At least, you think you are. You’ve just finished eating a bowl of 3. ________ and are brushing your 4. ________ when you hear a 5. ________ noise from the living room. Tiptoeing 6. ________ down the hallway, you whisper, “I hope it’s not a 7. ________.” Suddenly, something lands in front of you with a loud 8. ________. You 9. ________ backwards in fright, then relax as you realize it’s only a/an 10. ________. But where did it come from? Slowly, you round the corner of the living room. In the darkness, two 11. ________ glowing eyes appear. All the hairs on your 12. ________ stand up as the eyes 13. ________ closer and closer. Then, they pounce! “14. ________!” you scream as something 15. ________ and 16. ________ collides with you. That’s when you realize, it’s only 17. ________, your pet 18. ________. You lift them up, laughing at how much 19. ________ you felt before. But that’s only because you don’t know what 20. ________ was really staring at. Their eyes grow large as over your shoulder they see the 21. ________, 22. ________ monster with 23. ________ heads 24. ________ up behind you with 25. ________ dripping from all of its fangs.

Spooky America Book Giveaway

And now… (drum roll)… for the winners of the book giveaway!

I wanted Indigo to help me choose the lucky recipients. This is how that turned out…

In the end, I had to get Uno to help instead…

Congratulations to Emerson Z and Evelyn W! You’re winners! You both get to choose a signed Spooky America book. I’ll be contacting you today to find out which title you want and where to send it.

Thanks again for helping make my favorite month even more fun. Enjoy your last week before Halloween, and remember to be careful when investigating those strange noises. You never know when it might be a grim reaper or a booger.