Phantasmorgia~ Contest of Terrifying Tales RESULTS

Thank you for not torturing us, Vivian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations Pat and Rand and Minnette!!!

Excellent! And the WID won. I knew it. HAHAHAHA, Pat!

Yay, I voted for all of those...maybe not in exactly that order.

How long can Pat deny her greatness?? Lol.

Tried to get it up as quickly as possible for a snoozy west coaster ;)

Each vote really made a difference with a half dozen different leaders through the tallying process. GREAT Tales by All!

Wait, I think I did vote for them in that order. Now I don't remember.

Congratulations! All three were on my fave list.

Our non-writer won! Pat, you are no longer allowed to say you don't write.

Congrats Rand and Minnette!

Thank you for the speedy results oh great CA

Well I'll be d***ed! Wow! OK, right now you could knock me over with a feather! Thank you one and all. And congrats to Minette and Rand! And to every single other entrant, you put up one heck of a challenge. Hellish tough competition, which makes me the most proud of all, to be in such excellent company. Jeez. thank you.

Congrats to Pat, Rand, and Minnette!!!! Hah!!!! I must know something -- you were all in my top four. (Please sort your cash into packets of non-sequential, unmarked bills before sending.) The only one in my top three not to make it was a certain well-punctuated, well-written tale that was perhaps too politically incorrect for the generally left-leaning Wombats. I personally overlooked that aspect of the story in my evaluation.

I would like to propose a special award for the BEST COMMENTS on the terrible tales. I think that one would go by acclimation to our own original ACA, Mr. Ken Coffman, whose hilarious commentary oftened brightened my days after reading the chilling, depressing, and/or terrifying stories. As a prize, I recomend a Writin' Wombats shirt. The best part of this idea is that HE ALREADY HAS ONE, so we just need to give him a round of applause to seal the deal. Who's with me?

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, ....

But when he saw them he knew that he had always known and realised what part each one of them had played at many an hour, when he had supossed himself alone, so now he can say one by one...Congratulations...HA!!!

Oh I'm with Dave! Clap, clap, clap!! I actually implemented one of Ken's comments, adding a crude heart shaped tattoo to a floating hand, then took it back out. Hard to say if it would have helped or hindered. But yes, Ken's comments were a never-ending source of amusement!

And I too had Dave's same choice in my top three, simply because I will vote for anything that is so well punctuated amd cleanly written, and makes me fall out of my chair laughing. Honestly, I finished that tale and shouted with such laughter that the dog barked at me and wouldn't stop.

So many, many wonderful stories here, and every one deserves a round of applause. Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap.....

Congratulations Pat, Rand and Minnette. And I'd award the best comments prize to Ken too. Great set of stories.

I don't know about Vivian's experience, but I noticed in the previous contest that the winner was not the one that got the most 10's. It was the one that was highly rated by almost everyone. Pat, Rand and Minnette, your work is highly valued by your peers. This is meaningful. I tip my fedora.

Now the way is clear for me to run a contest. Believe you me, there will be maximal torture.

Stay tuned.

CONGRATULATIONS TO PAT, RAND & MINNETTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You slay me.

See, you had to compliment him and now we're in for it.

Congratulations Pat and Rand and Minnette! Well done all!

Congratulations!!

Congratulations, Pat, Rand and Minnette.

Any chance we can get the top ten rankings?

Congrats! This was fun! Many thanks to Vivian for orchestrating!

Clapping loudly for Ken and his comments. Shivering in anticipation of his next contest. And wondering how long he'll keep us in suspense.

All contestants deserve an ovation--well played, all. This was fun.

Politically incorrect? In an article posted to Gather? And from a Wombat? May it never happen.

At least--not until the next time ;-)

Woo hoo! The WID won!!! Now she's going to have to be WAW - Writer And Writing!

Go Pat! Go Pat! Go Pat!

And to Rand and Minnette, also! 3 of my Top 4!

(yet another contest I didn't win...) LOL

Ken is correct - the beauty of the Borda Count

1st and 2nd place had the same number of 10s awarded, generally 10s were clustered to the top 5 entries- we had a small pool of entries and voters statistically speaking.

Judi- I dub you the Susan Lucci of contests. How many more before you actually get that win? A crowd favorite for sure.

Congratulations, Pat, Rand and Minnette. Enjoyed the contest! Maybe next time I'll even follow directions better....

Congratulations to Pat, Rand, and Minnette!
A big Congrats to all the participated.
I know for me it was very much out of my box.

Congrats to the top vote getters. All three stories were very good. Vivian, kudos for an excellent contest, an amazing feat given that you managed to get married while it was going on. Also, thanks for a solid contest premise, which had many of us writing way out of your normal writing zones.

congratulations Pat (you're not a writer? Hmmm that doesn't appear to be true, lol) Yeah for Rand (loved it!) and Minnette!

Belated congratulations to the winners. I'm afraid I sat this one out for the most part, and didn't even get around to voting. Life just keeps getting in the way of my Gather time. Oh well. Good people won with good entries, and Vivian ran a great contest.

I'm with Dale. I had to sit this one out, but still -- congratulations to all the winners! I don't even have to READ them to know they're terrific. So there!

Susan Lucci of contests - oh man! Though she does have a star in Hollywood. I could go for that! Will they do a tiara in the cement next to it, do you think?

:)

Very deserving winners!

Love all the winners, love Ken's comments. Congrats to all! And thanks to all who entered for the entertaining stories. I enjoyed every one.

I just got back from being gone for a couple of weeks and this greeted me. OMG! OMG! OMG! I can't believe this! 3rd in a Wombat contest? That means more to me than anything else, my friends. Your opinions and comments have helped me beyond what you all know...and to take 3rd is absolutely FABULOUS - I can't think of a greater honor! Congrats Pat and Rand (I knew it!) for wonderful stories. The quality of the stories for this were incredible and I enjoyed everyone. I'm still floored!

Now for the better news...Hilda's Toys is coming out in the Deadletter Quarterly Ezine premier edition! This is a brand new ezine and I'm really excited, so little Hilda's legacy and the sockpuppet will live on.

Ken, you definitely deserve the an award for comments, as always!
Pat, See...you can't fool any of us.
Judi, you were robbed.

Everyone else - Thanks!!!!!

Congratulations, Minnette, on the publication!!! Way to go. I'd wondered if you'd been out. Rand too, maybe.

Can't wait to see what Ken's dreaming up for the next contest.

Yeah Minnette! Fabulous news on the pub of Hilda's Toys.

Yay! Congrats to everyone who entered, and for a well-run contest.

Unfortunately I had read all but 4 of the entries before I had to enter the hospital on the 29th. I just got home today, so I'm sorry to say I was unable to vote.

Thanks for the honors, and I can't wait to see the next contest.

Rand

Rand: What put you in the hospital? Something serious? Are you all right now?

Rand!!! I read about your hospitalization on the Wombats thread. Hope you are well on the mend.

Minnette, many congratulations on your upcoming publication! Please do let us know when it's out and where we can get it.

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