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Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: Poetry - $10 USD, Flash - $15 USD, Short Fiction - $35 USD, Novelette - $75 USD Theme: Well-crafted stories and poems of cosmic horror in the same vein as Lucy A. Snyder, Laird Barron, Algernon Blackwood, Robert W. Chambers, Mary SanGiovanni, Victor LaValle, Betty Rocksteady, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. Note: All entries (either the author or the story) needs to have a Utah connection Timber Ghost Press is proud to present Dead Stars and Stone Arches: A Collection of Utah Horror. With the help of the Utah Horror Writers*, Timber Ghost Press is excited to be publishing the eighth collection of Utah horror. We are seeking well-crafted stories and poems of cosmic horror in the same vein as Lucy A. Snyder, Laird Barron, Algernon Blackwood, Robert W. Chambers, Mary SanGiovanni, Victor LaValle, Betty Rocksteady, and Caitlin R. Kiernan. For this anthology, all entries must have a Utah connection, either on the part of the author or the story itself (it is called Utah horror for a reason). The stories will be evaluated in a blind read by three judges and must receive at least two ”yes” votes to be accepted. Therefore, when submitting, please ensure that there is no identifying information in the story itself. We anticipate an April 2022 release. Accepted authors will receive payment according to the pay scale below, plus a contributor's copy of the anthology. (format?) Deadline: October 31st, 2021 The Following Categories are Open for Submission: Poetry Flash Fiction: 1000 words or less Short Fiction: 1001-5000 words Novelette: 5001-12,000 words (only one novelette will be accepted) Payment: Poetry - $10 USD Flash - $15 USD Short Fiction - $35 USD Novelette - $75 USD What We Do Not Want: Timber Ghost Press may outright reject stories that contain the following: ​​Pedophilia\Rape\Child...

Submission Window: September 1st - October 31st, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: Survival Horror Negative Space 2: A Return to Survival Horror Compiled and Edited by Aric Sundquist Short Story Submission Call: September 1 - October 1, 2021 (opening soon...) Fiction Submission: Survival Horror. Word Count: 2,000 - 7,500 words. Payment: $50.00 + digital copy. Rights: We are seeking first time rights for 1 year after publication. After that time all rights revert back to the author. The publication will appear in both print and digital formats. Reprints: None. Previously unpublished only. Multiple Submissions: None. Simultaneous Submissions: None. Please wait until you hear back from us before submitting your piece to another market. File Format: Include your story as an attachment in MS Word (DOC or DOCX), LibreOffice, or Rich Text Format. Manuscript Format: Use the Modern Shunn Format. Include a short bio in the body of your email. Your subject line should read NS2 Submission: ("Title") by (Author's Name). For Example, NS2 Submission: "The Black Phone" by Joe Hill. Attach the story as a separate document. Response Time: 2 - 3 weeks after submissions close. Submission Period: All submissions must be received between September 1, 2021 and October 1, 2021 EST. Any story sent before or after will be deleted unread. Send Submissions to: darkpenpress (at) gmail (dot) com Influential Games/Series: Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Clock Tower, Fatal Frame, Dead Space, State of Decay, Rule of Rose, Siren, Parasite Eve, Amnesia, Haunting Ground, Obscure, Tomb Raider (2013 reboot), A Plague Tale, Eternal Darkness, Outlast, The Evil Within, Dino Crisis, The Last of Us, Alone in the Dark, Remothered, Darkwood, Alan Wake. Influential Novels & Novellas: The Mist by Stephen King, I Am Legend by Richard Matheson, Off Season by Jack Ketchum, Bird Box by Josh Malerman, The Shadow Over Innsmouth by HP Lovecraft, The Terror by Dan Simmons, The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey. Influential Movies: The Descent, The Thing, Alien(s), Cube, Predator, Night of the Living...

