If you're not ready to leave fall (and Halloween) behind just yet, read on for some spooky stories, the winners of this year's 'Tales at the Museum'.

The Door County Museum and Archives challenged community writers to create an original short story, poem, even a song that was inspired by a real historical artifact from the museum’s collection housed in Sturgeon Bay. Writers were encouraged to give a ‘spooky or mysterious’ theme to their piece. All entries had to be original, unpublished fiction, with a maximum of 750 words. 

Here's the list of top 3 finishers in each of the 3 categories, Adult (19+), Teen (11-18), Youth (10 years and younger). The full transcripts of the First Place stories follow...BEWARE!

Winners of the 2026 'Tales at the Museum' story contest:

Youth (10 years old and younger)

First Place: Just Keep On Walking, by Skye Christensen

Second: The HORRIFING Black Death, by Thomas Gregory

Third: The Gown, by Genevieve Fuller

Teen (11-18 years old)

First Place: Below the Floorboards, by Maria Tonner

Second: The Seer Stone, by Violet Jackson

Third: Scary Stories for Green Stories, by Riley

Adult (18 and above)

First Place: It’s Smart to be Thrifty, by Luke Linna

Second: The Thirteenth Link, by Zachary Boyea

Third: The Lovely Aunt Grace, by Lori Linna

 

Read on, and beware...

 

FIRST PLACE - ADULT (19+):

It’s Smart to be Thrifty By Luke Linna (Adult category) 

Inspired by ITEM #: 2017.2.4 - Coin Bank 

“You’d better be smart.” 

The clerk bagged the rectangular coin bank alongside my groceries. I stood there catching up to what she said. 

“Excuse me?” 

She took the bank back out and showed the back of it to me, tapping it where the words 'It’s smart to be thrifty' was embossed. 

“Every quarter past four will count against your soul, you know. That’s a dollar per day, do you understand?” 

“N-no, not really..” 

She flashed an uncanny grin and bagged the bank again. 

“Well, eventually you will. Have a wonderful day, and thank you for shopping at Olliver’s!” 

I sat in my car, turning the empty bank over in my hands. I didn’t even remember picking it from a shelf to buy it.. I must have hit the perfect angle, because a quarter popped out of the hole in the bottom. I held it upside down and shook it - no jingle. I tipped it and a second quarter fell out. I thought I understood from that point onwards - one simple purchase per day, little things like candy, knicknacks, et cetera. A sensible effort of frugality kept me at bay. Time went on and I eventually entirely forgot about the little coin bank, living only on my own money.

But time is deceiving. A job, a house, a wife, a family, all of it arrives in the blink of an eye. Surprise expenses came and went, and more often than I’d like to admit, I stared at the safe where I kept my supernatural secret, wishing I could live on magic alone. But I never took more than four quarters a day. 

Misfortunes mounted. The company I worked for made some unwise investments and my pay was cut. As I sat in the dining room dejected, I smelled smoke; the alarm went off. Something I left plugged in in the garage set fire, and I quickly pulled my family out of the burning wreckage of our home. As we tearfully pored over the remains I saw something: the safe, forebodingly spotless amidst the ruins of everything I tried to protect. 

Yet I still had my family, and I would do anything for them. My stomach twisted into a knot as I felt that it was time. I knelt, entered the code for the safe, opened its door, pulled out the bank, and with trepidation shook out the first of thousands of quarters. My family stared in shock as the coins piled up, and I could only utter the words “Help me” in response to their wide-eyed looks of concern. So they did the best they could, and started to gather the coins. 

Hours later, we arrived at the bank with several dozen bags of quarters. As I approached the counter, the teller’s bored face took on a look of shock that I was used to seeing, and then...he grinned. I watched him straighten up and face me as I approached, and something about his grin was painfully familiar. It was like he was being forced to smile. 

“Someone’s being thrifty! What’s all this, then?” he said, with feigned surprise.

I ignored what he said and blurted out, “I’d like to deposit.. all of this.”

My wife, son and daughter were weighed down with coin bags behind me, looking equally drained. His grin slowly faded and he seemed to look at us properly for the first time. 

“I - I see. Sorry about that, let’s get started.” 

He asked us a couple questions during the process, and one caught me off-guard. 

“And where do you work, sir?” 

