Category: Events

Taking Submissions: Penumbric Speculative Fiction Magazine 2023 Second Window

Submission Window: December 15th, 2023 – March 15th, 2024
Payment: $10
Theme: Stories that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place.

Submission window: We are always open for submissions of art, animation, and music! We are currently closed for fiction and poetry submissions.

We are open for fiction and poetry submissions from 15 June to 15 September and from 15 December to 15 March each year.

I would love to see submissions representing not only multiple cultures but subcultures, exploring issues of race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, and many things I haven’t thought of. Does this mean you have to represent everybody and everything in 1000 words? Of course not. But be aware that we are creating a magazine that overall reaches and represents the true diversity of the world we live in.

In terms of genre, I am looking for work that constitutes the ever-moving edge of its kind, as a place between light and dark, consciousness and un, today and tomorrow; work exhibiting the strange, the bizarre, that which is not of the world we know, but more of a twilight realm or even altogether alien place. Not necessarily science fiction, not necessarily fantasy, not necessarily horror, and not necessarily not these things. In short, ideally edgy. Maybe even idealistically edgy. I am NOT looking for porn.
(more…)

Taking Submissions: Horror over the Handlebars

Deadline: January 15th, 2024
Payment: $30 and a contributors copy
Theme: 80’s and 90s nostalgia horror set in Connecticut

80s and 90s horror…Coming of age, kids on bikes
Imagine It, Stand by Me, Stranger Things, Dark, Good Omens, set in Connecticut.
Welcome to Horror Over the Handlebars!

This is the first in a series of Connecticut-based anthologies–Yankee Scares. All stories must be set in Connecticut. Preference will be given to writers who:
Live in Connecticut — Have some connection to Connecticut — Live in New England. Other writers may apply and will be offered space as available.

For this first anthology, we are looking for 80’s and 90s nostalgia horror–the “kids on bikes” coming of age genre, although children riding bicycles aren’t required. Look at the kids in the above examples.

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Corvid Queen 2024 Submission Window

Submission Window: January 1st – 30th, 2024
Payment: $5.00
Theme: Original feminist tales, feminist retellings of traditional tales, and personal essays related to traditional tales. Although we started as a magazine of fairy tales, we’re now open to pieces based on or related to fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, and pop culture.

Criteria.

We’re looking for original feminist tales, feminist retellings of traditional tales, and personal essays related to traditional tales. Although we started as a magazine of fairy tales, we’re now open to pieces based on or related to fairy tales, folklore, myths, legends, and pop culture.

We accept fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and pieces that are in-between. For prose, we accept stories of up to 5,000 words. Longer pieces will be declined.

Please note that you do not need to be female or femme to submit a piece; writers of any gender identity and expression are welcome.

We’re listed on Duotrope & Chill Subs!

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Pyre Magazine Winter/Fall 2024 Window

Submission Window: January 17th – February 28th, 2024
Payment: $10
Theme: Dark genre-bending works in the realms of horror, sci-fi, the weird, the macabre, fantasy, and magical realism.

Pyre Magazine is a biannual publication. Issues are released Spring/Summer & Fall/Winter.

We are most interested in dark genre-bending works in the realms of horror, sci-fi, the weird, the macabre, fantasy, and magical realism. We want stories that grab us by the throat and ask questions about what it means to be human. Make us feel something long after we are done reading.

The Editor is particularly fond of stories in the vein of The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, and Creep Show. When it comes to literary inspiration, think of Shirley JacksonRichard MathesonRay Bradbury, and Mary Shelley.

The Editor also enjoys almost anything produced by A24.

Think of Pyre as a bonfire — a place of storytelling and sacrifice. Take a seat near the fire and listen or spin a yarn of your own. Here at Pyre, we worship at the altar of storytelling done well. We love genre work that tells us something about the human condition.

Pyre is personally funded and maintained by the Editor. he asks you are patient with him as he gets back to submissions.

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Monsters in Masquerade

Deadline: December 31st, 2023
Payment: 10 cents per word
Theme: A horror fantasy fiction anthology focusing on the Upper YA (18+) to New Adult and Adult age range.

Submissions are now open for “Monsters In Masquerade”

Coming in mid-2024, Monsters In Masquerade will be OwlCrate’s first-ever published anthology book as part of a larger fantasy fiction anthology by OwlCrate!

About Monsters In Masquerade

Monsters In Masquerade will be a horror fantasy fiction anthology focusing on the Upper YA (18+) to New Adult and Adult age range.

Utilizing our amazing in-house team of creatives, graphic designers, and readers, we are partnering with our incredible friend and editor of this anthology, Robin Alvarez, to bring you new and exciting stories from your favorite subgenres of fantasy.⁠ ⁠

BUT!⁠ ⁠

What makes this even more exciting is that YOU, our incredible community members, will have the opportunity to earn a space in our anthology and get your work published alongside acclaimed bestselling authors!

