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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

“Art Is A Mistake” by Quil Wyrm

Submitted to Contest #24

The steady flashing of the red light overhead was growing quite monotonous and irritating on the eyes. At least Maimun had finally managed to get the blaring voice of the A.I. system repetitively screaming, “System Breech. System Breech. System Breech,” to stop. Xion massaged his temples, attempting to ease some of the headache he could already feel forming. Beyond the ship’s viewing ports was an endless expanse of stars, each their own untold story, winking and flashing at him as if mocking the fact he was stuck here instead of ...

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“Welcome Interruptions” by D Drummond

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #24

Welcome InterruptionsOn the thirty-third day in the deepest black Daltz woke once again to the gnawing of the navigator. His presence rummaged in her mind, as insistent as it was unsubtle. Swearing softly at the uncaring confines of her hab, she was surprised to find her eyes watering, her wince having drawn frustrated tears. A month of broken sleep and zero privacy could do that. Still drowsy, she fancied she could feel phantom fingers on the inside of her skull, mapping the contours and wrinkles of the bone.‘Itching powder for the brain.’ ...

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“Lunar Antics” by Isabel B

Submitted to Contest #24

Silas bounced across the dusty gray soil, felt his heart jolt when he spotted the golf ball. Finally! It’s what he’d been searching for for almost three days. Three days on the moon to be precise. One moon day equals twenty-seven point thirty-two days on earth, and it had taken him over sixty-eight earth days to find the damn thing!Grinning, Silas carefully bent down and picked up the old golf ball with his pressurized glove. Fifty-eight years old, to be exact. It was one of the two golf balls astronaut Alan Shepard surprised the world with ...

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“The Cadet from Saturn’s Rings ” by Boston Chandler

Submitted to Contest #24

The thing about space is that you are always in the belly of it. Making a wrong turn can lead you to the bowels. It’s worse than taking the wrong exit off the 99 in downtown Seattle. Earth is set to be demolished today. I am from earth originally but now I live as a student on Saturn’s Rings. I’m studying to be a space pilot, exploring new lands, reaching out to other galaxies, expanding the collective knowledge of the universe. But today I wanted to take a break from exploring and return home. For the last time. “I think we were...

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“The Beach of the Beast” by John Steckley

Submitted to Contest #24

The Beach of the Beast It was their first time alone. When Dave and Andrea met, and when they went on their first two dates, there were friends there with them. They didn’t really resent the presence of their friends. They just wanted to be together, the two of them, alone. And now it was truly happening. They joked that they would run into Betty and Charles at the secluded beach which was the goal of the walk that they were taking. It said a lot that both of them found that idea funny. They already had sha...

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“Capture” by Ray Everblaze

Submitted to Contest #24

Staring out the window, Ayesha watched the snowflakes fall, wondering about the world. Why was every snowflake different? If one snowflake falls and gets crushed by others reaching their inevitable end, could another snowflake of the same type be born? Writing these questions down to look up later, she began to make breakfast. Because of the snow, her power had gone out, so all she could do for breakfast was grab a cold sandwich. As she walked back into her bedroom, something flashed by her eye. In her living room stood a gorgeous young wom...

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“Traumatized” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #24

My family died three years ago in a car crash. Little Evelynn, she was 6 years old, Carter he was 10, and my love, mi amore, Laura, all gone. People say I’m paranoid, insane even, but I'm not. How dare they call me crazy! All I want is what anyone wants, a family, and not just any, my family. It pains me to even think of the night when my world crumbled like stones… We were going out to dinner at our favorite Italian place, Reddiccis’ when it started to snow, I slow down because the roads were slick and I hadn't had a chance to ...

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“Sincerely Yours” by Alaina Logan

Submitted to Contest #24

Caddie wiped her forehead with the back of her sleeve. The profound heat that shone overhead was deathly. Caught in it for too long, and you would either get fried to death, have your skin burnt away, or worse.The metal chain bracelet around her wrists matched everyone else’s. Most often in the heat, it burned marks onto your skin. Several scars still marked her wrists in experience. This world was not one to be messed with.The chain was to help keep all the citizens in the community. The community known as Bristol. The chain had a small tra...

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“Nulvhenen” by Carolyn Ermel

Submitted to Contest #24

Translations:Nulvhenen - "Worlds End"Mal hallan - My heartShemel - SisterThere was nothing to do but sit and wait. And that, they reckoned, was probably worse than being dead.The Forest of Sleeping Giants was dark and dreadfully still. For three days it had rained continuously, a band of storms with harsh winds and warm rains that seemed never-ending. The woodland critters had long been flooded out of their hovels. Those that had wings or made their nests in the trees fled the canopy, leaving behind their newborns to die. Not a whisper of a ...

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“A Villa at the Sea” by Nathaniel Schwartz

Submitted to Contest #24

A knock. Three, actually, quick and short. The first had been brutal, but the next two even more so, and the young lovers in the summer house agreed that the pounding should have broken down the door by now, maybe even the wall. They had come here to vacation, to escape all the schoolwork and stress that was rampant at university. Their origin story had always seemed just as inconsequential to themselves as it did to their friends and families. They had simply met in a class they had taken together and quickly taken a liking to each other. T...

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“Our Hands” by Jess Wood

⭐️ Shortlisted for Contest #24

It’s hard to say when I first noticed, but it must have been there, always. It must have watched when I was first brought home, swaddled in blankets, when our parents got together and left us lying side by side in the cot. It was there as we cried and as we laughed; as we took our first steps. It was there when I pulled on my welly boots, yellow with duck faces, yours red like the fallen leaves, and we ran outside to jump in as many puddles as we could find. We streaked mud on our faces like war paint and played until you had to go home, the...

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“ Love Conquers All” by Randi W

Submitted to Contest #24

“What’s the surprise?” asked Keva who was fairly bouncing up and down in her seat Jackson laughed, he glanced over at his girlfriend, his smile grew wider. They had been officially dating for a year now and he knew without a doubt that she was ‘The One’. He was head over heels in love with her; he knew that she felt the same way. “You will just have to wait and see when we get there.” chuckled Jackson affectionate...

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“The Love Of The Moon ” by Amelia F

Submitted to Contest #24

In the depth of nightstands an oh so mysterious forest that holds the mysteries even unknown to those of which hold the strongest of powers. The dark outside holds the darkest within. The so-called legends say “Those who may enter the forest will be cursed with a life of horrid luck and doom unless…” The “unless” is one of the biggest mysteries which is held. Those who have ever entered the forest has never been seen come out. We were just two people falling in love not knowing of the legends. We were never warned of such things ...

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“Dead in the Water” by Library Momma

Submitted to Contest #24

Phillip jolted awake and sat up on his berth and looked around the cabin. Blinking, all he could see was a thick darkness that enveloped him. For a moment he could hear the ghostly melody of the music he and Angel had danced to just a few hours before.But something sounded wrong. It was too quiet, that was it. All the sounds he normally heard at this time of night on the cruise ship-- the engines and generators whirring, music playing in the distance, the whoosh of the ventilation system--had stopped. “Angel?”He didn’t hear a sound--not...

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“The Case of The Virtual Killer” by Lily Elborn

Submitted to Contest #24

It all started about a week ago. It was a cold and stormy night, the streetlights held a distinct foggy glaze. Throughout the eerily quiet street, the noise of windows rattling in the forceful wind could be heard... I’m kidding, obviously. Although last Tuesday night when this all started, there was a storm, just not a storm of the weather variety. I’d been following the news all day, everyone had. 6 boys now, all aged between 14-21, had been found dead in their homes. All of them were wearing the undeniably recognisable X.R.Y pate...

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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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