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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#24: Genre-Blending

This week is a special edition of the Reedsy Prompts contest because our friends at Barnes & Noble Press are taking it over with their own theme, prompts, and special bonus prize! We'll let them take it from here...

With an abundance of content these days, it really takes a little something extra to keep a reader engaged. And one optimal way to do this is by blending genres.

When a story takes on characteristics of more than one genre, it’s not just about reshaping norms or conventions; it’s also about understanding what makes the different elements of those genres fit together. If the elements are treated with respect and appreciation, blending together multiple genres can have the positive effect of capturing your reader’s attention, and also maintaining it. This happens because it keeps a reader guessing, it subverts expectations, and it highlights narrative strengths.

For our takeover, we've put together five genre-bending prompts that we hope will get the creative juices flowing, strengthen and flex the narrative muscles, and sparks new ideas.

As extra incentive, we’re throwing in a $50 B&N gift card to the winner who best blends different genres in a way that feels fresh and unique. Good luck!

This week's prompts

Write a story set in the dark recesses of space where the two main characters are often at odds with each other in humorous and comedic ways.

Science Fiction – 70 stories

Write a sweeping romantic tale of two lovers who must overcome the horror of being hunted by an unseen foe.

Romance – 87 stories

Write a murder mystery with an amateur sleuth who must navigate a fantastical world in a quest to discover the truth.

Mystery – 38 stories

Write a thrilling adventure of a special agent who is harboring a paranormal secret.

Thriller and Suspense – 47 stories

Write a magical realism story that takes place in the Wild West.

Fantasy – 51 stories

Stories

“The Pain of Knowing You” by Ashley Fernandes

Submitted to Contest #24

The white candle wax drips bit by bit onto the oaken floor. My hands are cold, and I tuck them into the sleeves of my sweater. But so are my lips, dry and purple with chill, and my flesh is dotted with goosebumps. This is how it always starts. Every night is like the first - gloomy and mysterious until he shows up. Except this night. For some reason, I have no idea how it will go, although I’ve lived it a thousand times. My heart beats wildly inside my chest in anticipation of the unknown. My neck feels hot like someone is breathing on...

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“Shadows on the wall” by Mercy Duke

Submitted to Contest #24

Odzi Country Lodge faces the beautiful Odzi River. Terry and Rose sit at the balcony of their room facing the open night. They quietly watch the beautiful moon shining on the river. A creepy sound of night creatures can be heard from their back ground; the two seem not bothered by the sounds anyway.Something draws the attention of the two and they turn to look at each other with questioning eyes. Two shadows pass by the building to their right. A loud noise comes from some buildings behind the lodge. It is a strange noise unfamiliar to the t...

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“A Run From Death” by Emily Matthews

Submitted to Contest #24

All throughout high school, Agnes and Fabian were known as ‘the most popular couple that nobody really knew’. They were always seen hand in hand, and when you saw one you knew the other was never too far behind. The circumstances at which they met were pretty peculiar, meeting in the local Coven at age seven, where they both felt the spark, metaphorically and literally (they were practicing electric current spells that week). They had been inseparable ever since, mainly because of the attached-at-the-hip spell they had committed to in sevent...

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“The Last Date” by Kristen Richardson

Submitted to Contest #24

I hate this world. I really do. There’s nothing to it. I work a shitty job with shitty co-workers, making just a little over minimum wage. I’m here right now, sitting at my desk filing order forms for a shipping company. But there’s one thing, that I do love about this shitty job and this shitty world. She sits in the cubicle across from me, divided only by an isle. Black pin straight hair cut to her shoulders, olive coloured skin. Her eyes blue as the ocean. She catches me watching her and gives me a warm smile. Her name is Autumn, and...

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“My Love and I” by Shaneka Murphy

Submitted to Contest #24

We ran as fast as we could through the wooded forest by the sea. Once again, they had returned, the voices. I could hear them as usual, this time louder than ever, but still couldn’t see the source. They had come back to haunt and terrorize us again, my love and I. Try as they may, nothing could separate us, maybe for a moment, but not for eternity. As long as we kept running, they could never catch us. We were always a few steps ahead of them. So we kept running, with the rhythmic beating and pounding of m...

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“A walk on the wild side / The photographer's story” by Carolyn Bayne

Submitted to Contest #24

The sunset was beautiful on the horizon of the shores of the Caribbean. Now in their 60’s, the years had passed so quickly, and their children have flown the nest, leaving room for expansion, for the two of them to share their final wedded bliss together in paradise. This was their life, as I sat watching, through the lens of my camera.Watching the sea, rippling its waves as blue as the ocean, beckoning, a golden colour revealing the fragments from the sky and giving off a slight chill in the air. He, wrapped his arms around hers. She, under...

