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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 Highschool Love Affair ” by Mary Lombardi

Submitted to Contest #24

When I realized I loved him, I wanted to find the nearest bridge and jump. He, for the past two years, had made my life a living hell. He was a narcissistic genius who was completely oblivious to how his actions affected those around him. But this year he has changed. He’s sweet, considerate, and seems to genuinely care about me. I didn't mean to like him (in fact the very thought sickened me), but soon, whenever he entered the room my heart would skip a beat. This torcher continued for weeks before he finally asked me out, officially ...

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“Please Don't Say I Love You ” by J L. Castro

Submitted to Contest #24

It is said that when a mage and a mortal are to utter the words “I love you.” with true sentiment toward each other, they shall be cursed. It is unclear what the curse is or what it does, and most mages marry other mages to avoid its vengeance. But as time progresses the tale is forgotten and lost over different generations leaving young mages unaware. However, there is said to be a way to reverse the curse. Only a handful of the most powerful mages have acquired the knowledge but have been forbidden to share it for they shall be killed.&nbs...

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“Boo” by Emily Sperber

Submitted to Contest #24

I didn’t like Charles when I first met him but then, like magic or divine intervention, I couldn’t help but love him. He had a beard that I thought made him look like a caveman. But then it grew on me, as if it was actually growing on me to the point where I stroked my chin when I was considering something like I saw him do many times in restaurants looking at menus. He was a tree climber by profession, maintaining the integrity of the trees by pruning and such, which I first thought was a joke and he was being elusive. Then, when he was ser...

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“Contentment” by Tonnye Fletcher

Submitted to Contest #24

The couple settled in to spooning as they had for 30 years, nestled in each others' arms in a way that only a long-married couple can. Some couples have faced the unthinkable, the untouchable, the unnameable foe. This was one such couple.Romance blossomed early in their college days together. What began as a hard, fast friendship based on much in common, quickly progressed to a passionate love for one another. They met in August, had their first date on October 1, were making wedding plans by November and officially engaged with a beauti...

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“The Lost Clown” by Sandra Skipper

Submitted to Contest #24

Awakened by a shrill scream, Matt was shocked as he realized with cold sweat rolling off his body it was his own voice screaming in the night.The memory of the nightmare still filling his mind caused him to shudder violently.He had been dreaming almost every night about a clown. At times the clown was laughing with a deep resonating laugh. Other times he was giggling as he squeaked the balloons he was forming into animal shapes. The dream always ended with the same plea from the clown, "I'm lost, please find me." It was always the same...the...

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“Hadrian Foxe and the Innocent Thief” by Sushan Shetty

Submitted to Contest #24

“You killed him. My God, you did it! An autopsy. A funeral, my God, an open casket funeral. And a monument. You put a monument over his grave!”I held the phone an inch from my ear as my editor, Charles Emil, bawled his heart out. I waited for him to finish with his outpourings of grief, despair and utter conviction that I’d made the biggest mistake of my career.“You couldn’t have thrown him off a cliff, into a waterfall, or blown up by a bomb, or lost in a jungle? I mean one could come back from that,” he whined. “I’m sick of that sad drunk ...

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“Pixie Genocide” by T H Galligan

Submitted to Contest #24

A tempest of pixies flited and wheeled before me. Hundreds of glass wings buzzed. Thousands of spells flashed and fizzled. Confused, they collided with each other and turned each other into pebbles. Pixie or pebble, the unfortunate fell to the forest floor. I wiggled my fingers and made them stop. The tempest was frozen in time. I shut my eyes and breathed deeply. I knew what I would find at the centre of their mass: the remains of the pixie queen. She had been murdered. I had seen the grisly act with my own eyes! I had seen the murderer app...

