Announcing the TL;DR Press 2K Terrors short story horror competition Winners
After weeks of reading, discussing, and scoring, we are ready to announce the top 25 placing stories in the TL;DR Press 2K Terrors short story horror Competition! You can find a link to the winning 1st place story below, along with the names of all top 25 winners who will be featured in the book, Peeling Back the Skin: The Best of the TL;DR Press 2K Terrors short story horror competition 2025.
It was an incredible challenge picking which stories go into our collections because the quality of the work that we receive is so high. We always enjoy the lively discussions where curators pick their favourites and defend them, fighting their corners until we reach a consensus. The TL;DR Press 2K Terrors short story horror Competition entries were no different, and our judges had such a tough time deciding the winners because there were so many great stories.
After much deliberation we have decided our winners! So, without further ado, here they are:
- Tinnitus Irritatus, in Eggshell. Or Maybe Ecru by Alex Atkins
- Sigma by Jack Lennon
- Second Shot by Wai Chan
- Rat King by Stella Jay
- Space Junk by Sam Logan
- B Ward by Alyssa Beatty
- A Star That Bites Back by Heather Santo
- The Collection by Jay Remmick
- Improviser by Charlie Rogers
- In The Pines by Ash Egan
- EXECUTIVE FUNCTION by Gavin Rankin
- Flight Delay by Jane Stecyk
- Hand-Picked, Hand-Delivered by MM Schreier
- Katabasis by Steven Huff
- Deals Such as These by Arwyn Sherman
- Hungry Eyes by Madeleine Pelletier
- One Person’s Trash Is Another’s Treasure by MJ McElhaney
- Just a Job by Rory Clark
- Developing Images in a Dark Room by Anne Wilkins
- Tales From Mars by Sheri Martin
- Corrupted Data by Ryan Walraven
- The Ghost in the Glass by Linda Bayley
- Don’t Shoot the Dog by J.I. Locatelli
- The Average Human Lives 28,950 Days by Stephen James
- First Man by Natalie Minaker
Congratulations to everyone who placed, and commiserations to all who didn’t win this time round. Everyone who submitted should receive an email with feedback from the judges in the coming days regardless of placement. We hope you all had fun taking part, and we hope to see many returning writers to our next project. (Check out our next call for submissions which will be announced shortly!)
If you would look to be notified of the book release, sign up for our newsletter!
Publication
We aim to release the winners collection including all of the winning stories in March or early April 2026. All proceeds from the sale of the eBook will go to Scares That Care, a 501(c)(3) charity that has raised and donated over $300,000 to organizations and families with a child affected by illness, burns or women fighting breast cancer. Keep an eye out for the buy links next month!
Thank you again to everyone who took part, you did an amazing thing by helping us to keep doing what we do, and to help raise funds for Scares That Care
Stay safe and keep writing,
The TL;DR Press Team