With Halloween just around the corner, we’re going to have some fun. I mean, we concentrate so much on the serious matters of disaster readiness, I think it is high time we cut loose a bit, y’know?

Here’s how the contest works. Send in one or two photos of yourself dressed up in the most outlandish, silliest, “post-apocalyptic survivor” outfit you can cobble together. We want Road Warrior! We want Waterworld! We want the cheesiest, low-budget, late night movie you can imagine! The only rules with regards to the costumes are as follows.

1) They must be family friendly. No nudity! If you wouldn’t be comfortable showing the picture to your mother, your father, and your boss at work, don’t send it in.

2) By sending in the photo, you are stating that the person depicted is YOU. Further, you are agreeing to having the picture you send in posted on this site for all the world to see.

3) All photos sent in must be copyright free and may not have been posted elsewhere online or published in print anywhere on the planet.

4) You may submit up to TWO photos per entry. These should NOT be totally different costumes but instead just be two different views of the same person wearing the same outfit.

Helpful hints:

A) The more detailed your outfit, the more likely you are to gain votes. Accessories count!

B) Be careful of your photo background and lighting. We want to see you clearly. Be sure to actually look at your photo(s) before sending to us.

C) Ham it up! Strike a menacing pose, don’t just stand there! Have fun with this!

Photos are posted HERE on our site. Each photo will be numbered. Visitors to that page will be encouraged to vote for their favorite costume. Votes will be submitted via the comment feature located at the bottom of the page.

Photos may be submitted at any time until 11:59PM Central, Friday, October 17. Photos will be posted no earlier than October 1, with entries received after that date posted within 24 hours of when they are received. If you send in a photo and do not see it appear on the site within 24 hours, please send a follow up email to inquire.

Voting will be allowed from the moment the first photo is posted on the site. Votes will be allowed through 11:59PM Central, Thursday, October 30. Votes will then be tallied and the winner announced by noon on Halloween (October 31, for the calendar-challenged).

Obviously, the earlier you get your photo sent in, the longer it will be up on the site to accumulate votes. While you are allowed to vote for yourself, only one vote per household (defined via IP address) is allowed. If you have family members and/or friends you want to vote for you, they’ll need to make sure they’re using a different Internet connection than the one you used to vote for yourself.

All photo entries should be emailed to Jim@survivalweekly.com. We can accept any common picture format. If we run into problems getting the photo posted, we’ll contact you ASAP. Any questions or concerns should be emailed to the same address.

So, what do you stand to win for all this foolishness?

Well, the first six entries will each receive a signed copy of Urban Emergency Survival Plan, just for playing along! On top of that, here’s what each entrant stands to win, should they garner enough votes.

First Prize:
A full mini-library of prepper titles, courtesy of Ulysses Press. The books included in this package:
Prepper’s Home Defense by Jim Cobb
The Prepper’s Complete Book of Disaster Readiness by Jim Cobb
Prepper’s Long-Term Survival Guide by Jim Cobb
Countdown to Preparedness by Jim Cobb
Prepper’s Food Storage by Julie Languille
Prepper’s Pocket Guide by Bernie Carr
Prepper’s Workbook by Scott Williams and Scott Finazzo
Prepper’s Cookbook by Tess Pennington

Second Prize:
A Pocket Tin Survival Kit, courtesy of Survival Resources. A full listing of the kit contents may be found here. This prize pack also includes a Condor Bushlore fixed blade knife.

Third Prize:
A SOL Origin Survival Kit as well as an Aqua Pouch Plus Water Purification Kit from Survival Resources.

Winners just might find a couple of surprise goodies in their packages as well.

This should be obvious but winners will be chosen based upon the total number of votes they receive. The entry with the most votes wins first place, next highest gets second, and so on.

Get cracking on those costumes and be sure to get your photos sent in soon!