Category: Closed Markets

NOTE: This Market has been reported as closed.

Payment: $15
Theme: 100 words to 2k highly experimental horror stories with an emphasis on well crafted prose and non traditional narrative and form

Update: For clarity, I am seeking highly experimental horror stories with an emphasis on well crafted prose and non traditional narrative and form. Much as I hate comparisons, the literary equivalent of “Possibly In Michigan” is what I’m seeking. I want surreal and weird and well written and risks that may or may not pay off. I want everything non traditional. I am not seeking regular horror stories, which I love, but do not belong in a zine meant for niche experimental fiction. I want a strong voice and creative use of language. I do not want stories that rely exclusively on weird events transpiring. I’m more likely to accept something mundane recontextualized than a textbook feeling description of random “scary” stuff. Give me your weirdly written weird stories.

Additionally, dear editor is fine, but there is only one editor, so please do not start your submission with “dear editors.”
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***A Novella has been accepted and this call is now closed***

Payment: $100 and royalties
Theme: Horror with a clear voice and a fantastic premise

In search of one stunning novella. 17,500-40,000 words. This call will remain open until the story is found, but will not close before April 30. $100 advance with additional payments based on sales. The story should be horror but not focus on heavy gore, and on-page sexual violence is a no. I like shorter works with a clear voice and a fantastic premise. I’m looking for a one-sitting read that you can’t put down because it’s just that good. Publication planned for Winter 2024. For more information visit ruthannaevans.com.

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Payment: 50% Royalties
Theme: Ghost Stories, New Weird or Fabulism, Quirk, Narrative Poems, the Sublime, the Numinous, and, dissonantly, stories set in Los Angeles. Your work doesn’t seem to fit that vision? Send it along anyway, because it could be just crazy enough to work.

TWELVE HOUSE BOOKS is a publisher of Literary Fiction & Poetry with a distinct focus on the dark and unruly.

Send manuscripts via [email protected]

High on the wanted list are Ghost Stories, New Weird or Fabulism, Quirk, Narrative Poems, the Sublime, the Numinous, and, dissonantly, stories set in Los Angeles. Your work doesn’t seem to fit that vision? Send it along anyway, because it could be just crazy enough to work.

Consider the fiction of Raymond Chandler, Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe, Flannery O’Connor, Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker, Deyan Enev, Daphne Du Maurier, J.S. Le Fanu, Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Lord Dunsany, Saki, Stefani Christova, Washington Irving, E.F. Benson, Evan James Sheldon, O. Henry, Francis Marion Crawford, Ambrose Bierce, Edward Lucas White, and Ralph Adams Cram.

Year-round call for manuscripts of at least 30K words! Your chances are much better with story collections, poetry collections, and narrative poems than with novels, though the latter and novellas are considered.

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Payment: 2 Contributors Copies
Theme: Tales from the darkside

Chthonic Matter is a quarterly offering of tales from the darkside. Its contents range in tone from the quiet horror of Shirley Jackson to the bleak stylings of Thomas Ligotti — and everything in between. In order to better understand the type of fiction I am looking for, be sure to review my previous series, Nightscript. All eight volumes are available for “free” via Kindle Unlimited.

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We’ve reposted this open call with a huge update, these are the old details. Be sure to check for the newer ones!

Payment: 50% Royalties
Theme: The Weird, the Odd, the Quirky, the Peculiar, the Macabre, the Uncanny

Twelve House Books is a publisher of New Weird and Fabulist Fiction. We also publish Ghost Stories, and, dissonantly, stories set in Hollywood and/or Los Angeles.

Launched in 2018 beneath the aegis of the legacy publishing enterprise Darc Colours (est. 1986), TWELVE HOUSE BOOKS has most recently published the story collections Children & Their Cages by Evan James Sheldon, The Coffin with the Eleven-Year-Old Myself by Stefani Christova, and Between the Walls of Opposing Houses by David Kart.

TWELVE HOUSE BOOKS waits with bated breath to see the works of the few-and-far-between writers of the strange and spiritually unruly who prove themselves masters of turn-of-phrase and evocation of the bizarre.

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This market has closed from too many submissions and will re-open at a later date.

Payment: $15 and 50% ad revenue on your episode for one year
Theme: Horror, Creepy, Paranormal, Suspenseful, or Thriller Stories

Thank you for your interest in submitting your work to be produced for Night Terrors Podcast. We are a horror/creepy narration podcast looking to create episodes showcasing a new writer each episode. Our episodes run between 20 and 40 minutes, so we’re looking for 2000 to 4000 word submissions. Since this new series is based around showcasing authors, we strongly encourage multiple stories that add up to around the word count, but if you believe you have a single story that is compelling enough, please do not hesitate to send it along. All submissions should be sent to [email protected] with the Subject reading NTP Submission.

What we’re looking for:
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