Irvine Public LibraryTeen Spooky Short Story Contest Survey

Contest Rules

Participants must be in grades 9-12 and may submit only one (1) entry per person. A total of 50 submissions will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
All contest entries must be created between the opening and closing dates of the contest period: October 1 to October 25.
All entries must be an original work of unpublished fiction, of at least 500 words and no more than 750 words.
A group of six library staff members will judge the competition. Submissions will be judged based on response to the prompt, narrative structure, originality/creativity, style/quality, and adherence to the word count.
While tales that build suspense or use humor are encouraged, the Irvine Public Library reserves the right to reject any entry deemed inappropriate or that contains hate speech, excessive profanity, graphic depictions of violence, or explicit sexual content.
By submitting to this competition, you assert that this work is your original creation and not the product of generative A.I. Any work determined to be a whole or partial product of A.I. will be removed from contest consideration.
All entries must be submitted by October 25. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.

For contest information, please visit, cityofirvine.gov/irvine-public-library/teen-spooky-story-contest.

1.First Name(Required.)

2.Last Name(Required.)

3.Email Address
Please use a personal email address that you check often, not a school email address. We'll use this as our primary way to contact entrants during the contest.(Required.)

4.Grade(Required.)

5.High School(Required.)

6.Please attach your short story as a Word Document here.(Required.)

No file chosen

7.I agree to the following requirements.(Required.)

I understand that by entering the Spooky Stories Contest, the judges’ decisions are final. This contest is for students in grades 9-12 only. I agree to abide by all rules and regulations contained in the contest rules herein and understand that such rules and regulations are incorporated within and become part of this agreement. I understand that entries must be the artist’s original work. Any violation of contest rules and/or U.S. Copyright laws will result in disqualification.