IT IS TIME ONCE AGAIN. We shall force subgenres to have little story babies.
I will give you 20 subgenres. You will pick two from the list either using a d20 or random number generator (or use tea leaves or badger guts or something), then you will write a short story that mashes up those two subgenres.
Length: We’ll say 2000 words.
Due by: Next Friday (8/12), noon EST.
Post at your online space.
Link to it in the comments below. So we can all read it!
THE SUBGENRE LIST:
- Kaiju
- Cli-Fi (Climate Change Fiction)
- Gothic
- Shapeshifter
- Weird West
- Fairy Tale or Fable
- Body Horror
- Sword & Sorcery
- Whodunit?
- Military Sci-Fi
- Comic Fantasy
- Creature Feature
- Superhero
- Bodice Ripper
- Heist / Caper
- Magical Realism
- Parallel Universe
- Noir
- Time Travel
- Musical
Melissa A. Graham says:
I don’t believe I’ve ever hear of bodice ripper before. Intriguing…..
August 5, 2016 — 12:32 PM
Melissa A. Graham says:
So is there a maturity limit to this because I have ideas for the bodice-ripping shapeshifter story but there’s only one direction it’s going in my brain xD I’ll place a warning on my link
August 5, 2016 — 3:50 PM
persimmonromance says:
Creature feature musical. I don’t know about that. It might be a cute movie, but as a story…
August 5, 2016 — 12:46 PM
persimmonromance says:
I tried again. Now I have time-travel musical. Totally works as a concept, but musical? As short fiction?
August 5, 2016 — 12:53 PM
thelonelyauthorblog says:
You have genres I never even thought of on this list.
August 5, 2016 — 12:48 PM
jack lee taylor says:
Body horror and shape-shifter. Holy hell. David Cronenberg? I’ll give it a shot.
August 5, 2016 — 1:30 PM
Jemima Pett says:
Cli-fi Musical. Sounds right up my street 🙂
August 5, 2016 — 1:46 PM
Ouranosaurus says:
Kaiju whodunnit. Um, okay.
August 5, 2016 — 2:01 PM
Mariah Avix says:
Fairy tale + parallel universe. The princess and the pea goes searching for a good mattress across universes. (I wonder if I can get Casper mattresses to sponsor it…hm…)
August 5, 2016 — 3:37 PM
Mariah Avix says:
http://insani-x.com/2016/08/06/the-perfect-mattress/
Who wouldn’t want the ability to switch between worlds for a nap? Just me?
August 6, 2016 — 12:30 PM
Eva Therese says:
I read the last sentence and my mind immediately went “Casper mattresses, the online retailer that gives you premium mattresses for a fraction of the cost… etc.” I listen to a lot of podcasts. 😀
August 7, 2016 — 9:30 AM
Mariah Avix says:
I may…or may not have been listening to a podcast with a Casper mattresses ad while thinking this story up.
I didn’t go with Casper. I think I lost my sponsorship opportunity.
August 7, 2016 — 12:24 PM
Mozette says:
Time Travel + Parallel Universe… yep, I got mine going well. A little sad, a little happy… and a little different.
http://youcantgoback-andotherimpossibilities.blogspot.com.au/2016/08/the-ring.html
enjoy!
August 5, 2016 — 11:02 PM
jackmdavenport says:
Random number generator gives me Cli-fi & heist/caper…’kay.
August 7, 2016 — 1:27 AM
Fred G. Yost says:
Shapeshifter military sci-fi . Hm. I think I could work with this.
August 7, 2016 — 4:15 PM
Fred G. Yost says:
Whelp, here goes nothing. I went with ‘werewolves in space!’ kind of theme. Think it worked.
https://fredgyost.com/2016/08/09/flash-fiction-challenge-trial-by-moonlight/
August 9, 2016 — 10:43 PM
debscarey says:
Love it! What a rattling great yarn.
August 12, 2016 — 7:08 AM
The NoteBook Blogairy says:
Musical/Bodice-ripper. Holy hell. Uhm. Think it’s time to go back to the drawing board!
August 7, 2016 — 4:45 PM
The NoteBook Blogairy says:
Fairy Tale/Time-travel. Think I can work on that mashup!
