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Taking Submissions: The Mad Visions of al-Hazred

Deadline: June 30th, 2017 Payment: $25.00 About 730 AD, an Arab named Abdul Al-Hazred wrote the Al-Azif, a grimoire and memorial to the Old Ones. For this crime, he was driven insane and eventually devoured by a vengeful god in full view of horrified onlookers. What drove him to write this loathsome tome? What terrible visions haunted him so badly he felt he had to risk his soul to put them down on paper? Reveal the visions of Abdul Al-Hazred to us. Explain why the Al-Azif had to be written and why its translation, the Necronomicon, has circulated in secret societies ever since. Expose the secrets Al-Hazred uncovered in his ten years alone in the Roba El Kaliyeh, the Empty Space of the Ancients. Tell us what you know about the occult dealings he witnessed that drove him to spend those last years in Damascus as a hermit dedicated only to finishing his cursed volume. We recognize that horror requires a certain amount of leeway on some things, but be warned. We look down on overuse of specific issues. These include: • Sexual content not inherent to the storyline. No adult content. Keep your tentacles to yourself. • Explicit description of torture or sacrifice, human or otherwise. As a plot device, there is a way to present this without resorting to splatter. • Violence or abuse against a minor, infant to teenager. • Overuse of profane language. People curse. But not every sentence. • Hate language against a race, creed, or gender. Against monstrous races and gods, that’s okay. • Quoting previously published material not in the public domain. This is a legal issue and will not be tolerated at all. HOW TO SUBMIT Please be advised, any stories that do not meet these guidelines will be deleted unread. If...

Taking Submissions: Welcome to Miskatonic University

Deadline: June 30th, 2017 Payment: 8 cents per word With Ride the Star Wind in the editing phase, we are now open to submissions for our next anthology: Welcome to Miskatonic University, an anthology of modern-day weird tales set in good ol' MU. Miskatonic University is still going strong in the Arkham Valley (and in various satellite campuses and research stations around the world). Resilient and forward thinking, few institutions can weather the times and adapt like good ol' MU. It's a strange brew of conservatively reaching into the past while progressively marching forward. And it's a hotbed for the weird and the wonderful! So what might a modern MU look like? What might student life be like today? These tales combine college life and the cosmic weird. Of course, there's beer, sex, and parties; study groups and all-night cramming; campus activism and impassioned discourse; vital research and faculty struggling for tenure. But also, you know, gruesome and psychedelic cosmic weirdness. What avenues of study has the university sanctioned either publicly or privately? Where are they getting so much funding? The university's been around the block and are at the bleeding edge of certain realms of research. Occult studies have seeped, seemingly innocuously, into various branches of nearly all academic departments and inform everything from quantum physics to computer science, sociology to modern American literature. Library studies is hands down the best, most advanced in the world, likely one of the most well funded of sectors at the institution with ever-evolving safeguards and best practices. But there's bound to be lingering effects from all the occult activity, like "sensitive" people and locations with breaches to the "other side." People disappear all the time; sometimes they even come back. Entire wings are off limits to humans indefinitely. As a whole, this anthology is...

Taking Submissions: Road Kill Vol. 2

Deadline: July 1st, 2017 Payment: $25-$200 depending on length and three free copies. Note: Texas writers only I attended a meetup today and got information on an open call for Texas-based writers (either born here or living here) for Road Kill: Texas Horror from Texas Writers, Vol. 2. They are eager to hear from authors who have been traditionally marginalized, excluded, or unrepresented because Texas has many voices and it’s important to include everyone. Here are the details straight from the Editor’s hand. Hello, E.R. Bills and Bret McCormick here. We are the editors of the upcoming horror title, Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers, from Eakin Press. Due to the success of the anthology, we are accepting stories for Road Kill Vol. 2. We are looking for original horror stories, 1,500–10,000 words, give or take. If we receive a 14,00-word story that knocks our socks off, we will consider it. And the same for an 800-word yarn. We prefer not to receive stories that have already appeared elsewhere. Submissions should be sent to ba.mccormick (at) yahoo.com. The primary objective of Road Kill is to promote new, up-and-coming horror writers in Texas, but the collection will include some works from established wordsmiths. The stories must be written and submitted by Texas authors and they must take place in Texas—hence the title. No one will be making a fortune, but we will be paying one-time fees (based on word count) and if the anthology sells over 5,000 copies, royalty percentages—1% per writer—will kick in. Every writer will receive three free copies and every contributing writer will receive 50% discounted wholesale pricing on any copies of the book that he or she purchases to carry and sell on their own. The scale for writer stipends will look something like this: 10,000 words – $200...

