Ghost Story Competition

The Fiction Desk Ghost Story Competition

The 2014 edition of our ghost story competition is now open!
Most of the stories we publish at The Fiction Desk are more or less realistic, but we try to stray outside that from time to time: some genre fiction should be part of any balanced reading diet. One genre that we particularly like to feature is the ghost story.
This year, our ghost story competition has a first prize of £500, and at least five finalists will each receive £100; the winner and finalists will also be published in an upcoming Fiction Desk anthology.
Entries should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words in length. The entry fee is £7 for each story submitted, and the closing date is Friday, May 30th, 2014. Winners will be announced in late July.
The competition is judged by Rob Redman, editor of the anthology series and founder of The Fiction Desk. To enter
To enter our competition, or view the full terms and conditions, please visit our online entry form. Note: what counts as a ghost story?
'Ghost story' can mean a lot of different things, from an encounter with an actual phantom to more unusual paranormal phenomena and unexplained events. All types are welcome, so feel free to experiment: we're very unlikely to disqualify a story for stretching the definition of a "ghost". Keep in mind that our general readership (and by extension our judge) may be more likely to respond well to psychological chills and unexplained mysteries than in-your-face gore.
You might find it helpful or inspiring to read last year's winner and shortlist, collected in our anthology New Ghost Stories, out now in paperback and ebook editions.