Dark Places Writing Competition - Various Deadlines

To get your story entered into our writing competition, simply pay for your entry by clicking the button below (Pay for contest entry): £1.25 per entry. Then submit your story on the submission form at the bottom of the page. We use Paypal to manage all transactions including credit/debit cards (you don’t have to be a Paypal account holder). Please use the same email address as the one your register with as you are paying, when submitting your story. The writing competition is now closed, it will reopen in July. The competitions dates are:

1st March to the 15th June
1st July to the 15th October
1st November to the 15th February

A submission form will appear at the bottom of this page when the competition reopens.

There are five winners whose stories are published in the upcoming volume of Dark Places. In addition to this, first place wins £50 and second place wins a quarterly subscription to the editing service Grammarly, worth around £40. All winners get a free e-copy of the magazine.

Guidelines for submission:
The piece must be between 1000-5000 words
Microsoft Word Compatibility 2000-2003
It must be error free with correct grammar and punctuation
It must contain no sexual violence or Racism
Previously unpublished stories only

Here is a helpful article on the top mistakes made submitting short stories to the magazine.

Here is an article on the mechanics of short story writing that is a must read for any new writers.