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