Lunar Awards S10 | Round Two is Closed | Horror

Submit your best Horror story | Hosted by Shaina Read

Welcome to Round Two of the Lunar Awards! [Submissions Closed]

Thank you for your continued interest, your enthusiasm for the stories discovered here, and your help in making Round One a success. If you’re following the Lunar phases this year, March 14th was a Full Moon called the Worm Moon. The Full Moon has strong literary symbolism in speculative fiction and beyond, especially within the Horror genre. I hope it fuels your creative mind and reflects light into your life during dark times.

Shaina Read

is hosting our first Horror round of the season. She is the creator of Kindling, where she writes and analyzes horror, and the co-manager of Macabre Monday, which hosts weekly events featuring the best dark fiction and horror stories on Substack. I’m a big fan of Shaina’s, and I’m grateful she was willing to host the Lunar Awards. Shaina has been incredibly supportive of the writing community and is a perfect fit for this round.

Subscribers have pledged paid subscriptions or asked how they can support, but the Lunar Awards will remain a free opportunity for emerging writers to get exposure for their work and access to publishing opportunities. However, I am seeking a cover artist/designer for the 2025 anthology. If that interests you, please email me at storyletter@protonmail.com with links to your work, pricing, and what you envision for the Lunar Awards cover.

Please read this post in its entirety before submitting a story. Any entries that do not follow the guidelines will not be accepted. The Prompt Quest continues at the bottom of this post.

Thanks for making the Lunar Awards a wonderful place for genre fiction. Good luck with your scariest stories! ~ WM

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Introduction by Shaina Read

I wanted to start the Round Two submission window with a huge thank you to all the brave horror writers who weave worlds together and invite us into those dark places. It is difficult to describe the impact horror has had on my life. I credit it with helping me process a hard childhood, reinforcing strong morals and ethics taught to me by my parents, and reminding me that even against the strongest evil, everyday people can win. But it isn’t a guarantee.

What is a guarantee is that at some point, all of us will come to learn of (or know intimately) the many faces of evil in this world. If, like me, you find yourself relating more to The Loser’s Club in Stephen King’s It, than the heroic and ever moral characters of other stories, then this world is for you. If you have ever felt afraid, this world is for you. If you have ever dared to hope against all odds, this world is for you. If you have ever had to admit defeat, this world is for you. If you have ever felt empathy for the villain, this world is for you. If you have ever wanted justice, this world is for you.

Welcome to the dark side of the Lunar Awards. I adore this genre. I love and treasure the writers of these stories more than I can convey here. I can not wait to read what you have written…alone…in the dark…after everyone else in the house has fallen asleep.

~ Shaina

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Leave your submission as a link in the comments. Thank you!

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Season 10 | Round Two Details

The second round is Horror. Your story will be considered as long as it heavily features Horror elements, even if it mixes with other genres. The main subgenres we’ll be considering (but not limited to) are the following:

• Historical Horror

• Supernatural Horror

• Gothic Horror

• Psychological Horror

• Slasher Horror

• Body Horror

• Monster Horror

• Cosmic Horror (Lovecraftian)

• Folk Horror

• Survival Horror

• Sci-Fi Horror

• Campy Horror

• Post-Apocalyptic Horror

Please read the FAQ, which contains complete rules and word limits. If you have questions, ask in the comments.

Round Two Schedule - Horror - Hosted by Shaina Read

• March 15 - Open call for submissions

• March 31 - Submissions closed

• April 1 - Judging begins

• April 20 - Judging concludes

• April 26 - Winner and runner-up announced

For the complete schedule of Season 10, check out the post below:

Lunar Awards Season 10 Explained

Prizes

1. The winner will receive a permanent link on the Past Winners page and a high-resolution badge to display on their Substack.

2. The winner and runner-up will be offered a publication contract to be featured in the Lunar Awards official 2025 anthology.

3. The winner and runner-up will receive a 3-month trial to Storyletter XPress Publishing.

4. Featured authors in the anthology will receive a copy of the book after publication.

Entry

Post a link to your short story in the comments of this post. The entry will be verified with a “confirmed” comment. It will be temporarily declined if it violates a rule until a correction is made.

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[Optional] Prompt Quest Returns!

The rules are simple. Winston and our guest judge will provide two prompts. The prompt quest will not have any weighted benefits other than completing an original story that fits the genre and submitting a story the judge might enjoy.

Write a short story over the next two weeks using either prompt. You can choose to submit it for award consideration or not. We’ll host a gathering to celebrate what’s been accomplished and to highlight your stories at the end of the two weeks.

Prompt #1 - The Mark

Write a story in a medieval setting featuring a mysterious plague that marks its soon-to-be victims with a crescent symbol. A fear-stricken society views the Marked as harbingers of death and the end times. Your protagonist can either be one of the Marked individuals on the hunt for a cure or a villager willing to help or hinder their progress.

Prompt #2 - The Vault

The crew of a mining vessel land on a mineral-rich planet where they find a door-like structure in the rock they call the Vault. The mining crew must decide to uncover the Vault’s true nature, destroy it, or escape the planet.

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