Last Autumn saw Round 7 of Coccus Pocus, the annual scary story competition for Halloween.
The 2025 competition was supported by the Microbiology Society as part of its Knocking Out AMR campaign: the competition organiser Dr Georgios Efthimiou is himself a Microbiology Society Champion.
Entrants are asked to write a short story of between 500 and 2,000 words, featuring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and/or microbial biofilms. The stories were then ranked by plot, use of language, character description – and scientific soundness. The competition attracted entries from around the world, including winners from Nigeria and India.
A free ebook anthology of the 40 winning entries will be published later in 2026. For more details on this year’s competition, and on plans for next year, see HERE.
Coccus Pocus will run again in October 2026. If you would like to know more, or are interested in becoming a Coccus Pocus Ambassador at your school or university, please contact Dr Efthimiou with any questions.
