WINNERS! 2025 Short Story Contest

The results are in!

Out of 116 submissions, 20 stories were chosen as the winners of the short story contest and will be published in our 2025 anthology, In My Element.

We received so many incredible entries this year. Our editors had lots of fun reading your stories of magical beings, dystopian societies, science experiments gone awry, and more! We got submissions from all over the world and from people of all ages, creativity shining through in each tale.

Each entry had unique interpretations of the prompt, and we appreciate how much effort you put into writing stories that fit our guidelines.

Now, without further ado, let's show you the winners!

Our 2025 Short Story Contest Winners (in alphabetical order):

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1. 15 Letters

2. Beneath Me

3. Deus Ex Machina

4. Erosion

5. Fall of the Lightcaller

6. If Only the Mice Could Talk

7. Library of the Damned

8. Note to Self

9. Oh, John

10. Pieces of You

11. Restoration of Cellular Function in Necrotized Tissue by Dr. M. Wolstom

12. Stop Dragon My Heart Around

13. The Elemental Child

14. The Hole

15. The Meadow

16. The Necromancer

17. The One You Feed

18. The Process

19. The Wall

20. The Witch

The chosen authors will be notified by email, where we'll begin the editing process to polish up the stories for publication. Congratulations to our winners!

Honorable Mentions

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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. Agents of Chaos

2. Dear Liz

3. My Monster

4. The Philosopher's Stone

5. Unbreakable

   
   

Thank you to everyone who submitted, and we hope to see your stories next year!

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