“Olliver’s.” 

I said it without thinking, as though I had always been working there. And it was true, wasn’t it? I’ve been working there twenty years. I wasn’t sure why I was so against this irrevocable, undeniable truth. I worked at Olliver’s. There wasn’t another company I was working for. I didn’t understand the look my wife gave me when I said this to the teller, and the look she continues to give me when I tell her I’m off to work. 

I got a new home, a new car, and a new lease on life after that. And every day I clock in at work at my favorite general goods store, where an old clerk with a very, very, very wide grin tells me I’m a smart, thrifty man.

 

FIRST PLACE - TEEN (11-18)
Below the Floorboards, by Maria Tonner (age 14)

Inspired by Artifact: Wicker Baby Carriage

I wake up to pounding. Thwack! It’s just the washing machine strange Uncle Ed won’t
move off the wall. His house is dusty, hot, and sour. Unfortunately, I’m stuck spending the summer on the farm with him. Mum and Dad say he needs the company after Aunt Jane died, and apparently, I am that company.
I check the red glow of the clock. 2:30 AM. My thoughts spiral in the silence of my
windowless room. Every room in the house is windowless…except the basement. Uncle Ed won't let me go down to explore it. What’s down there? Thwack! I decide to go down and investigate the basement.
I open my door quietly. The hallway is pitch black, the sour stench hitting me. I can’t see
anything, but I don’t dare turn on a light and wake Uncle Ed. Every floor board groans as I move across them. My breath catches as I pass by Uncle Ed’s room. His door is left ajar, which he never allows. I look inside, but nothing is visible.

The golden knob of the basement door is surrounded with a ring of light. I skulk towards it. It's cold and electric on my hand as I turn it. The knob squeaks as I slowly open the door. I leave the door open, and take the first step down.
I descend onto the concrete floor. It’s hotter down here. I gulp and feel along the wall for a light switch. Nothing. I stare straight ahead. There’s no other choice. I creep across the basement, ending in the center of it. There’s nothing down here. I can see the dimness of the upstairs. Suddenly, a shadow appears in the doorway. I hear the door close and lock. The figure is no longer visible. I hear footsteps slowly coming down the stairs. A raspy, demonic voice speaks.
“Follow her.”
Then, silence. It’s deafening. Through my labored breathing, I manage a “H-hello?” No
reply. All I hear is the shuffling of feet getting closer…I dash around the corner, then stop to hide and listen. It’s quiet…Wait. Squeak. Squeak. Squueeaakk. It sounds like- wheels.

Then suddenly, a red glow appears. I turn my head in horror to see a wicker baby carriage, slowly zig-zagging across the floor. It’s radiating the eerie red light, stopping in front of me.

A voice in my head tells me, Open it, Ava. My heart pounds. I lift the hood off the top of the carriage. A scream stops in my throat. It's a doll. Lying there, its head twisted backward. Only a few hairs cling to its scalp.
Then its head slowly turns toward me. I shriek. Blood is streaked on its face, the doll’s smile toothless. It rises up to a standing position. I back away and bolt.

I feel a door knob brush my hand. I turn around to see the carriage following me. I turn the knob and burst into the room, shutting and locking the door. There’s a dim light flickering and buzzing on the ceiling. I gasp. It illuminates coffins. Coffins everywhere. I inspect the stacks of them.

One stands apart, with a pink heart on its crooked lid. Again, a voice in my head calls to me. Open it. I hold my breath, and lift the lid. I scream. It can’t be. Aunt Jane. She’s laying there, pale, her eyes staring blankly ahead. I turn around and burst through the door, gasping. I come face to face with Uncle Ed. His black eyes stare straight into my soul.
“Ava," he says, sweetly.
I drop to my knees, and notice the baby carriage behind him. The doll is upright. I raise
my eyes to see Uncle Ed grab the doll and smash it over my head.

3 Years Later…
I woke up to pounding on the wall. Thwack! It was the washing machine. Strange Uncle
Ed won’t move it for anything. He lost my sister Ava, who he claimed died of a heart attack in the basement. I wouldn’t be here if Mum hadn’t insisted. Another bang from the washer sounds.
Time to go down to the basement and see what he’s hiding.
I’ve been down here a while. There’s nothing here. I left the door open, and I could see
upstairs. Suddenly, a shadow appears in the doorway. I hear the door close and lock. The figure is no longer visible. I hear footsteps slowly coming down the stairs. A raspy, demonic voice speaks.
“Follow her.”
Then, silence.

