Category: Anthology

Anthology / Events / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction

Deadline: March 17th, 2025
Payment: $0.01 (USD) per word and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Speculative ecofiction that was originally published in 2024

We’ve received more than 150 stories nominated by publishers, editors, and authors so far, and the range of stories, ideas, and perspectives has been so wonderful to read. As this is our first year of the anthology and our launch happened so quickly, we’ve decided to extend the submissions window out to Monday, March 17, to ensure that everyone publishing ecofiction gets a chance to submit.

The full submission guidelines are below.

ECO24: The Year’s Best Speculative Ecofiction, edited by Marissa van Uden, showcases some of the most vivid, thought-provoking, and emotionally affecting ecofiction published in the previous calendar year.

Speculative ecofiction is defined as stories that explore our place in the natural world and our relationships to non-human life (e.g. focused on themes related to ecology, nature, the environment, climate, conservation, wildlife and animal rights) and which also fall into speculative genres such as science fiction, fantasy, Weird fiction, New Weird, anthropomorphic fantasy, magical realism.

Ecofiction engages with some of the most urgent issues facing us today and also looks ahead to the possibilities of the future. Even when dealing with dark or tragic themes, ecofiction stories are expressions of our human connection to the most beautiful planet we know, and to all of earthlife.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Untitled Creature Feature Anthology

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Creature Feature with the premise of situations where something is being sought out by a person/group.

My first foray into horror was creature features. Growing up, I loved movies that involved monsters: Them!, Godzilla, The Birds, Swamp Thing, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Fly, and many more. Pair that with my background in anthropology and biology, and it’s a Petri dish of ingredients bound to spawn new terrors. What better way to celebrate the second year of Inky Bones Press than to publish an anthology based on the subjects that inspired me to both love and write horror. I can’t wait to read your twists and interpretations of the requirements lurking below.

What horrors will you unleash?

Theme:

Situations where something is being sought out by a person/group. They could be grave robbers, treasure hunters, archaeologists, cryptozoologists, entomologists, biologists, hide-and-seek fanatics, anything you choose—as long as their plans go awry. Get weird and creative!

Must Include:

  • Bones: you can mention the word itself or be more specific. Ex: spine, skull, vertebrae, ribs, skeleton
  • A creature of your choice: tiny, monstrous, an alien—just make sure it’s scary!

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

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Taking Submissions: Strange Legacy: 2025

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: $20 and a contributor copy for US authors or $35 for non-US authors
Theme: “Classic” monsters creature feature story (think all of the old Universal Monsters for inspiration.)
Note: Reprints welcome

Strange Legacy: 2025 (Creature Feature) is actually a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. We are going in a slightly different direction this year thematically with a bit of a break from purely cosmic horror and focusing instead on the creatures, both traditional and original. The editorial style will remain the same. As usual, these style preferences apply to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references. (You do not have to remove all profanity from your submission—I can read around it—but, if your story is accepted, you will be required to remove it from the final version.)

The theme of this year’s anthology is the “classic” monster story—from old favorites like vampires and werewolves to Lovecraftian creatures [1] to the byproducts of insane science experiments. That being said, please send anything you consider a good story. Feel free to query for any questions. If you are planning to write a story especially for this anthology, by all means query the idea first.

I am especially interested in stories of mad science, monster-based horror, weird western, and stories that “peel the onion.” Indeed, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the need for these categories. Victoriana and Lovecraft era period pieces will have a much harder time finding acceptance.

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Anthology / Events / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: Avalon

Deadline: April 7th, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Darker tales of King Arthur, Camelot, Avalon, and related characters

Deadline – 7th April 2025 Midnight Perth Western

Publication – 18th May 2025

Word Count – 2,500 words to 7,000

Theme – The legends of King Arthur, Camelot, and Avalon have been told for centuries—tales of noble knights, powerful sorcerers, and the tragic fall of a golden age. But history is written by the victors, and beneath the well-known stories lie secrets long buried, whispers of magic untamed, betrayals forgotten, and horrors unseen.

