Ready for a scare? The 2025 winner of the Youth Scary Story Contest for 6th and 7th grade is Madison R., a 7th-grader at All Saints Catholic School. Judges enjoyed the realistic dialogue and atmospheric descriptions of the forest setting. They were also impressed by the way Madison used foreshadowing - a situation where friends don’t say much on a spooky night becomes a situation where friends can’t speak when the morning comes. You’ll have to read “Between the Trees” to find out why!
Want to read more scary stories? Check these out:
- “The Lost Boy and the Graveyard” by Oubre K., our winner for grades PreK - 2
- “The Girl Named Ella” by Samantha R., our winner for grades 3 - 5
- “Whispers in the Woods” by Julia K., our winner for grades 8 - 12
Between the Trees by Madison R.
The woods behind Serenity Gale’s house had always been…off.
Her dog would weave into the trees and not return for hours, odd sounds would echo from the pines…especially at night. Serenity, and some of her closest friends, Julie, Dennis, and Marcus, had been planning a camping trip for weeks. The day had finally come.
It was a chilly Friday evening, the sun was just beginning to dip beneath the horizon. The crackling fire in front of them matched with the orange-red leaves overhead.
Everyone had been fairly quiet this evening. Though, there wasn’t much to talk about…they had spoken throughout the entirety of class today.
“Well,” Julie started, “are we just gonna sit in silence all night?”
Dennis looked up from his phone from the other side of the fire, chuckling, “What is there to talk about?” Marcus nodded along to his words, huffing.
Serenity, however, was too caught up in her own headspace to listen. Her eyes trained on the treeline, and the cold nipped at her hands. Something wasn’t right - she just couldn’t place what.
Julie nudged Serenity’s shoulder, reeling her back, “You all right, Sere? You’re spacey today.”
Serenity nodded slowly, “Yeah, uh…just chilly. I-I’m gonna get a sweatshirt,” She said, standing up on shaky legs and walking into the tent.
The trio exchanged a glance, and for the first time, they were speechless.
Minutes went by, and Serenity hadn’t returned.
Marcus stood up, “I’m going to see if she’s ok,” He said, slowly approaching the tent. Marcus peeked behind the flap, “Sere? You alright?”
Silence. Marcus swallowed, stepping into the tent. His calls for Serenity only got more frantic.
Marcus swung his head out, “Serenity’s gone!”
~~~
The three of them all stood in the heart of the forest. As the night progressed, it had only gotten colder, darker, and scarier.
“I say we split up,” Dennis suggested.
Marcus nodded, high-fiving Dennis, “That’s–!”
“I am not splitting up,” Julie cut in with her weight rested back on her foot, chin raised defiantly.
The boys rolled their eyes, turning around. Julie watched them trek away in two different directions with a groan.
Leaves crunched beneath Julie’s feet as she walked. Every sound seemed ten times more unnatural than it actually was. Her heart was thudding wildly against her chest, and her palms were slick with sweat. Her head was reeling with worse-case-scenario thoughts - what could happen to her out in the forest? All by herself? The wind whirled around her ears, swishing the trees, and sending leaves flying. There was rustling in a bush behind her. Julie’s heart just about dropped on her toes. She slowly turned around, swallowing.
“H-hello…?” She said in a small voice, lip quivering.
Silence. No more rustling, no response. Nothing. Just Julie alone with her trembling hands and quickening breath.
Julie creeped over to the bush, wetting her lips, mumbling, “Dennis…?”
Before she could even process it, something was leaping out at her, surrounding her in complete darkness. She tried to scream, but the sound never left her. She felt a piercing pain clamp over her mouth.
And it all went black.
~~~
The sun arose the next morning like any other day. The campfire was now just a lousy pile of ash. Serenity was the first to wake, looking around.
None of them had any recollection of last night, either. They didn’t remember splitting up in the forest. They didn’t remember what had attacked them, and they didn’t remember how they got back to the fire. Frankly, they didn’t remember anything.
Serenity’s throat was dry and hoarse. The other three woke up quickly after that. They didn’t utter a word to each other.
Though, I guess it’s rather hard to speak when your mouth is sewn shut.
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