We reveal the results of our ghost story competition

We’ve had a fantastic response to our ghost story competition with more than 500 entries. The quality of ghoulish tales from around the county has been outstanding and our journalists have had a tough time trimming down the entries to a long list, and an even tougher job selecting a shortlist.

Anthony Skinner and author Lorraine Mace had the difficult task of picking the winning entries from the final 15, and after much deliberation they chose ‘The Devil’s Arrows’ as the Yorkshire ghost story winner.

Below you will find a list of all the shortlisted and longlisted stories. By clicking here you can read all 15 shortlisted stories in full. 

The winner will receive a £200 cash prize along with a copy of ‘The Writer's ABC Checklist’ by Lorraine Mace and Maureen Vincent-Northam and a year's subscription to Yorkshire ridings magazine. The second and third place entrants will win a copy of the book and a subscription.

We’d like to take the opportunity to thank all our readers who put pen to paper and entered our competition. Look out for another short story competition next year on a theme of ‘love’.  

The shortlist

1st place: ‘The Devil’s Arrows’ by AJ Hudspith
2nd place: ‘Phantasmagoria’ by Temperance West
3rd place: ‘The Cage’ by Lesley Hoyle

‘The Lady Vanishes’ by Rosy Daley
‘Daisies in December’ by Steve Goodier
‘A Country Escape’ by Pamela Aveyard
'A true Story by Debra Edley
‘Grounded’ by Jennifer Ann Miller
‘Hangerley Hall’ by Stephen Page
‘It Takes One To Know One’ by Joyce Ogden
‘No Smoke Without Fire’ by Hope Parker
‘Beneath’ by Paul Spencer
‘The Menhir’ by Paul Spencer
‘The Strid’ by Susan Howe
‘The Last Train’ by Emmaline Austere

The longlist

‘A Gothic Tale’ by Ann E Fysh
‘A Ghost Story’ by William Scott
‘The House at Micklegate’ by Gene Brothwell
‘Déjà vu?’ By David Wineman
‘Sweet Hearts’ by Annette Scorah
‘Lost at Sea’ by Susan Howe
‘Time and Again in Whitby’ by JW Hicks
‘The Ghost Of Waters Meet Lane’ by Mr JA Read
‘A Moonlit Lane’ by Jennifer Miller
‘March Of The Clogs’ by Mrs Dorothy Johnson
‘Ivy Cottage Hotel’ by Eileen Hartley
‘Branwell’ by Sarah Quarmby
‘Meg’s Leap’ by Polly Garland
‘Something Special’ by John Drake
‘Perseverance’ by June P. Hirst
‘Ringing Home’ by Gill Wilkinson
‘Full Circle’ by Trish Hill
‘The Wedding Photograph’ by Sarah Brough
‘Suddenly While Sat in Her Chair’ by Polly Garland
‘Thou Art As Nought’ by Polly Garland
‘The Residents’ by Annette Scorah
‘Whitby Jet’ by Lesley Hoyle
‘One Hallowe’en to Remember’ by Margaret Anne Spice
‘A Murder Most Foul’ by Carrie-Anne Crabtree
‘The Moaner in the Mill’ by Nemone Thornes
‘As Old As Houses’ by Miss R P N Wilson
‘Blazing Angel’ by Peter Cardwell
‘The Halifax Gibbet’ by Bryony Jameson
‘Sunday Morning – Dad’s Turn’ by Janet Wright
‘Sweet Bribery’ by Christina Longden
‘The Saltburn Sisters’ by Joanna Large
‘The Butterfly’ by Francis Brown
‘Footsteps from the Graveyard’ by Roger Ellis
‘The Wetwang Unicorn’ by Robert Hartley
'The Morning Meeting' by Chris Berry
'Fountains Abbey' by Jennifer Ann Miller
'Time and Again in Whitby' by Jane Hicks
'South Kirby Colliery' by David Butcher