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Rusty Fears 7 - Horror Writing Competition Returns

A header image. Text reads “Rusty Quill: Rusty Fears Seven. Spectrum of Fear”. The background is a glitched black and white photograph of a rainbow over a mountain peak.

We are pleased to announce that our legendary horror writing competition, Rusty Fears, is back.

Rusty Fears allows us to showcase the incredible talent in our audience, bringing new and undiscovered writing talent to the Magnus feed.

As with previous Rusty Fears competitions, seven winners will be chosen to have their stories performed, produced and published on The Magnus Archives feed.

Additionally, winners will receive prizes of official The Magnus Archives merchandise from our partners at The Gilded Teafling.

Winners will each receive a Panopticon Bundle containing:

  • All four 2oz Loose Leaf blends and their commemorative tins
    • The Archivist
    • Martin’s Domain
    • Dekker’s Addendum
    • Hilltop Road
  • Burning Desire (12oz Whole Bean Dark Roast Coffee)
  • Cassette Infuser with all five interchangeable charms
  • The Archives Mug
  • The Institute Spoon

The competition

This year, we would like you to explore one of the following themes:

  • Theatre
  • Forensic
  • Video Store
  • Giant
  • Waste
  • PAID MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: Deep Space
  • PAID MEMBER EXCLUSIVE: Sword and sorcery

For our paid members on our members platform or Patreon, there are two additional, exclusive prompts. Members, be sure to check out the post about Rusty Fears 7 to find the exclusive submission form for these prompts!

How you interpret the prompts is up to you, but we’ll be on the lookout for particularly original takes.

  • Your entry should be an original short story in the horror genre, with a word count between 1000 and 2500 words
  • Your entry should be in prose, not a script format
  • Your entry must incorporate one of the contest themes
  • You must submit your entry before 23:59 GMT on 14th December 2025
  • You must be over eighteen
  • Stories can be submitted via the submission form. Please note, for the paid member exclusive prompts, there is a different submission form available on the Rusty Quill Members Portal and on Patreon

Additionally, here are some important things to consider as you write your entry:

  • We are not looking for The Magnus Archives or The Magnus Protocol style statements or cases. Please do not submit fanfiction, or anything that is set in the Magnus universe or features Magnus characters or events
  • Consider how your story might appear in audio format. Be careful not to have too much dialogue or too many characters, as this isn’t suitable for the Rusty Fears style
  • We ask that your stories abide by the standards presented in The Magnus Archives and The Magnus Protocol. Please avoid lazy or inappropriate horror tropes, including but not limited to, queer coded “evil”, sexual trauma, mental illness stigmatisation and “on-screen” harm of children or pets
  • Please submit your entries via an accessible link, such as Google Docs. If the judges cannot open your story, it will be automatically disqualified
  • We’d recommend listening to previous winners – you can find the full fearsome list at the bottom of this post!

Before you enter, please read the Terms and Conditions in full.

To submit your entry, please go to this submission form.

