Let’s have a look, shall we…

Well, you certainly don’t make this easy on us. We asked you to go real weird with it, and you didn’t disappoint. It feels like we say this every time, but the judging process was an especially arduous one, with a lot of back and forth debate before we finally settled on our strange and surreal Top 10. 

A strong global turnout once again. As always, there was a hearty showing of writers in both the U.S. and the U.K., with Australia bringing the heat lately as well. We also read work from writers in places as far-flung as Canada, France, Ireland, Malta, New Zealand, and South Korea. 

But you didn’t come here for a geography lesson…

The following writers had stories that made it through several rounds of cuts, but didn’t quite squeak into the Top 10.

Close-but-no-cigar shortlist shout-outs go to:

Barlow Adams
Ekagra Agarwal
Jonathan Bennett
Neil Clark
Kristin Cox
Christina Dalcher
Justin Eells
Joaquin Fernandez
Wiebo Grobler (3)
Emily Harrison
Gaynor Jones
Levi Krain
Jennifer Lynn Krohn
Lyndsie Manusos
Allie Marini
Sherry Morris
Emmett Nahil
Quentin Norris
Tom Over
Aeryn Rudel
Kelly Schrock
Christopher Stanley (2)
Lydia Stucki
Korey Wallace
Alpheus Williams (2)
Tanya Zilinskas (2)
Maria Zoccola

The Top 10 that you’ll find below will be published in our forthcoming
Phantom Flash mega-issue, which will drop within the next week. 

10th Place – “The Last Horizon” by Michael Carter

9th Place – “Threes” by Christina Dalcher

8th Place – “The Unopened Bar of Chocolate” by Steve Campbell

7th Place – “What the Crows Said” by Erin Fingerhut

6th Place – “Crop Circles” by Christina Dalcher

5th Place – “The Places We Go Where Others May Not Follow”
                       by Liz Schriftsteller

4th Place – “Day Ninety-One” by Joanne Withers

And now on to the three stories that really broke through
to the other side.

3rd Place ($50)

“Mandible”

by Phillip Dixon

2nd Place ($100)

“The Black Cat’s Breakfast”

by Chandra Steele

1st Place ($200)

“Angels of Purgatory”

by Chris Panatier

Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who participated in our Phantom Flash contest! Always a pleasure to read your work, and we couldn’t host these contests without you.

Check back soon to read these fantastic, uncanny, and otherworldly stories.