2026 Short Story Contest Winners

We're thrilled to announce that 18 authors have been chosen for publication in our 2026 short story anthology, Enter the Dreamscape.

Each entry had unique interpretations of the prompt, and we appreciate how much effort you put into creating stories that moved and inspired us.

Without further ado, here are the winning stories.

Our 2026 Short Story Contest Winners

(in alphabetical order)

1. A Bridge Runs Over the River

2. A Dead American Dream

3. Aye Aye Eye

4. Big Money Schemes

5. Citizen of Yucca Mountain

6. Color of Forgetfulness

7. Elegy for a Lodestar

8. Last Night I Dreamed of Doug

9. Midnight End

10. Mitch the Absent

11. On the Count of Three

12. Scaling the Waterfall

13. Sweet Alyssum

14. The Druden Night

15. The Glade

16. The Locked Slide

17. Time Soup

18. Utterly Unattainable

Congratulations to our winners!

Honorable Mentions

There were lots of great stories to choose from, but only so many could make the cut. That said, here are some honorable mentions that our editors found particularly compelling, creative, and well-written:

1. Beneath

2. Second Chance

3. Smokeless Fire

4. What's Kept Beneath

   
   

Thank you to everyone who submitted, and we hope to read your stories again next year.

Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest on all things Dreambridge, including: writing resources, editing tips and tricks, contest postings, and more.