Ghost Story Competition 2025 Results

We are delighted to share the results of our ninth ghost story competition with you. Our 2025 competition saw a record high in the number of writers submitting a story to us, and we were amazed by the varied and skilful craft of the stories we received. Choosing our winners was exceptionally difficult, but a decision had to be made and the results are below.

Ghost Osa Prize Winner and Runner Up (these will appear in our anthology):

Winner: In Dim Candlelight by Katie Carolan

Runner Up: The Painting by Saoirse Glennie

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Adult Winners and Shortlisted Stories (these will appear in our anthology)

1st Place: Metro Apologises by Una O’Doherty

2nd Place: Let Out to Play by Ronald J Greig

3rd Place: The Blackened Thicket by Peter Cackett

Shortlist:

A Sea Shanty in Four Parts by MM Schreier

Chrissie’s Carol by Hazel McLoughlin

The Lochmhor Clearance by David McVey

The Midnight Choir by Tina Gillam

The Moon Window by Stewart Cardwell

The Road Will Open at Dawn by Susannah Sutton

The Widow’s Collection by W.H. Hilf

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We’d also like to congratulate the following writers – both Adults and Children – on having their stories longlisted, and only missing out by a whisker:

Aluminium Fangs by Nathaniel Clarke

Comfort and Joy by Deborah Hugill

Ghost Tea by Claudia Romann

Matchsticks by Alice Baxter

Mrs Ogilvy’s Visitor by Kathleen Hughes

Port for the Departed by Matthew Keller

Portrait of a Girl by Jon Rand

The Disturbance by Peter Cackett

The Ghost of Ellie Ford by Emily Wardle

The Ghost Train by Shobola Grace

The Highland Hotel Ghost (Eerie Magnificence) by John R. Coleman

The Lady in the Window by Joyanna Lovelock

The Last Day by Emma Williams

The Life of Eric by Emily Wallace

The Light at the End of the Tunnel by John Matthews

The Night Belt Man by Stuart Robert Park

The Shepherd’s Pipe by David Short

The Story of Alburt the Ghost by Jessica Stephens

The Vanishings by Natasha Turner

Unnatural by Laura Bellingham