Celebrating Our Long Dark Long List!

We’re thrilled to announce the long list for our latest Short Story Contest, themed THE LONG DARK. Thank you to everyone who submitted—your creativity and dedication to the craft made this selection process both challenging and rewarding.

This year’s theme inspired an extraordinary range of interpretations. From creature features and dystopian futures to raw explorations of depression and addiction, from coming-of-age stories tinged with menace to supernatural encounters in the wilderness—the diversity of voices and visions was truly remarkable. It’s always fascinating to see how one theme can spark such different creative responses.

Narrowing down the entries to a long list was no easy task, and we expect our jury panel will face an equally difficult decision as they select the final eight stories for our anthology, The Long Dark, releasing in April 2026.

Congratulations to our long-listed authors:

Anne Baldo, Peter Conrad, Sarah El Sioufi, Chris Fash, J. L. Genest, Solomon Goudsward, Lisa Jones, Debra Kennedy, Michael Maksimenko, Pamela McHugh, Claire McNeight, Desiree Nippard, Andrew Shaughnessy, Stephanie Silk, Lisa Zeltzer, Ronald Zajac, and Maciej Zakrzewski

These seventeen stories will now move forward to our seven-member jury panel, who will select the eight finalists for the anthology. From those eight, award-winning essayist and horror novelist Benjamin Rempel will choose our grand prize winner.

Stay tuned for the announcement of our final eight stories in the coming weeks. In the meantime, join us in celebrating these talented writers who are one step closer to publication!