Author: Lauren McMenemy

Greetings, children of the dark. I’m battling to focus as I write this, for the alarm is sounding ever so loud. It’s been there, in the background, for a little while now, but today its volume is approaching deafening. I fear the time has come. The Drabbler is getting hungry.

You see, we must submit three tiny tales of 100 words each every single week to the Drabbler, otherwise it will rise and come for all of us in TWF Towers. Yes, even the boss man is not immune to this. Please, please help us. Submit your drabbles. Help us stock the cupboard beyond the coming week. We need your help, or we may start to disappear ourselves…

Ahem. Anyways, let’s be professional and present to you this week’s menu of short, dark, speculative fiction. Our main course comes from Charles Williams, who brings us a comic take on ComicCons the world over. Have you paid for your photo with the star yet? That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations—including no less than two warnings to be careful summoning demons, and one warning about dealing with the fae—of:

• DJ Tyrer’s fair folk,
• Geoff Holders’s skipped reading, and
• SG Perahim’s midlife crisis.

Oh – and yeah, I buried the lede a bit. The latest anthology is now available to order! I’m sure the boss has details below, but just searching for TWF on the river place. Two separate volumes await, covering everything we published on the site in the fine year of 2023. 

Over to you, Stuart

Hi all.

Folks! I’m on vacation this week, so I really haven’t gotten anything done. I’m actually typing this as one of my kids is passing out and the other is slowly zoning out after a day full of water park shenanigans. Hurray for an actual vacation! While I’ve been on vacation, that doesn’t mean we’ve been idle. I’m so thrilled that Trembling With Fear: Year 7 and More Tales From The Tree: Volume 5! I’d like to shout out a big thank you for all of the authors who contributed to it and all of our editing staff for helping push this one live! A bit late but late is better than never! (We’ve already started working on the editions due this year and are aiming for the end of summer. Hopefully.)

I think we’ve got the newsletter bugs figured out for the new platform, it will be at the top of my list to finalize when I’m back from vacation.

Now, for the standards:

• Thank you so much to everyone who has become a Patreon for Horror Tree. We honestly couldn’t make it without you all!

Offhand, if you’ve ordered Trembling With Fear Volume 6, we’d appreciate a review!

For those who are looking to connect with Horror Tree as we’re not really active on Twitter anymore, we’re also in BlueSky and Threads. *I* am also now on BlueSky and Threads.

Greetings, children of the dark, on this first day of June, and the first day of summer here in the northern hemisphere. Otherwise known as the height of my allergy issues: thanks, pollen! So while I bunker down inside and stare at the lovely weather from my window – no, seriously, I was at a music festival last weekend and could actually *see* the pollen it’s so bad in London this year! – I’m going to be working my way through the rest of the short story submissions awaiting word. Stay tuned, dear submitters.

There’s also, hopefully, news on the much-overdue 2023 anthology being shared below by the big boss man. 

So, through bleary eyes and stuffy nose and general malady, I present to you this week’s menu of short, dark, speculative fiction. Our main course comes from Tahla Ahmad, and takes us right into that space where folklore meets warzone. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Autumn Bettinger’s case notes,
• Kevin McHugh’s mail call, and
• Nicolette M. Ward’s bleary memory.

And one final plea, before I go mainline antihistamines: the drabble cupboard is getting awfully bare again. Please, send us your tiny tales of terror, ASAP!

Over to you, Stuart

Greetings, children of the dark. I’m writing this to you just before I head off to explore another of London’s Magnificent Seven cemeteries. What on earth is that, I hear you ask? Well, it was a programme in the Victorian era to create cemeteries that were also nice place to escape and relax, and so we have a bunch of “garden cemeteries” around the outskirts that once not only were home to the dead, but to picnicking Victorians. And yes, it’s as weird as that sounds.

However, I do love a good graveyard, and when I discovered my evening plans were around the corner from this one, I couldn’t resist: my day was rearranged so I could do this. And I cannot wait. The sun is sort-of out, it’s sort-of a nice day, so why not take myself to catch a vampire on a Thursday afternoon?

