Writers From The United Kingdom Won All Three Prizes In The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition

Writers in Britain obviously have a knack for the supernatural. In The Ghost Story‘s new Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition, which concluded January 31, all three cash awards for flash fiction (short-short stories of under 1,000 words) on a supernatural or magic realism theme went to authors living in England and Scotland.

Scroll down through TGS‘s Home Page to read these three fine stories.

Winning honors in the competition—and its $300 first prize—went to CL Dalkin, a librarian living on the south coast of England, for her story, “A Brief Respite.”

First Honorable Mention and a $100 cash award went to Barry Charman, of North London, for his story, “Palette.”

And Second Honorable Mention, with a $50 prize, was taken by Stuart Riding of Edinburgh, Scotland, for “Kitsune.”

Our next fiction contest is The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award, for which we begin accepting submissions on February 15. Prizes are $1,000, $250, and $100 for full-length short stories of between 1.500 and 10,000 words.

It’s Finally Halloween—And Time To Publish The Top Stories In The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award Contest. Happy Reading!

Stories poured in from the U.S., Canada, and the United Kingdom. The winning pieces—one that’s at once bittersweet and spooky, three others that are entirely unnerving—are set in wartime Japan, in rural Scotland, in suburban America, and in the dark hill country of the American South.

And the winning writers are as varied as their work: A well-known author who has won many prestigious awards, a 29-year-old from the West Coast who never previously published a word and is now publishing two stories here, and an Australian native now living in, and inspired by, Scotland.

Come on in and have a read—but be warned: Afterward, you may feel like sleeping with the lights on for a while.

Our Writing Tips On How To Craft a Ghost Story Or Other Eerie Tale That Keeps Your Reader Riveted

In reality, a supernatural story isn’t all that different from any other piece of short fiction. Most of the same good, technical practices apply for creating any tale that is truly memorable. Nonetheless, writers of stories that contain a supernatural element do face a few additional hurdles that need to be surmounted. For just one example, how do you structure and pace your story so that your readers remain with you for the complete ride, that delightfully icy feeling running up and down their backs the entire time?

As it is once again the season in which a lot of writers are polishing their submissions for The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award, we thought this would be an ideal time to offer an array of tips on writing, revising, and presenting ghost stories, vampire stories, horror stories, fantasy stories, literary magic realism, and other tales with a strong supernatural kick. But keep in mind that most of the advice we give here will be effective regardless of the fiction genre in which you’re working. [Read more…] about HOW TO WRITE A GRIPPING SUPERNATURAL STORY

It’s Finally Midsummer—And Time To Publish The Three Top Stories In The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award Contest. Happy Reading!

The competition was ferocious—especially considering that this is the first time we’ve run this contest. Of course, the high quality of the submissions probably had at least something to do with the fact that the winner was going to walk—or in this instance, dance—away with $1,000. . . .

In any case, out of an impressive selection of short stories sent to us by writers from around the U.S. and Canada, we’ve chosen three, as Winner, Honorable Mention, and Second Honorable Mention, that really astonished us. Come on inside for the names of the winners, and to enjoy a chilling summertime read.

Ghost Hour. Illustration: Alice Popkorn

Submissions Closed!

The contest is now closed to submissions. Thanks to everyone who participated. We’ll be announcing (and publishing) our winner and honorable mention on Midsummer’s Eve, in June. Visit our contest page for information about the next Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award competition.

If you’re a writer of paranormal, supernatural, fantasy, horror, or magic realist fiction, beware the witching hour as April 30th draws to a close. That’s when we’ll stop accepting entries to the short fiction competition in which we will award $1,000 to the writer of the best supernatural story, and $100 for an honorable mention. Of course, we’ll also publish both stories here on TGS.

If you’ve already submitted your tale, we’ll be in touch with you about the results by the end of May. And if you’re still working on your piece, keep at it; the more polished your prose, the better your chances, and you’ve still got a few days left. But don’t let the sand run out of the hour glass; that midnight bell inevitably will toll.

And if you’re still thinking about it, you might want to have a look at our complete contest guidelines.

Good luck!

Image: Shannon Wise

Henry James And The Psychology Of Ghosts

The Turn of the Screw, Henry James’ 1898 novella about a naive young governess and her desperate but misguided efforts to shield two children from a pair of predatory wraiths at a lonely country estate, may well be the most important ghost story written in the English language. Of course, some critics would claim that honor belongs to Shakespeare’s Hamlet—and they might have a point if only Hamlet’s single ghostly element—the demanding, vengeful shade of the eponymous protagonist’s father—were more central to the play. However, the spectral elder Hamlet has his final scene in Act III of the five act play, thereby making Hamlet—one of our most powerful literary works in so many other ways—something less than a full-fledged tale of the paranormal.

Another obvious contender is Charles Dickens’ classic novella, A Christmas Carol (1848). The story of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim certainly is the world’s most popular and well-loved ghost story, by far. However, A Christmas Carol, with it’s pervasive sentimentality and shadowless moralism, contrasts as much more of a lighthearted (though, of course, still thought-provoking) entertainment and much less of a serious literary accomplishment when matched against the subtleties, ambiguities, and superb character complexities of James’ story.

Both books have had profound and long-lasting effects that extend even into our current popular culture. While Dickens’ book appealed to the conscience of Victorian society, permanently changed attitudes toward the working poor, and reshaped the spirit in which Christmas is celebrated, James’ work exerted a powerful influence on the literature and cinema of the 20th century—particularly on fictions that combined uncanny or fantastic elements with psychological ones.

The relative importance of the two books therefore depends on the lens one chooses to view them through. [Read more…] about THE TURN OF THE SCREW