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“Burning ” by Mae Dutson

Submitted to Contest #24

Trinity stared out of her window, watching the rain drizzle down outside. The sun was gently beginning to melt behind the mountains in the distance, signalling the shorter days ahead. She was snuggled into a gray-fur blanket, and propped up on a plush pillow of the same color. Frequently, Trinity glanced down at the watch around her wrist, patiently waiting. She looked up again at the window, watching the raindrops race each other down the glass. Sometimes, she would choose one, and root for her raindrop to win. ...

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“A Wife's Heart” by TeAndrea James

Submitted to Contest #24

While driving across the Mississippi River bridge to a Bed and Breakfast in Lafayette, Louisiana, Tanya and Brandon reminisced about their college days when they first fell in love. "I remember the day we met very vividly, sir," Tanya said as she gazed into his eyes."Me too," Brandon replied. "But you can go first.""I remember you came downstairs at Susanna's house wearing a white t-shirt. When I saw you, I couldn't stop staring at you. I think you literally took my breath away. I was trying not to make it so obvious, so I would look away wh...

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“Exiting Debbie” by Lenore Butcher

Submitted to Contest #24

What kind of sick person sent a cocker spaniel puppy as a present? Judi stopped, her hand resting on the knob of the security door that separated reception from the rest of the offices. Tania, one of the receptionists was on her knees, wiggling her fingers at the puppy who was bouncing around in the wicker basket on the floor by the desk. “Debbie!” Tania squealed, using the name Judi had given the company when she wa...

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“To Make Prey of Love” by Abdul Akbaryeh

Submitted to Contest #24

We rushed through the wooden door and slammed it shut. The thing gave a loud thud against the door that shook the frames and made the hinges screech, but the door held. I quickly poured salt under the door's threshold. “I think this will hold it back for a time. We’re on the third floor so I'm hoping the thing won’t come leaping through the window,” I exclaimed with a sigh. Before I could catch my breath, I felt her lips and her breath filling my lungs and giving new vigor to a faint heart. “Thank you, I can’t believe you’d actually help me....

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“The Red Gloves” by Eleshia Chenier

Submitted to Contest #24

It was a full moon and foggy night on a Valentine’s day, where sweet love notes were written on cards, a bouquet of roses freshly pulled from someone’s garden and a box of chocolates that’s filled with surprises. Although this was a special day and night for red to be worn, but this was also the anniversary day that a serial killer was born, the Drag Queen. Typically, she only dressed in drag for entertainment purposes but after being rejected from love, she decided to take her resentment to the next level above, by killing her victims...

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“Vows” by Domonique Kendrix

Submitted to Contest #24

Rose and Calvin had made their first set of vows and read from the sacred book with the rising of the sun, and they had two more ritual vows to go. That was what a fated couple did when they made a life bond. They now sat at a table in the dining hall, enjoying breakfast with close family and neighbors, before the next ritual got underway. "Our mothers are talking,” Rose said, leaning her head on Calvin’s shoulder. “I think they’re trying to come up with the best plan to separate us for the purification vows at noon.” "They’ll have to ...

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“The Devil and the Son” by Tuesday Michael

Submitted to Contest #24

I’m not entirely sure how I got here, but I know that I don’t like it. I’m positive that if Jacob hadn’t been brought here too that I would have just sat in a corner and cried. He’s so small and soft that I get the strong urge to protect him at all costs; which is odd because typically the girlfriend is the one that needs protection. Ah well, forget the gender roles, we need to get out.As Jacob holds on tightly to my hand, I make note of our surroundings. It’s a small dark room, there’s a plastic table, a few chairs that probably have some d...

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“The Land Lake” by Cory Pines

Submitted to Contest #24

"Dear Log, September 17th, 2020. As you know from my last entry, Mary Pine, a young nun, was found murdered on the sidewalk of Venice, on one of the many del Forner streets. The victim's body has been taken to be examed. I'm currently at the crime scene with-" "Victor, will you shut that off?" Victor looked up to see this his partner, Ann, standing over top of him. He shut off the tape recorder as Ann pasted him a pair of gloves. He slipped them on. Ann was never a fan of Victor's constant recordings. She was the kind of detective that liked...

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“The Stream Rises” by Brennah Abernathy

Submitted to Contest #24

Brown eyes peeked above the pages. A Study in Scarlet, the cover read, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Across the room, a large barrel-shaped man, a holstered gun at his side, an air of importance about him, shook hands with another man. He wore an ink-black suit, a briefcase curled into one palm, large round glasses nestled on the bridge of his crooked nose."I just don't get it." The coroner said, shaking his head. "Who would do something like that to someone like Atticus Green?"Elise King watched their interaction with analytical...

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$50

Prize money

293

Contest entries

0

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Jan 17, 2020 EST

Won by Gabrielle Gerstley 🏆

Title: The Ghostwriter

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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