Halloween Horror Competition: Winner and Runners-Up!

Well, it was tough - really tough. We received twenty-nine dark and disturbing entries in this year's Halloween Horror Competition and the quality of writing was simply outstanding.

I struggled to reduce the twenty-nine to a longlist of thirteen, and then to a shortlist of seven. Even then it was incredibly tight so I sent the seven tales to Matt, Col and David - without the authors' names - and asked them to read and score the shortlist. The results were pretty much unanimous, and our joint decision was made.

The winner of the Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers Halloween Horror Competition 2012 is...

Angel Zapata, with Lost Soles!

Many congratulations to Angel; he'll receive copies of ebooks from each of the TK'n'C editors and his terrifying story will be published here on the night of Halloween 2012. 

Runner-up in the competition is A J Humpage, with the chilling Gabriel's Reflection. Look out for her story on TK'n'C on Tuesday 30th October.

And in second runner-up place, we had a tie! So tomorrow evening we'll be publishing TWO stories:

• The Perfect Wife by Allan Watson
• The Granny Farmer by Lee Hughes

Very well done to Angel, AJ, Allan and Lee as well as all competition contestants. Take it from me - you make editing a pleasure.

Come back tomorrow for Lee and Allan's horrifying treats.

Horrorists - it's Competition Time!!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED - WINNER AND RUNNERS-UP TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!

We all know October is the time of year when the veil between the real and 'other' worlds (whatever that happens to mean to you) is thin, building up to the horror frenzy that is Halloween. 

We couldn't let the month go by without a special nod to the celebrations so:

• we're running a competition! Send us your best, darkest horror in up to 2,000 words and the winning story will be published on TK'n'C on Hallow'een itself, 31st October. The author will also win ebooks by ALL the TK'n'C Editors.
  
  Two runners-up's stories will be published on 29th and 30th October.
  
  More details below...
  
• We're also running a TK'n'C Editors special! Each weekend, one of us will publish a terrifying tale - starting Sunday October 7th with Matt Hilton's electrifying, disturbing, and never-before published SUFFERING SUCCUBI. 

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

• There is no theme. There are already lots of clichéd Halloween tales going round so we're open to pure horror on all themes (as long as they adhere to our general submission guidelines - please read)
• Stories should be no longer than 2,000 words. 
• Please do not indent new paragraphs, just use a paragraph break in-between.
• Time is tight - you only have from now until midnight on 22nd October to send in your story
• Please send your stories in the body of an email (attachments will not be opened) with 'Halloween Horror' in the subject line to tknchorror@gmail.com. 
• Please add a short bio (two or three sentences) at the end of your story.
• Reprints are acceptable as long as you own the rights to send them. Please let us know where and when a story has previously been published.
• The author retains all copyright to the works (be aware that some publishers will not take works previously published on the web)
• The author of the winning story will receive eBooks, or PDF versions of books by each of the Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers editors - Matt Hilton, Col Bury, David Barber and Lily Childs

That's it! We're waiting - now scare us to death.

Good luck.

Submission News and a Halloween Horror Comp

Great news! Thrillers Killers 'n' Chillers will open its creaky doors to submissions again next month. So keep an eye out for the announcement.

For a reminder of what we are looking for, take a look at our main submissions page and my previous post on horror submissions.

Halloween Horror

This year we'll be running a competition - the best three horror stories received will be published on TK'n'C on 29th, 30th and 31st October. There'll also be a prize for the top tale. 

Details coming up in the next couple of days!

In addition, October will be an Editors' Horror Special - one ghastly short story each weekend, kicking off with a truly terrifying descent into the dark dungeons of Matt Hilton's mind. 

Don't miss it - come back soon!

Competition Up-Date - IMPORTANT CHANGE

Many of you will have alreay read that I am running a competition to win a signed first edition hardback of Joe Hunter 3 - SLASH and BURN - and the rules can be found by clicking here

Well, after much thought and deliberation, I decided that you all should have the opportunity to read the wonderful stories being sent in, with the opportunity to read them all and to comment and vote on your favourite.

I thought that this would be a fairer and more translucent process than me picking my favourites (it also dispells any claims of favouritism on my part!!)

So here's how it's going to go now:

I have set up a new blog called 'JOE HUNTER'S FIXERS' and you can find it here:

http://joehuntersfixers.blogspot.com/

I will post each story anonymously, so the stories themselve rest on their merits and not on the name of the author. Please do read and leave comments, but if you are the author please don't make it known by replying to them - yet -you can do that once the competition has ended if you wish.

On the closing date for entries, I will open voting by way of a poll.

The top three (voted for by you and me) will then be posted here at Thrillers, Killers 'N' Chillers and over at my personal blog at Matt Hilton Thrills and voting will be re-opened to find everyone's favourite. I will collate the votes from both sites and then announce the winner on 1st April and arrange for the book to be sent to the winner.

Remember, this is just a bit of fun. Copyright remains the property of the individual author and your story is yours to do with as you wish following the closing date. I will of course credit each story with the authors name afterwards. Happy writing - and good luck.

I hope you all agree that this is a clearer and fairer way of judging, and now invite you all to go over to JOE HUNTER'S FIXERS to read the first entries already posted there.

Matt

Short story competition - win a signed copy of Matt Hilton's SLASH AND BURN

Go here for details: http://matthiltonbooks.blogspot.com/2010/01/win-signed-first-edition-hardback-copy.html

Good Luck!