Rusty Fears 8

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, eight winners will be chosen to have their stories performed, produced and published on The Magnus Archives podcast feed. Winners will also receive a Rusty Quill merch bundle!

The Competition

This year, we’d like you to take inspiration from one of the following prompts:

• It wasn’t the words themselves that made me uneasy, but the way they were written on the page.
• I’d known about the local legend since I was a child.
• I’ll never forget the noise.
• I couldn’t help myself and turned to watch as it emerged.
• MEMBER EXCLUSIVE PROMPT: That first time, I’d hiked for hours before I stumbled across the anomaly.

You can use the prompt sentence within your story, or just take it as inspiration for your writing – the most important thing is to tell us a truly terrifying story!

For our paid members on members.rustyquill.com or Patreon, there is an additional, exclusive prompt. Members, be sure to check out the post about Rusty Fears 8 to find your exclusive submission form.

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

• Entries should be a short story, with a word count between 1000 and 2500 words
• Entries should be in prose, not a script format
• Entries must incorporate one of the contest themes
• Entries must be submitted before 23:59 GMT on 16th November
• To submit an entry, you must be over 18
• Entries must be submitted via the submission form. Please note, for the paid member exclusive prompt, 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 looking for horror stories - don’t forget this genre as you start writing
• We are not looking for The Magnus Archives or The Magnus Protocol style statements or cases. Please do not submit fanfiction - we are looking for your own original horror stories
• Consider how your story might appear in audio format. Be careful to not have too much dialogue or too many characters, as this isn’t suitable for the Rusty Fears style
• Avoid clichéd endings, such as “it was all a dream”
• 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, such as 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

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

Terms and Conditions

General

1. Rusty Fears 8 (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 16th November. 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 the public prompts OR a short story in the horror genre inspired by the prompt exclusive to paid members on https://members.rustyquill.com and www.patreon.com/rustyquill.
   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 fanfiction for The Magnus Archives or The Magnus Protocol, must not be set in the Magnus universe and must not 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, such as 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 and clearly legible.
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 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 it 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 8 winning entries. One entrant cannot win more than once. Winners 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 competitions 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 not use any entries to train AI.
23. Rusty Quill will act in accordance with current UK data protection legislation in relation to the personal date of entrants. For more information please see https://rustyquill.com/legals.
24. Rusty Quill reserves the right to amend these Rules at any time.
25. By submitting an entry, the entrant agrees to these Rules.
26. 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 will be provided by official Rusty Quill merchandise partners. 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.
5. Rusty Quill cannot donate the Prizes to a 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 7 winners

• The Uses of Analog by Aaron Swartz
• Roses by Abi Kinsella
• Gigantomachia by Alukard
• The Tooth Fairy’s Tale by Ben Folk
• Well Fed by Luka Suk
• Disconnected by Amy Hodgetts
• Clunk by Nairis Santini

Rusty Fears 6 winners

• Hades Bay by Jubilee Finnegan
• Canned Lights by Autumn Olson
• Hollow by Sam Lazure
• Still Camp by Nicole Lark
• The Telescope Game by Ian Martinez-Hay
• The Last One to Speak by James Thomasos

Rusty Fears 5 winners

• Inheritance by Matrim Tait
• Casting Line by Sarina H
• Derailing by Josefin Berntsson
• Final Sale of the Remaining Works of E. Cutler by Cormark Baldwin
• Tower by Jennifer Hunt

Rusty Fears 4 winners

• Nazar by Anushka Mehrotra
• New Roots by Cecelia Morelli
• The Budding by Thekla Kenneison
• The Final Culling by Miranda B

Rusty Fears 3 winners

• Nox Mare by Elizabeth Wynn
• The Turning of the Gears by Duncan Watson

Rusty Fears 2 winner

• The Iron Gate by Cailyn Toomey

Rusty Fears 1 winners

• Paint by Melissa Mason
• Lucid by Elizabeth Richardson