Excerpt from the Foreword of “Frightopia: Creature Feature”
First, congratulations to all of the writers who submitted wonderfully spooky Halloween stories and poems to the third edition of Frightopia. We are thrilled to have been able to include 133 pieces out of the hundreds that made us think, smile, imagine, gasp, wince, and, sometimes even… shake. Every single piece included is extraordinary!
Aditi Jenkins, 16
Adriana Gonzalez, 13
Advika A, 15
Aelynn Maynard, 16
Alexander Feirman, 11
Alexandra Boryshansky, 9
Alma Metlitsky, 15
Amara Gilman, 11
Amelie Wronska, 12
Amira Tevatia, 10
Anna Baranchuck, 10
Ariana Ansari, 10
Arianna Leistner, 10
Ariel Berg, 10
Arjun Adusumilli, 9
Arthur Dafre Martinelli, 11
Asher Decter, 11
Ashley Cen Lin, 17
Aurora Rodriguez, 9
Ava Grunberg, 16
Ava Joseph, 10
Aven Koester, 6
Aviv Fagan, 16
Bode LaFrance, 7
Boyana Dyankova, 10
Calla Yoon, 11
Caroline Klets, 17
Caroline Paradiso, 9
Catherine Tanyeri, 10
Cecilia Linsey, 10
Charlotte Tracer, 8
Chloe Chalmeton, 10
Chloe Chu, 14
Chloe Lv, 8
Chloe-Rose Kaduru, 8
Cici Cohen, 10
Clara Gervaise, 9
Connor Sorenson, 13
Cora Getz, 11
Cristine Dynu, 14
Crosby King, 11
Dallas Wilson, 17
Daniel Friedland, 17
Danny MacNamara, 11
Delaney Griffin, 14
Edy Myers, 16
Eleanor Griffin, 11
Emi Kim, 10
Emilia Cortese, 11
Emily Bennett, 7
Ethan Boies, 8
Ethan Li, 11
Evelyn Chao, 12
Frida Shpigelmacher, 11
George Bellin, 11
Griffin Sands, 10
Hannah Dailey, 12
Henry Lomma, 15
Innis Martin-Isani, 11
Isabela Manolescu, 13
Isabella Torres Nazario, 10
Izzy Schur, 11
Janiyah Smith, 9
Joanna Leigh Berman, 10
John Yu, 12
Jojo Kenigsberg, 9
Jui Karande, 14
Juliana Norinsberg, 13
Juliette Marvar, 9
Kaia Braverman, 11
Kamila Urazova, 7
Kate Rothman, 13
Kit Beeson, 16
Kriti Jain, 14
Lanai Huron, 9
Leo Edelson, 8
Lila Ashworth, 11
Logan Freiman, 11
Lola Jarrett, 9
Luci Villanueva, 13
Maddy Cho, 11
Madeline Chu, 17
Madison Bennett, 9
Mahi Raut, 14
Maïa Segard Gardikli, 12
Maila Huron, 12
Margaret Jackman, 13
Maribelle Ganelis, 11
Marissa Munger, 15
Marlo Beckett, 11
Mason Kwon, 8
Max Rufino, 8
Mayla Chen, 12
Mila Sheng, 11
Mina Weiss, 9
Molly Nepomnyashchiy, 9
Monica Karaguzhinova, 14
Naomi Katz-Moss, 10
Naomi Oliver, 11
Natalie Ruan, 10
Ned Colangelo, 12
Neil Shah, 11
Nicholas Kirshner, 10
Nicole Juarez, 11
Nikhil Sharma, 8
Niki Mohseni, 15
Nina Hipkins, 9
Olivia Woerner, 14
Oona Nalavala, 9
Parker Koester, 9
Penelope Staley, 11
Penny Gerhart, 10
Peyton Schleef, 15
Phoebe Burger, 12
Phoebe Cabana, 9
Poppy LaFrance, 9
Preston Moszer, 12
Priyanka Song, 11
Quinn Koester, 11
Raania Awan, 15
Riyansh Garyali, 11
Rylin Rybakov, 10
Samuel Mestel, 9
Samuel Nieves, 8
Scarlet Artz, 17
Sebastian Gonzalez, 11
Shaw Swiller, 10
Shikha Shah, 11
Sofia Fraioli, 15
Sonali Browning, 16
Sophie Jackson, 12
Soraiya Ash, 10
Tarini Mishra, 10
Thalia Bryan, 11
Theo Kern, 12
Theo Scoblic, 14
Tsejin Teo, 8
Tunip Adkins, 15
William Fry, 14
Wyatt Thacker, 8
Zachary Feirman, 8
Zahra Khan, 16
Zoe Yarbrough, 12
In addition, one to three writers per age group were selected with First Place awards. Please join me in congratulating this year’s First Place in Grade:
- Ages 5-7: Bode LaFrance and Kamila Urazova
- Ages 8-10: Ethan Boies, Clara Gervaise, and Mina Weiss
- Ages 11-13: Arthur Dafre Martinelli, Logan Freiman, Adriana Gonzalez, and Zoe Yarbrough
- Age 14-18: Advika A, Kriti Jain, Edy Myers, and Theo Scoblic
This exciting book is filled with Halloween-inspired fright. Some stories are scarier than others. At Writopia, stories with gore or combat are not rare. In fact, sometimes, after a child explores a particularly dark fictional topic in a workshop, a parent or guardian reaches out to us, worried. “Is my child normal?” As a mom of two teen writers, I completely get it. It is exhilarating to experience our children’s creations, but it can also be triggering at times, no matter what the story explores, let alone horror and gore
So let me start first with a big yes: your child isn’t only 100% normal but, according to evolutionary psychologist, Jonathan Gottschall, very advanced on the evolutionary scale!
As Gottschall puts it, “Fiction is a powerful and ancient virtual reality technology that simulates the big dilemmas of human life.” He adds that the typical plotlines of children’s playtime—from Barbies to superheroes—feature rambunctious and violent conflict and struggle. Therein lies the essential value of fiction, he argues. “The constant firing of our neurons in response to fictional stimuli strengthens and refines the neural pathways that lead to skillful navigation of life’s problems. From this point of view, we are attracted to fiction not because of an evolutionary glitch, but because fiction is, on the whole, good for us. This is because human life, especially social life, is intensely complicated and the stakes are high. Fiction allows our brains to practice reacting to the kinds of challenges that are, and always were, most crucial to our success as a species…”
In other words, as writers, we help ourselves, and all of humanity around us, process fears, decompress, and prepare for life’s challenges often without even knowing it.
In that spirit, once per year, we lean into the scariest writing of all: Halloween stories. We invite our writers and readers alike to enjoy the creep and jump scares, and to let those neural pathways catapult you through an inspiring, creative, playful, and productive 2026!
You can purchase your own copy to inspire you and yours to contribute to the 4th edition in 2027!
Rebecca Wallace-Segall
Founder & CEO, Writopia Lab