Welcome to Darker Times Fiction!

We currently run three monthly competitions for UK and international writers, all on the theme of 'darker times'. You can take this as straight up horror, or you can interpret it in any creative way you wish. Entries for all competitions cost £5 / $8 US and can be paid via paypal. The winner of each competititon each month will receive a percentage of the money raised by the entry fees for their particular competition (a minimum of £15 / $24), plus publication on the website and in an upcoming Darker Times Anthology (available both as an ebook and as a paperback). Runners up and honourable mentions will receive no cash prize but will also be included on the site and in an upcoming publication. Each writer will have the opportunity to provide an author bio and a link to their website/blog; we want to promote new writers as much as we can! Here are the details:

Short Story Competition

This is open to short stories up to 5,000 words (all word limits are approximate). Entries cost £5 per short story, and multiple submissions from the same author are allowed (this is true of all of our competitions). Also, like our other competitions, it doesn't necessarily have to be in the horror genre - we've had stories about all kinds of dark things, such as painful adoptions, abuse and shameful secrets. 

Flash Fiction Competition

New this month! Can you spook someone in under 500 words? Many authors (myself included) find flash fiction an interesting challenge, helping you to hone your editing skills and your ability to get across an interesting story in only a few hundred words. If you'd like to enter this competition, you can submit two flash fiction pieces for the single sum of £5 / $8 US. 

Poetry Competition

Also new this month! With an upper word limit of 1,000 words (and no lower limit), can you get across the theme of 'darker times' in the form of poetry? You can enter two poems for the single sum of £5 / $8 US. Even if you've never written a poem before, please feel free to enter this competition; we not only look for technique when picking our winners - we look for originality, potential, and, of course, the ability to scare our readers!

For more details, please check out the terms and conditions. Then, to find out how to pay and submit your story, poem, or flash fiction pieces, please go to the submissions page. Each competition closes on the last day of each month at midnight GMT and winners and runners up will be announced on the 5^th of the next month. Any entries received after midnight on the last day of the month will be put into the next month's competition. Good luck!  

Your writing could be in the next Darker Times book! The first, second and third short story anthologies are now available as ebooks and paperbacks from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com!