Mismatch Challenge Winners

Blending genres isn’t about stacking elements side by side. It’s about what happens when two sets of expectations refuse to cooperate. The strongest entries in the Mismatch Challenge understood that tension and leaned into it. Rather than smoothing the edges, these stories let their chosen genres complicate one another, creating friction that carried through voice, structure, and consequence.

🏆 Winners

The Pfister sisters and other God-blessed heroes by Sam Spinelli

Sam Spinelli brings two opposing genres together by letting biblical pronouncements collide with relentless horror, allowing the sacred language sharpen the violence at each turn. What emerges is a story where grace always arrives with consequence, and the genres refuse any easy resolution.

₩hen ₣⬭rbidde₦ ⎣⭗v∑ Drew ⚬n〰 In₹xplicable ✧〰 🔫 ₮∈⊂hη⭔↳⭔ℊγ T⚬⇴Carry ⚬ut the ₮∈☈☈ible ⊅∑structi⚬n ⚬f 🅱isbee, 🅰riΖ⚬na by Lightning Bolt ⚡

Lightning Bolt ⚡ drops an unexplainable weapon into a hard, tired western world and watches what happens when no one knows how to put the brakes on. The story follows that escalation step by step, letting the damage speak for itself instead of trying to frame it as progress or justice.

What are we doing here? by Sandor Szabo

Sandor Szabo lets the language of romantic loss carry the story until it begins to expose something darker underneath it. The piece stays focused on the small negotiations and quiet resentments of a failing partnership, allowing the horror to emerge as a consequence of emotional detachment rather than a sudden shock.

Doing the Right Thing Poorly by Paul Stewart

Paul Stewart brings together gritty crime and personal confession, allowing swagger, brutality, and reflection to sit side by side. The story’s power comes from how those modes keep rubbing against each other, exposing the narrator’s need to believe his choices meant something.

Persephone's Porch by Harper Lewis

Harper Lewis blends mythological fantasy with the rhythms of a modern family comedy, recasting the gods as quarrelsome relatives navigating hosting duties and old grudges. The humor does the heavy lifting, using casual voice and domestic stakes to make immortality feel familiar without draining it of power.

🎖️ Runners-up

• Emoji Protocol by Cali Loria
• A Patrol in the Woods by Stephen A. Roddewig
• We Need To Talk About the Spare Room by Matthew Batham
• Hunters (Redux) by Matthew J. Fromm
• A Dark and Stormy Night by Mark Stone
• The Fletcher by D. J. Reddall
• The Old Banyan Tree of Jallainwala Bagh by Caroline Jane
• America's Unsung and Unseen Occult Operatives by Tales from a Madman
• Fall Fest! by Bride of Sound
• THE PLACE THAT REMEMBERS by Tifani Power
• Hell Desk by Natasja Rose
• Unclaimed by Aspen Noble
• The Ballad of Lydia and Christopher by Annie Kapur
• The Case of the Missing Ring by Kendall Defoe
• The Dust Bunnies are Revolting! by Kimberly J Egan

🏅 Honorable Mentions

• Trouble at the Tea Leafing Café by Hannah Moore
• Voice of the Forest by Amanda Starks
• Gambit of Eldargarrd by H.G. Silvia
• THE WEIGHT OF A DIAMOND by Leeza-Bridget Cooper
• What A Clown by Andrea Corwin
• Rat-Out-Atouille by Meredith Harmon
• She No Want No More by Gagarin
• Salvage, Crime, and a Smile to Die For by Leigh Victoria Phan, MS, MFA
• Chrome Hearts by Faris Lannon
• Unto the Fearful Ocean by Mitchel Dane

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