Thank you to everyone who submitted this year!
Guest judge Benjamin Percy will choose three winning stories from a shortlist. We’re excited to offer the winner of this prize $3000 and publication, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive publication and $300 and $200, respectively along with publication.
Benjamin Percy is the author of five novels — most recently, The Ninth Metal (Mariner Books) — three story collections — including Suicide Woods — and a book of essays titled Thrill Me that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms.
He wrote two seasons of the audio drama — Wolverine — produced by Marvel and Stitcher. The first season, “Wolverine: The Long Night,” was listed as one of the top 15 podcasts of the year by Apple and won the iHeartRadio Award for Best Scripted Podcast. His latest audio drama — Old Man Starlord — is produced by Marvel and SiriusXM/Pandora and stars Chris Elliot, Timothy Busfield, Vanessa Williams, and Danny Glover.
He writes both Wolverine and X-Force for Marvel Comics. He has also written for DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment and is known for his celebrated runs on Green Arrow, Teen Titans, Nightwing, and James Bond.
His fiction and nonfiction have been published in Esquire (where he is a contributing editor), GQ, Time, Men’s Journal, Outside, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Ploughshares, Tin House, McSweeney’s, and the Paris Review.
His other honors include the Whiting Award, an NEA fellowship, the Whiting Award, the Plimpton Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories, 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, and Best American Comics.
He has lectured at Harvard and taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Uncharted Magazine publishes Horror/Thriller Short Stories from fiction writers of any background or experience. We want stories that keep us up at night, afraid to turn the corner. Stories that take us into the resonant fear of looming monsters and haunting ghosts. We want stories that thrill us by keeping us on the edges of our seats, hearts pounding, wondering how it will end! Stories with characters who refuse to stay in the shadows! We want stories that thrill us, that make us feel alive, that awaken our desires to explore and go on adventures.
GUIDELINES
- The deadline for entry is October 31, 2021. We will announce the shortlist within 8-10 weeks of the contest’s close. All writers will be notified when results are in.
- Your $20 reading fee allows 1 story of 1,001-5,000 words or fewer each per entry.
- We allow multiple submissions—new story should have a separate submission accompanied by a reading fee.
- Short Stories only—5,000 word count maximum.
- We only consider unpublished work for contests—we do not review reprints, including self-published work.
- Simultaneous submissions are okay—please notify us and withdraw your entry if you find another home for your writing.
- All entries will also be considered for publication in Uncharted Magazine.
- Double-space your submission and use Times New Roman 12 pt font.
- Please include a brief cover letter with your publication history (if applicable). Please mention any content warnings as necessary to protect our readers!
- We only read work in English.
- We do not read blind. The judge will read anonymously from the shortlist.
- Some Submittable hot tips: – Please be sure to whitelist/add to contacts so notifications do not get filtered as spam/junk: notifications@email.submittable.com– If you realize you sent the wrong version of your piece: it happens. Please DO NOT withdraw the piece and resubmit. Submittable collects a non-refundable fee each time. Please DO message us from within the submission to request that we open the entry for editing, which will allow you to fix everything from typos in your cover letter to uploading a new draft. The only time we will not allow a change is if the piece is already under review by a reader.
- OPTIONAL FEEDBACK ON YOUR WRITING You may choose to receive editorial feedback on your piece. We will provide a global letter discussing the strengths of the writing and the recommended focus for revision. Our aim is to make our comments actionable and encouraging. These letters are written by editors and staff readers of Uncharted Magazine. A significant portion of the editorial letter fees go to our feedback editor, according to the rates established by the EFA. Should your story win, no feedback will be offered and your fee will be refunded.