Category: Anthology

Anthology / Events / Flat Amount / Token Payment

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Taking Submissions: Feast or Famine?

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: Stories with 5000 to 7999 words will earn $5. Stories with 8000 to 12000 words will earn $10.
Theme: Stories that revolve around food being central to the plot

Based on the interest we have had in our previous speculative-fiction anthologies, the team here at PurpleToga want to start something different this time around.

Food and meals are central to all cultures.

So, this time we are looking for stories where food is a central or pivotal element to the plot. Is it the Last Supper? Court intrigue using poison? This means that all of the stories must have a meal or dish as part of their central theme, and as usual we prefer stories that fall under the speculative fiction umbrella.

Think of how food has been a big part of literature. Where would Snow White be without the apple (or Adam and Eve)? In movies like Thor: The Dark World you have Dr. Strange offered tea and Thor responded he doesn’t drink it and got a big (self-refilling) mug of beer. Where would Star Trek: The Next Generation be without “Earl Grey, hot”? Think of all the meals in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, or how Rincewind fantasizes about potatoes. How much Turkish Delight was a factor in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. These are the kinds of food connections that we are looking for.

A recipe for the key element (or one of the dishes if it is a meal – failing that the full menu) would be appreciated.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: The Morning After

Deadline: June 1st, 2025
Payment: AU 1c/word
Theme: What happens to a person after a major transformation

Submissions open until 1st June 2025

The Morning After is an anthology about what happens after a sudden transformation. This could be an individual person transforming into something new or a mass change that effects humanity as a whole. How does this person or society react to no longer being human?

As an editor, I am keen to see how people react in this unique situation. Focus on struggles and adaptation to new forms are highly encouraged.

Despite the name of the anthology, the story does not need to begin with waking up in this new reality – but it should start shortly after the transformation has taken place.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Women of the Weird West (April 2025 Window)

Submission Window: April 1st – 30th, 2025
Payment: Stories: 10¢ per word, Poems: $50, Drabbles: $50
Theme: Weird westerns that are pulpy, unexpected, character-driven stories written by women

Women of the Weird West
Publisher: Brigids Gate Press
Editor: KC Grifant
Release Date: Planned for June 16 th , 2026

What We Are Seeking
Traditionally, women authors have been vastly underrepresented in westerns and weird westerns, so this anthology will highlight diverse women-identifying authors and non-binary authors and their speculative western short stories.

We are looking for original Weird West stories. These should be generally set in what approximates the “Old West” location and timeframe (North America circa late 1800s) and should have a strong speculative element, such as horror, fantasy and/or sci-fi.

We are most interested in pulpy, unexpected, character-driven stories and are open to some weird westerns set outside the typical historical time period and setting (e.g., space westerns) as long as there are strong Old West aesthetics and inspiration.

The goal of this anthology is to showcase a diverse group of Old West stories beyond the typical archetypes. We strongly encourage women, women-identifying and nonbinary writers of all backgrounds to submit regardless of writing experience. We are interested in showcasing emerging writers as well as established writers for this anthology.
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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Token Payment

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Taking Submissions: Hellbound Books’ Anthology of Pandemic & Outbreak Horror

Deadline: June 30th, 2025
Payment: $5
Theme: Plagues, pandemics, original takes on zombies, outbreaks, and everything related!

The HellBound Books team felt enough time has passed since the COVID-19 pandemic to warrant an appropriately themed anthology. We are looking for horrific tales of diseases ravaging mankind, viruses, bacteria, and fungal spores infecting and threatening to eradicate all of humanity – and, yes, we would love to see your terrifying, unique takes on the zombie trope!

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Anthology / Flash / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Patterns

Deadline: May 31st, 2025
Payment: $0.01 per word
Theme: Dark stories with the theme of patterns

PATTERNS

Submission window now open.

Deadline: May 31st 2025

We’re looking for dark stories (2-4k words) on the theme of patterns.

Please interpret this theme however you like. Write us a quiet mood piece or an action-packed powerful, character-driven story. Make it humorous or as dark as the night. Send us your best speculative, horror, dark fantasy or dark sci-fi stories, as long as it’s full of the feels. We are not, however, the market for violent, bloody, racist, homophobic, or masochistic fiction. And no poetry please, just short fiction.

