The Writing Clubroom Christmas Ghost Story Competition 2026 is organised by The Writing Clubroom and sponsored by Clubroom Press.
Please read these Terms & Conditions before entering. By submitting an entry, you confirm that you have read and accepted them.
1. Eligibility
The competition is open internationally to anyone aged 18 or over at the time of entry.
Entry is free.
Only one entry per person is permitted.
Employees, contractors and anyone directly involved in the administration or judging of the competition, together with their immediate families, may not enter.
2. Competition Dates
The competition opens on 7 September 2026.
Entries must be received no later than:
11:59 pm GMT on 31 December 2026.
Entries received after the closing time will not be considered.
The results are expected to be announced on or around 15 January 2027.
If circumstances outside our reasonable control require a change to these dates, any revised arrangements will be announced on The Writing Clubroom website.
3. The Story
Entries must be ghost stories of no more than 5,000 words, excluding the title.
The competition takes place during the Christmas season, but your story does not have to be set at Christmas or have a Christmas theme.
We welcome imaginative interpretations of the ghost-story form.
Stories must be written in English.
Entries must be the entrant’s own original work and must not infringe the copyright, privacy or other legal rights of another person.
The story must not have been previously published commercially, in print or digitally, before the closing date.
Entries must not be under consideration elsewhere at the time they are submitted to this competition.
Entrants remain responsible for the content and legal status of their own work.
4. How to Enter
Entries must be submitted electronically in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) format in accordance with the submission instructions on the competition webpage.
The entrant’s name and contact details should appear in the covering email and not within the story manuscript.
This allows us to judge entries anonymously wherever practicable.
Entrants are responsible for ensuring that their entry has been submitted correctly and before the deadline.
We recommend retaining your own copy of both the story and the submission email.
5. Anonymous Judging
The Writing Clubroom will make reasonable efforts to ensure that stories are presented to the judges without identifying information.
Entries will be considered on their literary merits, including such qualities as storytelling, originality, characterisation, atmosphere, voice and overall effectiveness.
The judges may determine the weight given to individual qualities according to the nature of each story.
The judges’ decision is final.
We are unable to provide individual feedback on entries or enter into correspondence concerning judging decisions.
6. Prize and Places
The competition has a £100 First Prize, sponsored by Clubroom Press.
The judging panel also intends to recognise:
Second Place
Third Place
Five Honourable Mentions
Only First Place carries a cash prize unless otherwise announced.
The winner will be contacted using the details provided with their entry. We may ask the winner to provide reasonable information necessary to verify their identity and eligibility before the prize is paid.
The cash prize has no alternative prize or substitution.
If the winner cannot be contacted within a reasonable period, is subsequently found to have been ineligible, or has materially breached these Terms & Conditions, The Writing Clubroom may withdraw the award and select another winner.
7. Copyright and Ownership
Entrants retain copyright and all other rights in their stories.
Entering the competition does not transfer copyright, ownership, publishing rights or other commercial rights to The Writing Clubroom or Clubroom Press.
For the purpose of administering and judging the competition, entrants grant The Writing Clubroom a limited, non-exclusive permission to receive, store, reproduce internally where reasonably necessary, and share their submitted story privately with those involved in administering and judging the competition.
That permission exists solely for the purposes of running the competition and does not give The Writing Clubroom or Clubroom Press the right to publish or commercially exploit the story.
8. Clubroom Press and Possible Publication
The competition is sponsored by Clubroom Press.
Sponsorship does not give Clubroom Press any ownership, copyright or automatic publishing rights in an entrant’s story.
Publication is not part of the competition prize and is not guaranteed.
Following the competition, Clubroom Press may, entirely at its own editorial discretion, contact the author of a winning, placed, honourably mentioned or other outstanding entry if it wishes to discuss possible publication or another publishing opportunity.
Any such approach would be separate from the competition.
Publication could take place only after the author and Clubroom Press had separately agreed appropriate terms. The author would be under no obligation to accept an approach from Clubroom Press.
