The Dark Roads Horror & Thriller Feature Competition (2026) Rules, Guidelines, and Scoring

THE DARK ROADS HORROR & THRILLER FEATURE COMPETITION (2026)RULES, GUIDLINES, AND SCORING: 

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ELIGIBILITY:

• Must be 18 years of age or older to enter The Dark Roads Horror & Thriller Feature Competition (2026).
• Applicants who have made over $25k in income as a writer will be disqualified.
• Scripts submitted in the competition must NOT actively be optioned, purchased, or produced at the time of entry.
• Must be an original idea/work, free and clear of any copyright issues, and the original work of the submitter(s).
• Must be a horror or thriller feature, or one that blends both genres.
• Writers may submit multiple screenplays; each requires a separate entry.

WRITING TEAMS:

• Co-written projects are accepted, but all writers must be credited in the submission.
• Material written by writing teams (or multiple writers) must be submitted by one of the writers, with the consent of the other(s).
• Please list all additional co-writers.
• If a writing team places in the competition or is chosen as a winner, prizes will be given to the person who submits the project. Each writing team is responsible for dividing or sharing the prize benefits.

SUBMISSIONS/SCRIPT FORMATTING:

• The competition is open to feature scripts of horror and thriller genre, including but not limited to: Elevated Horror, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Horror, Crime Thriller, Survival Thriller, Folk Horror, Contained Horror, Monster & Creature Features, High-Concept Commercial Horror, Prestige Genre Films.
• Must be written in English in 12-point courier font and must adhere to standard industry margins and formatting.
• Feature scripts must not exceed 120 pages.
• Do NOT “cheat” in an effort to reduce your page count. Your script will be disqualified. As a standard rule, 1.5” left, 1” right, and 1” top and bottom dimensions are acceptable. Using screenwriting software can help with this.
• All submissions must be in PDF format.
• You must submit your script with a cover page that includes your script title ONLY.
• The cover page does not count towards the overall script page count.
• It is recommended that you do NOT include your name, WGA registration number, and/or copyright information.
• All submissions are final. No substitutions of pages, drafts, or scripts will be allowed.
• Do not include any additional documents with your submission (i.e. pitch documents, series bibles, look-books, etc). They will not be reviewed.

JUDGING:

• The Dark Roads Horror & Thriller Feature Competition (2026) readers’ decisions are final.
• Submissions will be evaluated by experienced independent industry experts and judged on the following criteria: Premise/Concept, Characters, Dialogue, Story, Structure, and Voice/Style. Submissions will receive multiple evaluations based on the competition's proprietary scoring system.
• If a judge or competition partner is no longer able to serve in their specific capacity, Roadmap Writers will make best efforts to secure a replacement. Judges reserve the right not to grant an award.
• The Top 10 scripts will be reviewed by Longevity Pictures for review.

FEEDBACK/NOTES:

• Only entries that purchase Feedback Notes at the time of submission will receive written feedback.
• Feedback notes will be returned to writers within 6-8 weeks from the Finalist announcement.

OPTION AGREEMENT:

Longevity Pictures agrees to enter into an option agreement with the selected finalist. This option agreement includes a one time payment of $2,500 and will last for 18 months. It is to be understood that the selected writer may not remain the sole writer on the project for its entire development process. After the 18 months Longevity may choose to renew the option or release it back to the original writer.

LEGAL/RIGHTS:

• To enter The Dark Roads Horror & Thriller Feature Competition (2026), you must agree to its Rules & Guidelines.
• Roadmap Writers reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to change or modify these terms at any time without notice.
• Announcement dates are tentative and subject to change.
• All sales are final. No refunds will be issued.
• All scripts submitted will remain the property of the writer(s). Neither Roadmap Writers nor any of its judges, partners, and/or their respective companies assume any attachment to your work, unless an option agreement is reached between the Writer and Longevity Pictures.
• Neither Roadmap Writers nor any of its judges and/or competition partners investigate or confirm the authenticity of an entrant’s authorship rights or claim. If it is found out that a writer or writing team has falsely claimed authorship, they will be disqualified from the competition. Their money will not be returned, and Roadmap Writers reserve the right to ban any or all of the writers from future competitions, and from any other Roadmap Writers services.
• Multiple scripts may be submitted but each script is required to pay the registration fees.
• Roadmap Writers is not responsible for any technical issue(s) that may arise from electronic submission.
• While it is not a requirement, we encourage writers to register their script with the U.S. Copyright Office and/or Writers Guild of America.

PROMOTION, MARKETING, OUTREACH:

• Entrants may be contacted as a result of the competition by Roadmap Writers, a member of the judging panel, or other industry professionals.
• By entering the The Dark Roads Horror & Thriller Feature Competition (2026), you agree to receive competition updates via email and marketing emails from Roadmap Writers.
• You may unsubscribe from our emails at any time—BUT if you do so, you won’t be notified if you place in the competition. You will have to check the competition announcements on our blog at your own convenience. 

ENTRY SCORING:

Submissions will be judged by independent industry experts based on the following criteria. The explanations of each criterion below are by no means exhaustive. They are examples of some of the questions readers and judges consider in each category.