After a period of reflection and repair in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, the judges have reached their decision on our 2012 Scary Dairy Contest.

First prize goes to Erin Thorne's gooey tale of cheese voodoo

Dave Goudsward:

Erin Thorne's story "I'm Melting" starts strong, establishes characterization right off the bad and ends with the perfect blend of horror and dairy. The cheese is integral to the plot without being obvious.

Amanda Affrunti:

Erin Thorne, with her tale of scorned love and Voodoo dolls of cheddar, wins first place. Her original idea and clever execution (of the words and of the antagonist) made the perfect Scary Dairy tale.

Kristi Petersen Schoonover:

What is Scary Dairy? It's the rasp of a grater wielded by a mad monger, a ghostly image imprinted on the face of the pizza, the cold panic of losing your bread in the burbling depths of the fondue.

Scary Dairy is our annual Halloween short story contest.

The rules are simple: spin a spooky cheese-centric tale of terror in the comment thread below, ~500 words or less. The best story will win a bag of cheesy Halloween tricks and treats. We will pick a winner November 1st.

If you're looking to sell some product, you might as well give up right now because Little Baby's Ice Cream has everyone beat with this commercial.

...And by that I mean they've created a disturbing ad that makes Little Baby's Ice Cream look even creepier than it sounds. Check it out.

The folks at Pastoral have a little DIY project in case anyone has a spare boule of Mimolette lying around. The Mim-o-lantern is the unofficial mascot of Scary Dairy!

This creature was invented by former Pastoral manager Greg Ellis and its creation was caught on video! This is no hoax, folks. Check out the video! Happy Halloween!

For a somewhat more, ah, intense cheesehead masterpiece, we also present this bleeding cheeseskull via Not Martha for your delectation. Warning: it's gross.

Good Evening! It's time again for culture's annual Scary Dairy contest.

The rules are simple: spin a spooky cheese-centric tale of terror in the comment thread below. 500 words or less, please. The best tale will win a bag of cheesy Halloween tricks & treats. We will pick a winner Nov. 4.

Need inspiration? Check out last year's blood curdling tales of ghostly milk murders, evil sheep, dairy zombies, and of course, the horrifying Stuff-like cheese of last year's winning entry: here, here, here, and here, and then post your own below!

There's nothing more I look forward to every year than the sweet cornea and creamy sclera on the eyeballs served on Halloween. Throw that eyeball on a cracker and you should be good to go. Maybe even pass them out to the zombies that come to your doorstep on the night of Halloween. As the new intern here at Culture Magazine, I thought it may be best to share one of my favorite holiday treats.

Click here for the recipes on some succulent eyeballs! (Via squiddo.com)

We have a winner for the annual Scary Dairy contest!

First prize goes to Anonymous for her horrifying "cheese pockets" fantasia.

Anonymous wins the full sack of treats, generously donated by BelGioioso: A wedge of their Parmesan, which took 1st place at the 2010 World Cheese Contest, a piece of blue veined Gorgonzola, and a pack of Fresh Mozzarella Pearls—

"Each ball is 2.5g and is perfect for a healthy snack, topping pizza, salads and pasta. This convenient package has no water mess and additional shelf life."

My own contribution to the growing, ah, corpus of Halloween tales. Submit your own story and win a bag of cheesy treats! Possible biological inaccuracy to follow:

At one time, I thought of them like you probably do. Dumb creatures. Afraid of the sunrise. Flockers, robbed by selective breeding of their essential stubborn goatness. Turned into pale blobs of wool and meat.

This story comes from my friend, Kristi Petersen Schoonover:

Hives. Nausea. Anaphylaxis. She’d been at a cheese sampling with her lover Emil when it happened. Thank God her husband Jack hadn’t found out; Emil had dropped her at the hospital and hurried away.