In a town full of mysteries and things that go bump in the night, we want you to write a story based on ONE of the prompts below.

It's up to you to decide which role you'll step into. Will you be the spiritual psychic, or will you become a dedicated detective?

You're a small town psychic, who has recently been hired to find out the identity of a washed up body on the beach. The only problem is that no matter how hard you try, you can't get a good reading of the body. There's something odd about it. Write about what's wrong with the body and how it ended up on your beach.

It's your first day as a police detective, and you're looking forward to proving yourself. That morning, you find a dead body left at the doorsteps of the police station. Except, the body looks just like you. It's up to you to find out what's going on. Write about the mystery behind the corpse.

Rules & Guidelines:

1. Your word count must be between 800-1500 words.

2. Submission date: June 15th 2018, 11:59 PM EST.

3. Please choose only ONE prompt. Do not combine the prompts to form a single entry.

If you are feeling particularly daring, you may choose to write an entry for both prompts. Please keep both prompt entries separate from each other (separate chapter or book submissions) and submit both entries separately.

4. Pay close attention to your grammar and spelling.

5. All entries must be in ENGLISH.

6. You may add your entry to a collection of short stories or contest entries.

7. Your entry must be an original story that was created specifically for this contest. You are not allowed to enter an existing novel or short story.

WINNERS:

Winner 1: Dead man walking by @KaylinFink

Winner 2: Whispers in the Dark by @Shreya_VA

Winner 3: What lurks in the dark by @Tiscon

Winner 4: The case notes of Dr Monday by @CelticRose

Winner 5: Welcome to Boardwalk by @addsscruggs

You can read the winning entries in our Contest Reading List!

FAQs:

A: No, we will not accept any stories that contain any mature content. For what qualifies as mature, please note that:

Mature stories are intended for an audience that is 17 and up. A story may be rated Mature if it contains any of the following:

1. An explicit sex scene (R-rated)

2. Self-harm themes or scenes (including suicide and eating disorders)

3. Graphic depictions of violence

To read the full content guidelines, please click .

A: We are only accepting stories that have been written by one author per entry. That means that we will not accept co-written entries.

A: You may divide your entry into numerous chapters, provided that the sum total of all your chapters add up to 800-1500 words altogether. The word count applies to the entirety of your submission, and not just to individual chapters.

A: Your word count includes the body of your story text, or any text that can be read as part of your submission in order to move the plot along.

Your word count excludes any author's notes, author explanations, shout-outs, dedications and any text found in images used to enhance your story.

A: If you choose to write an entry for prompt 1 and prompt 2, please treat the prompts as separate entries. You may still add your entries to the same book, just keep in mind that they will form two separate entries as if they are being submitted for different contests.

Please note that if you choose to write two entries, these stories must not overlap with each other, and that the prompts must not be combined to form one single prompt. Your entries will be judged individually, and not together. Each entry must adhere to the word count, meaning that prompt 1's entry must be a story of 800-1500 word and prompt 2's entry must be a story of 800-1500 words.

A: We will choose three winners for each prompt. That means that there will be six winners altogether. We will also choose two honourable mentions for each prompt, thus there will be four honourable mentions altogether. Honourable mentions will be specifically chosen by the profiles and will be those entries that we think deserve a special mention.