A fright at the Museum is being promised by the Brightlingsea-based BrightWords Creative Writing Group with the launch of its Spooky Tales short story competition at Brightlingsea Museum.

The free event is being held on Wednesday November 13 from 7-9pm at the Museum, in Station Road. During the evening Pete Reilly – pictured above – a leading member of Brightlingsea’s Seaview Players, will be reading some spine-chilling stories, with other group members reading some of their own work.

“We are delighted to be kick starting our festival by holding a launch event on November 13 at Brightlingsea Museum for our first ever writing competition and we look forward to people being inspired to write lots of Spooky Stories,” said group member and local performance poet M-J.

The event marks an early launch for the third Brightlingsea Literary Festival during February and the first two weeks of March 2025, which will once again link with events being organised for Brightlingsea WinterFest.

Full information about the competition and its judges will be provided at the launch. The competition is open to over 18s living in Essex and there will be cash prizes for the winners, who’ll be announced at a Lit Fest event, “Tales at The Tavern,” to be held in February.

The launch night will be free and include refreshments and nibbles. Guests are very welcome to dress up in costumes to tie in with the spooky theme.”
More details about the event and the competition will be posted on the BrightWords Facebook page.