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Taking Submissions: Alchemy Press Book of Horrors Vol. 2

January 31, 2019

Deadline: January 31st, 2019
Payment: 1.0p a word (£40 for 4,000 words) and a contributor’s copy

2019 sees the second volume of the Alchemy Press Book of Horrors to be edited by Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards.

The first volume includes 25 original stories by amazing authors including Ramsey Campbell, Storm Constantine, Stan Nicholls, John Grant, Samantha Lee, Stephen Laws and many more.

We are looking for horror stories … but not just horror. We want tales that can be described as “weird”, “strange”, “amazing” and “peculiar”: stories that would have found a home in Weird Tales, Unknown Worlds, Fantastic and Fantasy Tales among other illustrious publications. We also like subtlety, ambiguity…

It would be nice to see a few more supernatural/ghost stories this time (but avoid Jamesian pastiches).

Your story can be set in almost any era, any place, but should also give a glimpse at and pervert the usual perceptions of reality – and unreality. We do not want stories that deal with common horror tropes without stretching boundaries. Avoid zombies unless they are tackled in an unexpected and strange fashion. No urban romance – you know, heroine falling for a vampire and so forth. Nor do we want to see religious tracts, adult content, and we really, really do not want gross-out horror tales. Read previous Alchemy Press anthologies to give you a sense of what it is that we are looking for. We also suggest you take a look at volume one of Horrors (it will be published on 1 November 2018 in print and eBook formats).

Send your stories in a standard manuscript format (3,000-6,000 words [flexible but contact us before submitting]) to [email protected] to arrive between 1st January and 31st January 2019.

Payment: 1.0p a word (£40 for 4,000 words) plus a copy of the book. This is a flat fee – no royalties. The anthology will be in print for a maximum of five years and then the book will become OOP. The author retains all rights.

If you are interested put on your story-creative hat now. If you have any questions get back to us at the above email address or use this contact form.

NOTES:

  • We accept stories from anywhere in the world (the galaxy, even) provided they are written in English.
  • We encourage submissions from all genders and ethnicities We are looking for new stories from both new and established writers.
  • Present your manuscript as a Word document (or RTF or similar) using standard formatting (double spacing, etc). Use a readable font – nothing fanciful. See here for guidance.
  • We only accept email submissions – which should be sent to the above email address
  • Save the manuscript file (and label your email) with the both the story title and your name (eg: “Shawshank – Stephen King”). This is essential because submissions (files and emails) with generic titles such as “submission” are easily overlooked or mislaid when saved to our files and added to the database. Sadly, we cannot accept responsibility for loss of inaccurately labelled files.
  • You must include your name and contact email on the first page of manuscript itself (not in the header/footer sections).
  • Submissions that do not meet with our guidelines may not be read.
  • Please, no multiple submissions.

Via: Alchemy Press.

Details

Date:
January 31, 2019