Before I can let loose, though, I must present to you this week’s menu of short, dark, speculative fiction. Our main course is a Black Mirror-esque tale of prisons and forgiveness that might not be so rosy, straight from the brain of Kidron Grifter. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• CK Butcher’s childhood warning,
• SG Perahim’s prophetic publishing, and
• Jean E McIntosh’s diving diva.

Over to you, Stuart

Greetings, children of the dark. Boy, do I feel better for not lagging so behind on our submissions pile! Most of last year I was running ragged, always behind, always guilty, always apologising… Last week, we published the last of our January window stories and are mid-way through reading and getting back to you all on the April window stories. We’re back to operating in the timeframe we’re meant to be in! My heart rate has slowed every so slightly…

That said, I’m noticing a few things in the short stories we’re reading right now: First and foremost, too many seem to have had no one else read them yet. I’m really proud that TWF provides so many writers with their first publishing credit, and that as free fiction it’s super accessible, but that doesn’t mean the writer can submit any old thing. We’re not only looking for whether a story adheres to our general theme of dark speculative fiction; we also need it to be a solid and coherent narrative, told in a format that makes sense to the story, and that’s had at least a pass for spelling and grammar. Please, please, do your editors a favour before you submit a story somewhere, whether it’s to us or any other outlet: get someone else to read it for you. Get some feedback. Then check the submission guidelines and make sure you fit what they’re looking for, not just in terms of theme but also how you’ve laid out the story, the file format (we really, really hate getting PDFs, people!), and just basic things like this. Too often lately it feels like people have chucked a brain dump into the submission form. I would love to publish your work, but you have to help us help you.

Before this turns into yet another editor ranting about things no one else really cares about, let’s get to this week’s menu of short, dark, speculative fiction. Our main course comes from Rory Kane, and shows that true love knows no bounds – not even the apocalypse. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Tatiana Samokhina’s nighttime visitor,
• Christina Nordlander’s annoying buzzing, and
• Geoff Holder’s space nightmare.

Over to you, Stuart

Greetings, children of the dark. The team has been working hard to get through various backlogs at TWF Towers, and we are getting there slowly. Many residents chipped in to get the (very) overdue anthology proofread and ready to go, and I believe the boss man is doing some final touches to that now alongside some various tech design updates for the website and newsletter. Busy guy, as always! Elsewhere, we’re up to date on drabble submissions—and as usual, I’m calling for more more MOAR. We publish three of those a week, so always have a need. 

However, a gentle reminder that we’re looking for the dark and speculative. That means the ol’ gorefest horror and true crime is unlikely to cut it with us anymore. Want to write about a stalker? Make them non-human and it’ll fit better. 

Take a cue from this week’s edition of dark speculative fiction. Our main course comes from the mind of Jim Larsen, and I have to warn you that there’s some images in here that might not be suitable for all. Scroll down to the drabbles if you might be triggered by suicide, dead bodies, and child grief. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Catherine Berry’s foggy dilemma,
• Andrea Tillmann’s unending hunger, and
• Alper Ghuchlu’s final rejection.

Over to you, Stuart

Greetings, children of the dark. As this goes to digital print, I’ll be somewhere along the Amalfi Coast having an extended weekend with my mum, who’s visiting Europe from the land Down Under. And so we are short and sweet with the intro this week, just looking at a few reminders:

• We are now closed to short story submissions, and will next crank open that window at the beginning of July. Anything submitted while we’re closed will be returned unread.
• We are, though, always looking for your dark and spooky drabbles! Get those teeny terrors of exactly 100 words over to us, please.
• We’re also always open to Unholy Trinities (3 connected drabbles) and Serials (fiction of up to 15,000 words that can be serialised over several weeks, just like Dickens used to do).
• The Summer Special is fast looming, so get those thinking caps on for your summer horrors – campsite terrors, blooming folk horror, wild swimming encounters, and all that fun stuff. 

For now, let’s head over to this week’s edition of dark speculative fiction. Our main course is a quick bite from the nightmares of Maya Dodsworth. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Steven Patchett’s local tourism,
• Autumn Bettinger’s Lovecraftian fable, and
• Weird Wilkins’s final moments.

