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Taking Submissions: DeadSteam II

August 16, 2021

Deadline: August 16th, 2021
Payment: $25 plus a contributor’s copy.
Theme: gaslamp and dreadpunk stories, which embrace the Victorian gothic

Submissions are now open for the DeadSteam II anthology, the second Grimmer & Grimmer Books anthology.

DeadSteam II is a collection of more gaslamp and dreadpunk stories, which embrace the Victorian gothic. In this edition, we’re really focusing on driving home the dread. We want your scariest, darkest stories that embrace the classic traditions of horror (monsters, gothic castles & haunted houses, dark and stormy nights, foggy walks through gas-lit cobblestone streets) but pair them with modern sensibilities and pacing.

About the anthology

Your tale should include at least one monstrous or undead creature, be it a werewolf, a ghost, a witch, a zombie, or something along those lines, and should take place in or before the Victorian era. Bear in mind, this isn’t a typical steampunk anthology, so the cogs and gears should be used sparingly, if at all.

I want your chilling tales of haunted London, your ghastly stories of bloodthirsty murderers lurking in gaslit alleyways, your suspenseful tales of dead things coming back to life to consume the blood of the living.

Stories should fall between 2,000-8,000 words. I will accept reprints, so long as you have the appropriate rights for republishing, and please let me know if it has been previously published.

Payment

$25 plus a contributor’s copy.

Note, because this is a publication from a small, start-up publisher, we are unable to pay more to contributors at this time (we hope to change that in future publications). I understand how hard writers work (I’m a writer myself) and would like to advise writers that I will be asking for Non-Exclusive Publishing Rights; however, you should be aware that most publications will not publish pieces that have previously been published (in print or otherwise). In other words, after your work has been published in DeadSteam II, the market for it will be dramatically reduced. It is up to you to decide if submitting to DeadSteam II (for only a token payment) is worth it to you. For what it’s worth, I hope that it is.

Submission Guidelines

Stories should be sent to brycekraffle[at]gmail[dot]com and include “Deadsteam II Submission” in the subject line. Please include a brief (no more than 400 words) author bio, a link to your website, Facebook, and twitter accounts (if applicable), and your story in .docx or .rtf format.

Please use Times New Roman or Arial font, size 12, double-spaced (i.e.: standard manuscript format). Stories may be rejected based on formatting issues, although in such cases I will allow the author to resubmit. Multiple submissions are fine.

A few key points:

1. I’m hoping to include at least one story featuring each variety of the classic monster, with as few duplicates as possible. In other words, I’m looking for stories featuring zombies or ghouls; vampires (already have one story, so I probably would only take one more), witches, werewolves, ghosts (I’ve got one ghost story already, but could use another), and mummies (I’ve got one of these already too, so yours would have to be a great deal different from this one in order to stand out) (but with as few duplicates as possible). Please indicate in your submission which monster your story includes. Original monsters may be accepted as well.

2. I’m aiming for this round of submissions to be on the darker side of the spectrum compared to the first book. Deeper, heavier themes than DeadSteam I.

3. No stories set in modern times or anything after 1900. This is a Victorian or pre-Victorian anthology.

Deadline is August 16th, and I am aiming to release the anthology in time for Halloween 2021.

Via: Dead Steam.

Details

Date:
August 16, 2021