Submission Window: January 1st – March 1st, 2025
Payment: 2 cents per word and a contributors copy
Theme: Mixing horror and weddings

From Jacob Steven Mohr and Crystal Lake Publishing comes The Joining: Scenes of Wedding Terror, a new anthology set to debut (tentatively) September of 2025.

We’re looking for stories between 2,500 and 5,000 words in length concerning the rite of matrimony. Weddings are unusual events, bringing together masses of humanity that might never interact under any other circumstance, requiring them to travel great distances or take part in bizarre rituals ranging from the solemn to the frenzied and sometimes even dangerous…

But: stories submitted to The Joining need not concern only the event itself. They might take place at any time, so long as nuptials are central to the narrative. Imagine it: proposals gone wrong, literal bride-zillas, unsettling in-laws, bachelor parties that end in bloodshed—and of course, trips to destination weddings held just north of Hell itself…

We will be accepting 10-15 stories from this open call. Accepted tales will appear alongside original yarns from a cast of invited authors, including Gemma Files, Joe Koch, J.A.W. McCarthy, Gordon B. White, Jack Lothian, Rae Wilde, and Scott J. Moses… and one mystery guest, as all weddings should no doubt have!

Submissions Open: January 1, 2025         

Submissions Close: March 1, 2025

Length: 2,500-5,000 words

Payment: $0.02 per word

Format: Stories should be formatted in 12 pt. Times New Roman, double spaced.

Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print and Electronic Rights for 1 year (from date of publication), and non-exclusive rights thereafter.

Contributor Copies: 1 paperback and 1 eBook copy.

Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed. But please promptly withdraw your story if it is accepted elsewhere. No reprints or multiple submissions.

Contact: All submissions should be sent to [email protected] (Word files only, please do not paste your story in the body of the email). Please make your subject line: SUBMISSION – “Story Title” – Author Name – Word Count.

Responses: We aim to finalize the table of contents by May 1 of 2025.

Via: Jacob Steven Mohr and Crystal Lake Publishing.