The News launches its annual Christmas ghost story competition - backed by Hayling Island Bookshop

Just like Portsmouth’s literary legend Charles Dickens, who wrote the all-time classic A Christmas Carol, we want you to come up with stories that have a Christmas flavour. They can be set wherever and whenever you like. The characters, content and how the storyline develops are entirely up to you.

There are two age categories – one for authors aged 15 and under and one for those aged 16 and over. We’ll be publishing the entries of the winners and runners-up in each category in The News in the run-up to Christmas.

There are also prizes to be won – as well as the thrill of seeing their stories in print and recorded for The News website at portsmouth.co.uk. The Hayling Island Bookshop is kindly providing prizes for the winners of the competition, £50 to spend in-store. They are one of the smallest bookshops in the UK but manage to run or support events with authors for around 20,000 people each year.

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Events manager Colin Telford said: ‘We’re thrilled to back The News once again in running this competition to encourage writers young and old to submit a story. Portsmouth is the birthplace of one of the most famous ghost story writers of all time. Could you be the one behind the next A Christmas Carol?’

Mark Waldron, the editor of The News, said: ‘It’s always exciting for us to see the writing talent out there when we run this competition – and how creative you are in coming up with spooky tales that send a shiver down the spine. We always look forward to reading your festive stories and seeing how creative you can be. Please don’t think you need to be an experienced writer to be in with a chance – some of the best entries we’ve had in previous years are from people who had never had anything published before.’

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ENTERING our Christmas ghost story contest couldn’t be easier. All you need to do is write a ghost story with a Christmas theme. It must be no more than 1,000 words long and it must be all your own work – but apart from that the content is up to you.

Please e-mail your story to [email protected] or post it to: Christmas Ghost Story Competition, Features Department, The News, 1000 Lakeside, North Harbour, Portsmouth PO6 3EN.

Please make sure you include your full name, address, age and a daytime phone number. The competition closes at midnight on Sunday, December 11. The editor’s decision is final.