Submissions open July 1 and close July 15
Reach Your Apex is excited to announce our weird-west-themed flash fiction contest, judged by none other than award-winning weird west author, KC Grifant.
Submissions will open at 12:00 am Eastern, July 1, 2025. Submissions close July 15, 2025 at midnight Eastern.
Prizes
1st Prize (1)
One (1) first prize winner will be selected by our judge, award-winning weird west and sci-fi author, KC Grifant.
The first prize winner will be awarded $100 U.S. and have their story published in Apex Magazine issue 151, coming out in October 2025.
2nd Prize (1)
One (1) second prize winner will be selected by our judge, award-winning weird west and sci-fi author, KC Grifant.
The second prize winner will be awarded $50 U.S. and have their story published on the Reach Your Apex website in September 2025.
3rd Prize (3)
Three (3) third prize winners will be selected by our judge, award-winning weird west and sci-fi author, KC Grifant.
The third prize winners will each be awarded $25 U.S. and have their story published on the Reach Your Apex website in September 2025.
What Is A Weird West Story?
Weird western is a literary genre that fuses the gritty, sometimes brutal reality of life on the American frontier with elements of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. It’s often also called gothic western, historic fantasy or fantasy western.
When thinking about weird western, you want to combine tropes of a traditional Western plus speculative elements from the sci-fi, fantasy and/or horror genres.
Weird western stories are typically set in the late 1800s in a region west of the Mississippi River; however, they can also be set in other locations and timelines (ranging from prehistory to the future) as long as the story shares similar themes, aesthetics and/or iconic tropes associated with the Old West mythos.
Some examples for inspiration:
Prey, Back to the Future 3, Dead in the West, Jonah Hex, The Dark Tower, Deadlands, The Good, The Bad & the Uncanny: Tales of a Very Weird West, The Mandalorian, Firefly, The Wind
To qualify as a weird western for purposes of this contest, your piece needs follow the genre’s parameters:
- There must be significant “Old West” elements (such as tropes, themes, aesthetics or settings)
- There must be significant speculative elements (e.g., from the fantasy, sci-fi or horror genres)
If you’re new to the weird west genre, you can find tips at “How To Write A Weird West Story” and discover other resources at WeirdWestFiction.com.
Rules
Stories must be 1000 words or less (excluding title and byline). Stories over 1000 words will be disqualified.
Stories must follow the weird west genre parameters described above.
Entries must be submitted only during the submission period.
Stories must be submitted anonymously; please remove any identifying information from your document, including in the footer/header.
Limit of one (1) entry per person.
Entries generated by AI will be disqualified.
Submissions should be in Shunn Manuscript Format and sent to us as one of these file formats: .doc/.docx/.rtf/.odt.
Simultaneous submissions are OK. Original stories only; reprints are not accepted.
All winners will be chosen by the contest judge, KC Grifant. Ms. Grifant’s decisions are final.
The winners will be announced September 2, 2025. Winners and participants will be contacted directly via email prior to the public announcement.
Please Do Not Send:
- Stories that depict child abuse or pedophilia.
- Stories containing racist, homophobic, transphobic content, or any form of hate speech. (Stories that address these topics in a thoughtful manner are acceptable.)
- Stories with extreme sexual content or graphic violence included solely for shock value.
- Stories that utilize harmful stereotypes on topics related to land theft, indigenous peoples, and marginalized communities.
- Stories featuring copyrighted characters or fan fiction. (Stories involving historical figures in the public domain are allowed.)
- Stories created with the assistance of AI or generative AI tools.
For advice and information on writing flash fiction, we suggest reading this post by Apex Magazine Managing Editor, Rebecca E Treasure:
https://reachyourapex.com/elements-of-flash-fiction/
For more advice and information on writing Weird West fiction, check out this resource from KC Grifant https://weirdwestfiction.com/2022/03/06/how-to-write-a-weird-west-story/
How To Submit Your Story And Enter The Contest
Check your word count using a program like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Reach Your Apex will use Google to calculate the word count of your story. Make sure you remove identifying information from your document (e.g., header, byline, footer). Please do not have your name anywhere in the document.
When you’re ready to enter your submission, send it as an email attachment to contests@reachyourapex.com. Please use “weird west” as the subject of your email. Please send it from the same email address that you want us to use to notify you when the winners have been selected.
Author name and contact information will be withheld from the judge’s view. Winners will have the opportunity to provide their chosen byline before publication.
After you’ve submitted your entry, pat yourself on the back, partner! It ain’t no small thing to put your tail on the line and enter a writing contest. It takes grit. Good going!
You’ll be notified by email when the winners have been selected. If you haven’t received an email from us by September 2, please check your spam folder. If there’s nothing from us in your spam folder, you may contact us at https://reachyourapex.com/contact/.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this contest, please use our support form here https://reachyourapex.com/contact/. We will read and reply to your message promptly.
About KC Grifant
KC Grifant is an award-winning writer based in Southern California who writes and edits internationally published horror, fantasy, science fiction and weird west stories.
Her debut supernatural western novel, Melinda West: Monster Gunslinger (Brigids Gate Press, Feb 2023), described as a blend of Bonnie & Clyde meet The Witcher and Supernatural, has received positive reviews internationally. Readers and reviewers call the book “a fun, fast-paced, monster-filled joy ride,” “genre-blending,” “a story that is fascinating and irresistible,” and a “massive crowd-pleaser.” See what other readers are saying here: https://scifiwri.com/publications/melinda-west-monster-gunslinger/.
She is also author of Shrouded Horror: Tales of the Uncanny (Dragon’s Roost Press, 2024), and Melinda West and the Gremlin Queen (Brigids Gate Press, 2025), and the editor of Women of the Weird West (Brigids Gate Press, 2026) and co-editor of Dread Coast: SoCal Horror Tales (No Bad Books Press, 2025).
She is a published short story writer, with dozens of tales appearing in podcasts, anthologies and magazines, including: PseudoPod, Andromedia Spaceways Magazine, Unnerving Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Dark Matter Magazine, Sley House Presents, the British SF Association’s Fission Magazine, Tales to Terrify, the Lovecraft eZine; Musings of the Muse; Dancing in the Shadows—A Tribute to Anne Rice; the Stoker-nominated Chromophobia; the Stoker-nominated Fright Mare: Women Write Horror, and many others.
She teaches genre and short story workshops and has been a moderator, panelist or speaker at dozens of conferences and events. In 2016, she co-founded the Horror Writers Association San Diego Chapter, an organization that helps to promote the horror genre (read more here) and she co-chaired its flagship event, StokerCon, in 2024. She is also a member of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association and served as an SFWA mentor. Aside from constructing imaginary worlds, she works as an award-winning science writer and editor and likes to haunt coffee shops, comic book stores, labyrinths and carnivals.