Terms and conditions

General

  1. Rusty Fears 7 (the “competition”) is organised by Rusty Quill Ltd. (“Rusty Quill”).
  2. The competition is open internationally to anyone aged 18 or over.
  3. Employees of Rusty Quill Ltd. and their immediate family members are excluded from being eligible to enter.
  4. The deadline for submission of short horror stories (“entries” or “stories”) is 23:59 GMT on 14th December 2025. Entries received after this deadline will not be considered.
  5. Entrants must submit:
    1. A short story in the horror genre inspired by one of five public themes OR a short story in the horror genre inspired by one of two themes exclusive to paid members.
    2. Entries should be in prose and between 1000 and 2500 words in length.
    3. Entries may use first, second, or third-person perspective.
    4. Entries must be written in English (or English dialect).
    5. Entries must not be in script format.
    6. Entries must not be in the style of The Magnus Archives or The Magnus Protocol. Entries must not be fanfiction, set in the Magnus universe, or use any The Magnus Archives or The Magnus Protocol characters or events.
  6. Entries must abide by the standards presented in The Magnus Archives and The Magnus Protocol and must not include lazy or inappropriate horror tropes, including but not limited to queer coded “evil”, sexual trauma, mental illness stigmatisation and “on-screen” harm of children or pets.
  7. Entrants may submit up to one entry per prompt. Further entries will be automatically disqualified. Each submission must be done separately.
  8. Collaborations (entries written by two or more writers) may be submitted.
  9. Entries must be the entrant’s own original writing and should not have been accepted for publication or recording elsewhere at the time of submission.
  10. Entries must not be produced or edited by any AI creation tool.
  11. All writing must be typed, clearly legible and written in English.
  12. Rusty Quill recommends the following entry format for submitted entries and documents. Use of alternative formats will not lead to disqualification, so long as the entry is accessible and legible:
    1. Typed using a simple, standard font, such as Calibri or Times New Roman, size 10 or 11.
    2. 1.5 line spacing.
    3. An entry document should include:
      1. The title of the short story.
      2. The prompt was inspired by.
      3. The short story.
    4. An entry document does not need to include:
      1. Entrant contact details.
      2. Illustrations.
      3. Author’s notes.
      4. Content warnings.
    5. Entries can be submitted via the submission form with a Google Docs link (or similar service) with access set to “Anyone with the link”, or a link to a PDF in Google Drive (or similar service) with access set to “Anyone with the link”.
  13. Entries will be accepted only online via the submission form. Submission via other means (such as by email or by post) will not be accepted or considered and cannot be returned.
  14. Submitted entries may be withdrawn from the competition by notification by email to mail@rustyquill.com.
  15. Amendments cannot be made to entries after they have been submitted.
  16. A judging panel from Rusty Quill will select up to seven winning entries. One entrant cannot win more than one category. This will be decided fairly by Rusty Quill’s panel of judges.
  17. The copyright of winning entries remains vested with the respective entrants. However, the entrants agree to freely license the work and any adaptation thereof to Rusty Quill Ltd., who may use it as they see fit, with appropriate credit given where due.
  18. Winning entries may undergo script editing before transmission.
  19. Winning entries will be publicly announced. Winning entries will be recorded by professional voice actors and edited and produced by the Rusty Quill production team and uploaded onto The Magnus Archives podcast feed.
  20. In the unlikely event that Rusty Quill does not receive entries that meet our standards, Rusty Quill reserves the right to decline to name and produce winning entries.
  21. Due to the number of entries received, Rusty Quill does not offer individual feedback on entries.
  22. Rusty Quill will act in accordance with current UK data protection legislation in relation to the personal data of entrants. For more information, please see https://rustyquill.com/legals/.
  23. Rusty Quill reserves the right to amend these Rules at any time.
  24. By submitting an entry, the entrant agrees to these Rules.
  25. Any decisions made by Rusty Quill are final, and no communication shall be entered into.

Prizes

  1. Prizes are final and cannot be swapped or exchanged for other Rusty Quill prizes or merchandise of any kind.
  2. There is no cash alternative to the offered prizes.
  3. Prizes are provided by our merchandise partners, The Gilded Teafling. As such, Rusty Quill accepts no responsibility for the accuracy or quality of the prizes or descriptions.
  4. Receipt of a Prize is dependent on the availability of a product in your region. Please check the website of our partners, The Gilded Teafling, for a list of locations where shipping is unavailable.
  5. Rusty Quill cannot donate the Prizes to charity on your behalf.
  6. Any decisions regarding prizes made by Rusty Quill are final, and no communication shall be entered into.

Past winners showcase

Rusty Fears 6 winners

Rusty Fears 5 winners

Rusty Fears 4 winners

Rusty Fears 3 winners

Rusty Fears 2 winner

Rusty Fears 1 winners

November 20, 2025
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