Once Upon A Time: the Dark Fairy Tales Challenge

[SaintValyssa]

The anthology won't be published until 30 September, so there's time for stories to be approved.

Ok....

Cool. Was just about to ask about that.

Basically, I submitted the story on the 21st... And at this point, I'm pretty worried that it won't publish in time.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

Basically, I submitted the story on the 21st...

Welp. I submitted 18 hours ago. I guess I'll stop checking for a few days.

 

[SaintValyssa]

Welp. I submitted 18 hours ago. I guess I'll stop checking for a few days.

I have heard that length matters (that's what she said).

And my story is approximately 30k words.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I have heard that length matters (that's what she said).

And my story is approximately 30k words.

15k here

 

[StillStunned]

The final day to submit your stories!

I just realised that my latest story would have fit right with this challenge. It's clearly a fairy tale, with its "not all women want lesbian sex" tag.

 

[Jorunn]

The final day to submit your stories!

I just realised that my latest story would have fit right with this challenge. It's clearly a fairy tale, with its "not all women want lesbian sex" tag.

Ahem! In the realm of fairy tales and folklore, women are portrayed as leading ‘men’ astray. Sirens, forest spirits like Huldras, witch-like Völvas who can alter a man’s fate, mermaids, etc. Few such seductive male creatures exist to draw women away.

 

[HippyJeanSalon]

The final day to submit your stories!

I just submitted mine. We'll see how it goes.

 

[StillStunned]

Ahem! In the realm of fairy tales and folklore, women are portrayed as leading ‘men’ astray. Sirens, forest spirits like Huldras, witch-like Völvas who can alter a man’s fate, mermaids, etc. Few such seductive male creatures exist to draw women away.

I was referring to the fact that, here on Lit, a woman without lesbian tendencies is a mythological being that nobody has ever encountered.

 

[SaintValyssa]

The final day to submit your stories!

I just realised that my latest story would have fit right with this challenge. It's clearly a fairy tale, with its "not all women want lesbian sex" tag.

Ok, so.... In my story, I noticed a very, very minor typo that is driving me bananas. But I noticed it like... 2 days after submitting.

Were day 4 since I submitted and it's not published yet (not complaining, just saying facts).

You saying if I correct and resubmit it now, I'm still in?

 

[Husky_Embrace]

I'm sorry to say mine won't be finished on time. Not even the secondary idea of cutting it up and posting the first part in time with the rest coming later. People can try to hold their breaths for it, as I do promise myself to finish it. If at least one person can read the whole behemoth I'll be happy. 31k so far, close to the end. I think I need another 1000 to 2000 words to finish the first draft, and then the rewriting begins. Personal circumstances just took writing away from me, so I couldn't get another "10k in two days" crunch any more.

I've noticed that the overarching theme isn't yet defined enough, so I need to expand several areas. Hopefully I can still mind to keep scenes short enough to keep it interesting, so I'll be handling the brush as well as the axe. I just hope my writing skill has grown enough. It might go to 35k when finished. A huge departure of my few thousand words stroke stories I've written in my time.

One day. I hope someone stays tuned.

Edit: I do enjoy the challenge. Thanks @StillStunned for organizing it.

 

[StillStunned]

You saying if I correct and resubmit it now, I'm still in?

You can, if you want, and I'd be surprised if Laurel doesn't review it in time for including in the anthology. But I can't make any promises. Make sure to include the "dark fairy tales 2025" tag as well, so at least it will be on the tag page.

 

[Jorunn]

dark fairy tale 2025

dark fairy tales 2025

 

[StillStunned]

dark fairy tales 2025

Thanks for catching that. I've corrected it in my post.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I'm sorry to say mine won't be finished on time. Not even the secondary idea of cutting it up and posting the first part in time with the rest coming later. People can try to hold their breaths for it, as I do promise myself to finish it. If at least one person can read the whole behemoth I'll be happy. 31k so far, close to the end. I think I need another 1000 to 2000 words to finish the first draft, and then the rewriting begins. Personal circumstances just took writing away from me, so I couldn't get another "10k in two days" crunch any more.

I've noticed that the overarching theme isn't yet defined enough, so I need to expand several areas. Hopefully I can still mind to keep scenes short enough to keep it interesting, so I'll be handling the brush as well as the axe. I just hope my writing skill has grown enough. It might go to 35k when finished. A huge departure of my few thousand words stroke stories I've written in my time.

One day. I hope someone stays tuned.

Edit: I do enjoy the challenge. Thanks @StillStunned for organizing it.

Good luck! I've always found it personally if not externally rewarding to stretch myself towards these more ambitious projects.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

As for myself, I'm just trying to remember that it does me no good to check on my submission more than once a day since the stories only go live that often.

I'm up to twice today.

 

[Jorunn]

I am leaving my story in Dark Fairy Tales for now, but I have started a Halloween revision just in case. I already feature a forest spirit as a MFC, so I only have to add some color to the leaves, and do a little editing of two outdoor sex scenes. Fun enough to do the writing, even if the original makes it to Published by 30 September.

 

[crookedletter]

Whew. I submitted. Down to the wire, last minute rewrites. I don't really feel like I rushed it, but I kinda feel like I rushed it. Hopefully it's not a mess.