Some ideas: the pattern could be in the narrative technique (fragmentation, mirror writing, foreshadowing, meta-fictional repetition), the thematic composition (think cycles of death and birth, family curses, sin and retribution) for example. Or how about incorporating chants, supernatural rituals, or echoes in your prose? A story with temporal patterns in it might float our boat (although be careful, we don’t want our inbox flooded with time loops and cyclical stories, unless done exceptionally well or with a novel twist). Seasonal patterns, recurring times, patterns in nature, patterns in objects which feature in your tale, geographical patterns, repetitive architecture, patterns in weather, behavioural ticks, recurring nightmares, obsessions…any tenuous link will do, just make it your best work and give it a good edit prior to sending it our way. You get the idea. Surprise us.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Shenandoah Valley Fantastic

Submission Window: February 1st – April 30th, 2025
Payment: $20
Theme: Speculative fiction that takes place in the Shenandoah Valley (defined as the Virginia counties of Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockbridge, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren; the West Virginia counties of Berkeley and Jefferson; the independent cities of Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Winchester; The Shenandoah National Park; The George Washington National Forest.)

What We Want: Shenandoah Valley Fantastic seeks strange and wondrous speculative fiction that transforms our beloved region into a realm of mystery, magic, and the unexpected. From witches haunting Winchester’s historic alleys to spectral happenings on the Field of Lost Shoes, we invite you to re-imagine the Valley’s rich landscapes and legends.

Envision Shenandoah National Park as a forbidden, fey-infused forest, where wayward travelers encounter creatures older than the hills. What if Duke Dog Alley were a portal to another world? Suppose Cooter’s become a crossroad for supernatural beings—a place where ghosts and wanderers alike grab a bite before moving on to unknown realms. Picture the storied halls of Washington & Lee as a secret training ground for the next generation of spellcasters, with campus traditions hiding dark rites and hidden powers.

Let your imagination run wild with stories that blend the supernatural with our natural splendor. We welcome tales of magic and mystery, terror and transformation—grounded in the historic sites, natural wonders, and quirky landmarks that make the Shenandoah Valley unforgettable. If your story will make readers see the Valley in a new, eerie light, we want to read it.

What We Don’t Want:Your trunk stories with a couple of references to the Valley bolted on.

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Anthology / Artwork / Flat Amount / Poetry / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Graveside Press: Illustrated Poetry Anthology

Deadline: May 31st, 2025
Payment: 2 cents per word for poetry, $75 for artwork
Theme: Grim, gothic, morbidly funny, terrifying works of poetry and artwork

Calling all poetry authors AND artists!

We’re stepping outside of the box here and trying something new. We’re calling on poets and artists this time to help us craft an illustrated poetry anthology. Give us your limericks, sonnets, haiku, ballads, and free-verse! Have visual poetry? EVEN BETTER. We want grim, gothic, morbidly funny, terrifying works.

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Anthology / Events / Royalties

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Taking Submissions: It Came From the Trailer Park: Vol 5

Deadline: July 1st, 2025
Payment: Royalties
Theme: Creature feature horror comedies that have redneck heroes

After the success of the previous Trailer Park anthologies, we’ve decided to bring it back for another release of fun Creature Feature Horror.

Stories should be original creature-feature, horror-comedy with the same feel as The Evil Dead, Army of Darkness, Shaun of the Dead, or Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. And of course, our heroes winning the day in all of their redneck glory.

The added challenge this year, should you choose to accept it, volume 5 submissions should have a “Creep Killer Clown” twist to it.

 

Not sure what we’re looking for? Think Pennywise, Killer Clowns from Outerspace, or John Wayne Gacy.

 

  • Genre: Horror Comedy / Creature Feature
  • Word Count: 5,000 – 10,000
  • Opening Essay by: TBD
  • Edited by: William Joseph Roberts
  • Anchor Author: TBD
  • Due Date: July 1, 2025

Email submissions to: threeravenspublishing @ gmail dot com with “Trailer Park” in the subject line

Payment: Stories selected for publication in the upcoming Anthology(ies), will receive a percentage of sales divided equally between the contributing authors.

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