August 7, 2016 — 4:47 PM
Vicente L Ruiz says:
Well, I went to random.org and got “Superhero Bodice Ripper”. I wasn’t exactly happy with that result, so I cheated and “rolled” again, and I also got “Kaiju Whodunit?”. I was going to roll again when an idea hit me, and I started working on it.
Here’s the result (a bit over 2000 words, I’m afraid): “Deceiving Appearances”.
https://medium.com/@VicenteLRuiz/deceiving-appearances-ef23986f1527
August 7, 2016 — 5:54 PM
debscarey says:
Oh, oh, oh. That’s beautiful and sad.
August 8, 2016 — 8:45 AM
Vicente L Ruiz says:
Thanks!
August 8, 2016 — 12:21 PM
S. Nathan says:
Okay, that hurt at the end. Well done.
August 12, 2016 — 3:03 AM
Vicente L Ruiz says:
Thank you!
August 12, 2016 — 7:48 AM
shelton keys dunning says:
Military Scifi, magic realism. Hmm. Not sure 2k is going to be enough…
August 8, 2016 — 1:12 AM
debscarey says:
Whodunnit + Musical isn’t a bad combination and means I didn’t have to look up Kaiju. Of course I did look it up, but only to avoid ignorance … Time for tea and inspiration.
August 8, 2016 — 8:23 AM
Eva Therese says:
I got noir and heist/caper and decided to pull up an old idea. https://evathereseebert.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/the-subgenre-blender-spins-again/
August 8, 2016 — 9:24 AM
debscarey says:
Oh nice closer!
August 12, 2016 — 7:14 AM
Mark Gardner says:
#13 & #18 – Superhero Noir: http://wp.me/p4le2s-1Ew
August 8, 2016 — 10:54 AM
debscarey says:
Loving how this story continues to unfold.
August 12, 2016 — 7:24 AM
Mark Gardner says:
Thanks, Bunny! I’m burned out on writing lately, so I’m glad you’re enjoying the story.
August 12, 2016 — 10:39 AM
chelsearthompson says:
Welp. Gothic kaiju. This should be interesting. See y’all Friday.
August 8, 2016 — 12:08 PM
C. Rasmussen says:
Cli-Fi Noir. Here is The Artist: https://comradecharlie.wordpress.com/2016/08/08/the-artist/
August 8, 2016 — 12:50 PM
debscarey says:
Oh so delectably creepy.
August 12, 2016 — 7:23 AM
C. Rasmussen says:
Thank you very much. 🙂
August 12, 2016 — 12:17 PM
Christopher Slagle says:
Wow, brutal. Very nicely done.
August 12, 2016 — 12:05 PM
C. Rasmussen says:
Thank you. 🙂
August 12, 2016 — 12:18 PM
Andrea Juhász says:
So creepy!! What a seamless mashup! Well done!
August 12, 2016 — 12:22 PM
C. Rasmussen says:
Thank you!
August 12, 2016 — 2:08 PM
Surya says:
That was horribly good and creepily written. I loved it.
August 12, 2016 — 12:53 PM
C. Rasmussen says:
Thank you, kindly. 🙂
August 12, 2016 — 2:09 PM
Violet Graves says:
Wow, that is an excellent execution of the pairing. And, yes, creepy as hell.
August 12, 2016 — 3:31 PM
Lou Cadle says:
Cli-fi (yay) plus fable (not so yay, but a writer has to stretch from time to time)
http://www.loucadle.com/2016/08/short-story-wendigs-flash-fiction.html
August 8, 2016 — 1:53 PM
debscarey says:
Excellent fable.
August 12, 2016 — 7:31 AM
Christopher Slagle says:
Beautiful story, Lou. Thank you.
August 12, 2016 — 12:21 PM
Violet Graves says:
That was lovely!
August 12, 2016 — 3:07 PM
themightiestpenblog says:
Comic fantasy and heist/caper. I wrote a not-so-subtle parody and turned my characters into thieves.
August 9, 2016 — 11:05 AM
bookautopsyblog says:
Got superhero and kaiju. This thing writes itself.
