Author Tom Deady won Crystal Lake’s most recent flash contest and has agreed to host. Here is the new theme:
“The theme for February is HEARTS in honor of Valentine’s Day. Give me your broken hearts, your cold hearts, your black hearts, your hearts beating under the floorboards. Don’t forget, there was a little event called the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, so it’s not all chocolates and roses.”
Before we get to the submission guidelines, please know that only the top 15 to 20 stories will be posted on our Patreon page for our patrons to vote on. The winner will receive $0.03 per word, publication in a future Hotel Macabre anthology, and an Author Spotlight on our newsletter and Patreon page. The second-place winner will receive $0.02 a word, and the third place winner $0.01 per word. The winner will also have the option of hosting the following month’s contest for an additional $50.
Submission guidelines:
-Max 1,500 words
-Submit your entry in the body of an email to crystallakesubmissions@gmail.com (no attachments, please)
-The email subject line should be the story’s title and your author name / pseudonym
-The deadline is midnight at the end of February, wherever in the world you may reside.
-No multiple submissions (only your best story)
-Reprints are allowed if they naturally fit the theme.
-Put your bio below your story (max 500 words).
-Don’t use any AI to create your words. You can use programs with AI support (to edit mostly), but all finalists will be scanned for AI before being announced. If a story scores a high likelihood of being AI content, it won’t be accepted as a finalist.