Coalhouse Fort Ghost Story Competition

​Winners: 

There will be two winners - “family friendly spooking around” and “scare the grown-ups”. Winners will be contacted and announced in November. Each winner will receive a £25 voucher for the Engine Tea Room at Coalhouse Fort Park. Both winning stories will be professionally read and recorded as part of the Coalhouse Fort Commission, haunting the Fort for years to come! 

 

What will it be judged on?

• spookiness, creepiness, scariness - does it actually give us the creeps?

• interestingness of the ghost/s

• “the feels”  - does your story make the reader feel something emotionally?

• story, characters and world - can we see/hear/feel them in how you write?

• relevance to Coalhouse Fort - is the story really properly specific to this place?

 

Your story must be:

• a fictional ghost story that you have written yourself - no adaptations, AI, or stories based on existing work/characters

• set at / related to / about Coalhouse Fort

• not already published anywhere else 

• suitable for both reading as text and being read aloud

• under 30 minutes when read aloud at an accessible speed - shorter is totally fine

• understandable by readers who may only speak English (this can include submissions not in English, with translation as part of the work) 

 

Spelling, punctuation, and grammar will not be judged. We welcome dialect, accent, exploration of English as a second language, experimental writing, partnering with a translator or interpreter, and all individual ways of writing and speaking. This is YOUR story - write and express yourself in your own way.

 

Submissions:

Submit by email, post or by hand. Include with your story a short paragraph about yourself, and your contact details.

• Email your submission as a pdf to: laura@lhtrevail.com, with “COALHOUSE FORT GHOST STORY COMPETITION” in the email header

• Post your submission to: Start Thurrock, Thameside Complex, Orsett Road, Grays, RM175DX

• Hand your story printed or hand-written in at East Tilbury Library

• If you have access needs that mean you need to submit your story in a different format, get in touch. 

 

Copyright of all submissions remains with the writer.

 

Never written a ghost story before, and fancy trying it out? Laura will be running workshops during October. Contact laura@lhtrevail.com for more information.

 

This commission is made possible through a co-commission from Start Thurrock and Essex Cultural Diversity Project supported by Arts Council England. Start Thurrock is a Creative People and Places programme funded by Arts Council England, providing creative opportunities for Thurrock residents.