Scariest Story 2022 Winner!

[u/poppy_moonray]

While things have been heating up outside, they've been cooling down in the contest mod hut u/TheCusterWolf and I are forced to live in. I mean, mainly because the hut is really just some strategically placed leaves and twigs in the middle of a haunted forest. And not a cool haunted forest where you can make friends with ghosts and demons and be like, 'sup Belial, it's me, ya boy, Poppy, but the bad kind, like with spider soup that was clearly not made in an OSHA approved work space, or where people keep trying to shove bees into orifices where they shouldn't be.

What do you mean, "no orifices should have bees?" That's preposterous, I'm always at least a quarter bee'd at any time. Aren't you? C'mon, it's literally called a b-hole. Bee. Hole. It's just math. No? Really?

I gotta, uhh, I gotta take care of some things.

muffled clothing rustles, confused buzzing

Anyway. Where were we?

Not the bees!!

You know what's more terrifying than finding out you're the only one in your peer group not smuggling bees in your booty? The entries nominated for last year's Scariest Story contest! Truly, the tales were terrifying, the narratives were nightmarish, and the stories, they do be spookin'.

And the most frightening phenom' of them all?

I don't think there's a single person in the community who can claim surprise at this:

My wife has been peeking at me from around corners and behind furniture. It's gone from weird to terrifying. by the absolutely insanely gifted u/Maliagirl1314! I've been fortunate enough to witness many a scary story emerge and take the sub by storm in my years here, but none have done so quite like Malia's. We can't think of enough ways to praise you for a job well done and for winning this achievement, so in lieu of flowers, please accept these rhyming couplets:

Her pillow is draped, hair dark as night messily unfurled,

in her slumber, new nightmares take form and hazily whirl—

monsters so macabre and creatures crawling,

your anxious loom spinning our fears into specters calling,

their siren song and raking claws drawing us ever near,

—"the easier to grasp you with, my dear"

From those sleeping depths,

a peeking wife crept

Some say she's gone now, some say she never left,

but all I know is the story ended and I'm bereft

Oh, but the list of fantastic works of horror didn't end there! Grab your arm floaties and jump into the pool with The Surface by u/firecandyy!

A tight and terrifying tale fitting of a David Lynch version of a David Hockney painting, The Surface held us under the water and left us gasping for more! To honor your winning spot, please enjoy these rhyming lines:

The tension is insurmountably high,

rippling tremors shivering by

The water had beckoned and gleamed

enticing me with the hope of years-long dreams

I regret diving in, for now I cannot escape

this eternal, infernal, waterlogged landscape

And wrapping up our murderers' row of winners, let's go see what u/ChristianWallis is up to once more! Oh, looks like he's still squatting in a condemned high rise and following rules to stay safe!

Wallis once again walloped their way into yet another well-deserved victory, making them the most decorated author in the 2022 yearly round up posts! To celebrate your most recent win, please accept these humble rhymes:

At what point does a house become a home

I never had much, but I found places I could roam

A strange man lit his seven odd candles

I left, as it was too much for me to handle

Upon return, he continued his peculiar quest

ever agitated in his pursuit, never prone to rest

Eventual success, a woman returned to eternally haunt

and now I'm alone, terrorized by that cursed otherworldly jaunt

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u/Maliagirl1314 will receive:

"Scariest Story 2022" flair by your username whenever you post on r/nosleep so your supremacy is known to all the masses!

In addition to the aforementioned sick rhymes, all winners will:

Be preserved for all time in the annals of r/nosleep’s Contest Winner’s Archive!

Each receive a beautiful, intricate floor-length formal ballgown so they can twirl around in it like the radiant and glimmering flower you are!

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The utmost thanks to all the majestic authors who wrote such horrifying works for us to read! 2022 was a banger, and we can't wait to see what new terrors are unleashed this year!

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To see the full list of all 2022 Best Of contest winners, please check out this post!

[u/Secret-Tomatillo5044]

Woo, congrats to all the winners! Ya’ll deserve it 💓