About a decade ago, Bruce Ballon AKA “Dr Spektor” in the theatrical magic world, started up an initiative called the “Carcosa Collection” to inspire fellow magi to collaborate and share their ideas for theatrical bizarre magic.  This developed into a regular contest of sorts, where Bruce would pick a topic/theme and people would share their concepts in the form of a written piece of theatrical magic.  Then he would award the winner with a magic prop he created related to the theme (usually everyone who actually did participate got a goodie).  As with all things, the vagaries of life resulted in the Carcosa Collection transitioning back into the shadows…“And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth….” And for over a decade, all the wonderful submissions that had been accumulated “passed out of all knowledge.” 

You can see Bruce also went to the dogs so to speak and launched the Hounds and Jackals Games and Magic.  However, this also let him start looking over his past endeavours in the field of mystery…. Including the old Carcosa Collection contests…. exclaiming “wow, these were great!!!  We got to release them again on the world!!!”  He reached out to those who submitted their amazing theatrical pieces to get their permission to re-release their materials in this project, “ALL MANNER OF MYSTERIES.”

Since the contests were fun and brought many together, it was thought “why the heck not?” and try another???

What better way than to mash it all up to mix the old and the new and launch the CARCANIS CONTEST for 2022!  Bruce is inviting those interested to join into the fun with his two latest projects (the Mythodogical Deck and the Arcana Carcosa)… and a third one which materialised when he made the image for the Canine in Yellow (who basically took over his mind and made him do all this!!!)…. See below for full details!

Like the rest of the Hounds & Jackals initiatives, the projects currently open for submissions are to a) build community (in this case, the magical siblinghood  b) push forward innovation c) use the process to support mental health causes.  As with other initiatives, each project will be prepared for a Crowdfunding Campaign to pay for physical printings as well as hopefully raise money to sponsor a Puppy Training at the National Service Dogs organization.  Backers will be able to get the special limited edition physical goods created through the process. Afterwards, the projects will be put up on the DriveThru Cards site, where people can purchase either PDFs and/or Print on Demand physical copies of books and decks.   The reason a Crowdfunding campaign is sought before DTC is set up is that a) DTC cards are great but they do not provide the quality for professional magicians to do certain sleights, nor allow gold foil / gilding etc. b) the books are also great, but also do not have the option to allow specialized printing goodies to create unique tomes for collectors.  Thus, the items created will appeal to collectors, workers, hobbyists, and PDF want-to-have a copy types, and in the process, do some good deeds for the world as well.  Please note, Bruce Ballon does not make any profit off this (usually the opposite), but this initiative is his way of doing charitable work that also hits a number of causes he supports at once.

• All entrants that are accepted (see rules) will have their entrees included in a PDF book/booklet that will be distributed with the particular project they submitted to. 
• The  winner of each project category will win a special artifact from the Carcanis Collection, physical in nature, and dispatched via Byahkee Express (i.e. mail).   
• All winners and entrants names (or pseudonyms) will be proudly shared via the Website, Newsletter, and Social Media.
• All entrants will receive a free copy of the completed PDF companion book for the project they submitted to via the Drivethru Cards Platform.  They will also receive a code to Print on Demand that particular book at cost (i.e. no markup) via Drivethru Cards as well.
• All entrants for the Mythodogical Deck project will be given a code to print on demand at cost the Physical Deck i.e. no mark up.
• All entrants for the Arcana Carcosa Deck project will be given a code to print on demand at cost the Physical Deck i.e. no mark up.
• In the case of a limited edition physical decks or books created for the project, only the winners of each category/project is guaranteed a space to have their submission included, although Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic will try to get everyone’s submission in based on financial resources via a Crowdfunding Campaign.   Due to the charity focus of this Contest, sadly Hounds & Jackals cannot give out any of the limited edition books or decks as a prize.

Just keep in mind the theme of any particular contest, lean towards good taste, and it can be almost ANYTHING!

