Deadline: December 15th, 2020
Payment: 2 cents per word and a contributors copy
Theme: The greatest and most complete travel anthology of (fictional) haunted buildings in the world.

Title: Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (2021 edition)
Edited by: Charlatan Bardot and Eric J. Guignard
Publisher: Dark Moon Books (Los Angeles, CA)
Submissions Accepted: November 15–December 15, 2020
Projected Release Date: Summer, 2021
Word Count: Short Stories between approximately 1,500–4,500 words (soft range).
Payment: Two (2) cents per word and one contributor copy in each of all published formats.
Reprints?: NO
Multiple and/or Simultaneous Submissions: YES
Response Time: January 15, 2021 (or earlier)
Send submissions and queries to:
[email protected]

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The greatest and most complete travel anthology of (fictional) haunted buildings in the world is opening soon! Hosted by Professor Charlatan Bardot, PhD, EdD, EJG, and curated by Eric J. Guignard, this book is seeking dark fiction short stories about haunted buildings (excluding houses) around the globe.

Consider that, essentially, these are “Haunted House” types of stories, except they are to be set in ANY type of structure that is not a house; i.e. the theme of this book is for haunted buildings or structures that are subject of a fantastic, terrifying, magical, weird, or otherwise thrilling or speculative tale, but that the subject building is not a traditional stick-built/frame residential house.

Additionally, these are to be “fictional buildings” (don’t use the Eastern State Penitentiary as the site of your story, but you could use a similar haunted prison modeled off, and named differently than, Eastern State Penitentiary).

Use your wildest imagination for these tales of architecture and intrigue—any type of building (excluding traditional houses) is welcome. A haunted igloo? Yes! A possessed Yurt? Totally! Go wild with these tales, but not to the point of silliness. Although the book idea is playful, and I want the stories to be fun, they also should be taken seriously.

Finally, although the term of “haunted” may invoke a sense of horror, and this book will include those types of tales, I’m looking also to shape this anthology toward imaginative interpretations of what hauntings can mean, in beautiful and colorful ways. The revenant of haunted hair at a barbershop, or the ghosts of children who never were, playing on a playground. Although I enjoy horror and dark tales, I still prefer love and happy endings for them (at least once in a while!).

Book examples of haunted non-house buildings include:

Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (haunted IKEA store)
Dark Matter by Michelle Paver (haunted whaling cabin)
Steam by Jay B. Laws (haunted bathhouse)
Creepers by David Morrell (haunted hotel)
Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell (Arctic Research Station; although not “haunted,” the setting is crucial to the story)
The Shining by Stephen King (haunted hotel)
Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête) by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve (haunted castle)
The Booking by Ramsey Campbell (haunted bookstore)
Stranded by Bracken Macleod (haunted/ alternate reality oil rig)

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* NOTE: DIVERSE GEOGRAPHY (Setting) REQUIREMENT! *

Additionally, besides a non-house structure, I’m ALSO requiring stories be set in diverse locations around the globe. Think of mausoleums in Romania, ruined palaces in Baghdad, military installations in Tanzania, electronics factories in China, cathedrals in Argentina, glass pyramids on an Arctic mountain top, bomb shelters, cardboard boxes, lighthouses, zoos, union halls, taverns, libraries, canneries, campgrounds, etc.

I have compiled a small list of countries you are EXCLUDED from writing your haunted building to be located in. Half of the stories in this anthology will be filled by invite, and these are the countries already selected. Here is the LINK for that Exclusion List:
http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/exclusion_list.html

All of the above rules and remarks are to sustain the theme of this book being designed and illustrated as if a Ghost Tours type of travel guide for the world.

OTHER:

Besides the stipulation for the story to revolve around any building/structure apart from a house, the stories are otherwise non-themed.

Additional qualities to make your submission a success include:

• Emotional resonance (e.g. Fear, Relief, Joy, etc.)
• Action and adventure (Plot movement and excitement)
• Unique and thoughtful ideas
• Literary courage (Push boundaries and/or at least invent “new” monsters or fables)
• Extraordinarily memorable “voice” in characters
• Fun and thrills! (Compelling!)

YET MORE OTHER:

Age and content appropriateness: Consider the audience of this book as a PG-13-Rating (maybe soft R). Nothing will be included that relates to torture or sexual abuse of children or animals; racial or political agenda; or graphic sex/ “erotica” (basically nothing offensive to mainstream tastes).

Genre and Tone: Anything with a supernatural element, i.e. any fantasy/ speculative sub-genre as relating to Dark Fiction/ Dark Fantasy; Urban Fantasy; Magic Realism; Weird Fiction; Horror (only “light horror” i.e. no extreme); etc. No Science Fiction. No reliance on humor.

This book will be available as an illustrated trade paperback, jacketed hardback, and ebook.

RECAP:

I know that’s a lot of detail for story submissions, but basically the main stipulations of the short story are that:

1. Submissions need to revolve around a fictional haunted building (any building that is not a house).

2. Submissions need to have a real geographic association in any country not on the Exclusion List.

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Formatting of submissions isn’t important (although good form is to follow Shunn guidelines at: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). However, PLEASE identify the following two items in your cover letter:

1. What is the city and country your story takes place in?

2. What type of haunted structure is your story about (haunted school, haunted depot, haunted church, etc.)?

Please attach all submissions to email as a Microsoft Word file (doc type doesn’t matter).

Send submissions, queries, and all else via e-mail to: [email protected]

 

Good luck and have fun writing!

Professor Charlatan Bardot and Eric J. Guignard

Via: Dark Moon Books.