The results are in for the 2024 South African Horrorfest Bloody Parchment Short Story Competition, a cornerstone of the country’s premier horror and speculative fiction event. This year’s winner is Xan van Rooyen for the story “Splinters of the Schism”, praised by judges for its originality and chilling craft.

Xan van Rooyen is a South African-born, Finland-based writer of speculative fiction whose work spans aetherpunk, cyberpunk, and African futurisms. Their stories have appeared in publications such as Three-Lobed Burning Eye, Daily Science Fiction, and Galaxy’s Edge, and they are a contributor to the Sauútiverse collective.

Runners-up include Brett Rex Bruton for “The Hand on the Door” and Dera Udochukwu for “Alkaline Water”, both recognized for their strong narrative voices and inventive takes on horror. Finalists are Toby Bennett (“Siren”), Queen Amara (“Red Heels are Bad Omen”), Shaun van Rensburg (“Socialite”), and Damon Yeld (“Lucky Me”).

This year’s panel of judges—Mazi Nwonwu, Stephen Embleton, Mandisi Nkomo, and Diane Awerbuck—brought deep experience in African speculative fiction and horror to the selection process.

The competition is part of the 20th Annual South African Horrorfest, running from 30 October to 10 November 2024 at Cape Town’s Labia Theatre. The longest-running event of its kind on the continent, the festival features new and classic horror films, live soundtrack performances, literature events, and Halloween festivities.

Organizers have hinted at a forthcoming Bloody Parchment anthology featuring this year’s winners and finalists, “but more on that later,” they tease.

Fans of African horror have a lot to be excited about, with the winning stories from this year’s Bloody Parchment competition and the forthcoming anthology. Also, stay tuned: we’ll be sharing news soon about other upcoming horror fiction releases. To learn more about African horror fiction, go here and here.