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: $50 Theme: War BLACK HARE PRESS is—and has always been—an inclusive publisher. LGBTQ+ characters always acceptable. This call will be open for submissions until midnight 31st OCTOBER 2021 (last place on Earth).  Submissions received outside of this timeframe will not be read. Reading will start once the submission period has closed. Please allow 12 weeks after the call has closed before querying. THEME : War/conflict. Must be dark, any genre. Word count : 5,000+, excluding title. Please ensure your first chapter hooks the reader. Author eligibility : Open to all. Reprints : Not allowed. Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed. Multiple Submissions : No. Publication : In a single anthology in print and digital formats. Author compensation : $50 USD, plus one digital copy. How to submit : See our website for submission guidelines and formatting. Send your story as a Word format attachment to [email protected]. All submissions are read double-blind, so please DO NOT put your name, email, street address, etc in your manuscript or in the document name. Your document name must be WAR-Story Title.doc/x. Please include the following in your email; Your real name, your pseudonym, a bio of up to 100 words, up to 4 links, a 40 word short blurb, and a synopsis of up to 500 words. Don’t worry too much about these wordcounts, they’re just for guidance. Please ensure you list your social media accounts in your email. Please ensure you sub the final, well-edited manuscript. Show, don’t tell. Use British spellings, double quotation marks, etc. If you need assistance with those, please use a writing tool like Grammarly or ProWritingAid (set to British spelling). Microsoft Word does not know British spellings, please don’t rely on it. Your email subject should be “WAR – – ” Via: Black Hare Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: £25 Theme: Stories inspired by Nicolas Cage Submission guidelines “I am not a demon. I am a lizard, a shark, a heat-seeking panther. I want to be Bob Denver on acid playing the accordion.” Nicolas Cage, has lived a life blended with myth, madness and mystery. His performances imbued with other worldly energy and that requires tribute, want in?  Ex-Parrot Press wants your Nicolas Cage inspired short fiction stories. Guidelines are as follows:  Each successful Submission will receive £25 to be paid via Paypal and a copy of the anthology.  2000-3000 words per story.  Please make sure to edit and format your stories properly before submission.( I’ll post a link in the comments with some tips on what you can do for this.)  Simultaneous submissions, yes. Reprints, no. Although we will only publish one story from each writer.  Email submissions to: [email protected] Submissions close October 31st 2021. Contributions should be double-spaced and written in English. Use black, 12-point, Times New Roman as the font. Use the U.S standard page size of 8.5 x 11 inches and set your margins to 1 inch on all sides. Use a single space after periods.  

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: $25 Theme: Cosmic horror The Hunger of Old Stars is a cosmic horror anthology that is looking for YOUR Eldritch tales of terror! S.I.P. will be looking for Cosmic Horror Stories for their upcoming anthology ‘The Hunger of Old Stars’. In this anthology, we want tales of eldritch horrors that will drive our readers to lunacy! We are paying $25 per story and we are looking for stories that are around 3,000 - 10,000 words long. Also, NO REPRINTS... Also, no, it does not need to be strictly Lovecraftian to be considered for this anthology! So, we here at S.I.P. hope you will consider sending us your cosmic horror stories! We cannot wait to see what you all bring to the table!

Deadline: October 31, 2021 Payment: $200 Theme: The color of my vote Submission Guidelines Stories can be in any crime sub-genre. If a crime is central to the plot, it's suitable for this anthology. Your story must match the anthology theme: the color of my vote: Maybe your vote is pink where only blue votes matter. Maybe your vote is pro-democracy in a power structure bent on maintaining minority rule. Maybe your vote isn't green (delivered with a $2 million dollar dark money donation...) You are free to interpret the theme as literally or metaphorically as you wish. Story length must be between 2,500 to10,000 words. Any time period or location is acceptable for this anthology.  In Volume I, many authors experimented with form and voice. Please feel free to experiment! Narrative non-fiction will also be considered. DEADLINE: October 31, 2021. Volume III is meant to be bigger, louder, and more diverse than Volumes I and II, because the attacks against basic democratic processes are bigger and louder and laser focused on minority rule.  Pay is $200 per story, payable on acceptance, plus three author copies. We wish it could be more. Is your story ready? Email lowdowndirtyvote AT gmail DOT com and attach your Word or Markdown document before Nov 1, 2021! You'll receive an acknowledgement within seven days of submission. Via: Low Down Dirty Vote.

Deadline: October 31, 2021. Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words Theme: Megastructures Note: This is below what I'd usually want to list pay-wise but I personally know 2 people with stories that would fit this that have been collecting dust so wanted to share it. Ringworlds, Dyson spheres, arcologies, planet cities, space elevators, skyscrapers with populations of entire countries; we're looking for your speculative stories set in or about megastructures, gigastructures, TERASTRUCTURES! NOTE: We are currently only accepting short stories for the anthologies and cannot accept full-length novel manuscripts at this time. ** Please put the anthology you're submitting to in the subject line of the email!** Payment for stories will be $5 USD per 1000 words for all current anthologies (excepting contests). We're looking for speculative fiction across all anthologies (unless otherwise specified). That includes everything from high fantasy to hard scifi and anything in between. We do accept reprints, simultaneous submissions, and multiple submissions, though these will slow down our response time. Story lengths should be anywhere from flash-length to about 15k words, but we have at times made exceptions. We know a story is complete when it's complete, and arbitrary word count requirements are not always helpful. If you have an amazing story that exceeds 15k words, let us know. We may be able to make special accommodations. :) With regard to copyright, we request the non-exclusive right to publish your story in the anthology to which it was accepted. You retain the rights to your individual story to do with as you wish. Please let us know if you have any questions. Note: We do have long lead times with our anthologies, because we want to ensure quality work gets included. Thanks for your understanding on this. Check here for open calls for stories.   FORMATTING INFORMATION...

