The Top Twenty
First: thanks to everyone who entered the competition. We were delighted at the enthusiastic response to our call for modern, scary stories.
Due to the large number of entries for the Campaign for Real Fear, and the high calibre of the final group of submissions, Chris and I have decided to select twenty winning stories.
You will be able to read the first batch of ten stories in the June issue (#17) of Black Static followed by the second batch of ten stories in the August issue (#18), and they will be podcast by Action Audio.
Top Twenty
- ‘Copy Degradation’ by Gemma Files; Canada
- ‘In The Night Supermarket’ by James Burt; UK
- ‘Nice One, Truly’ by Alan Morgan; UK
- ‘On The Beaten Path’ by Janos Honkonen; Finland
- ‘Sanctuary’ by Katherine Hughes; UK
- ‘The Price’ by Jennifer Williams; UK
- ‘The Rude Little Girl’ by Kaaron Warren; Australia
- ‘This Is Mung’ by Christine Emmett; South Africa
- ‘The Flinchfield Dance’ by Mary Elizabeth Burroughs; Australia
- ‘Shades of Blue’ by Catherine MacLeod; Canada
- ‘Infected With Death’ by John Fagan; UK
- ‘The Exchange’ by Eileen Chao; USA
- ‘Under The Microscope’ by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt; USA
- ‘See You Later’ by M. M. De Voe; USA
- ‘Showtime’ by James Carroll; Australia
- ‘Hounded’ by Christina Koh; UK
- ‘Big Brother, Little Sister’ by Sam Fleming; UK
- ‘Cuckoo’ by Lorraine Slater; UK
- ‘Dreadless’ by Anna Rogala; UK
- ‘Give Me More Eyes for Nakedness’ by Paul Synnott; UK
Honourable Mentions
- ‘Victoria Sponge’ by Carole Johnstone; UK
- ‘Live Coverage: Crucifixion’ by Gareth May; UK
- ‘Don’t Ask Me’ by R. B. Russell; UK
- ‘The Wise Ones’ by Neslihan Atcan Altan; Turkey
- ‘Us or Them’ by Adam Napier; UK
- ‘Primogeniture’ by Kirsty Logan; UK
- ‘What’s On Your Mind?’ by Aoife MacCormac; Ireland
Congratulations to all our winners for writing such memorable stories!
We’re saddened we couldn’t take more, which is why we listed seven honourable mentions. There were several other strong contenders we had to put aside with a great deal of regret.
We received a range of work from first-time writers through to seasoned professionals. Our final group represents a spectrum of experience as well as showcasing the variety of talent writing modern horror fiction.
Our feedback and analysis of the competition will appear in the June issue of Black Static, and afterwards we will publish it here.
Campaign for Real Fear 
How fantastic that I don’t recognize so many of the authors’ names!
Hooray for the Campaign!