Last Christmas, one of our neighbors had a pair of those minimalist wooden reindeer on their lawn. You know, they're made of flat boards and you can pose their heads up or down? Well, during the day they looked fine, one was looking up, the other, to the side, with it's head down like it's gnawing on the grass. At night, they had a spotlight that flooded them. Well, the shadows cast upon the house painted a much different picture.

Now one deer was clearly mounting the second for a little extra holiday cheer.

So that's what this contest is all about. What I'm looking for are images from the holiday seasons that are strange, weird, out-of-place, or just plain wrong. You know, when you see something that just doesn't seem right. Like a Christmas display that somehow features creepy elves. A holiday sign that passes on an unusual greeting. Or someone wearing the wrong thing to a holiday party. Ideally, it should look and feel spontaneous and/or serendipitous.

So here's the deal:

You have from now (Oct 11th) until January 2, 2005 to submit any and all Freaky Holiday Images.

Submit your image via a link (see below) to:

freakycontest@evilwayne.com.

A thumbnail of your image will appear on this page (or one just like it).

Winners will be announce the second week of January. We reserve the right to push that date around, because Lord knows what the hell is going to happen by then that might require me to move the date around.

Rules:

By entering a photo in this contest you agree to the following rules:

1. Your image must come from your camera, camcorder or whatever device you have for taking images. You can scan in a photo that you took and submit it. Generally speaking, you have to have taken the picture yourself. You cannot lift it from a magazine, movie, television or any other mass-produced, copyrighted media.

2. Your image must be your image. You must be the copyright holder of your submitted image and by submitting the image you are granting Evil Wayne permission for use.

If you didn't take it, chances are you can't submit it.

3. Images will be rated PG-13 at the extreme. Images that are obviously rated R or above will not be displayed. No pornography will considered. If you want to send me a photo of Santa getting a hummer, I'll appreciate it, but it won't go on the board. Let's try to keep it tasteful.

4. Keep the photo-manipulations to a minimum. Cropping a photo to get rid of unwanted clutter is okay, but Photoshopping your dog's head so it's coming out of the turkey is not. Obviously staged and/or manipulated photos will be disqualified at the judges sole discretion. (So you might consider muiltiple shots if you think it'll be rejected on those grounds).

5. While I seriously do not expect vast amounts of entries, images still take up space. Therefore, unless otherwise noted, images should be hosted off-site. Entries will should be submitted to with a deep-link to wherever your image is hosted. Place like maj.com offer free image hosting. If you have issues, email me and we can discuss options.

6. The images will have a holiday theme or some obvious connection to a current holiday from October to January 1st. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Veteren's Day, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years Eve/Day are the subjects of this contest. Images should reflect this in some way.

7. The images (all three of them) will be judged by a panel of so-called "experts" at Freaky Holiday Images. This crack panel of judges will be determined by Evil Wayne at some future date.

8. Please use your brain. Don't take pictures that will get you in trouble or possibly injured. Evil Wayne cannot and will not be held responsible if you get arrested trying to get a cop to wear a Santa hat while giving you a ticket. God gave you the ability to reason. It's up to you to use it.

Prizes:

Again, I laugh! HA! Most likely, I'll repeat the same wondeful prizes from the Fridge Contest. But prizes, if any, will be announced at a future date. I want to start the ball rolling because it's October already.