Flash Fiction “250” Competition 2025 – Autumn Winners
Contents
Here are the winners an winning entries for the Autumn "spooky" 250-word flash fiction competition.
First Place
This winning story will also be published in Link magazine and the 2025 anthology The Write Path.
Russian Roulette by Susan King
I dread this day. Pumpkins with grinning faces and kids running about dressed as ghosts. Ghosts don't wear costumes, they'd know that if they'd seen one. I can cope with all that – it's the knocking on doors blackmailing adults into giving them treats that frightens me. Don't they know how dangerous this is?
Agnes has a bucket of Cadbury Heroes by the door. Her children have grown up and left home which is a relief to me, I can tell you. I want to yell at the little ones who stand with expectant faces when she opens the door.
Bugger off, I want to shout. But of course, I can't.
You can't imagine the horror of watching her fill her syringe and pierce the wrapper of a chocolate bar, plunging the needle into the gooey inside and withdrawing it empty. You don't know what it's like to watch helpless as she smiles and hands out the sweets.
She's not daft enough to poison each one. For her it's a game of Russian roulette.
She waits for the post on the village Facebook page. She reads the hundreds of messages of sympathy with glee, scrolls slowly through emojis of crying faces, pink hearts and praying hands. She notes the date of the funeral and gets out her dark clothes.
It's the same black dress and coat she wore my cremation. A human black widow spider, she dispensed with me after our children were born.
It's just other people's children she dislikes.
Filter Judge's Reason
A good old creepfest – hallmarks of a good horror story. The title suits the story, but in an unexpected way.
Judge's Feedback
I chose Russian Roulette because it feels like a classic spooky story, perfectly in keeping with the competition's theme. The story's calm, almost conversational tone contrasts sharply with the horror beneath, creating an unsettling sense of normality turned sinister. The narrator's helpless perspective adds to the tension, letting readers glimpse evil through the eyes of the powerless. What makes this piece stand out is how it lingers, raising questions about what happens next, and about the true nature of its characters. It hooks the reader immediately, evokes strong emotion, and leaves a chill that lasts long after the final line. The title is particularly clever, giving a fresh, macabre twist to Russian Roulette, and encapsulating the story's quiet menace perfectly.
Second Place ↑
Rescued by Margaret Mackay
At the discretion of the editor, this story may be published in Link magazine.
Filter Judge's Reason
A good ghost story, with guesses lasting till the end.
Third Place ↑
Bird by Stephen Palmer
At the discretion of the editor, this story may be published in Link magazine.
Filter Judge's Reason
Fear from something real, physical, natural, but given a eerie quality, because there is uncertainty to the reality of the occurrence. This fear compounds growing old, losing control, and that is a fear we maybe cannot run from!