From some of the writers and editors who helped to bring you A Walk in A Darker Wood and the recently published A Walk in a City of Shadows comes a new terrifying collection based on the work of one of Horror’s greatest living authors, Gemma Files! This is the second collection titled Experimental Files is being brought to you by Alien Sun Press and we are super excited about it!

With the incredible John Langan set to write the foreword, this anthology is a tribute to not only to the work of Gemma Files but is in particular based off of her classic work, Experimental film. This collection will have illustrations from Sarah Walker and others as well as a cover done by the incomparable Dan Sauer. So here are the particulars….

– Stories based on the themes set out in Gemma Files’ classic work, Experimental Film. What does that mean? Well, firstly make sure you have read her work first and then send us something that is…

-Unique and clever Horror stories involving cursed or dangerous film. These tales can be from the point of view of anyone involved in cinema from the visual artists all the way to the directors, to the actors or even the audience. Play around, try something new!

-Stories with a strong Gemma Files feel about them- characters that are complex and encompass sometimes contradictory character traits- ‘evil’ that is done for good, etc. Use of myth, use of evocative scenery and a general spooky haunted vibe.

-Weird Fiction style tales!

-Poetic language with a dark bent -Creative takes on folklore

-Well written leaning into literary horror with complex plots and interactions

-Slasher fic that is slasher just for shock value

-Fan fiction- that is stories using the actual characters created by Gemma Files her work, particularly in the book Experimental Film. Remember you can use the themes and concepts but using her actual characters won’t work. That is plagiarism.

-And a personal request- we don’t want anything involving rape, torture, animal cruelty, etc. or abuse/cruelty/torture kind of work- However we will consider excellent stories that have aspects of violence if this violence is necessary to the plot. If you are not sure, send it to us and we can check if it meets the standards we are aiming for.

-No Bigfoot adult content, Furry adult content etc. In fact, no adult content please.

-No racist, classist, bigoted idiocy

Your story should be between 3000-6000 words, in Times New Roman 12-point font (preferred)

Please use the classic structure of short story submission as designed by Bill Shunn. Here is link if you are unsure of what that means- https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/

The final due date for subs is midnight on June 1st, 2023

Please email your submission to [email protected]

Along with your name and “Submission: Title” in the subject line along with a short bio and photo in case we do accept the piece.

(Like this: Walker Submission: My Story)

We are willing to consider slightly longer or slightly shorter pieces if they are exceptionally good, so please query if you have something outside of these ranges. P

lease not though that the pay will be a flat rate of 50$ plus an author copy of the completed anthology after our5 Kickstarter backers are taken care as this will be a Kickstarter soon.

Writers of all kinds encouraged to submit!

We want a variety of writers from all over the world if at all possible!

Also, if you have any questions, don’t be shy! Please email and ask