The Déjà Vu Horror Story Contest

Winners now listed on HOME PAGE

New theme to be unveiled soon!

Don't know what the Déjà Vu contest is about? Read on...

Haven't we read that before? Of course not. It's just a touch of cliché that has us believing that. We at Dark Recesses have not seen enough tales of serial killers, seductive vampires, schizophrenics with imaginary friends, confused ghosts in old buildings or creepy country sides, and central characters who sell their soul to Satan only to pay an obvious price. We are starving for more of these. We are sadomasochistic. WE WANT CLICHÉ and we want it GOOD (good being the operative word here)!

Torture us, please, and make us wish we never asked for it. The theme for Issue #10:

ZOMBIES: Who can forget those oozing, festering, fetid undead that come in droves to eat your brains - or perhaps they aren't quite like that? Afterall, the VooDoo create zombies that are not so rotten (think SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW). Whether they be quick or slow, created by science, nature, magic or religion, the Zombie has taken on a 'life' of its own. From RESIDENT EVIL to ARMY OF DARKNESS, DAWN OF THE DEAD to SHAUN OF THE DEAD we've seen their ilk and now your task is to take it and make it yours.

It can be gothic, humorous, terrifying, romantic, western, etc...As long as it fits nicely into the dark realm of things, follows our no sexual exploitation / abuse of children rule and includes our theme, you have carte blanche. You will be fighting against everyone else so make your work stand out. Prove to us that an old idea is worth revisiting when done right.

 

Now for the part you really want to know about.

There will be only one winner. Top three runner-ups will have their name and title of their story listed on the site. The prize for this winner-takes-all contest is publication at pro-rates (5 cents/word) in the print edition of Dark Recesses Press – Vol. 3: Issue 10, due for release July 2008, plus two copies of the issue in which their winning entry appears.

There is NO ENTRY FEE.

Only the winner will be notified due to the sheer number of submissions we deal with in our regular submissions and the contest entries. Once a winner has been selected, an update will be posted under our News section.

You have between 1000 - 2,500 words; not a gangerous toe more or gooey eye less.

Reading periods are from now until April 3oth, 2008 .

Please send your entry as an attached word document or .rtf file (no other formats accepted) with the words 'CONTEST SUBMISSION' in the subject line. We only accept e-mail submissions.

STORIES EMBEDDED IN THE BODY OF AN E-MAIL WILL GO UNREAD.

MANUSCRIPT FORMATTING:

  • 12 point standard font
  • standard margins
  • left side of header:
    name, contact info
  • right side of header:
    word count
  • top of first page:
    title, author

Variances from traditional manuscript format:

  • single spaced
  • NO INDENTS
  • use bold, italics and underline as they are to appear in story.

Click HERE to see a formatting sample.

 

Entries for the contest should be sent to: dark_recesses_press@yahoo.ca Be sure to put CONTEST SUBMISSION in your subject line.

Now go prove that all it takes is a great writer to make an old idea new again.

Happy writing, and good luck!