well what kind of writer is mentally stable? disturbed peoples come out with some of the best stuff :P

You should take this as a high compliment. You nailed that assignment.

Sounds to me like OP's work was submitted without permission. Irrelevant yes, but probably worth noting: you don't know what else they'll do next

25- ...What? One example makes people with head-scarves all the same?

They don't understand the power of imagination.

Don't worry in fact forget what that idiot said. You could be the next Edgar Allan Poe or Edward Gorey or the next Tim Burton. The people around them probably thought that they were disturbed too but they became famous and inspired a lot of people. My guidance counselor in middle school thought I was disturbed when in class we were supposed to wright a Halloween type alphabet and I chose to wright about 26 ways to die. What a guidance counselor says ultimately means nothing so just shrug it off and start writing your next master piece. You're gonna go far in this world if you ignore the "normal" peoples criticism.

Neither did Edgar Allen Poe

Neither did Edgar Allen Poe

Good for you, OP! All it means is your story was very well-written (your teacher definitely seemed to have confidence in it, as well!), as it achieved the appropriate affect--it was about a haunted house after all--it's supposed to be creepy! If it makes you feel any better, when I was in writing class in high school, I wrote some extremely disturbing poems and prose that would have landed me in the same position in the guidance counselor's office--the reason it didn't is because my writing teacher was more disturbed than I ever was! Like the other poster said, "Stephen King didn't get famous by rainbows and kittens". Neither did Koontz, Lovecraft or Poe. Most cutesy-type, positive things just don't capture people's attention in the form of the written word, the way that unnerving subjects do. The reaction to your work always depends on your audience...some people will get it, and some people won't, but either way, it will catch people's attention. Good luck with the contest, your future writing and your guidance counselor, OP! After all, the counselor is just one of the people who doesn't get it, and there are plenty of other people out there who do get it and appreciate it :)

Well isn't it supposed to disturbing... I don't think scary stories are about unicorns and fairies