2024 Winner
Vampire Panic!
by Kate Mickere

In 1890’s New England, a wave of consumption is wreaking havoc in a small town. The local doctor is using the epidemic to sell his fraudulent elixirs and tonics, young women are actively trying to catch the disease to achieve their dream figures and a preacher woman has everyone convinced that consumption is caused by vampires. (That’s right, blood sucking undead VAMPIRES.) When the logical Lucy Greene returns home to care for her orphaned niece, she takes it upon herself to teach her neighbors about germ theory but will her recent encounter in Europe dilute her message? Inspired by true historical events, Vampire Panic! is a gothic pandemic comedy that reminds us that medical misinformation, conspiracy theories and general hysteria aren’t just byproducts of the Covid era.