Thanks for organizing, @StillStunned -- I needed a fun project to occupy my brain for a little while, and this was a fun one.

 

[Eisenloewe]

Didn't get mine done in time, though I feel like I'm close. Since this is a challenge, not a contest, is there still a chance it could be included if I submit it in the next day or two? (I've seen that the Crime & Punishment anthology is actually a little late getting posted, or at least there are still stories in the queue based on the support thread for that challenge, so I'm curious if that's a good sign or a bad sign for late entries.)

 

[StillStunned]

Didn't get mine done in time, though I feel like I'm close. Since this is a challenge, not a contest, is there still a chance it could be included if I submit it in the next day or two? (I've seen that the Crime & Punishment anthology is actually a little late getting posted, or at least there are still stories in the queue based on the support thread for that challenge, so I'm curious if that's a good sign or a bad sign for late entries.)

That really depends on Laurel. There's a 5-day gap between the challenge ending and the anthology being published, to give her time to review late submissions. If you're very late submitting your story, she might not have time to look at it. I've heard of writers submitting contest stories after the deadline and still being included, but there's no guarantee.

The best you can do is submit it as soon as possible, and maybe add an apology in the "Notes to the admin" field. Also make sure to use the "dark fairy tales 2025" tag, so your story will appear on the tag page whether or not it's included in the anthology.

Good luck!

 

[joy_of_cooking]

I hope you try, @Eisenloewe . I remember your stories and I'm looking forward to reading another.

 

[Agent0069]

Well, I just submitted my story, due to personal reasons - after the deadline. Worst case scenario - it will just not get published at all, and every other outcome is pretty much ok for me at this point.

 

[Eisenloewe]

So I just submitted, and I noticed something new: The name of the uploaded .doc changed as soon as it went into the system. I don't remember that happening in the past. As in I uploaded FairyTale.doc and it changed to Eisenloewe_123456789ABCDEFG.doc, and I'm curious if this has been the case for everyone else. I don't upload all that frequently here so if this is a change that has been in place for months or years now, I'm just OOTL.

And I really thought that this was going to be shorter than my 30k Crime & Punishment entry, and technically true, but this one still ended up at 28k. Seems unlikely I'll get an entry in for Halloween at this point, since at this pace, that would be 90k words in a little over a month. But who knows? Maybe I'll keep burnout at bay a little longer.

 

[HippyJeanSalon]

I just submitted mine. We'll see how it goes.

And it's now set to go live on Monday. I was getting scared it got hung up with all the other pending stories.

 

[DeMont]

Once upon a time, there was Pandemonium...

And once upon a time, there was a Fairy Tales writing exercise...

Now this summer, get ready for the Dark Fairy Tales 2025 challenge!

Close the door and huddle down in front of the fire, and tell us your tales of princesses, witches, ogres, bold farm lads, magical mirrors, giant beanstalks and pussy in boots. Will the princess escape from the giant's clutches, or will she decide that bigger is better? Is the witch a GILF with a magic broomstick? When the big bad wolf huffs and puffs, what will he blow? Will the goose lay golden eggs, or... Actually, no, I can't think of a way to make this one sexy. But I'm sure someone here can.

Stories submitted and published: 1-25 September 2025
Anthology posted: 30 September 2025
And they lived happily ever after...

Rules & Guidelines​

1. Stay more or less on theme: dark, erotic, disturbing, traditional or modern - above all, try to capture the spirit of the fairy tale.
2. You can write in any category and any length, as long as you keep in mind Rule #1
3. Please include "Dark Fairy Tales 2025" in the Notes to Admin field. Please use this exact wording so Laurel can identify the entries. If you don't put this phrase in the Notes to Admin field, your story will not be included in the event. We recommend you copy and paste it!
4. Please use "Dark Fairy Tales" and "Dark Fairy Tales 2025" as story tags.
5. Specifically for classic fairy tales: remember the 18+ rule! Essentially: if you're retelling a classic fairy tale, remember the characters' age. If they're considered mature in the commonly accepted version (the tale ends with the hero and heroine marrying, for instance), that's pretty much safe. If the tale hinges on the characters being children (being abandoned in the forest by their parents, etc.), don't age them up, just try and think of something else. Err on the side of "Let's not bother Laurel with this".

@StillStunned,
DARN IT ALL...! Missed the closing date, it's still being written.
I'm working along an older style "Brothers Grimm" style theme.
I presume the "Challenge" will be back sometime in 2026? should be well finished by then.
Can you enter already published story or do entries have to be original as and when they are called for my friend?
Deepest respects,
D.

 

[StillStunned]

@StillStunned,
DARN IT ALL...! Missed the closing date, it's still being written.
I'm working along an older style "Brothers Grimm" style theme.
I presume the "Challenge" will be back sometime in 2026? should be well finished by then.
Can you enter already published story or do entries have to be original as and when they are called for my friend?
Deepest respects,
D.

Shame you didn't manage to get it finished on time! I don't think there's a way for the story to be added once the anthology has been published. But you can always include the "dark fairy tales 2025" tag, so your story is added to the tag page.

As matters stand I don't have any plans for running the same challenge next year.