🗓️ 31 Days. 31 Prompts. Ink, Paper, Terror.
This October, you’re invited to step into the shadows of your own imagination.
Pentober is a month-long fiction challenge where writers embrace the haunted and the mysterious — with one rule that makes it even more spine-tingling:
👉 Every word must be written by hand.
No screens. No backspace. Just pen, paper, and the creeping scratch of ink as you summon stories from the dark.
🕯 How It Works
Each day in October, use the daily horror prompt (31 total).
Write a scene, a drabble, a vignette — whatever the word sparks.
Keep it raw. Keep it on the page.
By Halloween, you’ll hold your very own book of shadows.
🌑 Why Join Pentober?
Reclaim the ritual: Writing by hand slows you down, lets the words sink in, and gives you something physical to show for your efforts.
Sharpen your craft: 31 days of horror and mystery themes will stretch your creativity in directions you never expected.
A haunted keepsake: At the end, you’ll have a notebook filled with your own eerie tales — an artifact of your imagination.
🩸 This Year’s Prompts
Fog · Lantern · Silence · Hollow · Thorn · Doorway · Candlewick · Whispers · Flicker · Shatter · Crows · Chains · Omen · Dust · Grave · Mausoleum · Asylum · Ritual · Shroud · Revenant · Wraith · Curse · Screech · Teeth · Bloodstain · Cloak · Bone · Abyss · Shadow · Mire · Crypt
🎃 How to Share
Post a photo of your handwritten page (or just your ink-stained fingers) with #Pentober.
Look for our Daily Note on Substack. Follow
.Become a Member over on TiF Press and share your story on our Forum. Look for our Week 1 Topic coming soon!
Connect with other writers keeping the ritual alive.
Don’t worry about polish — this challenge is about process, not perfection.
Pentober isn’t just about writing.
It’s about summoning stories the old way — in ink, in silence, in the flicker of candlelight.
I saw this a bit late and October is a busy month for me, but I'm going to attempt this. Thank you!
Oh fun! 👻