After our last two Halloween contests insisted on the involvement of some kind of monster, Flash Fear has shown that some of the most monstrously head-spinning flash fiction can be unleashed when the shackles come off. This no-holds-barred approach to horror has yielded some of our most unnerving results to date, making this contest yet again an incredibly thrilling (and difficult) one to judge.

Close-but-no-cigar mentions go to the following writers:

Marta Balcewicz
Sarah Beaudette
Andrew Bourelle
Gary Buller
Trevor Byington
Jeremy Capps (2)
Nathan Coley
Christina Dalcher
Shane Gannaway
Laura Garrison
Wiebo Grobler
GJ Hart
D.I. Hughes
Emily Livingstone
Darla Kennerud
Carrie Redway
Aeryn Rudel
Allison Spector
Matt St. Hilaire

The Top 10 that you’ll find below will be published in our forthcoming Flash Fear mega-issue, which will run on Halloween. They will also be included in next year’s Prize Winners Anthology print issue. You can check out last year’s Prize Winners Anthology here, and this year’s anthology will be available by the end of November.

But enough jibber-jabber. Let’s get to the goods.

Honorable mentions go to:

10th Place – “Sixteen Minutes” by Premee Mohamed

9th Place – “In the Grain Bin” by Lindsey Baker

8th Place – “Tingles” by Michael Tanner

7th Place – “The Locus” by Nicholas Siegel

6th Place – “All the Goldfish” by Jennifer Lynn Krohn

5th Place – “Passing” by Patrick Kelly

4th Place – “Bless You” by Wiebo Grobler

And now on to the three stories that really deserve a big hand…

3rd Place ($50)

“Masks”
by Aeryn Rudel

2nd Place ($100)

“Black Stained Glass”
by S.E. Casey

1st Place ($200)

“The Taxidermist’s Only Son”
by Caroline Smith

Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Flash Fear contest. We literally couldn’t do this without you. Check back on Halloween for our Flash Fear mega-issue!