Q-Contest #18 topic
If You Were a Ghost, Where Would You Haunt?
assuming you had a choice
I usually play some mental games with you before revealing what the new topic for the next content is. But this one (suggested by Louise Ferrebee) was too good to keep hidden.
It’s right there in the title of the post.
In honor of Hallowe’en and all related spooky events and subjects, the subject for Q-Contest #18, which begins right now (October 12, 2026) and ends exactly a month later (midnight on November 12, same year) is the question of the title. Then the voting will begin and a topic for #19 will be announced. Hard to believe we’ve already had seventeen of these things, but it’s true. And I, for one, have had a lot of fun with it. Hope you have, too.
Please note that the title doesn’t ask Who you would haunt, but where.
This gets a bit tricky, because traditional folk lore says you haunt the place where you died. But there are exceptions, and that’s where the question comes in.
Most ghosts are said to haunt the spot where they died. And unless they decided in advance where to die, that’s pretty limiting. But a few are tied to a person rather than a place. In other words they follow you wherever you go. (My beloved second wife is like that. I’ve experienced her in three different states.)
There are also some who are attached to specific places where they experienced trauma in life. (Or, less often, extreme joy. Or maybe both of those are the same thing?)
There are alleged to be cases where the spirit goes back to some earlier age of life and haunts that place, such as some place where in their childhood they had notable events happen.
In any event, I don’t think it matters in this case whether we truly believe in ghosts or not. This topic begins with the word ‘If,’ and writers have always been good at dealing with ‘What if?’
What if a teenage boy and teenaged girl from two warring factions of their culture fell in love? And then died?
What if a woman in old New England was condemned for adultery and the person she loved was the local religious minister?
What if a young woman in Victorian England decided to act on her wishes instead of in reaction to society’s demands?
What if a maimed ship’s captain was obsessed by an albino whale?
What if a cultured Southern Belle who has never recoved from her husband’s suicide years before descends slowly into insanity?
What if you died and decided your ghost should haunt the house where you spouse now lived? Or where you parents lived? Or where your offspring lived?
It might not be as easy as some subjects, but I sincerely believe it could be both rewarding and fun. I certainly intend to try my own hand at it, and I encourage you to do the same. [Here’s a LINK to some updated info on this contest, regarding a ‘loosening’ of the topic sentence.]
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It’s Hallowe’en, remember?
Now, if you’re relatively new to Questionality’s pages and history, you may love the idea of entering this contest, but don’t have a clue as to how to go about doing so.
So, here’s how:
First of all, we accept entries for a month, from the 12th of a given month to the 12th of the next one. In the case of the contest regarding the topic outlined above, those two dates are October 12, 2026, and November 12, 2026.
Secondly, you may enter each contest once or twice, but not more than twice.
Thirdly, any form of writing is acceptable. Poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, reality, or any combination of those. Even drama, if you wish, though nobody so far has ever chosen to do that.
Fourth, there are three ways to enter. You can choose to:
a. self-publish your entry and let me know you wish to have it entered in the contest, or
b. submit it to some other publication, such as one you edit yourself or which you feel fits your writing style better, and let me know after it’s published there that it’s an entry. (It must be published before the deadline.) Or
c. submit it to Questionality directly. If the title or the content make it obvious that it’s meant to be in the contest, you don’t have to say so. But if that is questionable, you need to add a ‘kicker’ or a subtitle to that effect, or simply say so in the body of the text, either near the beginning or near the end.
There are no length limits, either direction. It doesn’t have to be recent. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to directly relate to the topic, although it does need to relate in some way. And, if you’re submitting it to Questionality itself, you need to read the guidelines first. We don’t do dogma or lecture. We don’t do scholastic term papers, theses, or dissertations. We don’t so stuff that violates Medium’s rules. Other than that, anything goes. If you think it fits, it does. [Here’s a LINK to the Guidelines.]
Now I hear you say, “What if I need to ask questions first?”
Just as there were three ways to enter, there are three ways to communicate with me, and any one of the three will do.
1. Reply to this post.
2. Send me an email at legendkeeper21@gmail.com
3. Send me a PM.
Don’t know what a PM is? It stands for ‘Private Message’ or ‘Personal Message.’ It’s private, unlike a response to the post, which can be seen by anybody. And if you don’t have access to email or prefer not to use that method, it works just as well. You do it by highlighting some word or phrase in this post (or any other post I ever wrote), and when the little black ribbon pops up, there will be the letters PM at the right hand end of it, or a tiny icon of a padlock. You click on whichever of those shows up and a box will appear that you can type your message or question in. You write your message and hit Send. Bingo! You just sent me a PM.
I will reply via whatever method you sent the message.
A reminder: If you want to enter this contest, #18, on the subject of ‘haunting,’ I have to know that by November 12, or you didn’t get it in in time. (I will also announce the topic for #19 on that same date.)
One last thing: in order for the contest to officially exist, we must have five entries. Otherwise, the contest is cancelled. (That has never happened yet, and I hope it never does!)
Don’t let that happen! (If you do, I’ll come haunt you!)
