by Editor
on September 10, 2024
The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award
As we’ve done every spring and fall since 2015, The Ghost Story is running a competition for full-length short stories on a supernatural or magic realism theme—and we are now accepting submissions. The deadline is September 30 at 11:59 PM ET—less than three weeks from this posting.
The winner receives $1,500 plus publication, and we also publish two honorable mention pieces, the authors of which each get a $300 cash award.
If you’re thinking of entering, please read the complete guidelines. The guidelines page also includes a link to our electronic submissions system.
And, if you’d like to read some of our past winners and honorable mentions, they’re all available for your reading pleasure here.
Cheers — The Editor
by Editor
on July 30, 2024
The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition
Summer 2024
Directly below, you’ll find three chilling tales for a hot summer: the winner and two honorable mentions in our biannual short-short (under 1,000 words) story contest. Enjoy! Our next contest, The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award, for full-length short stories, is coming right up, opening to submissions on August 1, with a deadline of September 30, and all winning stories published on Halloween. If you’re a writer and that’s of interest to you, have a look at our contest guidelines.
by Editor
on July 30, 2024
WINNER, Summer 2024
The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition
BY CHRIS TURNER-NEAL
Honey, don’t pull those straps. You’re not gonna get out, I promise you. Gonna tell you what’s going on, if you let me. But if it comes up again—never take a drink you didn’t see someone make. Anything could be in there.
Now, let’s catch you up. I’ve always been able to do a little . . . trick. I call it “pulling,” I don’t know if it has a real name. I don’t know if anyone else can do it. I can pull hurts out of people. They still remember what happened, but the sting is gone. It’s the difference between a wound and a scar. Here, think of something bad that happened. I know you don’t want to, but do it. I’m gonna touch your hand now.
Oh, that was nasty. I’m sorry that happened to you. But think about it again. Doesn’t hurt, right? Like it happened in a book. Just a fact, not a fear. That’s locked away somewhere in me, balled up tight like a seed. [continue reading…]
by Editor
on July 29, 2024
HONORABLE MENTION, Summer 2024
The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition
BY H. WHEATON
The Red Sox will not win another series for three decades. In three minutes a man who lives down the hall from us will have been hit by a car on his way to work and will die in the hospital. You won’t hear until tomorrow. We won’t be at his funeral because we didn’t really know him. His daughter won’t attend for the same reason. The next United States presidential election will end in an unprecedented draw, and the House will pick a winner, and people will be mad about it and then they will move on. The world will not end within our lifetime, which secretly upsets people. People wouldn’t like the future if they saw it now. Not because it’s horrible, or because it contains a utopia they’ll never get to see, but because it just keeps moving forward, and nothing that has come before it will ever matter. Ringo will be the last Beatle to die. The bronze statue of Henry Winkler will be melted down within the century. Several European Nations will break apart. Texas will briefly secede. We’ll eat something instant and horrible tonight and in the morning my mouth will taste like styrofoam. New Hampshire will go without a governor for the longest period in a state’s history. I will not be present for the death of my mother. The repairman will take three weeks to fix a very simple heating problem in our building. The FBI will kill several Hondurans for very poorly explained reasons. It will turn out that Axe body spray is a key component for a very easy-to-construct improvised explosive. PBS will be defunded. It will rain tomorrow. I won’t be able to [continue reading…]
