. . . Time To Submit Flash Fiction Stories!

Once a year, TGS runs The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition for short-short stories on a supernatural theme. That time is now, now through January 31.

We’re looking for fiction pieces of up to 1,000 words that have something to do with the uncanny. And while we love a good ghost story, submissions to the competition certainly do not have to be about ghosts—previous winners of our contests have included pieces revolving around vampires, voodoo, shape-shifting, elves, time slips, demons, magic realism, psychological horror, and many aspects of fantasy. What matters to us is the power of the author’s imagination, and the quality of their writing. [Read more…] about It’s That Time Of Year!

Open for Submissions December 15

The Screw Turn Flash Fiction Competition for supernatural and/or magic realism stories of 1,000 or fewer words runs only once a year—but that time now is almost here.

For particulars, visit our contest page. And of course, don’t forget to read the winning stories and honorable mentions from pervious years. 

The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award Competition

It’s Halloween—and therefore time to publish the winner and two honorable mentions in our biannual short story competition. They are now ready for your reading pleasure. 

Twice each year, we award $1,000 to the best story submitted to our contest, and $250 to each of two honorable mentions. In addition, all three stories are published online and in our print anthology, 21st Century Ghost Stories.

One interesting footnote on this set of stories: the winning piece is by the first writer every to win this contest for a second time.

May these chilling stories haunt you pleasantly!  

A Primer On The Spirits Of The East

This piece from The Washington Post provides a great overview of the many types of ghosts in Japan, where for centuries the restless souls of the departed have played an important role in the national mythology.

Turn the sound up before you play this; it’ll give you a pleasant chill.

The Finest In Supernatural Fiction, Magic Realism, And Literary Ghost Stories

One thousand dollars to the winner, $250 to each of two honorable mentions. Custom illustration and publication for all three both online and in our upcoming print anthology, 21st Century Ghost Stories: Volume II.

Read our guidelines—and send us your story!

Ghost Rider photo by Gabriel Millos. 

. . . And We Start Accepting Submissions For Our Fall Contest On August 1

Since 2015, when The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award began, winners and honorable mentions have included writers who had never before published a single word—as well as writers who had already received broad acclaim for their novels, nonfiction books, short fiction, poetry, and articles of all kinds.

Lisa Taddeo, author of our our summer 2017 TGS Fiction Award-winning story, “The Donegal Suite,” is one of the latter. At the time she submitted “The Donegal Suite,” she had already earned the first of her two Pushcart Prizes for a short story, as well as attracted a great deal of attention for her nonfiction articles in Esquire and other magazines. 

Recently, Lisa also published her first book—a wonderful and searching piece of nonfiction titled Three Women, which has already gotten a great deal of attention in the media. We wanted to tell TGS readers about her book—and also to say congratulations to its author.

Rather than summarize “Three Women,” you can read more about it on its official publisher’s page.

Meanwhile keep in mind that very soon we will begin accepting submissions for our fall competition. If you’re a writer, and you are thinking about submitting a piece, please have a look at our contest guidelines. 

Beyond that, we hope you’re having a great summer. 

 

We Publish The Winners On Halloween!

The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award is a biannual competition with cash prizes of $1,000 for the winner and $250 for each of two honorable mentions. On Midsummer’s Eve and Halloween, we publish the three stories we have selected in the most recent running of the contest.

Believe it or not, Halloween is not that far off, and we’ll begin accepting submissions for our fall contest on August 1. If you’re interested, you’ll find the contest guidelines here.

And if you’d like to read our past winning and honorable mention stories, you’ll find them here.

Happy Solstice!

0ur summer 2019 Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award-winning stories are now published. Have a look!

Our Summer 2019 Supernatural Fiction Award

By deadline time at the end of April, The Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award competition had received its largest-ever number of submissions, at well over 300. We’ve been doing a lot of reading since then, and we’re almost ready to publish the winning story and two honorable mentions.

As always, the big reveal will take place on the Summer Solstice—June 21—right here on The Ghost Story website. Also as always, each story will be accompanied an original Andy Paciorek custom illustration. For some chilling reads at the start of summer, make sure you check back with us on the longest day of the year.

And if you entered our contest . . . you may already have heard from us about your work. If you haven’t, we’ll be in touch before the 21st. In all cases . . . thank you for participating in our biannual supernatural story event. Cheers — The Editor

Our Supernatural Story Contest Is Closed

The summer 2019 Ghost Story Supernatural Fiction Award contest is now closed to submissions. To everyone who participated: Thank you! We’ll be in touch with you between now and Midsummer’s Eve, when we’ll publish the winner and two honorable mentions.

If you had intended to enter our competition and didn’t quite get your story in on time . . . don’t despair. Our fall contest—with the same $1,000 first prize, $250 for honorable mention, and both print and online publication—opens for submission on August 1.

Until then, Cheers—The Editor