Explore the darker, stranger, and more speculative sides of Arthurian mythos. What if Excalibur was more than just a sword—what if it had a will of its own? What lurks in the mists of Avalon when the priestesses are not watching? What pacts were made in the shadows of Camelot, and which knights never returned from their quests—not because they failed, but because they uncovered something they were never meant to see?
Submissions should reimagine, expand, or twist Arthurian tales through the lenses of speculative fiction, fantasy, or horror. Think eerie fae bargains, haunted battlegrounds, eldritch relics, or even the lost voices of those history ignored—Morgana, Mordred, Nimue, or the knights who never became legends.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Jungle Scandals

Submission Window: March 17th – April 16th, 2025
Payment: 1 cent per word
Theme: NSFW jungle adventure

Jungle Scandals is the second entry in The Scandal Anthology Series and the follow-up to the smash hit Sword & Scandal. But where Sword & Scandal featured NSFW heroic fantasy, Jungle Scandals is all about NSFW jungle adventure.

That’s right! This time around, we’re touring the jungles of the world, taking stops in Africa, Indonesia, and the Amazon, and we’ll be taking our inspiration from the likes of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jospeh Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, and H. Rider Haggard.

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Where Connections Lead

Deadline: March 31st, 2025
Payment: $50
Theme: Your take on: where connections lead. Speculative stories welcome, if horror, gore needs to be off page

We are seeking short stories for an anthology based on the theme of “Where Connections Lead.” This theme invites writers to explore the connections between things, computers, people, events, ideas, or places, and the paths they create—whether they bring people together, reveal hidden truths, or lead down unexpected or even dangerous paths. This broad theme allows for both individual stories (e.g., a character seeking answers through the connections they make) and collective stories (how groups or communities bond, interact, or misunderstand each other). Stories can be any genre—mystery, dystopia, sci-fi, fantasy, literary fiction, horror, and beyond—such as a person piecing together clues, an exploration of connections in a futuristic society, or even unexpected interactions between ideas or technology. This is a broad umbrella meant to capture most stories. Take us on your journey. Send us your story if in doubt. 

Guidelines: Word Count: 1,000 to 10,000 words (slightly longer considered)

What would we love to see? Imaginative interpretations of the theme. How are connections impacting your world or character in exciting unexpected ways.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Something Out There

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: $25 and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Stories taking place in a specific area based around a UFO festival

Welcome to Bellflower, a sleepy (fictional) Nevada town where nothing much happens. Well, except for the influx of tourists asking about Area 51, which lies to the southwest, and the annual UFO festival, which happens every August. For years, man watched the skies. In Bellflower…the skies watched back.

We’re looking for submissions that take place during or around this festival, a town-wide event where locals dress up, set up telescopes, take tourists on shady desert tours, and stay up all hours of the night, hoping for a glimpse of something from the great beyond.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Consumed

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: 1500-4000=$10, 4001-75000=$20
Theme: Horror that involves food

Arbutus Studios is planning our first prose horror anthology, “Consumed” for publication in 2025.

The anthology’s title alludes to a central theme of food and eating. Itching to tell a twisted cannibal tale? Have a unique take on zombies? Cursed birthday cakes? All the above are in line with what we’re looking for.

What we want

For this anthology, Arbutus Studios seeks original horror stories that fit snugly within the imagery, concept, and theme of food.

Tales submitted to Consumed can encompass more than one horror subgenre or blend other speculative genres into the narrative. We want to read stories we can’t put down, and thoughtful tales that linger with you long after the final page.

Original, compelling stories will grab our attention. Retreads of familiar horror clichés will be privately mocked, and the tales sent straight to hell. We want to see interesting characters, unique worlds, and unsettling atmosphere. Surprise us. Scare us. Tickle our imagination.

Arbutus Studios will automatically reject stories with extreme gore or stories that glorify sexual violence, child abuse, cruelty to animals, body-shaming, or other deviant behaviour.

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