(more…)

Taking Submissions: In the Eyes of the Hungry

Deadline: December 31st, 2023
Payment: $50
Theme: Short stories in the style of John Steinbeck or in his book’s settings that also include classic monsters

In the Eyes of the Hungry, ed. by Barbara Castro-Rojas and Michael Tichy, expected publication date: Summer 2024.
One of the great American authors wrote a werewolf novel and sadly, we will likely never see it. But wouldn’t it be great to speculate on what such a book might look like? We invite you to do exactly that.
We are asking for short horror stories, 2500 to 6000 words, in the style of Steinbeck, in his settings, and/or covering his themes. But we’re not going to limit you to werewolves. What fun would that be? We invite you to populate these stories with any of the classical monsters (think Universal), so if you can find a way to put the Creature from the Black Lagoon into a Steinbeck-style yarn, go for it!

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Flashpoint Science Fiction 2024 Open Window #1

Submission Window: January 15th – March 31st, 2024
Payment: $0.02 per word
Theme: Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between
Note: Reprints Welcome

We are open to submissions:
Jan. 15 – Mar. 31
May 15 – Jul. 31
Sep. 15 – Nov. 30

Before submitting, please read the writer’s guidelines below.

Story Guidelines

Flash Point Science Fiction wants speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length. Send us your science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between, so long as it’s short. We here at FPSF are partial to flash fiction and want to see the flash market grow. So as much as it pains us, please take your 10,000 word tour de force elsewhere. We’re not looking for the next Brandon Sanderson. (Unless you are, in fact, Brandon Sanderson, in which case we’d be delighted!)

(more…)

Taking Submissions: Mysterion January 2024 Window

Submission Window: January 1st – 31st, 2023
Payment: 8 cents/word and 4 cents/word for reprints
Theme: Speculative stories–science fiction, fantasy, horror–with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology
Note: Reprints Welcome

Mysterion is looking for speculative stories–science fiction, fantasy, horror–with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology, and for artwork for this site.

Fiction Guidelines

Technical details

  • Stories can be up to 9000 words (thanks, Patreon supporters!). This is a hard limit–our submission system will enforce it.
  • We pay 8 cents/word for original stories (or original translations of stories that have not previously appeared in English), and 4 cents/word for reprints (thanks again, Patreon!).
    • Authors are paid once we’ve agreed on edits and signed a contract, prior to earliest publication (generally on our Patreon page).
  • We are seeking 6 months’ exclusive worldwide publication rights for original works (with exceptions for established Best of the Year anthologies), and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic rights thereafter for both original works and reprints.
    • We want to publish your story online in our webzine and keep it there indefinitely.
    • We’re also acquiring the right to offer ebook versions of the stories we publish, as Patreon rewards or for purchase; and to publish a print and ebook anthology of all the stories that appeared in the webzine over a given 1- or 2-year period.
    • For original fiction, we want to be the only place publishing it for the first 6 months; after that, you’re welcome to publish it anywhere else in any format you like.
  • No multiple or simultaneous submissions.
    • If multiple writers co-write a story, we consider each distinct group of writers a different submitter. In other words, if two people co-write a story, and they submit the co-written story, and each of them also submits a story written on their own, that would not violate our no multiple submissions policy. Submitting two stories co-written by the same two people would violate our no multiple submissions policy.
  • Don’t resubmit a story we’ve rejected unless we request revisions.
  • We usually manage to respond to everyone within four months of the submission window’s closing. Feel free to query ([email protected]) if it’s been longer than four months since the end of the submission period.
  • Format requirements:
    • Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman or Courier font.
    • The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages.
    • If you want to make our lives easier, our preferred format is Times New Roman, italics for emphasis, one space after periods and colons, smart quotes, m-dashes instead of double hyphens, and first line of paragraph indented 0.5″ in Paragraph formatting instead of with the Tab key. But we aren’t that particular about any of this when evaluating your stories.
  • Stories should be submitted via the Moksha submissions system: https://mysterion.moksha.io/publication/mysterion.
  • Submit your stories in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format.
  • Your cover letter should contain a list of your three or four most prestigious publications (if any), and any pertinent biographical details: tell us if you’re an astronaut writing about space travel, but not if you’re an astronaut writing about the elf-dwarf war. Invert that if you’re an elf. If you’ve met us in person, feel free to mention it. Finally, let us know if the story is previously published and where it first appeared–even if it appeared on your blog or Twitter feed. Don’t try to summarize your story or explain why it’s a good fit for our publication (if it’s a good fit, we should be able to tell by reading it).

(more…)