2022 Festival of Monsters - Horror Writing Contest

UC Santa Cruz student horror writing contest, run by Prof. Renee A. Fox, was judged by Fox, Maryanne Porter, and Thais Miller. Students competed for $100 prizes in the categories of Local Monsters and Best Monster. Click on the links below to read the stories from the first place winners in each category. Congratulations to all!

LOCAL MONSTERS WINNERS

1st Place: Ellie Gabriel, “The Dark Watchers”

Runner-up: Robin Robinson, “Stranger.”

Honorable Mention: Carl Erez, “Tremorsense: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the PredMol”

Honorable Mention: Opal Oliver Minor, “The Ungrateful Dead”

GENERAL MONSTERS WINNERS

1st Place: Ash Hough, “All of Us Monstrous”

Runner-up: Sloane Morton, “Othernight”

Honorable Mention: Elsa Williams, “Pale Eyes at Pine Glade”

Honorable Mention: Anneka Reiter, “Way of the Druids”