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Shock Totem #6
January 2013Shock Totem Radio
Tag Archives: Flash Fiction
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
2 Comments
Muerte Con Carne
Marta is a bitchy ball-buster who knows Felix will do anything for her. Although unsure of Marta’s plan to cross into Mexico to film a documentary about illegal immigrants, he agrees to help her, as Marta knew he would. She is also hoping to find out what happened to her parents, from whom she was separated as a little girl.
She plans to wear a tiny camera, set into a crucifix, around her neck, which will provide feedback to Felix’s computer.
After one of their frequent fights, Marta takes off into Mexico, leaving Felix behind. But Marta, while tough, is no match for the crazy family that kidnaps her before she can cross back into America. Not only do they want her to mate with the mentally-challenged but insanely strong son, they have kidnapped others who will provide meat for their taco stand.
Marta realizes this and is horrified because she had eaten at the stand earlier that day—yet she is also craving the forbidden food when its aroma envelops the house. She also has to fight for her life against the giant son, who is a wrestler—but he doesn’t go up against other wrestlers. His opponents are Mexicans trying to get to the border, and are no match for the brutality they find themselves trying to survive.
Felix realizes Marta is in danger and does everything he can to get to her. But will he be successful or sautéed?
This is extreme horror at its best. It’s suspenseful, nasty, and completely disgusting. I loved it. Shane McKenzie doesn’t pull his punches; he lets his readers have it without one shred of remorse.
Muerte Con Carne is another literary knife to the gut from a great author.
Posted in Blog, Book Reviews, Reviews
Tagged Book Reviews, Extreme Horror, Flash Fiction, Horror, Muerte Con Carne, Reviews, Shane McKenzie
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The One-Hour Flash Fiction Challenge
This Saturday, March 30, at 8 PM EST, we will once again be hosting our bi-weekly flash fiction challenge. The challenge: You have just one hour to write, edit, and post your story.
This is a “prompted” challenge, meaning your story must be based on the prompt, which will be revealed just before 8 PM. The challenge takes place here on our forum, so you’ll need an account if you want to participate.
The purpose of the challenge is to force you, the writer, to clear your mind of all distractions and write a complete 1,000-word-or-less story within the allotted time. You’ll have to not only write the story, but also edit it, and then post it by 9 PM EST.
For those interested, here are the rules:
Unlike our bi-monthly flash fiction contest, the bi-weekly one-hour flash challenge is just for fun. The challenge will be held every other Saturday, officially beginning at exactly 8 PM EST. There are no prizes! And the rules are simple.
1. All stories should be complete, written and posted within one hour, and can be anywhere from one sentence to 1,000 words in length.
2. You may choose to write your story in any genre.
3. Your story must be built around the restrictions—words, themes, photo prompts, word limits, etc.—provided by the Flashmaster at the beginning of the challenge.
4. Once the participants’ work is posted, the voting and comment session begins and continues until all votes are in. Time limit for voting will be determined on the spot, depending on how many people finish the challenge.
5. The winner becomes Flashmaster and hosts the next contest.
And that’s it. Simple and fun.
Think you can do it? Join the forum and be present this coming Saturday at 8 PM EST. More information can be found on the forum.
Posted in Shock Totem News, Writing Challenges
Tagged Flash Fiction, Flash Fiction Challenge, Forum Events, Shock Totem, The Forum, Writing Challenges
6 Comments
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 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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Stokers, Flashes and Black Ink
Later this month, at this year’s Bram Stoker Awards™ banquet, to be held at the World Horror Convention in Utah, Mercedes and I do battle. To the death!
Okay, maybe not to the death.
And maybe it’s not so much a battle.
But we are both lucky enough to have stories included in an anthology up for a Stoker Award. That’s worthy of a battle roar or two!
Demons: Encounters with the Devil and His Minions, Fallen Angels, and the Possessed, edited by John Skipp, features Mercedes’s short story “Daisies and Demons”; while my story, “A Deeper Kind of Cold,” appears in Epitaphs: The Journal of New England Horror Writers, edited by Tracy L. Carbone.
Though some would call me biased, I think both anthologies are worthy of the nod. As I’m sure the other three anthologies up for the award are. So may the best one survi—win! May the best one win.
RAAAAAAAAWR!
In other news, John and I have had some very short pieces—by me, “Skipping Shingles”; by John, “Wishes” and “Always Never Enough”—published in Necon E-books’s just-released Best of 2011 flash fiction anthology.
This e-book features all winning and honorable-mention entries from their monthly flash fiction contests throughout 2011, plus a few additional stories from the cover artist, Jill Bauman.
As well, Sideshow Press has finally released the seventh installment in their Black Ink series of extreme fiction (i.e. not meant for children or the weak-stomached). This one features John’s disturbingly twisted “Peter Peter,” which he calls a “tender and sweet, family-friendly tale about the wages of sin.”
I also hear he’s selling bridges in New York.
If any of these books interest you, click on the cover images to purchase.
Posted in Alumni News, Blog, New Releases, Publishing, Recommended Reading, Staff News
Tagged Anthologies, Black Ink, Black Ink 7, Bram Stoker Awards, Flash Fiction, John Boden, K. Allen Wood, Necon, Necon E-Books, Sideshow Press, Stoker Award, Tom Moran, World Horror Convention
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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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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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July Flash Fiction Contest
Every other month we host a flash fiction contest on our forum. The next contest begins on Friday, July 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.
The winner of that month wins a prize. At the end of the year, a guest judge picks an overall winner that will then be published in our January 2012 issue.
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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