Facade of Shadows  August 1, 2007 - October 1, 2007

Does anyone else realize that Halloween is just around the corner? Being my favorite holiday, and the one year anniversary of the release of my book Facade of Shadows, I�m ready to kick the season off a bit early this year with a horror contest of my own making. The contest will end October 1, 2007 so as to give me time to get out prizes before the fated night.

I am looking for original short stories under 3500 words in length. The story must be complete, not part of a larger work, and only leave questions if they are part of the psychological effect. Judging will be on a 100 point based system, not by comparison, with points assigned in the following categories: Title, 10; Opening, 10; Characterization, 10; Plot, 10; Setting, 10; Use of Elements from other Genres, 10; Use of Horror Elements, 20; Overall Appeal, 20. Originality is a must in all categories mentioned above.

The challenge - I believe all horror can be summed up into one or more of five categories:

1. Monster horror uses frightening creatures to emphasize a particular human weakness such as obsession with death or fear of domination.

2. Smart horror creates horror through intellectual weirdness, thought provoking peculiarity, or emotional strain.

3. Slasher horror relies on graphic or gory visuals to stimulate horror.

4. Supernatural horror disturbs by stimulating the mind with the unknown.

5. Psychological horror relies on the readers mind to create terror, and may cause fear by uncovering something terrible about ourselves.

If your work fits into one of these categories then you have your work cut out for you. Using more than one will get you higher Use of Horror Elements points.

Please see my articles Horror Writing 101, A Fresh Start, Is Clich� Clich�, and Writing the Modern Day Vampire to help you on your quest for perfection. Remember that I must relate to your antagonist, because that is how horror works, by explicating the darkness at the reader�s soul.

First place receives a 50 dollar prize, a pair of Scarecrow custom vampire fangs from vampfangs.com, a signed copy of my book Fa�ade of Shadows, one of those nifty medals, and a glowing 5 star review.

Second and third place receive a signed copy of my book Fa�ade of Shadows, one of those lesser medals, and a glowing 5 star review.

Let�s make this the largest horror contest WritersCafe has ever seen. Happy haunting.

$50.00, $50.00 a copy of Facade of Shadows, Vampire Fangs, A copy of Facade of Shadows, A copy of Facade of Shadows

facadeofshadows

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Created Jul 18, 2007