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: $0.02 per word and 3 contributor's copy Theme: An anthology where unabashedly queer villains, anti-heroes, and outlaws reign supreme. Note: This anthology is open to all writers who identify as LGBTQ+ I’m of the opinion that all the best ideas are born by chance. Something you perceive might strike you and, akin to the feeling of deja vu, you double-take and it haunts you.  That is how The Book of Queer Saints was conceived: A Twitter conversation between myself, Sam Richard of WeirdPunkBooks, and Eric Raglin of Cursed Morsels, about queer representation in horror lit and how public opinion shapes (or tries to shape) how we write our queer characters.  Most in the horror community are aware of the practice of review bombing, and have witnessed it occurring as a reaction to what folks have marked “trauma adult content” in queer horror stories. While most of these review bombers seem to be outsiders to the horror community, the effect it has on the queer writer can be disheartening, discouraging, and alienating. Assumptions made about the sexual and gender identity of the writer and unfair ratings based on hearsay are pervasive. The Book of Queer Saints is a reaction to this discourse, a statement about the complexity and nuance of queer folks and their stories.  It is an anthology where unabashedly queer villains, anti-heroes, and outlaws reign supreme.  SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: This anthology is open to all writers who identify as LGBTQ+ No simultaneous submissions. Only one submission per person. Submission period: August 2, 2021 - October 31, 2021 Word count requirements: 2,000 - 6,000 words Accepted submissions will be announced on December 1, 2021 Anthology will be published in print and e-book format in February 2022. PAYMENT:  Writers with accepted stories will be paid $0.02 per word and receive 3 contributor copies...

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: $10 Theme: Secrets that are darker than others We all have secrets. We all have dark stories and hidden truths we hide from others. But some secrets are darker than others. Join Madhouse Books in this upcoming anthology of short, horror stories of sinister secrets and hidden evil. We are seeking stories of the evil of mankind. We are not seeking stories with paranormal elements. Think serial killers, secret identities, and hidden pasts. Please note, we will not consider stories containing rape scenes or any form of pedophilia. Deadline: October 31, 2021 Word count : 3,500 – 7,000 words Author eligibility : All authors aged 18+ are welcome Author Compensation: Free digital copy & $10.00 USD Reprints : Not allowed Simultaneous Submissions : Not allowed How to submit : Follow classic shunn formatting guidelines -Send your story as a Word (.doc) format attachment to [email protected] -Your document name must include the anthology name, your pen name, and the story title. -Your email subject should be “ – – ” -The body of the email must contain the name of the anthology, the word count, the author’s real name, and the author’s pen name -Please include a 100-150 word bio   PLEASE NOTE: If you are submitting a story to Madhouse Books, please note our intention to produce top-quality books. We intend to showcase your work in its best form, and so each story accepted for publication through us will receive in-depth editing prior to publication. Our editing process will preserve the heart of your story while ironing out grammatical errors and increasing the story’s clarity and tension. Final edits are always sent to the author beforehand for approval before publication. Via: Madhouse Books.

