Ohoho!
Do you realise thereās a typo in the url for the Spanish comp? It looks like the Ʊ got wiped out, so āespaƱolā became āespaolā. Probably too late to do anything about it now that itās public.
Yeah, it is a limitation of web URLs, special characters donāt fit in, so it misses de Ć.
I will see what I can do.
Anyway. YEAH! ECTOCOMP IS HERE!!!
The website is in alpha mode, so please, report anything you see. Do you want new ideas brought to the comp? Just say so! We are on time!
Also, as in the past year, we do not have a āthematicā intro or banner or image. Iām considering using an animated GIF like past year one, but I suppose I misjudged the number of nice gifs in horror films, so, weāll see. What I try to say is: ECTOCOMP is powered by the community, so feel free to provide a banner o thematic intro text if you feel so.
This year I dropped the selection of a sub-theme. On analysis of past entries, there already was not a disproportionate amount of āHalloweenā games, so I think we are already varied in the sense that most people just send their spooky games without mostly fitting any festivity. So it is ok, and now we have a prompt list, just for the people who need it. (again, feel free to provide prompts to grow the list).
Happy ectocompā¦ and, keep reporting bugs!
Hereās a recommendation for a header loop.
I have cut out a 10-second āFrankensteinā loop (download here) but you will need to convert it to a GIF.
itās nice, but it is not in the public domain, or CC. We canāt use it.
For some inspiration and entertainment, hereās a list of AI-generated Halloween prompts I stumbled upon:
- Howling canine ghosts scale the cathedral town pillars
- leaves shaped like pumpkin smiles litter the sidewalks
- spiderwebs grow luscious on wet pumpkin grins
- āthank youā trees lean out of residences
- black insects settle leaves
- mouth mouth mouth mouth mouth mouth
- snaking cobwebs mass on stalks
- red eyeballs hit backlit branches
- the wet forest steps on soft squirrel skins
- murmurous forest insects smell caramel apples
- haunting trees grow cuter on lighter dirt
- planet-sized moon speaks āhelloā
Thanks for the original drawings, which are utterly delightful. - the night sky kisses blood oranges lined with white
- headless animals shiver in their sleep
- moustaches creep creepily
- slouching gargoyles lay spooky stones
- something is sitting in the center of the spectre tapestries
- the unseen graveyard stretches for miles
- deep-skulled jack-oā-lanterns smell the warmth of my nose
- this town is filled with orange dust
- mist-sheep chew on tombstones
- a scarecrow cuts a pumpkin with a sharp scythe from a wooden block
- the graveworm snatches out the eyes of strangers who come by
- mist lamps glow with circling green and orange and green and orange and green and orange and green and orange and green and orange and green and orange and green and orangeā¦
- monsters crawl through alien fur
- spooky house skulls peeking out of the dreamlike brambles
- gangly moonlit grave rabbits lurk outside the windows
- murder rats roam the streets below the buried Earth
- a shrub plays the banjo from the shadows
- pumpkins melt quietly, quietly
- the white skull leans out of the tower of the Palace of the End
Thanks for running Ectocomp as always! I canāt wait 
If you want a banner ā Iām obviously not a professional images-person and made this for my own amusement, so I wonāt be offended if you donāt want to use it, but itās here as an option anyway! In honour of my fav Halloween movie, Rocky Horror:
That is just PERFECT!
Thank you so much!
How I must credit you? Maybe you have a profile inside itchio?
Thanks!
Yay, Iām glad you like it! My nameās Elizabeth Smyth and my itchio profile is untiltheygo, same as here 
Ok
Here we go. 2 days!!!
Hope the horror done to the song is not too much shameful. But we can always remove it completely.
What do you think?
WaHoo! Love the banner!
Haha omg, I love it! Beautifully done 
Question - is EctoComp explicitly supernatural, or are non-supernatural psychological horror pieces okay?
According to the itch.io page:
*Games should be, yāknow, spooky somehow. (Serious, psychological, campy, satire, etc. all included). Also, we have proposed five main themes, go and take a look at them.
Sorry, does that mean yes, or no? I read the page already, and if I were sure I wouldnāt ask.
This is maybe me being overly literal but āspookyā can be both used in the supernatural sense and in the non-supernatural sense (āthe sheep were fine, they just got spooked by the dogs barkingā).
If youāre questioning whether or not your game fits in a Halloween-themed competition then it probably doesnāt.
Honestly, I would say the opposite. āSpookyā is a pretty big tent. Thereās no requirement for supernatural content, as far as I can see. (@Ruber_Eaglenest of course can correct me if Iām wrong about this.)
You are welcome to do non-supernatural stuff, and no Halloween stuff.
Thanks!