Horror In Hollywood Short Story Contest: Competition Rules and Guidelines (updated)
COMPETITION
THEME
The Horror in Hollywood
Horror stories set in and around the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. Your story can take place at any period of Hollywood history. From the beginning days of silent black and white movies, to the modern era of big, Hollywood blockbusters. Be creative. Cross-genre is welcome.
RULES
MAXIMUM WORD COUNT: 4,000 Words.
FORMAT: .doc, .docx or equivalent . Standard Manuscript Format – double spaced, Times New Roman or Courier New, 12PT. Please check shunn.net if you’re not sure how to correctly format your manuscript.
Contact information to be included in e-mail. Please do not include contact information on your manuscript.
Please note, we are interested in stand-alone, prose fiction stories. No television/movie/play script treatments or novel/novella extracts
We’re not interested in ‘edgy for the sake of edgy’ stories which contain sexual assault, racism, sexism, homophobia for the shock value. Due to the fact these stories can take any time since the early days of Hollywood, we understand these topics might be ‘dealt with’ in horror, but again, you’re not cool for including it just for the sake of including it. (AKA just because your story is set in 1930s doesn’t mean it has to include slurs)
If applicable, please include trigger warnings in the document, after the story title and before the start of the prose.
TO ENTER
To enter, please send your submission to
submit2dhr@gmail.com
Submissions open 15th September and close 30th September. Please do not send any e-mails outside this time frame.
Subject line should be the title of your story. Please include contact information in the body of your email.
BEFORE YOU SUBMIT
Check out our competition tips here!
Ensure contact information is removed from manuscripts. Please check any trigger warnings are noted on the manuscript. If you are referencing real people or using quotes etc, please check the legality of doing so.
PRIZES
FIRST PLACE:
Selection of three books to be picked by winner, from list curated by Dead Head Reviews’ Head Copy Editor, Elle Turpitt. (Up to £35)
Choice of bookmark or art print from https://www.etsy.com/shop/LetsGetGalacticArt
Pick from two of the following –
Promotional Week Package on Dead Head Reviews
Edit of up to 10K words by Elle Turpitt
Guest on an episode of the “Into the Abyss”
SECOND PLACE:
Selection of two books to be picked by winner, from list curated by Dead Head Reviews’ Head Copy Editor, Elle Turpitt (Up to £25 for total cost of books)
Pick from two of the following –
Promotional Weekend Package on Dead Head Reviews.
Edit of up to 7,500 words by Elle Turpitt
Guest on episode of “Into the Abyss” Podcast
THIRD PLACE:
Section of one book to be picked by winner, from list curated by Dead Head Reviews’ Head Copy Editor, Elle Turpitt (Up to £15 for total cost of books)
Pick from one of the following –
Promotional Weekend on Dead Head Reviews
Edit of up to 7,500 words by Elle Turpitt
Guest on episode of “Into the Abyss” Podcast
Promotional Packages will be customised, as discussed between winner and our Social Media Manager, Ellen.
Please note, prizes and book list might be added to prior to the closing date of the competition.
If you are interested in judging the competition, have ideas for the book list, or would like to provide further prizes for our winners, please contact Elle at dhrfeatures@gmail.com.
Submissions open 15th September, 2020 and close 30th September, 2020. We are aiming to announce winners in early 2021.
BOOK LIST
Any book included on Fright Girl Summer or Fright Girl Autumn Lists
On Writing – Stephen King
Writing the Other – Nisi Shawl & Cynthia Ward
The Emotion Thesaurus – Angela Ackerman
Consider This – Chuck Palahniuk
Steering the Craft – Ursula K Le Guin
Whispers in the Dark – Laurel Hightower
The Corpse Garden – S.H. Cooper
Dear Laura – Gemma Amor
The Fourth Whore – E.V. Knight
The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror – David J. Skal
The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen – Edited by Ellen Datlow
Final Cuts: New Tales of Hollywood Horror and Other Spectacles – Edited by Ellen Datlow
The Con Season - Adam Cesare
Tribesmen - Adam Cesare
Night Shoot - David Sodergren
Writing in the Dark – Tim Waggoner
