KIDS’ BLOG! Write Your Own Tale of Terror!

What words best describe Halloween? Spooky? Scary? Terrifying? Like many of us, you probably like to be scared. Well, this Halloween we’re giving you the chance to really strut your creative stuff. You get to write your own tale of terror. But we at AntiquityNOW are giving you a challenge. We’re providing you the beginnings and endings of stories, which means you pick one beginning and one ending to bookend your story. And—drum roll—you must include an element of ancient history in your story. Just look around at today’s books and movies. How many have to do with time travel to an ancient place, an artifact that has magical powers or a mystery that had its origins in Ancient Egypt or Rome or Mesopotamia? The distant past is filled with possibilities for storytelling.

Below are the beginnings and endings for your story. For help with the ancient element part, here are some examples to spark your imagination. Have fun…and boo!

References for ancient source material

• Go to our Educational Topic Matrix and explore the different geographic areas and time periods.
• Mysterious Places has information about some ancient sites that still hold secrets we are trying to solve in modern times.
• To understand why we like ghost stories, and to read a 2,000 year old story by Pliny the Younger (61 – c.113 CE), a well-known lawyer, administrator and author in ancient Rome, click

Terror Tale Beginnings

1. A knock on the door shattered the silence of the night.
2. I was stumbling through the dark, empty streets. How did I get myself into this situation?
3. It was storming hard. Lightning flashed.  I was having trouble controlling the car when suddenly, in front of me, a figure appeared.
4. My mother looked at me. I knew something was very wrong.
5. We thought the rumors of strange aircraft were exaggerated. That is, until one night in May.
6. All my life I’ve felt different from others. One fateful day, I found out why.
7. It was that one moment that made all the difference. One moment that I wish I could take back.

Terror Tale Endings

1. And that’s when I knew—my life will never be the same.
2. Why did I deserve this? I’ll never know.
3. I felt a happiness wash over me.
4. In the end, it came down to me and my cat.
5. That is why you now see me like this.
6. It was a hard life lesson I will never forget.
7. But everything ultimately came down to the fact that I made the choice, and now I had to live with the consequences.