Edgar Allan Poe Sesquicentennial Tribute Story Contest

 

October 7, 1999 marked the 150th anniversary of the passing of Edgar Allan Poe, the dark genius of American letters and the father of the detective story.  In recognition of this, The Short Mystery Fiction Society, together with MURDEROUS INTENT, sponsored a Poe Tribute Short Story Contest. The contest was open to members of the SMFS and the readers of MI.

All entries were new (never before published) tales of mystery, detection or suspense, 2,500 words or less.  No supernatural horror, and no science-fiction.  The stories were either set in historical times or were contemporary, and were either deadly serious or humorous (in recognition of the fact that Poe in his lifetime was known for his humor writings!).  In keeping with the Poe Tribute theme, each story involved a work of Edgar Allan Poe's as a key story element that was integral to the plot, or used Edgar Allan Poe as a character himself.

We were not necessarily looking for a pastiche, a parody or an imitation of Poe's style, but rather creative and imaginative homages to the writer who defined the form of the short mystery.

The winning story was Mark Troy (writing as M.E. Troy) with "The Montressor Hit". The story was published in the Fall, 1999 issue of MURDEROUS INTENT.

In addition, four other stories were selected for Honorable Mention status by the reading committee and our contest judge, Henry Slesar. They were:

"Cave Cask" by Glynn Marsh Alam

"Poetic Justice" by James L. Oddie

"Midnight Dreary" by D. C. Thomas

"Second Hand Smoke" by E. J. McGill

The original announcement concluded

On behalf of the SMFS and Murderous Intent, we would like to congratulate our winner, Mark Troy, as well as the honorees -- Glynn, James, Debra and Earl -- and thank all those who contributed a story and made this contest a success!  We would also like to express our gratitude to Henry for serving as our final judge.

Poe-etically yours,

G. Miki Hayden, President SMFS

Michael Mallory, Vice President SMFS and Poe Contest Coordinator

* This contest was in no way connected with the Mystery Writers of America and its annual Edgar Allan Poe award.