August 11, 2016 — 5:39 PM
Andys says:
I got whodunnit and creature feature, and that, combined with me feeling unwell, led to this. But really, there’s hardly an excuse for it: http://andreaspeed.com/2016/flash-fiction-challenge-mad-monster-sleep-over/
August 11, 2016 — 10:17 PM
Violet Graves says:
I love the throne of ants image!
August 12, 2016 — 3:12 PM
Matthew X. Gomez says:
Weird West/Shapeshifter.With some body horror and creature feature (probably) thrown in for good measure. https://mxgomez.wordpress.com/2016/08/11/what-price-a-brothers-blood-a-chuck-wendig-challenge/
Funny story, this is actually my second attempt. My Gothic Sword&Sorcery went way over the limit and into proper short story territory so… thanks!
August 11, 2016 — 10:25 PM
Christopher Slagle says:
Fairy-tale/noir, “Payback for Fay.” I had a lot of fun with this one! https://christopherslagle.wordpress.com/2016/08/11/flash-fiction-payback-for-fay
August 11, 2016 — 10:37 PM
Violet Graves says:
I laughed out loud when I got the punchline. That was fun to read!
August 12, 2016 — 3:16 PM
Christopher Slagle says:
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed!
August 12, 2016 — 4:26 PM
Rebecca Douglass says:
Creature Feature and Sword and Sorcery. Almost not a mashup at all, really.
http://www.ninjalibrarian.com/2016/08/friday-flash-some-heroics-required.html
August 12, 2016 — 1:52 AM
debscarey says:
Getting in just under the wire again, here is my Whodunnit + Musical genre mash-up called, originally, Whodunnit, the Musical!
http://www.bunnyandthebloke.com/blog/flash-fiction-whodunnit-the-musical
August 12, 2016 — 7:01 AM
S. Nathan says:
‘A Present for Amy’. Fairytale/Fable and Magical Realism. Not too much of a mashup, but it was fun. http://bit.ly/2bcMOXq
August 12, 2016 — 9:47 AM
ToniJ says:
Kaiju + shapeshifter? Sure, sounds fun. https://tonij.com/2016/08/12/the-kaiju-curse/
August 12, 2016 — 10:08 AM
Andrea Juhasz says:
“The Creature”. My attempt at mixing body horror and creature feature. Definitely a challenge!
http://thescifinovel.com/blog/the-creature
August 12, 2016 — 10:22 AM
Violet Graves says:
I did roll an extra time to get out of body horror because the idea that popped into my head threatened to ruin my appetite and I was hungry. So I ended up with Creature Feature and Gothic.
https://violetgraves.com/2016/08/12/managing-the-monarch-a-terrible-minds-flash-fiction-challenge/
August 12, 2016 — 3:03 PM
Alice E Keyes says:
http://aliceekeyes.blogspot.com/
mash up between Comic Fantasy and Magical Realism genre – this is just the start of a story
August 12, 2016 — 3:09 PM
Keith Gapinski (@keithgapinski) says:
I’m totally late…but in my defense, I started late, and there was laundry, and ants. And that all ended up making this turn out way darker that I hoped.
Super-hero / Parallel Universe
http://gappage.com/flash-fiction-captain-viridian-and-the-alternate-reality/
August 12, 2016 — 4:26 PM
Violet Graves says:
Oops. Missed the EASTERN noon deadline. Bummer! Well, I did have a good time writing the story.
August 12, 2016 — 4:59 PM
Patrick says:
I posted this yesterday, but don’t see it now. “Josie’s Whale,” a weird west creature feature,
https://justanordavgguy.com/2016/08/11/josies-whale/
August 12, 2016 — 8:23 PM
Henry says:
Hours past deadline, but I like this one. Noir meets body horror in: “Ricky’s” Shell Game
https://fistfulofwits.com/2016/08/12/flash-fiction-rickys-shell-game/
August 12, 2016 — 11:02 PM
The NoteBook Blogairy says:
Yep, I missed the deadline, too. But wanted to share anyway…
Jack, Some Cows, a Giant, and, Oh yeah…a Beanstalk:
https://thenotebookblogairy.wordpress.com/2016/08/13/short-reads-jack-some-cows-a-giant-and-oh-yeah-a-beanstalk/
August 13, 2016 — 2:36 AM