Doctor Satan presents the Creative Horror Network’s New Pulp Revival Writing Contest! Indulge in the tales of yesteryear with our newest creative writing challenge and try your hand at the new pulp fiction renaissance.
RULES
Write a short story in the vein of pulp fiction from the late 1800s to 1940. Examples include but are not limited to:
Early British scifi e.g. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
Pirates/adventure on the high seas e.g. Strike the Black Flag by Jay Scotland
Sword and Sorcery e.g. Conan the Barbarian by Robert E. Howard
Cosmic horror e.g. Dagon by H.P. Lovecraft
Early American scifi e.g. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Detective/Film Noir e.g. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammet
Traditional or Gothic Horror e.g. The Woman Who Stole a Ghost by Agatha Christie
Unhinged nonsense e.g. Doctor Satan by Paul Ernst
2. General guidelines:
Write as if you are being paid by the word. The more description and “unnecessary” words, the better. Brevity may be the sole of wit, but we’re not writing Shakespearian prose.
Pulp is characterized as/by overly descriptive or rich imagery; cartoonish or even outlandish characters (especially the villains); imaginative settings and story lines; and ridiculous-ass names. Your story should take us on an adventure, be it fun or horrifying.
Do not feel pressured to make it horror or horror-adjacent. Though that is more than welcome.
Do not use slurs. Do not Include prejudicial, discriminatory, racist, or otherwise obviously offensive material as if you as the author were in support of it or otherwise condone it. While such language is an unfortunate asset in a lot of pulp literature, it is not welcome here.
You may, however, address, explore, and otherwise criticize these themes in a constructive way. Themes include: Racism, slavery, gender issues, socio-political issues, war, violence, classism, etc.
Do not feel pressured to include romance, a damsel in distress, or anything related to intimacy. Of course, you are not prevented from doing that either. While this is also a facet of a lot of pulp literature, it is not required.
3. Word limit: Minimum 2,000 - Maximum 5,500.
4. No generative AI or generative AI-assisted submissions.
5. Deadline to submit: August 15, 2024 by 11:59 PM.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Please submit to creativehorrorwriting@outlook.com with the subject line “New Pulp 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.
Only one entry per contestant. If you submit multiple entries, only the first entry will be considered.
By submitting your story you are also granting Creative Horror permission to possibly use it in future episodes and the non-exclusive right to be published in a free pulp-style webzine. Authors otherwise retain the copyright to their works.
Any late entries or entries outside the word limit will be disqualified.
As always, feel free to reach out on the discord or to any one of the judges if you want to confirm that your idea fits within the rules.
PRIZES
Three winners will be selected from the entries and awarded cash prizes via Paypal or Venmo.
1st Place: $100
2nd Place: $50
3rd Place: $25
Winning stories will be read and discussed in a future episode of UCA. Winning stories and honorable mentions may also be featured in a free Pulp-style webzine.