17 Spooky Scholarships... Apply if you Dare!

Kill the Scholarship Myth...

I won't qualify for any scholarships. I have to be a straight A student with perfect test scores to get considered for anything!

Students and parents tell me this all the time. That couldn't be more false! There are tons of scholarships out there that could care less about your GPA or your test scores. You just need to know how to look and embrace who you are. If you love zombies and have a survival plan for the end of days, then look for scholarships like the Zombie Apocalypse. If you are creative why not take a stab at The Gallery Collection create a greeting card scholarship?

Anyway my point is don't sell yourself short. You have your very own unique talents and interests and I want you to own them. According to SavingforCollege.com, there is 7.4 billion dollars awarded annually. You can get a piece of the pie as the average scholarship awardee received 7,500 a year. Join me for an upcoming webinar on how to find those scholarship dollars and other cost saving tips.

There are scholarships for every interest. You just have to know how to look for them. To help you out I thought these were pretty appropriate for the season! So whether you are a Stephen King fan or budding puppeteer or have a major sweet tooth apply if you dare!

For a history buff who appreciates a good spook...

Colonial Ghosts Scholarship Sponsored by: Colonial Ghosts Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient Deadline: December 15 of each year

This history- and marketing-friendly scholarship supports students and promotes the importance of the marketing field as a combination of two key elements of life and education: human psychology and communications. If you’re a hardworking, well-rounded individual—maybe with an interest in ghosts—this scholarship is for you.

If not all puppets look evil to you...

UNIMA Grants and Scholarships Sponsored by: UNIMA-USA (Union Internationale De La Marionnette) Amount awarded: $1,000 to one recipient Deadline: December 15 each year

One of the first things we probably all think of when we think of puppets is a creepy ventriloquist dummy. But there is a wide, beautiful world of artistic puppetry out there with the likes of Sesame Street, the Muppets, and the Dragon from Shrek the Musical. Explore this creative hobby with a scholarship that will send you to another country for a workshop in puppetry.

For those who want to discover haunted relics...

Design Your Future Scholarship Sponsored by: Chairish Amount awarded: $5,000 to two recipients Deadline: January 1 and June 30 (awarded twice a year)

Chairish is a marketplace for buying and selling chic vintage décor, furniture, and art. They award deserving students with a passion for design, engineering, landscaping, architecture, and more. If you love creative design then be sure to check this one out, and maybe buy a haunted old brooch while you’re on the site.

If you hate slasher movies wasting blood...

Leaders Save Lives Scholarship Program Sponsored by: American Red Cross Amount awarded: Up to $2,500 each to six recipients Deadline: January 15, 2020

If you love doing good, host a blood drive through the American Red Cross. Hosting it between the dates of December 15 and January 15 through the scholarship program will award you with a $50–$100 gift card depending on how many pints of blood you collect, plus the chance to win a $1,000–$2,500 scholarship, also depending on the amount of blood collected. Get collecting.

If fungi don’t make your stomach churn...

Undergraduate Research Scholarship Sponsored by: Mycological Society of America Amount awarded: $500 each to multiple recipients Deadline: February 15 each year

If fungal biology is your passion, the MSA wants to help you reach your goals. Undergraduate students conducting fungal or other biological research with a faculty mentor are eligible for this scholarship. Apply and get to analyzing those mushrooms.

If you want to craft the next great murder mystery...

Scholarship: The Helen McCloy/MWA Scholarship Sponsored by: Mystery Writers of America Amount awarded: Up to $500 each to two recipients Deadline: End of February each year

This scholarship welcomes writers of fiction, nonfiction, playwriting, or screenwriting—if you have a love of mystery, you are welcome to apply. The money can go toward a class or workshop to help hone your skills in writing that next great work. What are you waiting for?

For someone who wants to face death head on...

National Scholarship Program Sponsored by: American Board of Funeral Service Education Amount awarded: $1,500–$2,500 each to multiple recipients Deadline: March 1 and September 1 each year (two rounds a year)

Some people fear death above all else in life, and some people have a fascination and appreciation for the circle of life—death being a part of it. If you’re majoring or planning to study Funeral Service and/or Mortuary Science, take advantage of this scholarship. Not many things in life are certain except for death and taxes—your education should be too!

If you think we should start sending cards on Halloween...

