Deadline: August 1st, 2022
Payment: 6 cents/word
Theme: Stories featuring hysteria that are Dark speculative, widely defined.

Hysteria

Irrational. Frenzied. Unreasonable. Unable to speak their own experiences.

In the case of abortion specifically, we have been told for decades in the United States that Roe v. Wade was safe and that we were overreacting, illogical, needlessly aggressive—hysterical. Now look. We were none of those things.

Aseptic and Faintly Sadistic: An Anthology of Hysteria Fiction, which is presented by CHM and will benefit the Chicago Abortion Fund, is seeking dark speculative fiction from anyone directly at risk as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, defined inclusively.

Guidelines

Genre: Dark speculative, widely defined. Don’t self-reject!

Theme:

Hysteria.

Interpret the theme broadly. You don’t have to beat me over the head with the connection. I am willing to look at everything from retellings of “The Yellow Wallpaper” to sci-fi space opera rockstars. Feel free to take on one of the many faces of the monstrous patriarchy directly. Because if you can’t now, when the heck can you?

Open To: Anyone directly at risk as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade, defined inclusively

Word Count: Maximum 5,000 words, no minimum.

Reprints: No.

Multiple Submissions: No.

Simultaneous Submissions: Yes! But please alert us immediately if the piece is accepted elsewhere and needs to be withdrawn.

Pay: 

6 cents/word (USD)

As this is a charity anthology, authors who would like to contribute more and who are safe to do so may waive pay. This is completely optional, and we will never ask you to do this; you can only request it upon acceptance.

Date Open: July 18

Date Closed: August 1

Format:

Shunn-ish. I don’t need your home address or phone number, we haven’t even met.

No need to stress about the cover letter, but if you are a member of a marginalized community underrepresented in discussions of reproductive justice, feel free to note that if you are comfortable.

Submissions: [email protected]

Please use this format for the subject line of your submission email.

Last Name; Story Title; Word Count

Other Stuff

The Editor Likes:

Forward-thinking, expertly crafted  speculative fiction. Work that uses innovative forms, original voices, broken timelines, metafiction, etc, but is still legible. Think Carmen Maria Machado, Nadia Bulkin, Mona Awad, Rivers Solomon, Angela Carter, Emily M. Danforth, Caitlin R. Kiernan.

Absolutely Not:

TERF-y, gender-essentialist fiction.

Gratuitous sexual assault, gratuitous violence, and unchallenged -isms and -phobias (body horror welcome).

The Title Comes From: Margaret St. Clair’s fantastic short “Brenda” (Weird Tales 1954).

Why the Chicago Abortion Fund: It looks like, for the foreseeable future, Illinois is going to be the only state with abortion protections in place serving a very large section of the country. Abortion funds are especially critical at this time, as they provide financial assistance to directly cover the costs of abortion. The Chicago Abortion Fund provides grants from between $100 to $300 dollars to those seeking abortion services, and they attempt to provide this grant for 100% of the people who contact them. They also provide assistance in locating additional funding, as well as with travel and associated expenses.

From their website: The mission of the Chicago Abortion Fund is to advance reproductive autonomy and justice for everyone by providing financial, logistical, and emotional support to people seeking abortion services and by building collective power and fostering partnerships for political and cultural change. We envision a world where everyone has the freedom and autonomy to create lives, families, and communities that are healthy, safe, and thriving and where the full range of reproductive choices, including abortion, are accessible and affirmed.

Via: Cosmic Horror Monthly.