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Shock Totem #6
January 2013Shock Totem Radio
Tag Archives: Flash Fiction Contest
May 2013 Flash Fiction Contest
Every other month we host a flash fiction contest on our forum. The next contest begins on Friday, March 1, 2013.
Participants have one week to write a story based on a prompt that we provide. The prompt must be integral to the story. This requirement, we hope, forces writers to pen a brand-new tale rather than submit some previously written or reworked story.
When the week is up, the stories are anonymously posted in the hidden contest forum. The entrants then have three weeks to read each story and vote on their top three. Additionally, most give feedback on each story, thus ensuring everyone gets something out of the contest.
The final contest of the year is in September. Once that winner is announced, all five individual winners throughout the year will be given to a neutral judge, who will then pick his or her favorite. That story will be published in the next issue of Shock Totem!
If interested, sign up here. It’s a good time.
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Contests, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest
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And the March Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Michael Wehunt
Michael Wehunt won with his story “Everything That Can’t Heal Itself.” This is his second First Place finish and fifth time in the top three—in six contests! Impressive.
About this month’s prompt: I often look through our site stats to see how people are finding our website. One recent visitor arrived hear after searching for this…
I thought it very curious, so I scribbled it down. When it came time for this month’s contest prompt, those three words seemed like a good idea. And so that’s what this month’s contest was based upon, though I requested that participants write a tale without referencing plague suits or plague doctors of the past.
Michael Wehunt stepped up and dominated. “Everything That Can’t Heal Itself” received nearly double the Second Place votes.
In Second Place was “A Plague of the Most Beautiful Finery, by Kurt Fawver. And Third Place was taken by L. Pittenger, with his tale “Birdman.”
So a big congratulations to all!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Contests, Flash Fiction Contest, Hobo Plague Suit, Kurt Fawver, L. Pittenger, Michael Wehunt, Plague Suit
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And the 2012 Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Magnolia’s Prayer
by John Guzman
As many of you know, throughout the year we host a bi-monthly flash fiction contest on our forum (not to be confused with the bi-weekly one-hour flash challenge). From those bi-monthly winners, an overall winner is chosen by a neutral judge, to be published in the next issue of Shock Totem.
by John Guzman
This year’s judge was up-and-coming horror scribe Adam Cesare, author of the brilliant Tribesmen, Video Night, and the just-released Bound by Jade novella.
Of the five bi-monthly winning stories from 2012, Adam chose “Magnolia’s Prayer,” by John Guzman, as the winner. This story was based on the strange prompt of undelivered mail.
You’ll be able to read “Magnolia’s Prayer” in issue #6.
Not the final cover.
Congratulations, John!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Adam Cesare, Bound by Jade, Contests, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest, John Guzman, Magnolia's Prayer, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #6
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And the September Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Steven Bouchard
Steven won with his story “The Whole Tooth.”
The prompt for this contest was a photo taken outside the hotel this year’s Horrorfind convention was held at. A creepy little thing, indeed!
The contest was close this month. The top three were all within a point of each other, and we had a three-way tie for Second!
In addition to Steven’s winning tale, Megan Engelhardt (her fourth top-three finish), H.L. Fullerton (July’s winner), and Amanda C. Davis (her sixth time in the top three) all tied for Second Place, and Allison Dellinger took Third Place.
Steven’s story, plus this year’s four previous winning stories, will be judged by a neutral reader, someone who is not on the staff and has not participated in any contest, and the story he or she chooses will be published in issue #6!
So a big congratulations to all the winners throughout 2012!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Allison Dellinger, Amanda C. Davis, Andrew Bourelle, Contests, Creepy Mannequin, Damien Walters Grintalis, Flash Fiction Contest, Gio Clairval, H.L. Fullerton, Horrorfind, Horrorfind Weekend, John Guzman, Ken Liu, Lani Carroll, Megan Engelhardt, Michael Wehunt, Steven Bouchard
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And the May Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
John Guzman
John won with his story “Magnolia’s Prayer.”
The prompt for this contest was based on something that has intrigued me for a few years now, ever since I read a few articles on the mystery of undelivered mail. I’ve wanted to write a story about it, but the muse hasn’t been moved, so 41 other authors gave it a shot.
Why do some mailmen hoard undelivered mail? There are obvious reasons, of course—theft, hoarding, etc.—but the authors were instructed to be more creative, write about the not-so-obvious reasons, be unique, stretch the boundaries.
In addition to John’s winning tale, Michael Wehunt, top dog in March’s contest, came in second with “Pavement Rich in Gold”; and Third Place went to “The Things We Hide From View,” by Damien Walters Grintalis, which is her sixth top-three finish!
Congratulations, fellas!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Contests, Damien Walters Grintalis, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest, John Guzman, Mail Hoarding, Michael Wehunt, Undelivered Mail
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And the March Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Michael Wehunt
Michael won with his story “Beside Me Singing in the Wilderness.” Not only did he win the contest, but we just sent him an acceptance letter for another story to be published in issue #6. He’s had quite a good day!