Unless and until such a separate agreement is reached, all publication rights remain with the author.
9. Announcement of Results
The Writing Clubroom may publish the name, story title and placing of the winner, Second Place, Third Place and Honourable Mentions on its website, Facebook page, newsletters and other communications relating to the competition.
This permission relates to announcing and promoting the results of the competition only.
It does not give The Writing Clubroom or Clubroom Press permission to publish the entrant’s story.
Where appropriate, we may also publicise the competition results through Clubroom Press.
10. Disqualification
The Writing Clubroom reserves the right to disqualify an entry where it reasonably believes that:
- the entrant is ineligible;
- more than one entry has been submitted by the same person;
- false or misleading information has been provided;
- the entry is not the entrant’s own original work;
- the entry infringes another person’s legal rights;
- the story was previously published contrary to these Terms & Conditions;
- the entrant has attempted to identify themselves to or improperly influence the judges;
- the entrant has otherwise materially breached these Terms & Conditions; or
- disqualification is reasonably necessary to protect the fairness or integrity of the competition.
Where an issue is discovered after the results have been announced, The Writing Clubroom may withdraw a placing or prize and, where appropriate, select another entrant.
11. Technical Problems and Lost Entries
The Writing Clubroom cannot guarantee uninterrupted operation of email, internet services, websites or other electronic systems.
To the extent permitted by law, The Writing Clubroom and Clubroom Press cannot accept responsibility for an entry that is delayed, corrupted, incomplete, misdirected or not received because of technical failure or circumstances outside their reasonable control.
Entrants are responsible for keeping their own copy of their work.
12. Personal Information
Personal information supplied in connection with an entry will be used for purposes reasonably connected with administering the competition, including receiving and recording entries, communicating with entrants, judging, verifying eligibility and awarding the prize.
Information will only be shared with people involved in administering or judging the competition where reasonably necessary.
Entering the competition does not automatically subscribe an entrant to The Writing Clubroom or Clubroom Press marketing communications.
Personal information will be handled in accordance with applicable UK data protection law and The Writing Clubroom’s Privacy Policy.
Competition entry records and personal information will be retained only for as long as reasonably necessary for administration, judging, announcement of results and resolution of any queries or disputes, after which they will be securely deleted or anonymised where appropriate, subject to any information that must be retained for legitimate legal, financial or administrative purposes.
13. Changes, Suspension or Cancellation
The Writing Clubroom reserves the right to make reasonable changes to the administration of the competition where necessary to ensure its fair and effective operation.
Where circumstances outside our reasonable control make it necessary, the competition may be extended, postponed, suspended or cancelled.
Any material change will be communicated through The Writing Clubroom website and, where appropriate, directly to entrants.
No change will retrospectively transfer an entrant’s copyright or publishing rights to The Writing Clubroom or Clubroom Press.
14. Liability
Entrants are responsible for ensuring that their entries comply with these Terms & Conditions and with applicable law.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions excludes or limits liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
Subject to this, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, The Writing Clubroom and Clubroom Press will not be responsible for indirect or consequential loss arising from participation in the competition or from circumstances outside their reasonable control.
15. Administration and Interpretation
The Writing Clubroom is responsible for administering the competition.
The Writing Clubroom may make reasonable decisions concerning the interpretation and application of these Terms & Conditions where necessary to ensure the fair and orderly running of the competition.
If any provision of these Terms & Conditions is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue to apply.
16. Governing Law
These Terms & Conditions are governed by the laws of England and Wales.
Nothing in these Terms & Conditions removes any rights an entrant may have under applicable law.
17. Acceptance of These Terms
By submitting an entry to The Writing Clubroom Christmas Ghost Story Competition 2026, the entrant confirms that they have read, understood and agreed to these Terms & Conditions.
The Writing Clubroom Christmas Ghost Story Competition 2026
Organised by The Writing Clubroom
Sponsored by Clubroom Press