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Foggy Waters
Write a short horror fiction story set in or near a body of water.
Prizes
- First Place:
- $5,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- Third Place:
- $1,000
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Sep 30, 2021
Submissions closed
Nov 03, 2021 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Nov 16, 2021
Prizes
- First Place:
- $5,000
- Second Place:
- $2,500
- Third Place:
- $1,000
Status
CompletedTimeline
Submissions opened
Sep 30, 2021
Submissions closed
Nov 03, 2021 3:59 AM CUT
Results
Nov 16, 2021
About this challenge
Summoning all horror-loving spirits! This Challenge is inspired by the unforgiving New England coasts, the lakes too deep to see the bottom, and the clowns and gators that live in the sewer. This spooky season, we're asking you to create a piece of short horror fiction that is set in or near a body of water.
The body of water can be natural or man-made, and serve as an integral plot point or a scenic detail. Whether you choose to create a story about a Victorian ghost ship, a lighthouse where the residents slowly go mad, or a Jaws-inspired massacre amidst the waves, the only requirement is that your entire story takes place in, on, or around the water.
How to enter
Your story should be between 600 and 3,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until November 2, 2021, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.
The Foggy Waters 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 countries will not be eligible to win.
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Challenge resources
Summer Solstice Challenge Winners
‘Safety Net’, by Meredith Harmon, begins in a confiding tone. ‘What town?’ the tale asks. ‘We're an enclave. We're farmers. We till the soil like our forefathers, and our children's children's children will till it, till the end of time.’ There is a folkloric sensibility here, suited to the prompt, but also something contemporary and practical. This winning story of a community trying to protect and preserve itself has echoes of Shirley Jackson’s famous tale ‘The Lottery’, Meredith is a strong Vocal Creator with 225 stories to her name; and this is her second first place win of a challenge; huge congratulations.
By Vocal Curation Team8 days ago in Resources
Let's Talk About AI and Vocal Challenges
We might as well cut to the chase. Yes, we run every challenge entry through our AI detector; if we find an entry has been generated, it’s disqualified. As Justin Maury, Founder/CEO of Vocal has written, we use these detection systems because we know our readers enjoy authentic content; we also ask you to disclose when you’ve posted on the platform using AI assistance. But a different issue comes into play when we’re thinking about Challenges, and we believe it’s an important one.
By Vocal Curation Team10 days ago in Resources
Dialogue Poetry Challenge Winners
Hannah Moore is a first-time grand prize winner with her dialogue poem, On Receipt of Bad News. This was a poem that genuinely engaged both with the exchange of our prompt, but also focussed on the way poetic rhythms of language could support the writer's conceit. It felt very truthful, too, the way one speaker wishes to ignore the news and focus on practicalities; there was a quiet heartbreak, here. Well done.
By Vocal Curation Team15 days ago in Resources