Prizes

First place: $1,000

Second place: $500

Third place: $250

Dates to know

October 9: Submissions open

October 15, 11:59 PM ET: Submissions closed

October 20: Winners announced

About this Challenge

We're giving "ghostwriter" a whole new meaning with this week's challenge: Compose a creative horror story, fiction or creative nonfiction, no longer than 2,000 words. You can take the story in any direction you'd like—the only element of your tale we require is that you include a candle in a window at some point in your narrative. Whether it's an integral element to your story or just a brief detail, it's the only requirement your story must include. 🕯️

Enter the Spooky Shorts Challenge and get those creaky, cobwebby, creative wheels turning. We can't wait to be spooked senseless.

Requirements

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 2,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until October 15, 2020, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

The Spooky Shorts 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 35 countries will not be eligible to win.