Black Static

Black Static Magazine and WHC 2011 Short Story Contest:

In conjunction with Black Static magazine, we are proud to announce the World Horror Convention 2011 Short Story Contest. Writers from around the world are now able to submit their most engaging and terrifying short fiction to our judging panel for the chance to have their story published.

And we do mean published! The winning entry will appear in the collectible WHC 2011 Souvenir Book, alongside work by Sarah Langan, Joe Hill, Steve Niles, Peter Crowther, Joe R. Lansdale, Brian Keene and other top genre names. In addition to appearing in the Souvenir Book, the winning entry will be republished in Black Static Magazine and will be paid industry professional standard of 5 cents per word.

GUIDELINES:

1. Must have a WHC 2011 full membership or supporting membership at time of story submission to participate. No exceptions.

2. WHC 2011 committee, contest judges, and their families are ineligible.

3. We are seeking stories 500 – 4,000 words. Though this contest is open to international authors, all submissions must be submitted in English.

4. Traditional manuscript format: Double-spaced; 1-inch margins; paragraphs indicated by indent not extra line space; 12-point type presented in a clear, readable font (Times, Times New Roman).

5. On the first page of the story, please include Story Title, Author Name and Contact Information, and Word Count. A cover letter is not necessary and will not be forwarded to the judges.

6. This will be a blind submission, meaning author names and identifiers will be stripped from the document before being presented to judges. Page number and story title should appear in the Header.

7. Open submission dates – August 31st–Oct. 31st, 2010 (Midnight, Central Standard Time). Any submissions that arrive before or after the submission period will be deleted, unread.

8. No reprints. No simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions. If a story is found to be in violation of any of the above, it will be disqualified from the contest.

9. Authors will receive confirmation that their stories have been received. Due to the nature of the contest, we will not be sending out rejection notices. We understand this is an inconvenience to authors and apologize (The committee is comprised of authors and empathize, but due to the nature of the contest, it just isn’t possible). Please consider your story under consideration until the winner is named. The winner will be announced on Thursday, April 27, 2011.

10. Electronic submissions only! An email address for submissions will be announced the week before the open reading period begins.

11. The winning title will be chosen from the 3 finalists by one of WHC 2011’s Guests of Honor.

12. We ask that you not contact the judges in regard to the contest. They might get grumpy. Please direct all questions to Lee Thomas at info [at] whc2011.org. (And no, that’s not the submission address).

13. SUBMIT ALL ENTRIES TO WHCContest [at] gmail.com

14. Confirmed judges – who will pick the 3 finalists from the story submissions:

Nicholas Kaufmann – Nicholas Kaufmann is the critically acclaimed author of the Bram Stoker Award-nominated General Slocum’s Gold (Burning Effigy Press), Hunt at World’s End (as Gabriel Hunt, Leisure Books), Chasing the Dragon (ChiZine Publications) and the collection Walk in Shadows (Prime Books, out of print). His fiction has appeared in Cemetery Dance, The Mammoth Book of Best New Erotica 3, City Slab, The Best American Erotica 2007, Playboy and others. In addition to writing the monthly “Dead Air” column for The Internet Review of Science Fiction, his non-fiction has appeared in On Writing Horror (Writers Digest Books), Dark Scribe Magazine, Fear Zone, An nabelle Magazine, Fantastic Metropolis, Hellnotes and others. He has also served on the Board of Trustees for the Horror Writers Association and is a member of the International Thriller Writers. Professionally immersed in books his whole life, Kaufmann has been the Publicity Manager for a small literary press, a pitchman for a widely respected PR firm specializing in TV and radio author appearances, a bookstore clerk, an independent bookstore owner (the late, lamented Tell-Tale Books), and a manager for Barnes & Noble, as well as the manager for a small indie video store. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. www.nicholaskaufmann.com

Weston Ochse – is known as El Elvis Rojo south of the border and has been known to appear on doorsteps singing his tales of horror and woe to the occupants who are huddled inside. The residents of the Mexican State of Sonora have begun to paint sigils on their doors to ward him away and have begun a tradition of providing offerings in the town squares of Sonoran Hotdogs, Pollo Asado Burritos and Chili Rellenos in an effort to appease El Elvis Rojo. North of the border he is a fiction author who has won the Bram Stoker Award for First Novel, and has been nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in both Short and Long Fiction, as well as the Pushcart Prize for short fiction. His most recent novel is Empire of Salt, a tale of zombie love and loss on the shores of the Salton Sea. In his spare time, he races tarantula wasps, watches Border Patrol Death Race 2000, and bakes in the noonday sun. You can find him at www.westonochse.com.

Wrath James White – WRATH JAMES WHITE is a former World Class Heavyweight Kickboxer, a professional Kickboxing and Mixed Martial Arts trainer, distance runner, performance artist, and former street brawler, who is now known for creating some of the most disturbing works of fiction in print. Wrath’s two most recent novels are THE RESURRECTIONIST and YACCUB’S CURSE. He is also the author of SUCCULENT PREY, THE BOOK OF A THOUSAND SINS, HIS PAIN and POPULATION ZERO. He is the co-author of TERATOLOGIST co-written with the king of extreme horror, Edward Lee, ORGY OF SOULS co-written with Maurice Broaddus, HERO co-written with J.F. Gonzalez, and POISONING EROS co-written with Monica J. O’Rourke. Wrath lives and works in Austin, Texas with his two daughters, Isis and Nala, his son Sultan and his wife Christie.

Mary SanGiovanni – Mary SanGiovanni is the author of the Bram Stoker nominated THE HOLLOWER and its sequel, FOUND YOU, both from Leisure Books. She has been writing fiction for over ten years, and her short fiction has appeared in various periodicals and anthologies includingPostscripts, LEGENDS OF THE MOUNTAIN STATE, Inhuman Magazine, and Horrorworld.com, and some of her earlier short fiction was collected in UNDER COVER OF NIGHT in 2002. Recent interviews include one with FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND. She received a Masters in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pittsburgh, PA, where she studied under Mike Arnzen, Tom Monteleone, and Gary Braunbeck, among others. She has been a member of the Garden State Horror Writers and Horror Writers Association, serving both in various administration capacities, and is currently a member of The Authors Guild and Penn Writers. She co-edited the monst recent GSHW anthology, DARK TERRITORIES, with fellow author Gary Frank. Her upcoming work includes a new novel and a novella, as well as new short fiction. Mary lives in suburban northern New Jersey with her son, Adam. www.marysangiovanni.com