Less than Semi-Pro rates
Deadline: September 29th, 2023
Payment: $1 per drabble, up to 10 drabbles.
Theme: 100-word Christmas horror stories with exactly a 2 word title.
BLACK HARE PRESS is—and has always been—an inclusive publisher. LGBTQ+ characters always welcome.
All our calls are for dark speculative fiction or weird/horror.
No co-authored projects, please, unless the call specifically says they are allowed.
Deadline: June 30th, 2023
Prizes: $5 for first place, $2 for second place, all others accepted are $1 per drabble
Theme: A drabble with the idea of: Space Station Duty-Free
A “drabble” is defined as a short story containing exactly precisely no more and no fewer than 100 words. It has a title, which can be from 1 to 15 words– but no more than 15. That’s a drabble.
You have to count each word. Hyphenated words, such as tete-a-tete, count as one word. Don’t use your word count tool to count the words, because that tool will count an ellipsis ( . . . ) as three words, which really should not be counted at all. It will also count dashes ( – ) as words, which is wrong. So count each word by sight, not by tool.
Our drabble contests have themes. For each contest, we will simply throw the theme out there. Whatever the theme inspires you to write, that’s what you write.
The theme of this contest is:
Space Station Duty-Free
This should be self-explanatory. What would people/aliens try to smuggle in? Or out?
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Deadline: May 31st, 2023
Payment: $5
Theme: Let’s Go to the Movies
A Literary Journal with Some Art, Comics, and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure
As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents.
Issues are themed; however, we consider all interpretations.
023’s Themes and Deadlines:
Let’s Go to the Movies (May 31)
Weirder Still (Aug. 31)
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Submission Window: April 2nd to August 31st
Payment: Half cent per word
Theme: Speculative Fiction taking place in the Wild West
Graveyard Boots: The Old West. Lawless. Filthy. Challenges were numerous. Justice was haphazard. One could die from a gunshot, a snakebite, a disease, or any number of reasons. It was not a place for the weak of heart. And that was just the wild west all by itself. For “Graveyard Boots,” we seek stories that add creatures, gunslingers, ghouls, ill omens, bad luck, evil minds, monsters and more to the already desolate landscape and ghost towns. Yet there was still humor back in those days of yore, and with “Graveyard Boots,” stories with humor will give you a leg up.
Deadline: June 15th, 2023
Payment: $5 per 1,000 words
Theme: Short stories that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected.
What we are looking for: short stories that are intrepid with regard to experimentation and oddity; the strange, the surreal, the atypical, the unexpected. Traditional genre divisions do not matter to us—we do not care whether a piece qualifies as strictly ‘literary’; we only care that it is high-quality, that it is well-written, and that it is interesting. Please send us pieces that you feel do not fit in anywhere else, or are beyond the pale of any given trend. Send us content that causes us to experience feelings we do not have names for.
We highly recommend reading our previous issues to get a sense of the kind of stories we are interested in; that said, we are also always looking to be caught off guard with unprecedented content.
Currently we do not charge for submissions. (Editors note: If they ever start to charge for submissions, we won’t be including them as per our rules.)
Deadline: June 30th, 2023
Payment: $5
Theme: Holidays, with a pile of horror thrown in
We all love the holidays, be it Easter, Christmas, Halloween, Hanukkah, Eid, the Solstices, Walpurgisnacht… the list is practically endless.
We want your stories of of holidays (any holiday at all!) filled with terror and dread, blood and guts, ghosts, and demons most foul.
Curated by the inimitable Theresa Scott-Matthews.
Deadline: March 15th, 2023
Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words
Theme: Lovecraftian Inspired Cosmic Horror
What lurks in the deep? Who listens from the shadows? What sorts of abominable experiments are taking place at the mysterious ivy-covered university? We want your Lovecraftian tales.
Deadline: March 15, 2023.
Deadline: August 1st, 2023
Payment: $5
Theme: Graveyard-themed Horror
Madame Gray is excited to announce a call for graveyard-themed submissions for her new anthology, Madame Gray’s Graveyard of Blood!
Open to all subgenres of horror, as long as the story takes place in, or is connected in some way to a cemetery. The more ghoulish, the better! The scarier, the merrier! And a bit of gallows humor is always welcome, but not required.
Well-written tales that are off the beaten path with a twist ending stand the best chance of getting accepted.
Compiled and edited by Gerri R. Gray (Madame Gray’s Poe-Pourri of Terror, Toilet Zone 2 & 3) and published by Hellbound Books, this anthology (the fourth in the popular Madame Gray series) is open to undiscovered writers and established voices alike.
Stories must be original and previously unpublished. Multiple and simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know straight away if your story is accepted elsewhere. No poetry or flash fiction, please. Payment is $5.00 plus a free contributors copy (ebook).
I’d like to take this time to give special thanks to our Patreon Sponsors who are at the Level 3 reward level and above!
– Ryan Benson.
– Jane Nightshade.
– Rebecca Rowland.
– James Aitchison.
– Robin Ginther-Venneri.
– Craig of Write my paper.
