Who has emerged?

This may be our 8th annual Halloween contest, but you all certainly don’t make judging it any easier. The frightful flash you cooked up didn’t stick to the usual horror tropes and there were some sinister and truly bonkers abominations from top to bottom in this one.  Even when stories involved classic ghouls, they manifested unique twists, casting the familiar in a uncanny light. From translucent specters to amorphous blobs, hulking beasts to microscopic malevolence, apt metaphors to hellish absurdities, we never quite knew just what to expect around the next corner. We love to see it.

Judged by reading your accursed entries aloud, and by the light of flickering jack-o’-lanterns (and, well, a backlit phone screen), this contest livened up the unholy festivities around Molotov HQ, and we’re grateful for each one we read.

We saw literary monsters slither in from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, UAE, UK, and USA.

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:

The Top 10 that you’ll find below will be published in our forthcoming Flash Monster 2021 mega-issue, which will emerge on Halloween. They will also be included in a future Prize Winners Anthology print issue.

10th – “Bait” by Nicki Blake

9th  – “The Lake Michigan Monster” by Jen Myers

8th – “Periphery” by Luke Sprunger

7th – “Our Bellies Full at Last” by Margret Wiggins

6th – “Inhale, Exhale” by MM Schreier

5th – “The Way She Stretched Whatever Limbs Were Left” by Robert Taylor

4th – “Mary, Mary” by Rin Willis

And now for the three stories that really made our skin crawl…

3rd Prize ($100)

“Donny’s Small Engine Repair”
by Michael Carter

2nd Prize ($200)

“The Mountains’ Bones”
by Neil Clark

1st Prize ($300)

“Gabriel”
by Jo Withers

Congrats to the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who participated in our Flash Monster 2021 contest! 

Check back on Halloween for the Flash Monster 2021 mega-issue.