Logo of the Holders series.
Hello and welcome to this year’s horror competition. In the spirit of all things dark and otherworldly, we’ve decided to resurrect an old classic that some of you may not have heard of, considering its relative obscurity in the larger creepypasta canon.
The Holders series, a collaborative anthology series presented in the form of short instructional rituals, was produced primarily between 2006-2009 by users of 4chan and affiliated wikis. Its format dares the reader to undergo a series of tasks and ordeals in order to obtain either a physical item or something more abstract, carried by the mantra that the gathering of all these ‘Objects’ will bring about the end of the world.
The original conceptualisation of the series was that it withheld 2538 entries, each numerically designated in a manner similar to SCP. This amount of stories was never reached, leaving a lot of empty slots. That’s where you’ll be coming in.
How to Participate[]
The restrictive format of the Holders as they were originally written is of its time; the format is short and repetitive, not owing itself well to modern storywriting. As such, we’ve decided to expand the creative boundaries pertaining to what constitutes a Holder work.
Your task is simply to produce a story about a ritual and the unusual reward it may grant. You do not have to refer to the term ‘Holder’ within the story or its title, but you must choose a name (Holder of _____) to be mentioned in the article header/author’s note. How this name relates to the rest of your story is up to you. You can present your ritual in the traditional instructional manner or however else - we are also permitting adaptations of Holders already on the wiki.
Judges and Feedback System[]
The judges for this contest are myself, Postuhenin, and Banned In CP. We will be scoring entries based on four main criteria (ten points each) and two technical ones (five points each). This means that each judge has a total of 50 points to award to a story, with each entry earning a maximum of 150 points.
Execution[]
How well you presented the events of your story to achieve a desired narrative outcome.
Originality[]
How new your ideas felt, or how effectively you were able to subvert old ones.
Use of Ritual[]
How your ritual was included, especially in regard to its outcome.
Use of Holder[]
How you chose to represent your Holder title within the story.
Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar[]
Self-explanatory; adherence to basic rules of English.
Syntax[]
Eloquence and style of writing.
General Rules[]
- All entries must be posted as an onsite article in order to be counted. Google Doc and Pastebin links will be ignored.
- All entries must meet the wiki’s Quality Standards.
- Spinoffs or entries that include any kind of blacklisted subject must first go through appeal.
- All entries must be 100% original and written specifically for the contest (no pre-existing pastas).
- All entries (excluding poems) must be within 500 and 7500 words. Entries that exceed or fall short of this margin will not be accepted unless they are edited to an appropriate size.
You may post your story on the Writers’ Workshop before submitting it, but none of the judges will be permitted to give feedback.
Story Formatting Guidelines[]
As well as all the relevant categories (including the contest category), entries must include an author’s note indicating that the story is for the contest. This can be achieved by copy-pasting the following template at the very top of the page:
{{AN|This is my entry for Cornconic’s Holders Revival writing contest. I chose the Holder of ____.}}
Entries must also include the ‘by-user’ template at the very bottom of the page to make it clear who has submitted what:
{{By-user|insert your username here}}
The Timeline[]
The contest has officially begun with the creation of this blog post. That means that from now until July 7th, you should let us know you’re participating by leaving a message in the comments with the name of the Holder you will be using.
Please keep in mind that we will not be accepting stories until June 14th, or one week from now. This is so that authors can ensure that their stories are of the utmost quality before they are submitted. The last day to enter a story is July 14th; once you have done so, please try to keep additional editing to a minimum. Fixing a couple of typos won't merit any consequences, but an extensive change will force us to mark you down.
As soon as you have published your work to the site, you should let us know by commenting the link. The scores will be announced within two weeks of the final submission date.
Why Participate?[]
The top three entries will receive narrations from a selection of talented YouTubers:
The winning entry will also be showcased on the front page of the wiki.
In Conclusion[]
Any questions may be directed towards the comments section or my talk page. A list of used Holder names will be detailed below to avoid confusion. As always, have fun and happy writing - we’re excited to see what you’ll come up with.