What’s lurking out there in the shadows, waiting to pounce? You tell us! We’ve joined forces with Animal Fact Files to present a new challenge: create a fresh cryptozoological wonder (or horror)!
Rules
Write a story about a cryptid of your own design. It can be inspired by other cryptids, but it must be unique enough to differentiate from known cryptids.
The goal is to create a believable cryptid that could have been spotted in real life, written about in newspapers, discussed on forums, etc.
Your story can be in any format: poem, article, research paper, etc.
Word limit: 1,500
Deadline: Sunday, July 4th, 2021, 11:59PM PST
HOW TO SUBMIT
Email completed stories to midnightmarinara@gmail.com.
The subject line must contain: “Cryptid Writing Contest: Story Title - Author Name”
Stories may be submitted as a Word doc, pdf, pasted into the body of the email, or as a Google Doc link. (Please make sure any Google docs have permissions open for anyone to view.) Make sure your name is nowhere in the actual document or story itself.
By submitting your story you are also granting Creative Horror and UCA permission to possibly use it in future episodes.
Only one entry per person. If you submit multiple entries, only the first entry will be considered.
Any late entries or entries over the word limit will be disqualified.
PRIZES
Three winners will be selected from the entries and awarded cash prizes via Paypal or Venmo.
1st - $50
2nd - $30
3rd - $20
Winning stories will be read and discussed in a future episode of UCA. The first-place story may also have the chance of being fully narrated with sound editing in a video on the Creative Horror Youtube page.