Quick reminder: the next edition of my Writing the Occult online event series is fast approaching. We’ll be talking relics on 10 May, which is next weekend! It’s focused on all those cursed things dug up from the ground, found under the water, buried deep in the hope they would never again see the light of day. We’ll be chatting about the weird things we do with human remains, about Egyptology, about archaeology and shipwrecks and museums and more. There will even be a workshop with acclaimed horror writer Ally Wilkes, who will lead us through an adventure in cursed objects. You know you want to join us, right? Head over here for details and tickets. 

For now, it’s over to the boss man.

Greetings, children of the dark. I, like I’m sure a lot of you did, saw Sinners last week. My word, what a glorious piece of cinema that is. I’ve got a piece in the summer issue of the BFS Journal all about how we’re not meant to be in an uptick of vampire stories, but if Sinners is anything to go by then… oh my, I am going to be a very happy cinema-goer in the coming months! I bloody love a vampire, as I’m sure regular readers will know. I’m not exactly quiet about it. 

Have you got a vampire story hanging around, inspired by the cinematic resurgence of the dark ones? Well, a quick reminder: we are officially closed to short story submissions until our next window opens in July. Between then and now, the residents of TWF Towers will be hunkered down reviewing the almost-60 submissions we received for the 12 available spots. Please be patient with us while we get through them!

And while we’re on the subject of submissions, we’re already getting some early submissions for the annual summer special, which is great—just remember that our new specials editor John won’t be reviewing these for a while yet as we’ve only just entered Spring! While you’re welcome to send them in, please be aware they’ll be filed away for safekeeping until probably June at the earliest. 

Want to get a response earlier than that? We’re always, always, always looking for drabbles, unholy trinities and serialised fiction! 

For now, let’s head over to this week’s edition of dark speculative fiction. Our main course, Peter Bakumov takes a trip to the end of the world. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Rob Butler’s soaring bird,
• Christopher Mattravers-Taylor’s ill-fated dive, and
• S.G. Perahim’s gym bro woes.

One final quick reminder: the next edition of my Writing the Occult online event series is fast approaching. We’ll be talking about relics on 10 May—all those cursed things dug up from the ground, found under the water, buried deep in the hope they would never again see the light of day. We’ll be chatting about the weird things we do with human remains, about Egyptology, about archaeology and shipwrecks and museums and more. There will even be a workshop with acclaimed horror writer Ally Wilkes, who will lead us through an adventure in cursed objects. You know you want to join us, right? Head over here for details and tickets. 

For now, it’s over to the boss man.

Greetings, children of the dark. Sound the klaxons: our latest short story submission window is now closed! If you send in a short story now, it will be returned to you unread and we don’t like having to do that, so please just hold onto it until the next one opens in July. 

Some stats for those playing at home: we had more than 50 submissions in those two weeks. Remember, these windows are quarterly, which means they cover around 12 editions of Trembling With Fear, so there’s quite a bit of competition. (This is also why we moved to the quarterly windows for short story subs; we had authors waiting almost a year, sometimes more, for their stories to be published!) The team’s looking forward to diving into your creative works, but please do bear with us while we get through them. And remember, if it’s a no, we were oversubscribed by more than three times the opportunities, so it’s not you!

While we prepare ourselves for the slush pile, we’ll hand you over to this week’s edition of dark speculative fiction. For our main course, we’re dipping into some urban SF-lite with David McKenna, dealing with an investigation by HQ. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

• Sascha Reinhard’s unlucky hand,
• DL Ross’s hospital wallpaper, and
• Corinne Pollard’s buyer’s remorse.

A final note: It’s been a while since I plugged one of my events, but I’ve got a good ‘un coming up very soon! Writing the Occult: Relics takes a deep dive into the things left behind by those who came before, asking what we can learn from them, and how we can take inspiration for our own creative pursuits. Sessions will look at things like archaeology and horror, shipwrecks, ossuaries and the weird things we do with bones, and Egyptology, plus we’ll have sessions from horror authors Ally Wilkes (a workshop on cursed objects!) and Steve Toase, plus an interview with V Castro about how she sexed-up Aztec relic reparation for her erotic horror Immortal Pleasures. Early bird ticket prices (£35+bf, around US$50) end tomorrow, so be quick! Get the details here: writingtheoccult.carrd.co

Over to you, Stuart.