Welcome all writers of darkly murderous horror!
This contest is about two things: MURDER and MAYHEM, primarily written within the genre of Dark Horror. This is something I write particularly well, and to win a medal your story must impress me.
What I want to see:
Character motivations. Why do they kill? If they had never killed previously, what prompted them to kill now?
Unique characters. What sets them apart from the rest of humanity? Do they have an odd habit or desire. No cliched assumptions please.
Well constructed horror. I believe gore is an artform, as is suspense and the psychology of 'shock value'. Please keep it within the realms of possibility.
Realistic victims. Please make them three dimensional - not just a simple construct for your killer. Make their reactions real.
Interesting murder scenario. Think outside the box. Don't limit your imagination to the 'usual' types of murder. Was the murder opportunistic? Spur of the moment? Or was it meticulously planned? Are they a serial killer? If so, do they have a ritual? How do they avoid suspicion?
What I DO NOT want to see:
NO vampires, werewolves, demons, fantasy creatures or other non-human entities. The human race has enough monsters, so your story must portray a human killer. Same for the victims.
NO Cliches. People often kill for complex, unusual or illogical reasons. A person may not be a killer until one day they are pushed far enough to kill. Others kill for pleasure or the satisfy something within themselves. Others kill to enrich themselves in some way. Every human is capable of murder.
NO Promotion of the activity in a positive light. This site has very strict rules prohibiting such promotion, and those sort of stories are not welcome in this contest. The narrative of your story should portray and report, but not promote.
RULES:
1. By entering this contest you agree to abide by all guidelines and rules, and accept that by not doing so you may be disqualified.
2. Stories are to follow the above guidelines. Particular attention should be given to rules 7-9. Failure to do so will result in instant disqualification.
3. No poetry, fan fiction, scripts, rants, sermons, vignettes, or anything else not resembling a story. A story is a piece of fiction that has a discernable beginning, middle and end, a main character and a plot.
4. Story may contain graphic details of sex, gore and violence, but please categorize appropriately. Anything that contains overly graphic details of these must be classed as 'Adult'.
5. Word count: Minimum 500. Maximum 5000. No over or under please.
6. Adequate standards of grammar, spelling and punctuation to be adhered to please. Chat speak and sticky caps are not acceptable.
7. New writes encouraged. Prewrites MUST have been written within the last three months. Anything with a prewritten date older than 1st November, 2008, will be DQ'ed.
8. Stories MUST NOT have been commented on previously by me. Likewise, if it has appeared in another contest that I have run, DO NOT enter it here.
9. Stories are NOT to have won more than three medals in other contests.
10. I will allow swearing, but only if it adds to a character or is in speech. I will also allow fantasy, sci-fi, speculative fiction and other alternate reality settings as long as the characters are human and the murder realistic for your setting.
Contest entries will be judged on originality of concept, writing skill and the degree to which the story impresses me.
Depending on the quantity and quality of the entries, points may rise. Prize pool may be worth upwards of 1000 points should I feel the entries are worthy.
Contest is Over
- Contest was judged on March 14
- Rewards: Gold: 400, Silver: 200, Bronze: 100, Honorable mention: 3 people
- Final notes: First off - thank you to everyone that entered, especially those of you that wrote pieces specifically for this contest.
The six finalists were quite hard to place, so I printed these stories out and took them with me to my local writer's group. Each story was then read a couple of times and ranked by my peers according to character depth/growth, scenario originality/predictability, and style/grammar/readability.
A few comments were made on some of the finalists' stories with improvement in mind (I will IM these to those concerned), and for the most part the stories were well received.
Congratulations to the winners. HMs are in order.
