Press-Telegram Scary Stories Contest

Pictured above, an untitled artwork by Eliana Hernandez of Stephens Middle School, the winner of the middle school art division in last year's Scary Stories Contest. 

The Long Beach Press-Telegram’s Scary Stories Contest, an annual Halloween tradition, is back — and the P.T. is waiting for Long Beach-area kids to “explore the cadaverous caverns of their own imaginations — and deliver the most dreadful drawings and morbid myths.”

The contest consists of three age divisions for stories and drawings: Elementary school (K-5), middle school (6-8) and high school. Students can submit either a story, a drawing or both. Entries will be judged separately.

The winning entries will appear in the Sunday, Oct. 29 edition of the Press-Telegram. The top finishers for stories and artwork in each age group will also receive a $20 In-N-Out gift card.

Here are the rules:

• The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 9.
• For story submissions, please fill out the online form at tinyurl.com/ScaryStoriesPT. No mail or in-person submissions will be accepted.
• All artwork entries must be emailed, with the subject line “Scary Stories,” to ptnews@presstelegram.com. Drawings should be submitted in JPEG format and be no larger than 5 megabytes in size. Must include the student’s name, age and school.
• Stories must be no longer than 650 words.
• Artwork must be original (no tracings).
• Entries will be judged based on imagination, creativity, theme and quality.

Visit presstelegram.com for more information. Questions? Contact City Editor Chris Haire at chaire@scng.com.