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“Havenhell” by Sage Kahn

Submitted to Contest #24

Lura slumped back against the front door, staring down at the dead pixie pinioned to the gate with pale, thorny vines, throat slit, green blood pooling like antifreeze across her mother’s pristine yard. The words “never return” and “death awaits” marred its gossamer wings.This can’t be happening, she told herself. Yet clearly, it was.Lura scanned the front yard, the street beyond. Nothing. No sign of whoever had done this, and, more importantly, no sign of anyone—or anything—lying in wait to do worse. Only the mundane sou...

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“Land of Creation” by Kennedy White

Submitted to Contest #24

The man was alert as a chamois, his body shifting constantly in the wicker chair as if living stirred anxiety in his bones. He was strangely thin for a fisherman, there was more life on discarded fish bones, and even stranger that he urged to fish in Corvin. Overflowing with technology and artificial life, the city was more than modernized. It seemed some people had the strength to hold the wheel steady. Did this twig have it in him, though? Morrison’s eyes vined up the man’s body, already knowing it was as futile as trying to change th...

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“A town in the heart of lava” by Shifa Asif

Submitted to Contest #24

Dave Kellen wasn’t having the best day of his life. Today at his school there the sports day will be takingplace and he was one of the participant. He was like those juicy athletic boys with huge muscles like theyare made of rock. He had a series of quarrels with his parents this morning first was his mom who hadsentenced him to be grounded for two months because he had been not doing his chores for a week.They both quarreled where Dave presented his point of view in a rather angry manner that she waspunishing him for no reason. Mrs. Johnson...

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“The Lake of the Lost” by Karen McDermott

Submitted to Contest #24

Detective Farmer had finally thought of a suitable sacrifice. Nobody would miss Will Sloane. No registered address, history of drug dealing and abuse, shoplifter, pimp. A forgettable face she thought, as she studied his details she’d pulled up from the database, office finally to herself at 9pm. Yes. They’d welcome him into their world and ours would only be the richer. And then maybe they’d get off her ba...

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“Western Samurai Magic” by Tom Gleason

Submitted to Contest #24

“Wherever darkness persists, light inherently works to cast it out.”* * *A cowboy leans back in his chair with a cigar in his mouth. He puffs the smoke out into the warm air. The sun shines down on his silver pistol which sparkles back. He sits in his watchtower deck looking out at the town. A few run down wooden houses over, an arch symbolizes an entrance to this quiet, secluded town. The dust in front of the cowboy’s deck begins to shake. He turns his head to see a set of four horses galloping towa...

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“The Stranger” by Marie Persley

Submitted to Contest #24

“Whew!” Hank whipped out a hanky and mopped his glistening brow, squinting hard as the sun blazed overhead. “If this ain’t the hottest darn day…”He had just finished loading the last sack of provisions into the wagon. Bill Druthers, the General Store owner, was inspecting the mound of goods so he could tally up the bill. “That’s fer sure.” Bill agreed. “Can’t last too long, though. Way them clouds look we’re in for a squall come nightfall.” Hank lifted up his Stetson a bit, peering at the deep, dark clouds that were gathering over the distan...

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“Paid In Full” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #24

Utah squinted into the sun as he watched the dust cloud growing to the south. “Think that's the stage?” he asked. The comment distracted the store keeper from the frivolous small talk as he rushed through the store to stand on the boardwalk. He held his hand up to shade his eyes. “If it's the stage, then the school teacher is here. I heard rumors that she's the prettiest lass west of the Mississip.” “No one in this town has ever seen her. Why would you think she's pretty?” Utah hated the gossip. The store keeper ignored him, brushing at his ...

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“Dead End” by Carol Buchanan

Submitted to Contest #24

The streets of Hell Gate were laid out like the trails of my life, and I’d lived it as one blundering through heavy undergrowth at night scaring up would-be gunmen eager to make their name and brag of murder or righteous vengeance. This night soon turned darkest of all. When I rode in on the dun mare, I wanted only a sizzling steak and a silent whiskey, to give me rest on a mattress that wasn’t sand. The dun mare, though, was notable, what with the brown stripe connecting mane and tail along her pale back. The young cowboy knew her before I ...

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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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