Blondie
Contest Winners
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• Commented on by judge. [remove]
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by Decadent Anomaly 1400 words, 17 comments, on Feb 19 9:53 PM. In Adult, Dark, Horror
Silver trophy winner
• Commented on by judge. [remove] -
Otto thrust his hands into the murky gray dishwater, reaching for the bottom of the deep-basined sink until his forearms were nearly submer• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
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Inspired by the lyrics from Epic of War by Annihilator. Both characters are men in my mind.by VampireFriends 1300 words, 6 comments, on Nov 17 2:56 PM. In Gay, Horror, Murder, Short story, Weird
Honorable mention
• Commented on by judge. Prewrite [remove]
Gold trophy winner
Bronze trophy winner
Entries [22]
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What happens when a girl pushes her friends to do the worst.by Your7DeadlySins 1100 words, 4 comments, on Nov 25 6:21 PM 2008. In Crime, Dark, Death, Fiction, Murder, Pain, Third person, Tragedy• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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The white coated men drug me into the room kicking and screaming. I fought with all my might to break free and escape but they had druggedby Fibe Kill-DFW Punk- 1000 words, 20 comments, on Dec 2 12:22 PM 2008. In Horror, Not for young readers, Phsycological• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by Bernice DeLucchi 1400 words, 31 comments, on Oct 12 3:56 AM 2008• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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As I am about to stab my boyfriend, I am transported to Hell to have a talk with Satin.by SweeneyTodd-girl 400 words, 9 comments, on Jan 19 6:03 PM. In Dark, Death, Fiction, First person, Pain, Short story• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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by Lady Pixie 600 words, 7 comments, on Feb 20 5:39 PM. In Adult, Contest, Dark, Death, Fiction, First person, Horror, Murder, Short story• Commented on by judge.
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I could see Jeannie's face and she gazed at me with her hope fulled eyes as I held the knife. I stood still, panic gripping my mind.by Sammiannnz 600 words, 19 comments, on Feb 13 7:11 PM• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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Black is known as evil to you, is it not? Well then, I suggest you read on to find out why black is so much more angelic and worthwhile..by Queen Lucy 900 words, 13 comments, on Jan 16 1:09 PM• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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He wore a suit and dark sunglasses, espying the subway with briefcase in black-gloved hand. He was here for the Hiders ...by Lion-Serpent 400 words, 1 comment, on Feb 2 1:27 AM• Commented on by judge.
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a horrible tale about a thug in 2008 Englandby Rorshach 3200 words, 5 comments, on Oct 20 7:24 PM 2008• Commented on by judge. Prewrite
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The sun shinning past the upturned blinds woke me. The weather was beautiful, one of those mild spring days where God must have been smili• Commented on by judge.
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The young woman lay there montionless. He didn't quite know what to do. He looked at his hands, covered in her scarlet tears. Red soaked thby Food 500 words, 2 comments, on Mar 7 10:40 PM• Commented on by judge.
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Comments
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Oh, I love writing these!
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I'm assuming language is also okay?
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Yes. Just don't go overboard.
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*ponders entering* But I don't think mine is bloody enough for you.
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Ah'll be back.
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A brand new story is currently in fine-tuning mode for this contest. People who have been on my friends list a while can tell you just how rare that is from me.
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Excellent. I look forward to it.
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oooh, all the rules scared me a little, so I hope my entry is okay - I only wrote it today for another contest, and I think it fits in.
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took forever to read the rules only to find out i don't qualify. jeez
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Aaah! Blondie! *sees this* =D
I recall writing something but not finishing it.. it might fit your contest
Aaaah thank you, you've tickled my muse once again 
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awesome contest. love horror writing- givin' my hand at the contest.
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Wah... is March 1 the real ending of the contest? (Because I am still in the process of writing x.x)
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I'll bump the closing date out another week if you need it.
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OMG! Even for just March 3 (I get March 2 as a day off, woot) and then I'll kick my muse's butt if it doesn't create anything *dances*
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I added the extra week. Closes March 8. At least then you've got extra time for editing too.
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Thank you, thank you!
*hopes I won't disappoint you the contest holder, and I the writer, and whoever will read it* ^______^
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I'm almost finished =)
thank you, again and again, for this final extension 
^_^ I'll be posting it soon
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Thanks for the honorable mention and the points! I'd love to hear what your writing group said about my story!
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Thank you so much for the trophy and the contest ^_^ I think I may have mentioned that you and this contest helped me finish a story (written last 2007) so really, thank you! And a congratulations to everyone
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