STUDIO WRITES KIDS

These stories are the product of our first face to face 7-11 Wri�ng Group sessions a�er lockdown. The children decided that they wanted to do a spooky story based around Halloween and Bonfire Night. A�er choosing from several ideas, they developed a plan deciding the characters, plot and se�ng before working each week on developing a par�cular wri�ng technique: using adjec�ves, adverbs, similes, onomatopoeia, wri�ng dialogue etc. They then set about wri�ng the opening paragraph to their stories.

The results are amazing, chilling, terrifying and astounding. They provide proof that lockdown has not diminished their imagina�ons, their wri�ng talent or their eagerness to engage, learn and (above all else) enjoy wri�ng.

Wayne Cookson- The Studio Writes Facilitator

Violet’s Story - The Terrifying Circus! It was 1.00 am in Elkie’s house and she was sat wide awake in her bedroom; there was a spooky, frightening feeling in the room. She sat by the window while the thunder crashed against the wet, spooky house. All of a sudden she saw a bright beam of light go straight through her window! She passed out and fell to the floor…

Suddenly she woke up in a large, terrifying mansion; a mysterious man walked in.

“Stop. Don’t be afraid, I will take you back to your house,” he said in a stumbling voice.

“Please don’t hurt me!” Elkie pleaded.

“Ha ha! Shut up and come with me!” He took her outside and he told Elkie, “Get changed!” He held out a black cloak and a pair of gloomy, dark pants. With no other choice, Elkie got changed and headed in a truck with the mysterious man driving.

It soon became clear that they were heading for a circus and, when they arrived, she was forced to sit with him in the crowd. A firework display, surrounded by gates, was on stage in front of them.

“Help!” she screeched, while sat inside the terrifying circus. The place had an ominous feeling and she was petrified! She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she found that she was no longer in her seat in the crowd. Impossibly, she now found herself sat inside the gates that everyone else dreamed of not being in! She was inside the metal gates, right on stage…the metal gates where the fireworks were!

The mysterious man laughed, “It’s �me to DIE!”

He lit the end of the largest firework which was aiming straight at Elkie. Fortunately, a member of the crowd leapt forward and pushed her out of the way and saved her life. The rocket missed her and shot out of the circus into the sky. Elkie looked around for the mysterious man and the person who had saved her, but both had disappeared…

Terrified, Elkie then had to walk nervously back to her house. However, when she got there, she discovered that it wasn’t a house anymore: it was dust! The rocket firework, that had nearly killed her at the circus, had landed here and blown up her house. The mysterious man had destroyed her home!

She sat outside her broken house for some �me, unsure of what to do. She got out her phone to call the police and was surprised to see news stories about what had happened to herself in the horrifying circus! She searched for the person who had saved her life and soon found out that it was a young girl called Violet! She was so relieved and grateful that she sat there sobbing the words, “Thank You!” While she was crying, Elkie vowed to one day find this mysterious man…

Georgie’s Story - The Creepy Cabin

It was midnight in the creepy, dark forest. Georgie and Daisy were wandering around talking about Halloween and what they were going as next year. Boom! Lightning crackled in the sky.

“Quick!” Daisy exclaimed. “Get into that creepy cabin over there!”

Then, with their jackets overturned to cover their heads, they ran into the abandoned, wooden cabin.

As they entered the dirty house, Georgie whispered, “It’s disgus�ng in here!” as she picked up an enormous book from the dusty bookshelves. Daisy took the book, opened it and flicked through the dusty pages…

Moll’s Story – Mystery Life

It was 9.00 pm and the sky was dark jet black. The furious rain was lashing Liv’s window and pounding the outside of her family’s enormous mansion. Liv was si�ng by the wide, wet window reading a scary ghost story. She was enjoying feeling scared but was also a li�le sad at being le� behind by her parents who were out visi�ng a night museum. Suddenly, a strike of lightning hit her window and frightened her! Then her sister Sally came running into the room screaming, “Help me! Kai is chasing me as fast as a cheetah!” She was followed by Ralph the dog, who came running into the room too!

A crack of lightning suddenly hit her room and made the dog go, “Woof Woof,” which was just as loud as the lightning. Boom! Thunder crashed outside. As the rain went drip, drop on her stained glass window, Sally jumped on Liv’s big bed. Suddenly, the wardrobe door shot wide open. Sally screeched as loud as she could.

A�er that, Liv asked, “Are you ok? Was it just the wind that opened it?”

“No!” Sally whispered in a choked voice.

Just then, someone that looked like a dead soul jumped out of the wardrobe and scared them horribly!

Lo�e’s Story – The Cupboard In The Corner

The ebony night was as gloomy as the eye could see. The grim and nightmarish cupboard, in the corner of the cobweb-filled room, stood with its door wide open. Bang! The wind roared and howled and the cupboard door closed.

Drip, drop, drip, drop. Frankie sat back in the ghostly rocking chair, looking out of the window. Suddenly, the power of fizzling lightning lit up the room like a lightbulb floa�ng in mid-air. Frankie was terrified…

Elsa’s Story – The Halloween Decora�ons That Came To Life!

Scared of the Halloween decora�ons, Annabelle quickly got into bed. With the covers over her face, she lay there scared s�ff, hoping that nothing bad was going to happen. Rain dripped on the window, but inside was warm. Crash! Buzz! Terrified of the thunder, a blinding light made her jump. The curtains were s�ll open and she looked out of the window. She could see the angry, dark sky. She felt that something bad was going to happen and was very frightened now…

Ar�e’s Story – The big, grey, scary wolf!

It was night and the thunder was booming above the haunted farm. Ar�e was listening to the rain hi�ng on his window: drip, drip, drip… Ar�e and his friends were running away from a big, grey, scary wolf but soon ran into a dead end! They ran to the le� of the dead end where they found an abandoned cabin. They opened the creaky door and entered. They turned around and found the wolf standing there wai�ng!