Create-a-Greeting-Card Scholarship Sponsored by: The Gallery Collection Amount awarded: $10,000 to one recipient Deadline: March 2, 2020; dates vary each year

This may be one of the cooler scholarships on this list because there isn’t an essay for it, plus you get to be creative. Applicants submit original photography, artwork, or computer graphics for a greeting card, and the finalists are decided by public votes. You’ll stand out with a Halloween-themed greeting card because it’s not as common as Christmas, birthdays, or other Hallmark holidays. Check it out!

If you have a major sweet tooth...

AACT’s John Kitt Memorial Scholarship Sponsored by: American Association of Candy Technologists Amount awarded: $5,000 to one recipient Deadline: March 25, 2020

“There’s a scholarship for being interested in candy?” you ask? There certainly is. This scholarship is awarded to anyone who has a demonstrated interest in confectionary technology and is majoring in a related field, like Food Science, Chemical Science, Biological Science, etc. Give in to that sweet tooth and check it out.

If your costumes interests are very refined...

Willa Kim Costume Design Scholarship Sponsored by: Theatre Communications Group Amount awarded: Up to $7,500 to multiple recipients Deadline: May each year (dates vary)

If your costume interests are more along the path of a lifelong passion and career choice, then check out this scholarship. This year was its inaugural awarding, and it will return to award money to more deserving costume designers and fashion technology students for their future in the industry.

For ladies who loves historic archives and old images...

George Blood Women in Audiovisual Archiving Technology Scholarship Sponsored by: The Association of Moving Images Archivists Amount Awarded: $4,000 to one recipient Deadline: May 1 each year

Sorry gents, this one’s for the ladies. Are you a historian at heart who loves burying yourself in the archives, aka the ghosts of historical documents? Then you have to apply to this scholarship. The program requires a minimum of $3,000 of the award to go to your tuition, but $1,000 of it can be used to travel to the AMIA’s annual conference—a valuable experience for a future archivist.

For all the Star Trek fans out there...

Starfleet Scholarships Sponsored by: Starfleet Amount awarded: $1,000 each to four recipients (four separate scholarships) Deadline: June 15 each year

Star Trek and sci-fi isn’t scary, you say? What isn’t scary about the vast, endless frontier of space? If you’re a member of the Starfleet, consider applying to one or more of these annual scholarships. Get nerdy and academic!

For believers wanting to fund their paranormal research...

Gilbert Roller Fund Sponsored by: The Parapsychology Association Amount awarded: $10,000 total to one or multiple recipients Deadline: June 30 each year

If you’re into your psychology or parapsychology academic journey and want to start doing field research, you can apply for grant money to do just that! Send in the required documents with a proposal of your research hypothesis, budget and resources, and plans for publication when your research is done. Start looking to the future!

For those who believe there’s more to the world around us...

Eileen J. Garret Scholarship Sponsored by: The Parapsychology Foundation Amount awarded: $2,000 to one recipient Deadline: July 1 each year

There may be a whole world between the folds of our own, tapped into only on rare occasions by claimed psychics, telepaths, clairvoyants, and more. If your passion is psychology or you’re interested in pursuing parapsychology academically, check out this scholarship and get in touch with your supernatural side!

If you want to be the next Stephen King...

Horror Writers Association Scholarship Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association Amount awarded: $2,500 to one recipient Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)

Is your passion to make people’s hearts beat faster and instill fear through your ability to turn a phrase? Send some writing samples of no more than 3,000 words with a writing résumé, essay, educational plan, statement of financial need, and references, and you could win some helpful financial support to pursue those passions. Check it out here. (And speaking of Stephen King, check out this October contest from Dish Network—you could win $1,300 for watching movies based on his masterpieces!)

If you want to write the next Frankenstein...

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association Amount awarded: $2,500 to one recipient Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)

This scholarship acts as a complimentary award to the HWA Scholarship. The application process and requirements are the same, but the association wants to promote and support female writers in the genre by allotting a separate award for women only. Ladies, get spooky!

For the next Edgar Allen Poe...

Dark Poetry Scholarship Sponsored by: The Horror Writers Association Amount awarded: $1,250 to one recipient Deadline: August of each year (exact dates vary)

Traditional prose not your style? Well, there’s a horror scholarship for poetry writers too! Let your heart bleed out on the page, and submit your dark/horror poetry samples (of which you can provide up to four) with the other regular requirements. Find more information here.