Taking Submissions: Still Waters

Deadline: July 1st, 2017. Payment: Royalties and contributor's copy Details: Stories can be 2500 words to 10,000 words. The anthology will be published in ebook and paperback formats. We pay shared royalties (royalty split info available upon acceptance of story and before signing of contract). Authors will receive the e-book and one print copy of the anthology, plus wholesale pricing for additional print copies. This is considered token payment. Submissions must be previously unpublished. We are seeking twelve months of exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights and non-exclusive worldwide print and electronic distribution rights in perpetuity. Multiple submissions are fine, but simultaneous submissions are discouraged. Please don’t re-submit a rejected story unless we request revisions. We hope to have responded to everyone within one month of the submission window’s closing. Feel free to query if it’s been longer than two months. Stories must be double spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font (or something similar). Do not submit in Courier. The story title, your byline, a word count, and contact information should appear on the first page, and your last name, story title, and page number should appear in the header information of all other pages. We’re not particular about whether you use italics or underlining for emphasis, how many spaces are after the period, or whether you use straight or smart quotes. Submissions may be sent to the email address: Submit your stories via email as an attachment in .doc, .docx, or .rtf format. The subject of your email should be SUBMISSION: <story title> by <byline>. The email body should contain a short list of your publishing credits and any pertinent biographical details. The submission period ends July 1, 2017.   Theme guidelines The story must have a fantasy/speculative element. Science fantasy is ok, but we’re aiming for fantasy rather than straight science fiction. We prefer “clean” stories and strongly prefer noblebright...

Taking Submissions: SPECIES: Foxes

Deadline: July 1st, 2017 Payment: Contributor's Copy Thurston Howl Publications is now accepting submissions for volume two of its furry anthology series SPECIES: Foxes. Deadline: July 1, 2017 Word count: 2,500-8,000; a little above and a little below will be acceptable Rating: PG-13 Please put the story title and FOXES in the subject. Foxes have been tricksters throughout most cultures. From the flame-tailed Japanese kitsune to the wily Reynard and Disney's Robin Hood, foxes have been playful and mischievous characters across the globe. For the second volume of SPECIES, we want to see the many faces of anthro foxes. We will be accepting exactly five reprints and five original stories. Foxes have to be the central characters, but they do not have to be the only characters in these stories. While we will accept stories of wolves in pre-modern settings, we will prefer stories of them in 1900s to futuristic settings. You can submit up to three stories, but we will only accept one per author (if any). (Reprints do not count in the total). Reprints are encouraged, but you have to own full permission of the work in order for us to consider it. We will not accept simultaneous submissions. Payment: Authors will receive a free copy of the print book. Send submissions in .doc or .docx format to [email protected]. If you are sending more than one submission, send multiple emails instead of putting them all in one. We will inform all authors regarding decisions within a week or two after the deadline. Book will likely be released in July. Via: Thurston Howl Publications.

Taking Submissions: Red Room: Extreme Horror Magazine #1

Deadline: July 1st, 2017 Payment: 3 cents per word, ($120 max). The first issue of Red Room Magazine will be published in late September/early October 2017 from Comet Press. The magazine will feature horror fiction and non-fiction; reviews, articles, interviews. The magazine will tentatively be published 2 or 3 times per year in digital and print. DEADLINE FOR ISSUE 1: JULY 1, 2017 FICTION & POETRY We are looking for dark, disturbing, extreme horror and dark crime stories. We want stories that are well plotted, and not just gore for gores sake, although we think gore is a good thing (and encouraged, along with blasphemy, subversive subject matter, graphic violence and language, etc). Anything goes except kiddie content, of course. Length: Up to 4000 words. Pay: 3 cents per word, ($120 max). Word count is flexible, but our maximum payment is $120.00. Reprints: At this time reprints are invite only. Multiple submissions: Up to two, send them in a separate email. Simultaneous Submissions: Yes, but please let us know in your email query, and let us know immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. NON FICTION: ARTICLES, BOOK REVIEWS, AUTHOR INTERVIEWS We are looking for original, high quality and well-written horror related articles, author interviews, and book reviews, of up to 1000 words. Book reviews should be between 400-600 words in length and follow standard book review format. Reprints: No reprints. Length: Up to 1000 words. Pay: 3 cents a word ($30 max). Longer works might be considered but $30 is the max payment. Multiple submissions: Up to two in each category, please send them in a separate email. Simultaneous submissions: Yes, but please let us know in your email query, and let us know immediately if it is accepted elsewhere. ARTWORK We offer $30 for reprint rights for preexisting cover...

Taking Submissions: Occupied: Stories from After the Invasion

Deadline: July 1st, 2017 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Rayor Books is accepting original science fiction short stories for our upcoming anthology, Occupied: Stories from After the Invasion. This anthology will be published as an eBook on Kindle, and as a POD paperback. Theme We are looking for stories set after Earth has lost an invasion, and the homeworld is now occupied. This could be a contemporary setting, where the invasion happens next week, or one 25,000 years from now, after Earth’s empire loses a war. It could be set right after the invasion, or generations later, when humanity doesn’t even remember its independence. The only rule is that the occupation must be important to the story. While military science fiction is the obvious route here (and we love military sci-fi), it certainly doesn’t have to be. We’re not going to put a hard word-count on this. It’s possible a flash piece or very long short story could bowl us over. We expect, however, most of the stories to be in the 4,000-8,000 range. Reading Period Now, until July 1st, 2017. Payment $25 on acceptance, through PayPal, plus 1 contributor copy of the paperback. Contributors will also be able to purchase additional copies of the paperback at a 45% discount. Rights First Print and First Electronic Rights, with a 1 year from publication date exclusive period. We further ask that the author not make the story available for free on their website or anywhere else while the anthology is in print. The exclusivity period would be waived if the author has the opportunity to be reprinted in a “Best of” anthology or single-author collection within the year. We just don’t want it competing in another small-press anthology or for sale for 25 cents on your website right away. Please bear in...