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Taking Submissions: Beneath the Waves – Tales from the Deep

February 28, 2018

Deadline: February 28th, 2018
Payment: $50 (AUD) and a contributor’s copy

It’s time to put the grey matter to use and start planning for the next anthology. With a working title of “Beneath the Waves – Tales from the Deep,” this will be our fourth anthology in the

Things in the Well series, and will be published in 2018

(Deadline is end of February. Eta is April.)

Email: [email protected] when your story is complete, and as good as it can be!

Note

By all means draw inspiration from them, but I’m not looking for Lovecraft/Mythos fiction, or rehashes of Greek mythology, etc. unless these are outstanding, different, and memorable! I want something new and exciting! New psychological terrors, new fears, new creatures and new stories of the supernatural. If you need more ideas, take a look at Brian Lumley’s work, or H.G. Wells, or Cornish myths, Japanese legends, etc.

Archetypes

Clive Barker’s story from the Books of Blood “The Madonna” will be one of our archetypes, so if you don’t know that story, please familiarise yourself with it… I’d also urge you to look at some of Brian Lumley’s work, e.g. Haggopian for some fresh ideas.

But don’t forget I’ve read all these stories, so no pastiches or cheap imitations, please 🙂

Stop!

Before putting fingers on keyboards (or pen to paper) you would do well to read my Editor’s blog at http://thingsinthewell.webs.com/editor-s-blog or buy and read some of our previous

themed anthologies on Amazon. (You may have to look for them in your stores, or ask for them!)

Word Count, etc.

Word count is expected to be 5,000 – 8,000 and I am flexible to a degree, on the basis that if the story fits you should wear it. Having said that, although it’s a flat-rate payment, I don’t think a writer should limit themselves based on the payment rate. I anticipate a huge wave of top-notch submissions again (pardon the pun,) so I’m after memorable stories, a sense of dread, and some level of believability would be more important than a lengthy treatise or a quick shudder. Yes, sea monsters and underwater encounters can be believable if written well, which Brian Lumley demonstrates well in his work, as does Ramsey Campbell in stories like ‘The Inhabitant of the Lake,’ and Lovecraft’s ‘Dagon’ also leaps to mind… If these are your archetypes, and you immerse yourself in these, then you might just be a swimmer!

Via: Things in the Well.

Details

Date:
February 28, 2018