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: .01 per word after approved edits up to $60 CAD, $15 CAD for reprints Theme: What can give you nightmares (see below for expanded description) "It Calls From the Veil" Submission Open: September 1, 2021 Submission Close:  October 31, 2021 Publishing timeline:  2022 HORROR - May have elements of Dark Fantasy, Dark Fiction and Cosmic horror. But must have the intention to scare the readers.   Theme: Give me your nightmares. Ghosts, demon possessions, poltergeist, haunted houses, séances gone wrong. These stories should take place in our reality with a supernatural twist. Think evil entities, movies like Sinister, Poltergeist, Blair Witch Project, Insidious, Amityville Horror and Marianne (Netflix).   We are looking for horror. Give us elements of surprise, twists and turns, scare me with your words and your imagery. I am fine with gore, but it should not take over the plot. Give me your nightmares. These stories should take place in our reality with a supernatural twist. Think evil entities in our reality (not a fantasy world).   Word count: 2000 - 6000 Some wiggle room allowed above the limit, not below.   Compensation: .01 per word after approved edits up to $60 CAD for first rights original stories $15.00 for reprints   Formatting guidelines: Please read carefully   We are reading these stories blind, so please refrain from adding your name or any identifying information on the story itself. All fiction manuscripts should be in a standard manuscript format with 12 pt Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing, set auto-indent new paragraphs. Please make sure the title is on the first page, but no other identifying details in the manuscript itself.   Title your manuscript with the story title -"(the actual story title) - VEIL" - again no identifying names on the title of the document.   The form...

Submission Window: October 1st - October 31st, 2021 Payment: $1 per accepted piece Theme: horrorku, horror themed tanka, haibun, see below for details The Submission may include any or all of the following: · Up to seven (7) horrorku or horror tanka  · Up to three (3) haibun · Up to five (5) pieces of cover art All submissions must be original, unpublished work that is not under consideration by a print or web-based journal. Posts in closed, critique-oriented groups and social media sites are acceptable for submission, but public posts on forums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not. By submitting a piece to us, you are guaranteeing that it is your original work and not under consideration or published anywhere else in the world. E-mail submission is required. Type poems into the body of the e-mail; no attachments of poetry will be opened. For art submissions, please include all five pieces in a .PDF file or send us a link to a private gallery. If we purchase an art piece for our cover, we will ask that you provide a 300 dpi version of said piece. E-mail: [email protected] Subject: Otoroshi Submission Please include a cover letter noting location in the world. Please include handles for Instagram and Twitter for promotional purposes. At this time, only one submission per issue will be considered unless the editors directly request a second submission. Submission periods are one month long: · January for the Spring Issue · April for the Summer Issue · July for the Fall Issue · October for the Winter Issue Acceptances will be sent shortly after the end of each period. Please note: Although most journals may publish your work as is, we are editors, too. This means we will make suggestions to your work as we see fit....

Submission Window: October 1st-October 31st, 2021 Payment: 1 cent per word Theme: Genre-bending and tropes typically excluded from mainstream literary magazines Fiction submissions should be sent to [email protected] with the title of your story in the subject line. In your email, please include a short cover letter outlining past publication credits if any, a brief bio if desired, a word count, and which of our magazines you wish to be considered for. The story should be attached to the email as a word document or other common word processing file. Stories should be in standard manuscript format. We accept simultaneous submissions to other journals, but if your story is accepted elsewhere, please alert us immediately.  Please only submit one story at a time for consideration. While we encourage genre-bending and tropes typically excluded from mainstream literary magazines, elements of the fantastic and unusual in your work should not be used as a crutch. If your story is boring without fantastic elements, it is also boring with them. We’re looking for work by both veterans and those without a single byline to their name. We especially welcome stories in translation (if you have confirmed with the original’s rights holder that English translation rights are available), stories that draw on elements and modes beyond the European tradition, and stories from traditionally underrepresented groups. We have no hard rules regarding story length, but we do cap the whole magazine at 80 pages, so don’t send us more than that. A very long story will need to justify taking space that could have gone to other pieces. A short piece may be easy to squeeze in, but creating a coherent, biting story in 1,000 words is always trickier than doing so in 100,000. Our focus is exclusively on fiction. We welcome experimentation, but your...

Submission Window: October 1st - October 31st, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. Note: You must identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been displaced or whose heritage has been erased due to colonialism/imperialism, and anyone whose heritage and history includes ‘here and elsewhere’. khōréō is a quarterly publication of stories, essays, and art: fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and any genre in between or around it, as long as there’s a speculative element. We’re especially interested in writing and art that explore some aspect of migration, whether explicitly (themes of immigration, colonialism, etc.), metaphorically, or with a sly nod and a wink. Most importantly, we’re a new magazine and we’re still finding our identity: therefore, please don’t self-reject because you’re not sure if your work is a good fit. We won’t know until we see it, so please give us a chance to look! See submission requirements & how to submit at the following pages: Fiction Non-fiction Art Voice actors Who can submit? khōréō is dedicated to diversity and amplifying the voices of immigrant and diaspora authors and artists. We welcome, but do not require, a brief description of the author’s/artist’s identity in their cover letter. We invite you to submit if you identify as an immigrant or member of a diaspora in the broadest definitions of the terms. This includes, but is not limited to, first- and second-generation immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, persons who identify with one or more diaspora communities, persons who have been...

