Author: Stuart Conover

Anthology / Events / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Cthulu: Dreams

Deadline: July 31st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Lovecraftian horror

Cthulu: Dreams – our Lovecraftian anthology

Cthulu: Dreams–

This is horror.
Express yourself as the theme moves you.
Incorporate the Lovecraftian theme as you will into your horror story. Not all need contain an eldritch horror, remember The Alchemist. Good writing will triumph over concepts tightly aligned to a perception of the theme. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion.
Stories that contain infanticide, or rape will not be accepted. Consideration might be made for gratuitous gore, if the story calls for it.
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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Bodily Harm by Deborah Sheldon

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Bodily Harm
Author: Deborah Sheldon
Genre: Crime horror
Publisher: Undertaker Books
Publication date: October 11, 2024

Synopsis: Survival has a price… Is Cara ready to pay it?

From the moment she feels a gun barrel shoved into her back, Cara Haynes is thrown into the brutal world of vicious criminals and the police officers tough enough to pursue them.

Cara has lived in Melbourne just a few weeks when she survives an armed robbery at her local pizzeria. Traumatised, afraid and alone, Cara’s lifeline is Mick Thompson, a detective from the Armed Offence Squad, whose compulsion to find these violent offenders keeps him awake at night. But soon, Cara doesn’t know the difference between safety and danger…

Written by award-winning author, Deborah Sheldon, Bodily Harm is a fast-paced, savage and disturbing read where one woman’s nightmare becomes a detective’s obsession. Don’t miss out—get your copy today!

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Starship Blunder 2

Deadline: August 1st, 2025
Payment: $35
Theme: Shared Universe set on the Starship Blunder, most genres welcome, you DO need to read the guidelines for details and characters

Galactic Misadventure Continues!

Freshly promoted Commander Sarah Hawkins has been assigned to the brand-new Starship Wonder. The rest of her crew, however, have taken to calling their recently acquired vessel Starship Blunder. No new parts were fabricated specifically for the Wonder—it was assembled using extra pieces, cast-off parts, and old components removed from other, nicer crafts. The Conglomeracy hopes the spiffy name of the untested starship will inspire the crew to achieve something, anything.

It doesn’t work. Just like its predecessor, the Starship Wonder struggles even to take off, let alone complete a mission. Can the crew find it in themselves to at least successfully deliver an unimportant package, or will the namesake “Blunder” stick with them forever?

Although the original vessel Starship Blunder blew up in fantastical fashion at the end of the first anthology, the characters you know and love are back at it again!

As soon as the Starship Wonder goes on her inaugural mission, it becomes clear to her crew that there’s nothing wonderful about the new starship. They immediately start referring to their new ship as Starship Blunder as they wonder, did the Conglomeracy commission a new starship because the fleet needed another vessel, or because they just wanted somewhere to stuff the misfit crew away from the more elite spacecraft?

Whatever the reason, Commander Sarah Hawkins, Mechanic Xylo, Daycare Teacher Luna Knight, and Chef Bluebottle make the best of a less-than-stellar situation as they embark on another year of missions and misfortune.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Gen-X Flash Fiction Anthology

Deadline: July 15th, 2025
Payment: $25 usd
Theme: Scifi, speculative fiction, fantasy, not horror that showcases Gen-X

  • Theme:Gen X (Gen X characters and/or themes and/or culture should figure prominently within the story in ways that distinctly identify them as Gen X and/or that have an easily identifiable Gen X “vibe”).We’re especially interested in unique, unexpected takes on the Gen X experience from original points of view.
  • Deadline: July 15, 2025. Submissions are considered on a rolling basis, meaning that acceptance/rejection decisions are made as submissions come in. Authors can generally expect an initial response to their submission within 1-2 weeks.
  • Anthology Release Date: Late 2025-Early 2026
  • Genres and categories accepted:
    Literary, Romance, Sci-Fi & Spec Fic, Mystery, Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retellings, Historical Fiction, Humor/Satire, Paranormal, Magical Realism, and others.
    No horror (spooky is okay), gratuitous violence, erotica, of use of “F-bombs,” please. No essays, CNF, poetry, or anything that isn’t fiction.
    No AI-generated or AI-assisted stories. All submissions should be original, human-created stories that have never been published or performed/read elsewhere (including, but not limited to, social media, a personal blog or website, live or recorded event, etc.).
  • Reader Demographic: YA to adult (approximately ages 14-100)
  • Word count: Between 1,500-2,000 words
  • Payment for accepted submissions: $25 USD (via PayPal) upon completion of edits.

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Events / Flash / Online / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Anomaly May 2025 Window

Submission Window: May 1st – 7th, 2025
Payment: 8 cents per word
Theme: Science fiction stories under 300 words

We open from the 1st-7th of each month, beginning April 2025.

What we want: Anomaly is interested in science fiction stories under 300 words in length, for publication on their Patreon, with the right to collect stories into a future anthology. We’re looking for dark and disruptive stories that have strong emotional resonance. We like stories that stick with us after reading, that get us thinking about the twisted use of technologies, the way the world may be, or how characters might react to an evolving technological future.

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Events / Flash / Online

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Taking Submissions: Short Story Substack May 2025 Window

Submission Window: May 1st – 31st, 2025
Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue
Theme: Any genre, short story

Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful.

Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check.

Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars?

Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that.

What does the timeline look like?

Submit stories by the end of the month, winner to be announced on the 15th. There is ONE story that wins and receives the full payout.

Where do I send submissions?
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Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: NonBinary Review #41

Deadline: August 1st, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $10 for poetry, $25 for artwork or $50 for cover artwork
Theme: Solarpunk
Note: Reprints Welcome

NonBinary Review is currently open for submissions on the theme of SOLARPUNK.

We want your rusting Teslas still chugging along for a hundred years. Your wooden bicycles pulling hitches rigged with wind turbines. Your crumbling brutalist towers, softened by time, now home to moss, mushrooms, and grizzly bears.

Solarpunk is not just about sustainability, it is about adaptation, resilience, and the beauty of a world where humanity and nature thrive together. If you are looking for inspiration, think Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers; Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and Castle in the Sky; or the quiet satisfaction of making coffee with a Chemex, dumping the used grounds in your compost, and watching the worms enjoy their breakfast too.

We are NOT looking for “climate change is a myth, stop worrying!” stories, sexual coming-of-age narratives, or anything that does not fit within the speculative genre.

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Events

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Taking Submissions: Spook Hollow: Tales of Ozark Horror

Deadline: July 31st, 2025
Payment: $50 and a contributor’s copy.
Theme: Horror stories set in the Ozark mountains

Calling all Ozark writers, storytellers, folklorists, and tale collectors!

Parlor Ghost Press, an imprint of Watertower Hill Publishing (publishers of 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴, and 𝘏𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘴), is taking submissions for our upcoming anthology, 𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸: 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳, edited by Heather Daughrity, to be released February 2026.

What we are looking for: horror stories set in the Ozark mountains–either your own take on a story from Ozark folklore or an original tale featuring Ozark locations/atmosphere/beliefs/etc.
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