WINNERS of the 2017 short story competition

It’s with the greatest pleasure that we announce the winner, runners-up and finalists of the 2017 SA Horrorfest Bloody Parchment short story competition. As always, there were many wonderful stories shortlisted, and our judges had their work cut out for them. So, a big thank you to our judges Blaize Kaye, Diane Awerbuck, Masha du Toit, Louis Greenberg, Tammy February and Efemia Chela.

Our winner for the 2017 competition is Pravasan Pillay, for his short story “The Boy Racer”. Our runners-up are Mlilo Mpondo and Ajibola Ogundiran. Huge congratulations are in order! Our finalists, who will also be included in the anthology, include AJ Flowers, Toby Bennett, Susan Rabe, Domenico Pisanti, Calvin Demmer, Hayden Robinson, Manu Herbstein, Marcelle van Niekerk, Gina Kukard and Elaine Dodge.

Do pick up our most recent anthology for 13 dark SFF and horror tales to chill and thrill you.

WINNERS: 2016 SA HORRORFEST BLOODY PARCHMENT SHORT STORY COMPETITION

It is with great pride that I bring you the final round-up for the 2016 SA HorrorFest Bloody Parchment short story competition.

Taking first place, we have Blaize Kaye, with "Remains of an Old World".

Runners-up are Brett Rex Bruton, with "The Out of Place"; and Lester Walbrugh, with "For Better or Wors".

Our finalists, who have the option of going into the anthology, as well as receiving some extremely useful editor notes to help improve their story-telling overall, with guidance from an editor, include Aito Osemegbe Joseph, Shaun van Rensburg, Erhu Amreyan, Jessica Liebenberg, Toby Bennett, Stephen Embleton, Livingston Edwards, William Burger, Mignotte Mekuria, and Janine Milne.

A very big congratulations to all of you!

We would like to thank this year's judges: Cat Hellisen, Dave de Burgh, Diane Awerbuck, Efemia Chela, Lauren Smith and Sarah Lotz, who had the difficult task of evaluating the short list.

Congratulations to 2012's winner and finalists

Wow, what a bunch of stories to have gone through. First off, a big, hearty congratulations to Toby Bennett. Not only is he the winner of the 2012 SA HorrorFest Bloody Parchment short story competition with his story The Root Cellar, but another of his submissions was selected as a finalist—Wants and Needs. He wins a comprehensive round of edits for a novel-length work.

Our runners-up are Anna Reith, with Counting Seraphs, and Chris Limb, with Alibi. Each receives comprehensive edits for a short story or novella-length work or, alternatively, edits for the first three chapters of a novel.

Then, our finalists in no particular order:
Diane Awerbuck, Duiweltjie
Zane Marc Gentis, Heirloom
Stephen Hewitt, Kiss the Butcher's Daughter
SA Partridge, Jethro Mackenzie and the Devil
Icy Sedgwick, Protection
Glen Mehn, The Next Big Thing
Simon Dewar, The Kettle
Lee Mather, Jamie's Song
Benjamin Knox, Strands

Then, a huge humungous thank you to our judges. Sarah Lotz, Joe Vaz, Carrie Clevenger, Kelly (It's a Book Thing blog), Shaun Swingler and Cat Hellisen all offered their time to read over the entries and help in the decision-making process. And this year was tough. Trust me. Also, once again, many thanks to Louis Greenberg of eKhaya, for yet another year, and, as always, to Paul Blom and Sonja Ruppersberg, who bring us the SA HorrorFest annually, without fail.

Lastly, though I'd love to send out personal responses to everyone who entered, due to the volume of entries we received, I will not be able to notify those who didn't reach the final round. Many thanks to all those who submitted stories. I'll announce the opening for the 2013 contest later this year.

2012 Bloody Parchment anthology winner and finalists announced

After having navigated chaos, sickness and a festive season’s madness, I’m pleased to announce that the Bloody Parchment judges have finished reading the stories entered into last year’s competition, and that we have the results. We received more entries this year than before, and it was difficult narrowing down the stories for the final selection that went through to the judges—who were then tasked with choosing the winners.

In first place, we have Christina Vincent (Inferna). Congratulations, Christina. You have won a comprehensive round of edits for a novel-length work. Our runners-up are Brett R Bruton (Hidden things, Lost Things) and Jenny Robson (Healing Hands), who have each won an assessment of their first chapter of a novel or a short story.

Our other finalists are Mico Pisanti (Fluoride in the Water), Lee Mather (Masks), Stacey Larner (Duck Creek Road), Toby Bennett (A Few Withered Leaves), SL Schmitz (The Woman Who Sold the World), Benjamin Knox (Wither), Austin Malone (Excerpt for Bryan) and Joan De La Haye (Death Express).

We will now be entering the editing process with the aim of bringing out the anthology in a few months’ time (barring chaos). Release date to be announced!

Then, a big thank you to the Bloody Parchment judges, who contributed their time and expertise. This year the likes of Cat Hellisen (author, When the Sea is Rising Red), Joe Vaz (editor, Something Wicked magazine), Shaun Swingler (editor, Jungle Jim magazine), Sarah Lotz (author, The Mall – one half of SL Grey) and Carrie Clevenger (author, Crooked Fang) cast their beady eyes over the entrants.

Once again, I must thank Paul Blom and Sonja Ruppersberg-Blom, the organisers of the SA HorrorFest, for all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the fest. The SA HorrorFest is the only horror-focused event of its kind in South Africa, and each year it grows in scope, offering a variety of films, music, literature and more.

Greetings!

The favourite dark tales entered into the South African HORRORFEST's first Bloody Parchment short story competition have been selected. The top 3 will appear on www.SomethingWicked.co.za, and we'll be in contact about compiling the Top 9 as an electronic anthology soon.

Thanks you so much to everyone sending in their stories. We foresee this to become a notable platform for dark/horror/fantasy writers.

The 2010 Bloody Parchment top 5 choices include :

1st choice: New Lease On Life by Liam Kruger
Tied at 2nd: The Depths by Carol Hone, and Strange Fruit by Rachel Green
3rd choice: Apartment 415 by SA Partridge
4th choice: 1301 by Chris Miller

Further commendable stories (in no particular order) include:
Clear Black Glass by Carine Engelbrecht
Regrets, Sunday Afternoon by Rachel Green
Burden In My Hand by Damon Yeld
The Night Walkers by Wendy Cockcroft

This notification is also posted at: http://www.SHADOWREALMinc.com/bloodyparchment

Feel free to spread the news far & wide.

We're looking forward to reading the 2011 entries! (submissions will be open in August – see website for details http://www.SHADOWREALMinc.com/bloodyparchment
or
http://www.bloodyparchment.blogspot.com/2010/05/bloody-parchment-short-story.html )