Terrifying Toys:
Horror Writing Contest

AlienSkin magazine occasionally sponsors writing contests.

The cash prize contest winners receive is in US dollars and payment can be made by check or by deposit into a valid Paypal account.  All story entries must be fit within the guidelines and word limit parameters of the contest.

Honorable Mentions are given to the 1st and 2nd runners up in each contest.  Honorable Mentions receive a listing of recognition for their story here in the Winners Ring.  Winning stories are published in the issue immediately following the contest deadline.

When we are sponsoring a contest, information about the contest will appear on our Home Page, as well as, on our Submission Guidelines.

Genre:  The story must be of the HORROR genre.  The horror element may be psychological, demonic, supernatural, etc., but speculative element must fit the horror genre.

Theme: The action must center around a toy—something designed as a plaything or frivolous item.  The item must be associated with ghostly or demonic activity.  If it is a robot gone wild, it's Sci-Fi, not horror.  The toy/spirit needs to have a motive other than just to 'kill everyone'.  There should be some implication as to why the spirit is attached to the toy, and as to what it wants.  The possessing spirit cannot make the toy do things it wasn't built to do.  It can give the illusion of expression on an immobile face, but if the toy has no means of movement then it can't physically move.  Voices are allowed—but the toy's mouth (if it has one) won't move unless it is jointed.  ONE EXCEPTION: a non-mobile toy can appear in different places but, can't move when watched.

Length of Story:  The story must be between 900 to 1,000 words in length.  These word counts minimum and maximums are firm.

Judging:  The story will be judged primarily on its readability, its adherence to the theme rules above, and with fitting the horror genre.  By readability we mean, the story must follow as closely as possible to the basic rules for writing fiction.  Basically, what we will be looking for is a clear, simple, and clean writing style, a story that has a definite beginning, middle, and end; one with a sympathetic character of some sort that the reader can identify with, and finally, pace and a good conclusion.  No endings that leave us hanging or wondering. Originality is a plus.  The closer a story adheres to these basic principles, the better chance of it being picked as the winner.

Prize:  The winner will receive a $50.00 USD prize and an AlienSkin T-shirt. That’s professional rates for that length of a story!  There will only be one winner, but a few honorable mentions, as well.  The Winning story will be published in the August/September 2008 issue of AlienSkin Magazine_® which immediately follows the contest deadline.

Submissions:  You may submit immediately. There is no entry fee. All submissions are to be sent via Email Only, and must be received by us no later than midnight EST, July 30^th, 2008.  On midnight of that date, the contest will be closed. 

SUBMIT STORIES ONLY TO: AlienSkin@AlienSkinMag.com.  NO SNAIL MAIL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED.  Submissions are to be made using 1 of the 3 formats we accept per our Submission Guidelines (.txt, .rtf, or Copy & Paste in the Body of an email to us).  ALL OTHER FORMATS AND EMAIL ADDRESSES WILL BE REJECTED AND DELETED.

Only 1 ENTRY PER PERSON is allowed.

PLEASE NOTE:  Only original works may be entered.  No previously published stories will be considered.  Stories must be placed in original universes, that is, not in existing or past television series, movies, games, or other existing story universes.  All characters, settings, and plot must be original to the author.

Deadline:  Midnight EST, July 30^th, 2008

Announcement of Winner: The winner will be announced and published in the August/September 2008 issue of AlienSkin Magazine_®.

Contest Eligibility:  Anyone may enter, excepting of course, employees and/or relatives of our AlienSkin Magazine_® staff.  Staffers and their families are ineligible to enter this contest.