The prompt for this contest was this photo, the so-called “blood waterfall,” which Nick wrote about last year. Obviously it is not blood (unless Nick is to be believed), so we asked the authors to explore a simple question:
What if it was blood coming from the earth?
Participants were required to build their story around that image and question. Nearly 50 signed up, 29 finished.
In addition to Michael’s winning tale, Andrew Bourelle came in second with his brilliantly titled “Haemorrhagia Memoriae,” and Third Place went to “Alizarin, with Variations,” by Gio Clairval.
Congratulations, fellas!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Andrew Bourelle, Blood Red Waterfall, Blood Waterfall, Contests, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest, Gio Clairval, Michael Wehunt
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And the January Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Lani Carroll
Lani won with her story “Mid-Autumn Moon.” The prompt for this contest was based on Xochimilco, specifically Santana Barrera’s chinampa, sometimes known as the Island of Dolls. You can read about it here, here and here. Sleep well!
Participants were required to build their story around the concept of an island of dolls. Nearly 50 signed up, 31 finished.
In addition to Lani’s winning tale, Damien Walters Grintalis came in second with “Wednesday’s Child,” her sixth top-three placing. Third Place was “Build-A-Dolly,” by Ken Liu.
Congratulations, fellas!
Posted in Contests
Tagged Contests, Damien Walters Grintalis, Flash Fiction Contest, Julián Santana Barrera, Ken Liu, Lani Carroll, The Island of Dolls, Xochimilco
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And the 2011 Flash Fiction Contest Winner is…
Little Knife Houses
by Jaelithe Ingold
As many of you know, throughout the year we host a bi-monthly flash fiction contest on our forum (not to be confused with the bi-weekly one-hour flash challenge). From those bi-monthly winners, an overall winner is chosen by a neutral judge, to be published in the next issue of Shock Totem.
by Jaelithe Ingold
This year’s judge was James Newman, and from the five stories he chose “Little Knife Houses,” by Jaelithe Ingold, which was based on the artwork for our third issue.
Ah, but now we have to break Newton’s Law, the rule we set forth in issue #2, which, after publishing Kurt Newton in our first two issues, stated that we would never again publish an author back-to-back.
Jaelithe, however, was featured in issue #4, with her story “Fade to Black”—which, incidentally, was also the contest-winning story for Café Doom’s 2010 short-story contest. So…rule broken.
And for a good reason! You’ll be able to read “Little Knife Houses” in issue #5 (see the cover and more info on that issue here).
Congratulations, Jaelithe!
Posted in Alumni News, Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Café Doom, Contests, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest, Jaelithe Ingold, James Newman, Kurt Newton, Shock Totem, Shock Totem #1, Shock Totem #2, Shock Totem #3, Shock Totem #4, Shock Totem #5
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Jaelithe Ingold Strikes Gold…Again
Our fifth and final flash fiction contest of 2011 has come to a close. The prompt for this contest consisted of two images. (You might recognize them.) Participants were required to build their story around the people who live in the six individual dwellings in the images, not the ominous red light in the window. Of the nearly 50 who signed up, 31 finished.
And once again the women dominated.
This month’s winner was Jaelithe Ingold, who won with her story “Little Knife Houses.” This is her second First Place finish this year, meaning she has a two-in-five chance of winning overall and being published in our next issue.
Gio Clairval took Second Place with her tale, “Six on the Hill of My Heart,” and just a point away was Amanda C. Davis, with her story “Why Ulu Left the Bladescliff.”
All three have either won or made the top three numerous times in the past. Well-deserved, of course.
Incidentally, since we began these contests in January 2010, the ladies of Shock Totem have, in two words, kicked ass. In that first year, we had 19 top-three winners overall (a few contests had ties), and 13 of those winners were women. In 2011, 14 of the 15 top three were women.
The lone man of 2011: Simon C. Larter. (Stand proud, good sir, we salute you!)
That said, congratulations, ladies!
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Amanda C. Davis, Contests, Flash Fiction Contest, Gio Clairval, Jaelithe Ingold, Shock Totem #4, Simon C. Larter, Writing Contest
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September Flash Fiction Contest
Every other month we host a flash fiction contest on our forum. The next contest begins on Thursday, September 1.
Participants have one week to write a story based on a prompt that we provide. The prompt must be integral to the story. This requirement, we hope, forces writers to pen a brand-new tale rather than submit some previously written or reworked story.
When the week is up, the stories are anonymously posted in the hidden contest forum. The entrants then have three weeks to read each story and vote on their top three. Additionally, most give feedback on each story, thus ensuring everyone gets something out of the contest.
This will be the final contest of 2011. Once completed, we’ll have a special guest judge pick his or her favorite from this year’s past winners. That winning story will be published in issue #5 (January 2012).
If interested, sign up here. It’s a good time.
Posted in Contests, Shock Totem News
Tagged Contests, Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Contest
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