Stephen King picks winner of Guardian short story contest

Wild Swimming, an epistolary tale of aquatic horror, stands out among visions of evil toys and post-apocalyptic survival

• Read Wild Swimming by Elodie Harper

The short story is alive and well in the UK according to novelist Stephen King, who this week picked the winner of a competition launched to celebrate his own latest collection, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams.

More than 800 creepy tales were submitted to the contest, run by the Guardian and King’s UK publisher, Hodder & Stoughton. King, who chose the winner from a shortlist of six, said: “I never expected such quality, and it does my heart good. Every one of these stories would be publishable.”

Related: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King review – dark stories with moments of magic

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