 

FIRST PLACE - YOUTH (10 years and younger)

Just Keep on Walking, by Skye Christensen (age 10) 

Inspired by Artifact: Dolls by Carol Gresko 

 

Oakley, 14, only child 

The Diary of Oakley, OCTOBER 31,1923 

Dear diary, 

It's me, Oakley again. I haven't really had anything happen much. Except it’s Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. It's a rainy day and mom and dad are at work so, might as well go on a walk. I will take me with you so I can “write down my thoughts about earth” like my teacher tells me when I'm bored about something. I'm on my way out the door right now. It's very stormy. Sometimes when it's stormy I like to go to the creek. I don't know why I like it. I think it's because I get to be away from the world and just watch how beautiful the world is. Anyways, I'm right by the creek now. As I was walking, I noticed there were three dolls in the creek. I decided to get them out of the water so now my hands are holding mucky dolls. They're kinda creepy actually. I noticed they were wearing old-timey clothes. It's giving me chills honestly. Something about this doesn't feel right, but I'm taking them home. 

I noticed this guy watching me. He was wearing this creepy clown suit smiling. The clown suit had yellow and a dirty red striped outfit. Clowns give me the hibbie-gibbies, so I just told myself “It's Halloween he's probably just trying on his outfit.” That made no sense to me but, it’s whatever makes me feel good. To distract me from whatever is happening right now, I'm thinking of where I should go trick or treating. You're probably wondering why I'm taking home these creepy abandoned dolls, diary. Well, I think it would be a good idea to add them to my decorations to scare off children. 

I just arrived home and I can't shake this feeling I’m being watched. I'm probably just over reacting. I feel uneasy…Did I just see...the clown outside my house?...SHUT UP OAKLEY… 

Diary, I'm thinking of going to the store to get my Halloween costume. Last year I dressed up as Ghost face from Scream. This year I'm thinking of going with my dog, Peanut, the weener dog. He could be the dog Chucky and I could be the normal Chucky. I love dressing up my dog. Peanut is my best friend. Speaking of Peanut, she keeps on barking at the dolls. It's weird, it's like she feels a presence or something. Just another “great” thing added to my day...

I took Peanut with me so he could tell me what he thinks. It's kind of empty honestly, like I swear it's only me, Peanut, and ONE cashier. Me and Peanut just found the CUTEST Halloween costume! Diary, I'm not joking when I say this Peanut is literally pouncing once we found this costume! It's a dog firefighter costume and the owner's costume is a fire! We bought it!

We're at the checkout and you know that clown I was talking about? He's right behind me in line. The worst part is, he doesn't even have anything to buy! Well except for this knife.. NOT ANY BETTER!!! I just grabbed the costume, Peanut, and darted off quickly. When we were running out of the store, the store's lights shut down out of the corner of my eye. Diary, I'm running right now.vA raindrop splashed on this page…it looks like...BLOOD...I can see the clown...diary I'm going to take a breather in my room I'll update you when it's time to trick or treat.

Diary, I'm back. It's time to trick or treat. Me and Peanut are in our costumes. You might be thinking, “why in the world are you going trick-or-treating after all that's happened???” 

Weeeelllll, 

1. NO WASTING MONEY!!! 

2. Me and Peanut look soooo cute! I CANNOT wait another year for that!!! 

3. It's my favorite holiday! I waited ALL year... 

Diary, we are on our way! Peanut looks adorable! Me and him are gonna go now, I'll keep you updated!

Diary, th- the dolls.. Are in the basket. I left them at home i-i swear...Diary, please help...Me and Peanut are the only ones here...Me and Peanut are running home...The clown is chasing us...

DIARY THE CLOWN - HE'S HERE HE'S INSIDE ME HOUSE...I'm hiding...Oh no... 

DIARY! 

SLASH 

Don't worry the dog made it...

THE END 

 

Diary I'm still out there...

– Oakley

 

Photo: Youth category winner Skye Christensen poses with her First Place award for her spooky story submitted for the 2026 Tales at the Museum for the Door County Museum and Archives. (Submitted)