I'm giving away a brand-new, in the shrinkwrap copy of Trick R Treat: Tales of Mayhem, Mystery, and Mischief in a writing contest. If you attended BNAT 9, you got one of these. My wife and I both went, so I have one I don't need. In celebration of the release of the Trick R Treat DVD/Blu-ray and Halloween in general, I'm shipping it to whoever earns it. The contest timeframe is compressed, so I don't need anything long (there is now word or length limit). I've never done one of these, so here goes. Read on if you're interested.
Images taken from someone's blog via Google Image Search since I left the house without proper photos of my own.
Write on the topic "The Spirit of Halloween" however it strikes you. You can tell me a story (true or invented), write an essay rant about the state of the holiday, write an ode, or literally whatever you want as long as it fits the theme. Poems, fiction, non-fic, plays, an amalgamation...whatever tool you choose is fine. Think outside the box and do something outside the norm for you or do what you know. Make it as short or long as you like and write in whatever medium can be transmitted in an email (including images and video are fine).
Top credit awarded for: ingenuity, passion, and effective telling in whatever medium you choose. Do your best, not what you think I want to hear or would be most receptive to. I'm interested in your perspective more than anything.
Extra Credit A: reference the movie Trick R Treat directly, indirectly, or thematically.
Extra Credit B: drive friends to follow my Twitter (there's a catch). Introduce them in your submission email (or a followup email) by writing one line about them. the "introduction" can be in the body of your entry, an intro, or a postscript. It doesn't matter where, just get it in there. Quality counts over quantity. This Twitter follower drive is intended to reflect your lack of fear introducing friends to the contest.
Entries will be accepted until the end of Halloween night your local time (before 12:01am November 1st). The compressed timeframe is intentional. If you send after the cutoff, there's no guarantee it'll count. Anyone in any country I can mail to may enter, be it New Zealand, South Africa, either Korea, and so on and so forth.
Any or all entries received may be reprinted on this column. I reserve the right to reprint, forever and ever, whatever you submit; however, you do retain all other original ownership rights to your writing. The (1) winner will be notified by email and I will ship the book at my own cost to them. From the point I ship the book, I relinquish any and all liability regarding delivery or condition of the item. Submitting an email entry using the instructions below indicates your binding acceptance of these terms. I have to state these things for legal reasons, you understand.
If I know you personally, that will not influence my decision (positively or negatively) in any way. If I know you, have met you, whatever, please set up or use an email address I won't recognize.
To enter, follow these rules exactly:
1) Compose an email with your entry included (duh).
2) The subject of the email should be exactly what follows after the colon: TRICKRTREATBOOK
3) Send to the title of this column (Arthouse Cowboy) with no spaces at GMail with a .com at the end (I didn't just link or write it out to confound spambots and spiders).
If you win, I'll get your name and address later, no need to include those in your submission.
This contest, like all the others you see on movie sites across the internet, is designed to drive traffic to this column, but more importantly, regular readers. More contests of the type may follow depending on how this goes.