21 Comments
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Whimsy & Woe's avatar

Really well done Judith. It's funny so many of us started this prompt with similar ideas and then took the stories in wildly different directions. I loved how this story read like a diary. The girls voice felt so authentic. Very well penned my friend.

Judith Ashcraft's avatar

Thank you! Yes, it was very interesting to see the overlaps in the different responses to this prompt and how each writer took it in their own direction, even with the similarities.

GrousyGirl's avatar

Can't tell you how much I loved this one! It's so interesting, because I just posted my entry and then read this. At first, I was like, hmmm, cool, we had some similar ideas and then.... nope... very different! LOL.

Judith Ashcraft's avatar

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

GrousyGirl's avatar

Yes! Sad and horrific, but enjoyable.

Jenifer Jorgenson's avatar

Yeah, this one starts with a whisper and ends with a scream, and it’s unsettling in exactly the right way. It feels like one of those campfire stories that slowly worms into your spine and sits there grinning. By the end, you've got some straight-up blonde-haired Babadook horror, and the final scene hits like an ice bath.

The slow creep of Denise from imaginary friend to something colder and more dangerous is chilling, especially because you never lose the narrator’s childlike logic — even when things turn brutal. It reads like a memory dressed up as a story, which weirdly works. I’ll be thinking about that last line for a while.

Judith Ashcraft's avatar

You should write reviews for a living, if you don't already. I don't think I've ever encountered such pithy, imagery-rich reviews of anything!

I'm glad you enjoyed the story. :)

Jenifer Jorgenson's avatar

I don't write reviews for a living. You think I could make any money doing that? Has to be better than being a product manager... 🤪

Sapna's avatar

I would love to see this in a short film. The narration is so cinematic.

Wendy Cockcroft's avatar

Such a chilling take on "my invisible friend is a ghost." Great job!

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Sep 2, 2025
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Julian Kennedy's avatar

I was thinking the same thing! This was a really cool one

Julian Kennedy's avatar

Yep by Josh Malerman. It has mixed reviews but I really loved it

Judith Ashcraft's avatar

I'll check it out, thanks!

Julian Kennedy's avatar

Reminded me of Incidents Around The House which I loved

Judith Ashcraft's avatar

I'm not familiar with this. Is it a book?

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Aug 30, 2025
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Judith Ashcraft's avatar

Thank you! I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

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Aug 29, 2025
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Judith Ashcraft's avatar

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!