Cursed Images
Share your photography that chills us to the bone.
Prizes
- First place:
- $1,000
- Second place:
- $500
- Third place:
- $250
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Oct 16, 2020
Submissions closed
Oct 23, 2020 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Oct 27, 2020
Prizes
- First place:
- $1,000
- Second place:
- $500
- Third place:
- $250
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Oct 16, 2020
Submissions closed
Oct 23, 2020 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Oct 27, 2020
About this challenge
This week’s Challenge brings two of our favorite things together: creative and creepy. We want you to showcase your photography skills (yes, photos taken on your iPhone are perfectly fine!) with a twist: we’re looking for images that chill us to the bone. Share your love for the spooky or paranormal through photographs and elaborate on the behind-the-lens story of where and when they were taken.
Was it an orb or just an error in developing? Is there something in the picture that wasn't there before? Maybe you just relied on a graveyard backdrop or abandoned building to set the tone. Enter the Cursed Images Challenge and share the intriguing photos you've captured with your camera that haunt you to this day. We want to see what can't be unseen – original images only, please! 📸
How to enter
For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until October 22, 2020 at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Cursed Images Challenge is exclusive to Vocal+ members. To learn more and upgrade to Vocal+ visit https://vocal.media/vocal-plus.
To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 39 countries will not be eligible to win.
Open challenges
Challenges you can enter now for a chance to win.
You Are Here
Write a story entirely in second person that puts the reader somewhere they aren't supposed to be.
$1,000 Grand Prize5 days leftOctober
Write a poem that makes October feel like a place you can enter.
$1,000 Grand Prize12 days leftDead Air
Write a horror story about a broadcast, recording, phone call, or transmission that should not exist.
$1,000 Grand Prize19 days leftScroll No More
Imagine that every smartphone in the world suddenly stops working. Write about what happens next.
$1,000 Grand Prize26 days leftNo One Remembers It That Way
Write about a memory that you and someone else remember completely differently.
$1,000 Grand Prize33 days leftSteal From Yourself
Return to something you wrote years ago and use one idea, image, character, or line from it to create something entirely new.
$1,000 Grand Prize40 days leftNot on the Menu
Write about something memorable you ate that you'd never find on a restaurant menu.
$1,000 Grand Prize47 days left
Challenge resources
Already Here Challenge Winners
Useful tools can change your life before you think to question them. That’s really what made these Already Here entries interesting. Writers looked past the initial “how is this possible?” and paid attention to how quickly something remarkable becomes part of the routine. The strongest pieces didn’t ask us to choose between being impressed and being uneasy. They understood why people welcome these changes, then noticed what else shifts once we get used to them.
By Vocal Curation Team11 days ago in Resources
Last Call Challenge Winners
There were plenty of ringing phones and closing bars in Last Call , but the prompt took us to some unexpected places too. A fading birdsong, a goodbye that doesn't quite get finished, and people who don't suddenly become better versions of themselves just because time is running out. Some held on, some let go, and some missed their chance entirely. That's what made these stories stick.
By Vocal Curation Team18 days ago in Resources
Twenty-Four Hours Challenge Winners
The best Twenty-Four Hours entries weren’t really about fitting as much as possible into a day. They were about showing us a version of a place that felt personal, shaped by favorite stops, old memories, local quirks, and the little things you only notice only after knowing somewhere for a long time.
By Vocal Curation Team24 days ago in Resources
