Something Terrifying Has Just Arrived in the Sleepy Town of Shiverdale…Announcing Our New Short Story Contest!
Welcome to our 2nd Annual Birthday Bash as Divination Hollow Reviews!
It’s time for a very special announcement coinciding with our birthday bash! We’re starting another fun Short Story Competition, announcing now and opening in January for entries. The top 3 choices will be posted to our site in 2023. So come on and keep reading
Celebrate with us!
COMPETITION ANNOUNCEMENT
In honour of our birthday this year, we’re hosting a month long celebration of cinema! And we’re pleased to announce another short story competition that’s open to all: The Terror In Shiverdale!
THEME
The Terror in Shiverdale!
Modern television execs are all a titter over horror tinged reboots of your fave teen melodramas, and ever the entrepreneur, our host Broomhilda is looking to join the fray! Broomy is looking to start her own television network, and she needs your help selecting which Horror Franchise deserves a reboot, but with a “CW-esque” treatment!
Details:
Shiverdale is a sleepy little seaside town with a quaint little main street full of charming mom-and-pop shops, a little vintage movie theatre and, of course, a drive-in. Shiverdale is a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone, unlike the folks from the rougher side of the tracks in the neighbouring town of Spleendale. But things are not quite what they seem to be on the surface…strange things are afoot!
We’re looking for fanfiction style stories featuring elements from your favourite Horror Franchise with a little twist of YA Teen Drama! You may select any horror franchise to reboot, but your story must take place in the Shiverdale universe and feature a main cast of Young Adults who are either recent graduates of or current Senior Year students at Shiverdale High.
We want campy fanfic stories brimming with melodrama, mystery, intrigue, a dash of romance, and a little punch of retro! It’s your time to shine. Perhaps Pinhead is an employee at the local piercing parlor. Maybe Jason is the star player of the local hockey team. Perhaps Reagan hosts her own cooking vlog and specializes in vegetable soups.
Be creative. Camp it up. Cross-genre is welcome. The possibilities are endless!
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.
Please include your name and email on the manuscript.
Please note, we are interested in stand-alone, prose fiction stories. No television/movie/play script treatments.
Due to the fact that this features teenage protagonists, we’d like you to keep the sexy content to a PG-13, and don’t be a perv; we’re looking for “Gosh darn those meddling kids” Scooby Doo meets Riverdale energy, not graphic sex scenes. We’re also not interested in ‘edgy’ stories which contain sexual assault, racism, sexism, homophobia just for the shock value. 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.
If applicable, please include trigger warnings in the document, after the story title and before the start of the prose.
Top three winning entries will be published on the website.
TO ENTER
Submissions open on January 8th and you may send entries to us via e-mail at DHRfeatures[at]gmail[dot]com through January 31st. Entries received before January 8th or after January 31st will be disqualified.
Subject line should be “The Terror in Shiverville: Story Title.” You do not have to provide a bio or writing credits in the email, but please ensure you put something in there to avoid it being sent to spam.
Entries should be attached as a document to the email. Please send so this can be opened in Word or Google Docs. Do not send PDF files.
PRIZES
FIRST PLACE:
An ebook copy of “Aliens: Vasquez” by V. Castro
An ebook copy of “Experimental Film” by Gemma Files
And the following:
Selection of 1 ebook to be picked by winner, from list curated by Divination Hollow Admins, Elle Turpitt and Ellen Avigliano
Promotional Weekend on Divination Hollow
Edit of up to 5K words by Elle Turpitt
SECOND PLACE:
An ebook copy of “Aliens: Vasquez” by V. Castro
And pick from two of the following –
1 ebook from our curated book list
Promotional Weekend on Divination Hollow
Edit of up to 5K words by Elle Turpitt
THIRD PLACE:
An ebook copy of “Aliens: Vasquez” by V. Castro
And pick from one of the following –
1 ebook from our curated book list
Edit of up to 5K words by Elle Turpitt
Promotional Packages will be customized, as discussed between the winner and our Admin/Social Media Manager, Ellen & Lead Editor, Elle.
BOOK LIST
Monster, She Wrote – Lisa Kroger, Melanie R Anderson
The Lady from the Black Lagoon – Mallory O’Meara
Women Make Horror – Alison Pierse
The Science of Monsters – Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence
The Science of Women in Horror – Meg Hafdahl and Kelly Florence
The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror – David J. Skal
Men, Women. and Chainsaws – Carol J. Clover
Shock Value – Jason Zinoman
Backwards & In Heels – Alicia Malone
Reel Terror – David Konow
Screaming for Pleasure: How Horror Makes You Happy – S.A. Bradley
Yours Cruelly, Elvira – Cassandra Peterson
Posted by Elle and Ellen
