The Ghost Story: A Guide

Your Ghost short story must contain at least one main character who is a ghost or who directly interacts with ghosts or should allude to the possibility of ghosts*.  

It must be no less than 600 words and no more than 3,000 words. Stories should be written in 12-point font Times New Roman or Garamond, or 11-point font Arial or Arial Nova.  

Stories are encouraged in any language; however, stories submitted must be in English. Stories written in another language must be accompanied by an English translation. Miami English is welcomed.

*Note: Ghosts are not required to be written as the traditional ghosts. Students are allowed to deviate from the traditional and literal “ghosts”. Students can write about shadows, spirits, ghosts-like-demons, apparitions, ghosts from the past or future (another version of themselves), voices, possessed objects, hallucinations, etc. Ghost stories can be of any genre, not just horror.  

Stories which are AI-generated will be immediately disqualified. For questions, please email Kalvare4@mdc.edu. 

Stories must be submitted to the following email: MDCGhoststory@gmail.com by October 25th, 2024. 

On the email subject line, you must write your MDC campus (Hialeah, Homestead, Padron, Medical, North, West, or Wolfson), your full name, and your ten-digit MDC student ID (example: Hialeah John Doe 4000105009).

For more email submission examples, see below. 

Stories must be submitted with a Cover Page. In the Cover Page, type the following: Story Title, Writer’s full name, writer’s phone number, and writer’s email address. This information will be used to contact winners. For format example, see below.

Submissions which do not meet the Email and Cover page requirements will not be considered. If you have questions regarding the email submission and Cover Page requirements, or need help with submitting your story or creating the Cover Page, please contact Kalvare4@mdc.edu.

Winners will be contacted through the phone number and email they provided on the Cover Page of their stories.  

• "Halloween" Gift Basket 
• Publishing in the MDC Digital Commons
• Publishing in Campus Literary Magazine
• $300 Scholarship*
• Publishing Podcast episode with MDC Digital Media Club.

• "Halloween" Gift Basket 
• Publishing in the MDC Digital Commons 
• Publishing in Campus Literary Magazine
• $200 Scholarship*
• Publishing Podcast episode with MDC Digital Media Club.

• "Halloween" Gift Basket
• Publishing in the MDC Digital Commons 
• Publishing in Campus Literary Magazine
• $100 Scholarship*
• Publishing Podcast episode with MDC Digital Media Club.

*Scholarships are dependent on Financial Aid Availability. If student has met allotted amount for the year, they are unable to receive scholarship prize. Scholarships will be placed in student's account.  

Winners will be announced online on November 15th. Winners will pick up their prizes on Tuesday, November 19th at their Home campus' Learning Resources/ Library. 

1. Students may use myths or folklore, but their submitted story must be an original work created by the person entering the contest. If using AI to compose some part of your story, see guidelines. 
2. Students can make multiple submissions.  
3. Stories containing language that contains hate speech or is offensive, wholly inappropriate language will not be accepted. If you’re going to cuss – don’t do it to shock.  
4. Stories must be submitted with a Cover Page. 
5. Submit your story to the email MDCGhoststory@gmail.com by midnight October 25, 2024. On the Email subject line, you must write your home campus, your full name, and your ten-digit MDC student ID (ex. Kendall Campus John Doe 4000105009).
6. Winners will be contacted through the phone number and email they provided on the Cover Page of their stories. 
7. Winners will be posted on MDC affiliated Instagram accounts, as well as other platforms, and the Learning Resources Facebook Page. 
8. By submitting your original short story to the MDC Ghost Story Contest, you certify that the story/stories that you have entered into this contest is/are original to you. You also grant permission for first publication to MDC to publish your work in the MDC Digital Commons and share on MDC social media sites. You agree that this release will prevent you from bringing a lawsuit against MDC in connection with any claims regarding the publication of the story/stories that You submitted.  
9. MDC reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to disqualify any participant who does not comply with the contest rules. 

MDC reserves the right to publish submissions in order to promote subsequent Ghost Story Contests, or in any other manner that further serves MDC’s purposes as a public educational institution. MDC will provide notice to the participant within a reasonable time prior to using a submission. 

The Ghost Story Student Workshop