In a spooky coincidence that could have come straight from the pages of a ghostly novel, two school friends have penned contest-winning eerie short stories for a new collection.

The two pals took up the challenge of a national competition to create ghostly tales, plundering the inner recesses of their imaginations to come up with spine-chilling creations to strike fear into their readers.

Both sat down separately and, in the spirit of Dickens, Mary Shelley and Stephen King, let their imaginations take off into goose-pimple-inducing other worlds with hair-curling consequences.

And to their amazement, they beat off hundreds of other writers from right across the country to be two of just ten stories selected for publication in the new book.

The winning stories were selected from entries in the short story competition run by The Guardian newspaper and Piccadilly Press and have been published in a book called The Perfect Ghost Story?

It was keen writer Liz Sutcliffe, 16, from Keighley, who first heard about the competition and told her friend Laura Friis about it.

The two girls put pen to paper and were amazed to find out that they had both been picked among the winners.

Liz Sutcliffe, a pupil at North Halifax Grammar, said she left her story - Masterpiece - to the last minute and posted it two days before the deadline last year.

The tale, about a woman's fight against a terminal illness and her desire to live through her art, has a subtle twist.

Liz said: "I know it sounds strange but it just came to me and I wrote it in a night. I have always loved writing and read absolutely anything I can get my hands on. I enjoyed writing the ghost story and the competition gave me a real taste of what it would be like to be an author. I was so pleased I won - it's really good seeing my story in print."

Her friend Laura Friis, 18, from Five Lane Ends, said seeing her story - Jewel Wasp - in print was a dream come true.

The story is of a boy with a pendant, which has a sinister power to control events.

Laura said: "Liz told me about the competition and all I've ever wanted to do was be a published author.

"I really enjoy writing and I wanted to write a ghost story that was a little bit different so came up with the idea of possession. It is amazing that my work has been noticed and I loved working with the editors and seeing the publishing process."

Laura has just finished her A-levels at St Joseph's College in Manningham and has a place to study English Literature at Liverpool University next year.

The 2004 book of ghost stories goes on sale on September 30.