As the nights draw in, we’re starting to think about the festive period (as well as all the fun and frolics that living in 2020 throws at us).
Our Christmas party is always a delight to behold. This plague year, you will almost certainly be invited to be joining it from the privacy of your own abode using your now somewhat over-used Zoom-playing device.
What we would like is to sit around the virtual log fire and hear a Christmas ghost story. But not just any ghost story – our competition winners’ one told by them or their chosen representative.
“What competition?” I hear you cry!
Well, dear reader, we are inviting folks to submit a festive ghost story of 1,500 words or less. It’s up to you as to whether your story is in the spirit of M.R. James, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King or even the Christmas ghost master himself, Mr Charles Dickens.
Unlike our President’s Prize, which is free to all members, for this one we’ll be charging an entry fee of £5, which can be transferred into the Sutton Writers’ bank account. This is so the winner has a prize pot. It’s also open to all, not just members. If you’re on low income or a medical worker, drop SW a line and we’ll see what we can do.
The winner takes prize proceedings, and can read their story out at our Christmas event. We’ll publish the top three on our website, too.
Your deadline is 23:59 GMT this spooky Friday 13th of November.
And, we have a special judge of supernatural pedigree lined up – stay tuned for who it is! – so get quill to parchment and start writing your ghost story.
Good luck and stay safe.
The details
- Up to 1500 words
- Any format – prose or poetry
- £5 entry fee, paid to the Sutton Writers bank account (details here); use “xmas ghost” and your name/initials as the reference
- Winner takes all prize proceedings
- Top 3 stories published on Sutton Writers website
- Deadline 23.59 on Friday 13th November
- Winner announced early December
- Winner judged from a shortlist by a special guest judge to be announced
- Send your entry to us at suttonwriters@yahoo.com with “Christmas ghost story” as your subject line and attach a document (Word or PDF)
- Do not put your name on the submission document as entries will be judged blind
Main image by Tandem X Visuals
Inset image by Robert Heiser