Monthly horror writing contest
Write the nightmare. We’ll film it.
Every month, one horror short story wins the ultimate prize: it gets made into a movie. The winning story is adapted into an AI horror short film by Kai Laigo Productions, released free on YouTube with your name in the “written by” credit, and the story is published here on MetalSlut.
Round 1 is open now and closes December 31, 2026.
How to enter
- Buy an entry on Gumroad ($5 per story).
- Email your story to hollywoodstudio13@gmail.com with the subject line “Final Girl Fiction” and your Gumroad receipt number. Attach a .docx or .pdf, or paste it into the email.
- Wait in the dark. Winners are announced by the 15th of the following month.
What we want
- Original, unpublished horror short stories, 500 to 3,000 words.
- Any flavor of horror: slasher, cosmic, folk, body horror, found footage, creature feature, haunted anything.
- Stories that would make a great short film: strong images, a killer hook, and an ending that sticks.
- Your own work. You must be 18 or older.
How we judge
- Originality (40%): show us something we haven’t seen.
- Fear factor (30%): did it get under our skin?
- Craft (30%): voice, pacing, and an ending that lands.
The prize
- Your story adapted into an AI horror short by Kai Laigo Productions, released free on YouTube.
- “Written by” credit on the film, and a link to wherever you want in the description.
- Your story published in the Final Girl Fiction section of MetalSlut, plus an author spotlight.
- You keep the copyright to your story.
Winners and featured stories
No winners yet. Round 1 closes December 31, 2026. Yours could be the first.