• Magic Routines
• Magic ideas not fully worked out
• Poetry
• Interesting Stories for adding background
• Games Rules
• Music Tracks
• Who knows? Hopefully YOU!

i.e. don’t feel confined! 

The point of these contests are actually to help boost the imagination process and collaborate and bring the magic community together for fun and doing good causes!  Thus, it’s not as if there is any real pressure to do something “commercial” whatever that means… its for good causes all around!

1. This contest (“the Contest”) is sponsored by Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic (www.houndsandjackals.ca– “the website”).
2. No entry fee is required, and all rights in the submission remain the property of the author.
3. The Contest is open to all magicians 16 years old or above. There is no limit to the number of entries per person.
4. All types of magic, mentalism, story magic, bizarre magic, etc. are welcome.
5. By submitting to the Contest, the entrant agrees to abide by all Contest rules.
6. By entering the Contest, entrants agree to allow Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic to publish their entries, names (or pseudonym) and provided biographical information in all media, including but not limited to books and websites, without any compensation, for the project it was submitted for.
7. All entries must be original works by the entrant, in English.
8. Entries may have been previously published in professional media, so long as the submitter still retains the rights.
9. There are no limits to the number of entries.
10. Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic reserves the right to reject and disqualify any submissions that could be offensive or inappropriate or that abuses or do not meet the terms and conditions of these rules. Such abuse includes but is not limited to falsification of information and/or identity, plagiarism, racial discrimination, hate speech, antisemitism, homophobia, and bigotry. Excessive violence or sexual content will result in disqualification.
11. Entries must be in a readable font (Times New Roman, Arial, Garamond, etc.), font size 12.
12. Entries must be submitted in electronic copy, text in word document, and images in PNG or JPG. All other formats will be disqualified. Each entry must have a cover page with the title of the work, the project it is intended for, the author’s legal name, a pen name if applicable, telephone number, e-mail address and an approximate word count.
13. All entries must be EMAILED by the deadline. Entries received by email after this date will not be accepted.
14. Entries will be judged by Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic. The decisions of the judges are entirely their own, and are final and binding.
15. Queries before submission are welcome.
16. Indemnity:By participating in this Contest, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic, and their office bearers from any and all damages, injuries, claims, causes of action, or losses of any kind (including but not limited to lawyers’ fees) arising from your participation in the Contest, your violation of any term of these Contest rules, your violation of any third party right, including without limitation any copyright, property, or privacy right; or any claim that your submission caused damage to a third party.
17. Force Majuere clause: Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic are not liable for failure to perform their obligations under these rules if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalisation, government sanction, blockage, embargo, or interruption or failure of massive and sustained failure of electricity, internet or telephone service.
18. This Contest is void where prohibited by law.
19. EMAIL: Send entry or entries as individual files to info@houndsandjackals.ca  with a subject line that contains the author’s full name, and the project the material is intended for.
20. Winners will be individually notified of the results by e-mail. Names of the winners and titles of the winning entries of the Contest will be posted on the website, and shared via the Hounds & Jackals Games & Magic newsletter and social media.

Send entry or entries as individual files to 

bballon@houndsandjackals.ca

 with a subject line that contains the author’s full name, and the project the material is intended for.

Please review Rules above before submitting.

SUBMISSIONS:

For the MYTHODOGICAL DECK PROJECT:

OPEN: JUNE 1, 2022

DEADLINE: AUGUST 31, 2022

For the ARCANA CARCOSA PROJECT:

OPEN: SEPTEMBER 1, 2022

DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 30, 2022

For the YELLOW PAW PROJECT:

OPEN: DECEMBER 1, 2022

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 28, 2022

For anyone wanting to collaborate, post ideas to bounce around and so on, here is a space made for you.  Its not private at the moment but it can be made so if it becomes more a magician atelier!

THE HOUNDS & JACKALS PACK