Hysteria 2023 shortlist announced

Hysteria 2023 closed at the end of August and it has taken some time, more than usual, to get to the point of announcing the shortlist. To everyone who entered, well done; the reading team were impressed by everything they read. But of course, there do have to be winners and this year I’m pleased to announce the following entries are shortlisted in each category.

Please note: the list is by alphabetical author name, and does not reveal the overall category winners!

If you want, you can also try your hand at guessing the cover image. Each year the cover is inspired by one of the shortlisted entries, can you decide which it is? If you think you’ve got a good idea why not leave a comment below, the first person to leave the correct answer will receive a free copy of the anthology ebook.

Flash fiction

Hedera – Melanie Barrow
Hocus Pocus – Chris Cottom
Rescuing A Dryad – Frances Gapper
Just Like Gran – Angharad Hill
Dungeons And Dragons – Denny Jace
A Tisane Of Thaumaturgy – Caroline Jenner
The Cure For Reason – Catherine Leyshon
Offerings – Samantha Palmer
Picking Over The Bones – Rachel Sawbey
Letters And Words From The Occult – Jarick Weldon

Poetry

The Sorcery Of Science – Linda Burnett
Day Trip To Whitstable – Heather Cook
Pied Piper – Maureen Cullen
A Woman Who Does Not Believe In Spells – Annette Iles
A Kind Of Magic – Iain McGrath
Yoked – Fiona Ritchie Walker
My Eärendil – Gillian Scholey
The Dangerous Third Wish – Sue Spiers
Re: Your Love Spell On Oxford Street – Katherine Weber
Tablecloth Trick – Glen Wilson

Short Stories

Skin Deep – Sarah Breen
The Loneliness Of Orbit – Fay Brown
My Darling Boy – Sally Curtis
A Living Bethlehem – Christine Griffin
Claudette – Julie Lockwood Austin
A Lingering Scent – Sarah Masters
There’s A Possum In My Garden – Sandra Morgan
Soaking Wet – Denarri Peters
Sixty Four Squares And The End Of The World – Coltrane Rogers
The Darkening – Anne Wilkins