All Hallow's Tales Contest 2014 - CLOSED

Ghouls and Ghasts and ne'er do wells, welcome once again to the LaBORatory for our annual celebration of prosaic chills in this, the season of all things spooky.

Have you ever ran across a photo, perhaps lying on the sidewalk, or tucked between the pages of the family Bible, a photo so strange that your mind just couldn't help but to form a story around it? 

Dear writer, let this contest be the dusty attic, the abandoned parking lot, the spooky junk store with stacks of forgotten photos just waiting to have their story told. That, dear writer, is where you come in.

THE CONTEST

This is a Halloween-inspired, Literature-only contest asking for submissions of PROSE FICTION. Each entrant will be assigned a photo at random from a bank of photos generously donated from photographers all over deviantArt.

When you are assigned a photo, you must write a story using that photo as inspiration. Ignore the photo's title, artist comments, and any comments or critiques left by others. You can take the photo literally or metaphorically, it's up to you. What kind of story you write is also up to you, but please remember that this is a Halloween contest. We're looking for stories that are scary, disturbing, morbid, chilling, creepy, or darkly funny. Halloween, most of all, is supposed to be fun. Your story should be entertaining to read, no matter how scary or gritty or butt-puckering it is. So have fun with it!

HOW TO ENTER:

Gather your courage, make sure your chemical beakers are full and your test subjects are appropriately drugged. Then, send a note to Memnalar with CONTEST PHOTO REQUEST as the subject line. He will then send you your randomly-chosen photo. If you don't like your photo, that's too bad. Make it work!

When your story is finished, upload it as a deviation and send a note to Memnalar with a link to your entry. He will then collect your entry into an Entry Gallery.

IMPORTANT THINGS:
For the judges' sake, please include a link to your photo in your Artist's Comments at the bottom of the entry.
You can make changes to your entry even after you've entered, but be aware that your entry is fair game for judging as soon as I've placed it into the Entry Gallery.

RULES:

Deadline is midnight October 25(CST), and winners will (hopefully) be announced by October 31. Prose fiction only, 3,000-word maximum.

Let me repeat that.  3,000-word  M A X I M U M.  No, I will not take your entry if it's 3,001 words long. Don't even ask.

One entry per contestant will be accepted. Prize donors are eligible to enter, but not judges. Entries must be new pieces posted after the contest begins. Entries earning Daily Deviations or major features before the end of the contest will be disqualified. No fan-fiction will be accepted. Prose only, no poetry.

JUDGING:

Each entry will be judged on a point system encompassing four factors: Creativity, Technique, Use of Photo and "The Halloween Factor."

The official judging period will be the week after the contest deadline. HOWEVER, judges will be encouraged to read and score the entries as they come in. Please be aware that your entry is fair game for judging as soon as I place it in the entry gallery, so don't send it to me until you're ready for it to be judged.


JUDGES
The following brave souls have agreed to read and score the entries.
BeccaJS
LionesseRampant
neurotype-on-discord
KreepingSpawn

PRIZES:

I will be accepting prize donations until the contest results are revealed on October 31. Anything is welcome: Points, Premium Memberships, Prints, Commissions, Original Artwork, Journal Features, whatever you've got.


Points Pool Donors:
Pooled points may be used for prizes or other contest-related activities.

BarbecuedIguana - 1,500 points
inknalcohol - 1,000 points
xlntwtch - 1,000 points
Tobaeus - 600 points
Halatia - 500 points
LadyLincoln - 300 points
Magnius159 - 300 points
Aranov - 200 points
TheSkaBoss 200 points
ThornyEnglishRose - 100 points
HuffingtontheOnly - 7 points