Our Short Story Competition Winners Feature Sex And Santería, The Devil Himself . . . And Some Cannibals With Artistic Tastes

We’ve selected three fine short stories as the winner and two honorable mentions in the Summer 2021 Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award competition. Accompanied by original illustrations from artist Andy Paciorek, all are now available for your reading pleasure right here.

In addition, these three pieces will also be included in our print anthology, 21st Century Ghost Stories: Volume II, due out from Wyrd Harvest Press (Durham, U.K.) in September. Cheers. 

New Stories For A Summer Chill

Our Summer 2021 Supernatural Fiction Award competition deadline has come and gone, and here at TGS, we’re reading like crazy. And on June 21, we will both announce and publish the winner and two honorable mentions.

Not only will all three stories be published, with illustrations, on our website, but they will also be included in our print anthology, 21st Century Ghost Stories—Volume II, which is due out from Wyrd Harvest Press (Durham, U.K.) early this fall.

It’s always an exciting time when we reveal the winners of one of our contests—but because the anthology only comes out every three years, this is an especially thrilling time for us.

If you submitted a story to the contest, you’ll be hearing from us soon. Everyone else . . . you’ve got some great reading coming in the near future.

Our Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition Winners

. . . And Our Full-Length Story Contest Opens

The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition was an American sweep this time around. “Straw Dogs,” by American writer Mona Susan Power, is the Screw Turn winner for 2021. Our honorable mention winners are Scott Duncan, of California, for his story, “Wake Up Gringo,” and Marie Raven, an American living in Norway, for “Here Be.”

Each year, The Screw Turn contest awards publication and cash prizes for excellence in supernatural fiction of under 1,000 words. For your reading enjoyment, all three stories are posted below, as well as on the Screw Turn Story Page.

Meanwhile, our contest for full-length supernatural short stories of up to 10,000 words, The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award, opens for submissions on February 15, with a deadline of April 30. If you’re a writer of supernatural fiction, have a look at our competition guidelines.

One of my favorite Screw Turn Flash Fiction Pieces . . .

Is Tongues, by the Irish writer Emma Murtagh. I just find it to be one of the most chilling sudden pieces we’ve ever published. Have a read . . . and don’t forget that submissions to the current Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition are due before the clock strikes 12 at the end of January 31.

Bigger Awards In Our Flash Fiction Contest

The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition, for very short stories (under 1,001 words) incorporating a supernatural theme or element, comes around only once a year. But the time is now—and for our 2021 Screw Turn, we will be accepting submissions until January 31.

One extra-good piece of news for people who like to write uncanny fiction on a miniature scale: Our cash awards are bigger this year, with $1,000 for the winner, and $200 for each of two honorable mentions.

If you’re thinking about entering, have a look at our complete contest guidelines.

Good luck!

The Winners Of Our Fall Fiction Contest

The three top stories in The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award competition, Fall 2020 edition, have been published right here on The Ghost Story website for your reading pleasure. Have a look—and then why not visit our Facebook Page to let us know what you think.

Read the contest guidelines.

A Summer Reading Selection

You Can Check Out Any Time You Like—But You Can Never Leave

Just a little over two weeks until we begin accepting submissions for the Fall 2020 Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award competition. Meanwhile, on a dark desert highway, “The Mission Bell”—Lara Tupper’s summer 2019 honorable mention story—offers a literary riff on the Eagles tune, “Hotel California.” Any time of year . . . you can read it here.

The Full-Length Fiction Contest Runs Spring & Fall

A month from today—August 1—we begin accepting submissions for The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award. Halloween publication, $1k first prize. Magic realism and supernatural short stories. Can’t wait to start reading again!