Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

Illustration by Ana Hinojosa.

October is the perfect month for haunted houses and creepy goings-on. With that in mind, I (Pixie) deliver this week’s creative prompt:

Your best friend wants to go trick-or-treating because, in their words, “I get to dress like a giant bird and people give me free candy for it.” After wandering around the traditional routes and scoring tons of tiny chocolate bars, your friend dares you to take a hike up to the Hubbard Mansion, an old abandoned estate that has supposedly been haunted for decades. How do you react? Are you hesitant, or excited? Do you go, or do you talk your friend out of it? And if you go, what does the mansion look like? Is there anything of interest inside? Does anyone—or any THING—live there? Have you heard the fates of other people who have dared to visit?

This can be as scary or as goofy as you like, which is the best part of all things Halloween, right?

Please send all tricks and treats and goblins and ghosts (along with your first name, last initial, age, and city) to [email protected] with the subject line “Creative Prompt” by Monday, October 26 at 6 PM EST.

Your last prompt was to get to know a person or a character by really looking at, then describing or showing, their hands. High fives to all who sent their stories, drawings, and poems: