Deadline: October 31, 2017.
South African HorrorFest Bloody Parchment announces that its 2017 Bloody Parchment Short Story Competition is now open. It seeks fresh, disturbing and disconcerting new voices in SFF, most especially stories that fall under the horror and dark fantasy/SF genres. That being said, please don’t submit stories that rely purely on gratuitous violence and rape for its punch.
That being said, please don’t submit stories that rely purely on gratuitous violence and rape for its punch. Only send well-written, well-executed dark storytelling. For example, a GrimDark tale in a gloomy secondary world.
With no entry fee, the team opens the competition to both African and international writers. Submit up to 1000 words flash fiction, or up to 4,000 words short fiction, or a novella between 15,000 to 30,000 words. The team will pick a winner and two runners-up from the finalists.
The team will pick a winner and two runners-up from the finalists. The winner will receive a full assessment and round of developmental edits for a novel-length work or short story anthology. While the runners-up will receive a full, developmental edit for a short story or novella other than their submission.
Email your story to nerinedorman@gmail.com. And ensure to save your story as a .doc or .rt file. Also, write “Bloody Parchment 2017” as the subject line. Format your story according to standard manuscript formatting: 12pt Times New Roman, indented paragraphs, and double spacing.
Finally, direct all inquiries to the editor, Nerine Dorman, at nerinedorman@gmail.com.