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To Our Readers
Welcome to the sixth annual Ooligan Press Editors’ Choice e-journal. The advanced editing students in Portland State University’s Publishing Program held a short-story contest in spring 2010 calling for unpublished short stories on the theme “Making Monsters.”
Wonderfully dark stories came in. We chortled, we gasped, we were moved. Talented writers with horror-tinged imaginations offered tales of the Shambler, an elusive forest beast; a murderous yellow-eyed creature loosely built of animal parts; a mysterious dog named Ruby; deadly deer that exhaled rancid fog. We read of a young man’s lust for a Siren and her hideous revenge; we enjoyed a terrifying encounter with an Epre, Level D (very dangerous). Monsters of many sorts emerged from the stories—some of them self-made, and some created by poverty, drugs, and abuse.
Every class member pored over every submission. The stories were rich in possibility, and it was difficult to reach consensus. At last, we settled on five winning stories. Each winning author is a writer to watch.
Karen Kirtley
Karen Kirtley teaches advanced editing in Portland State University’s Publishing Program
2010 Winners:
The Holy House of Elyria by Doug Cornett
Dream Catcher by Rhea Noel Hindemit
To Be a Woman by Jillian Moody
Clog by Obie Williams
Final Arrangements by Kim Winternheimer