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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Santa Rage, Volume 2

Deadline: June 30th, 2025
Payment: 2 Paperback copies or $25
Theme: Very dark stories involving Santa. He still has to be the hero, he just doesn’t have to be jolly

We had so much fun the first time, we had to bring it back!

Inspired by a suggestion from legendary book reviewer, author and multi-term Short Mystery Fiction Society President Kevin R. Tipple, here’s the holiday anthology that’s definitely NOT going to fill you with Christmas cheer. It will, however, be sure to entertain the darker side of your imagination.

Christmas time is a season full of stress. Cooking, decorations, trying to find the perfect gift for people you barely know. It’s enough to make anyone snap. Now, imagine you’re Santa Claus and you’ve got the entire world to take care of.

Yeah, cookies and milk isn’t going to make that kind of pressure go down any easier. Add in reindeer, elves who slack and Mrs. Claus nagging that you never spend enough time with her during the holidays and it’s enough to make your Kris wanna Kringle, if you know what we mean.

Welcome to Santa Rage 2, in which Santa Claus finally snaps and gets his just desserts…and we’re not talking gingerbread. This anthology is based on the idea that one night, while out making deliveries, Santa snaps thanks to the holiday stress and goes on a killing spree. Bonus points awarded for story elements involving meth or drug dealing, strippers, and the best dose of karma Santa ever dealt that did not involve coal.

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Events / Flash / Magazine / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Mythaxis July 2025 Submission Period

Submission Window: July 23rd – 30th, 2025
Payment: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum.
Theme: Diverse sci-fi and fantasy fiction.

When open, we seek and offer the following:

  • Length: 1,000-5,000 words. These are firm limits. Shorter or longer works will be considered, but the further a story goes outside these bounds the more it will need to impress.
  • Compensation: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Please be aware that payment is via PayPal only.

If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, please get in touch. We aim to accept or reject within 14 days of acknowledgment, but rl (real life) and rl (reading load) can get in the way. If you do not hear from us after 30 days, feel free to query.

REQUIREMENTS

Mythaxis seeks speculative fiction (sf/f/h) of all stripes for our first three issues each year. We are also interested in submissions of crime fiction for our end-of-year “all crime” issue. All these genres are equally welcome in each submission window.

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Articles

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Be Brave Under Threat: Wise Words from Margaret Atwood, 2025 Winner of the British Book Awards’ Freedom to Publish Award

Be Brave Under Threat: Wise Words from Margaret Atwood, 2025 Winner of the British Book Awards’ Freedom to Publish Award

 

By Melody E. McIntyre

 

As someone who grew up in Canada, I am, of course, familiar with Margaret Atwood. As one of Canada’s most prominent, well-known writers, Atwood has published 18 novels, 18 books of poetry, 11 works of non-fiction, plus multiple children’s books, short story collections, and other works. Her best known work is The Handmaid’s Tale, which has been adapted into a movie and a television show that just wrapped its final season in May 2025. Its sequel, The Testaments, released in 2019, won the Booker Prize. Throughout her career, Atwood has won many awards, including the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Governor General’s Award, and, most recently, the Freedom to Publish Award during the 2025 British Book Awards on May 12, 2025. The British Book Awards are administered by the British trade magazine, The Bookseller, and have been handed out since 1990.

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Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Last Girls Club Fall Issue 2025 (Early)

Submission Window: July 1st – 15th, 2025
Payment: Short Story-2,500 words or less. $0.015 USD per word/$37.50 USD max, Poems-less than 200 words $10, Flash Fiction-less than a 1,000 words $0.015 USD per word/$15 USD max
Theme: Monkey’s Paw/Answered Prayers

The Last Girls Club Magazine is a quarterly feminist horror magazine that publishes international short stories and poems from the female gaze. It is an homage to the scary comics and zines of the late 20th century.

This season’s theme is Monkey’s Paw/Answered Prayers. You’ve got everything you ever wanted and it’s awful. More tears have been shed over answered prayers than unanswered ones. Show us the folly of wishes. Terrify us with consequences. Keep us up at night dreading a knock on the door or an envelope in the mail.
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Contest / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Sundog Literature 2025 Collaboration Contest

Deadline: July 15th – August 31st, 2025
Prizes: Winners will receive a $300 prize
Theme: Your wildest, most inventive work of any or mixed genre

A Note on Our Aesthetic

We believe there is beauty in scars on smooth skin, in the small fissures where things begin to break apart. Sundogs are not the sun itself but phantom stars appearing on the horizon, illusions produced by the play of the sun’s heat with crystals of ice. They shed their light all the same. Many are tinged with color.

We look for this same quality in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We want writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. We seek a diversity of voices speaking from visceral, lived experience. We like truth we can stare at until our eyes water, words so carefully chosen we want to reread them as soon as we have finished.

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Articles

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: When Clowns Laugh

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: When Clowns Laugh

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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Anthology / Artwork / Events / Flash / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Sapphic Horror Anthology

Deadline: June 30th, 2025
Payment: 2 cents per word
Theme: Dark sapphic horror tales

You asked for it, and we’re doing it…

Graveside Press’s next themed anthology will be SAPPHIC HORROR!

What are we looking for?

WLW stories don’t get enough attention, and we’re fixing to change that. In time for Pride month next year, we’re going to have a kick-ass collection of dark sapphic horror tales to share with the world.

Please remember, this is still a horror anthology. Happy endings and sweet romances aren’t a requirement!

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