Teens, 'tis the season to let the terrors of your subconscious spill from your feverish brains. But do not stop there. Give your phantasms form and substance using diction and structure - the alchemy of words.
Those of you who transmute your darkest dreams from fleeting fantasy to punctuated permanence may win prizes in the annual Scary Story Contest, sponsored Coquitlam Public Library and Port Moody Public Library as well as The Tri-City News, which will publish some of the winning entries in time for Halloween.
The contest invites youths to submit entries in one of two age categories: 11 to 14 years and 15 to 18 years. Judges will award first-, second- and third-place prizes to the three best entries in each category.
Rules for the contest are as follows:
Each entry must be no longer than 500 words; the title and byline do not count towards the total.
Each entry must be an original story written by a resident of Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam, Anmore or Belcarra.
Writers who submit entries must be no younger than 11 and no older than 18 as of the deadline date of Oct. 21, 2012.
Writers must include the following three words in their stories: ominous, putrid and malevolent. Stories that do not include these words will be disqualified.
Each writer must include his or her name, age, phone number and city of residence with their entries.
Writers must e-mail their entries to [email protected] no later than Sunday, Oct. 21. Entries sent after that day will not be accepted.
Entries can be included in the body of an email message or attached as a Microsoft Word document.
Winners in each category will be awarded prizes worth $75 (first), $50 (second) and $25 (third). Some of their entries will also be published in The Tri-City News on Oct. 31.
Full contest details are on the Coquitlam Public Library and Port Moody Public Library websites. For more information, email [email protected].
