Formal Fluency Monstrosity Challenge

Details

Monsters are a curious thing. On the one hand, they embody our deepest fears, our worst concerns about ourselves and the world around us. On the other, they are an expression of our darkest wishes and the desire to instill a little of our own chaos into the world. The more human the monster, the more we have to demonize them so they are less like us. For this contest, I want you to embrace the chaos and create a demon of your own.

For this contest, Formal Fluency is teaming up with The Weird Stream group to make some truly remarkable monsters. There is no style restriction for the poem you write. Instead, the challenge is to create a new monster in a horror poem. Think HP Lovecraft meets Edgar Allan Poe.

Be warned: Any currently existing monsters will be disqualified. This includes zombies, vampires (succubi and inccubi included), werewolves, witches, Frankenstein's monster (though thinking along the same lines as Victor Frankenstein will help), and yetis. One judge loves HP Lovecraft, and the other is that weird mythology junky who voraciously collects stories spanning from the Egyptian sal'awa to the taotao mona of Guam. You're going to have to be creative to impress this crowd.

If you need some help getting in the right frame of mind for Lovecraftian horror, try here.

Time to get monstrous.

Winning entries

Winners have been announced! Log in to see them.

Prizes

Rules

• Entries must be received before midnight of Friday, November 2nd (UTC time) and the winner will be announced within one week of that date.

• Entries must be horror poems wherein a new monster is created, revealed, or on a rampage (anything, so long as you introduce a new monster) as described above.

• Part of our mini-contests is sharing what you've learned: although it's not required, we'd appreciate it if you come weigh in on the group discussion thread here.

• Only one entry per member, please. Multiple entries will all be disqualified.

• Work must have Public visibility on Scribophile until winners are announced.

• Winners must have a valid Paypal account, or we won't be able to send the prize money!

Submission guidelines

• To enter the contest, post your work on Scribophile and check the box that says "Enter this work into the Formal Fluency Monstrosity Challenge." Your work will automatically be considered. The checkbox will be visible until the contest deadline, which is in UTC time.

• Entry is free, but you'll need karma points to post your work. You can earn karma points by writing critiques of work by other members.

• If you have placed in a contest in the past with a particular piece, you may not resubmit that piece in other contests.