Submission Window: October 1st - 31st, 2021 Payment: 10 cents per word and royalties Theme: Short crime or mystery stories to fit the Death of a Bad Neighbour theme Anthology to be edited by Jack Calverley host of the  podcast From the rock star in his fairytale Gothic mansion in Central London whose neighbour plans a double basement excavation, to the retiree in a fisherman's cottage in the northeast of England whose neighbour tells lies to a court to acquire the back garden that is not theirs: we are plagued by bad neighbours. One recent article in the Daily Telegraph Online which reported the trauma caused by at best inconsiderate, but at worst criminal, neighbours accumulated five hundred registered comments within half an hour of being published. It does not take a crime writer to know that a plague of bottom-feeders calls for an exterminator. But it does take the creatively criminal-minded to come up with the bestest plan ever... Such is the inspiration for "Death of a Bad Neighbour: Revenge is Criminal" - an anthology of all-new crime and mystery stories. Submission window is October 2021. Incidentally, the rock star is Jimmy Page, he of Led Zeppelin fame. His expansive neighbour is Robbie Williams, some crooner or other. And the original suggestion for an anthology came from Carter Blakelaw who was mid-discussion of his story "Tinnitus" at the time (please don't use "Tinnitus" as a story title. Now it will sound second-hand). 10 cents a word plus a share of royalties So, I'm after around 20 short crime or mystery stories to fit the Death of a Bad Neighbour theme, 2,000 to 5,000 words (you're the best judge of the sweet spot length of the story you tell), paying U.S. 10 cents a word for first English language text (eBook and print) and audio publication rights (exclusivity...

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: $0.01 CAD Theme: Stories from a variety of genres and styles focusing on the sea, life in and around the sea, and the stories we tell ourselves about the sea. Note: Must be a Canadian author to submit Open Call for Sea Story Short Fiction. Over the last six years, the From the Rock series has become one of the preeminent anthology series’ in Atlantic Canada. We have been home to some amazing established talent and helped some new authors break through that have gone on to dominate their fields, becoming genre bestsellers in their own right. From the Rock is a title readers consistently ask for, review well, and is a great way for avid readers to get introduced to indie talent they might find interesting. Since 2018, each entry in the series has become a Canadian bestseller based on pre-orders alone! ​ We are currently accepting submissions for the eighth entry in this series: Sea Stories from the Rock, to be available in Winter of 2022. Editors Ellen Curtis and Erin Vance are scheduled to return to helm the project. Many authors have expressed interest, but anyone can submit to be a part of this collection! Deadline is October 31 2021, but get your stories in as quick as you can, as it gives our wonderful editors more time to work with you and make sure it is as good as it can possibly be! We're looking for stories from a variety of genres and styles focusing on the sea, life in and around the sea, and the stories we tell ourselves about the sea. The collection will be a well-rounded companion for lovers of the ocean.   What is the target audience? For this specific collection, we’re going for an equivalent of PG to...

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: 1 cent per word Theme: Queer tales of supernatural love Beyond the Veil: Queer Tales of Supernatural Love Submissions Open Until October 31st We’re looking for queer tales of supernatural love for our next major anthology, slated for a February 2022 release to coincide with Valentines Day. Sweet, sexy, scary or tragic… We’d love to see your own interpretations on what queer love means to you. We only ask that your story has a supernatural / Gothic / dark element of some kind. Length: Anything between 1,000 – 6,000 words. Payment: 0.01 USD per word via PayPal and a digital contributor’s copy. Publication: E-book and print. Deadline: 31st October 2021 Rights: We request first worldwide and electronic rights for 3 months after the date of publication, after which rights revert to the author. All copyright remains with the author. We accept simultaneous submissions but no reprints please. Multiple submissions not accepted. All submissions will be responded to after the deadline. Email your submission as a .doc/.docx file to [email protected] with “Beyond ” in the subject line. Please see our Submission Guidelines for more information on formatting. Via: Ghost Orchid Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2021 Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Flash Speculative Fiction Note: Apologies for the short window, I just found out about this call today The submission window for the fall 2021 flash fiction submission cycle is October 1 to October 31. Authors will be notified in mid-November about whether their stories have been accepted for publication. Stories will be published under a non-exclusive license, at a rate of 8 cents per word. The author will retail all original copyrights. Stories must be original, under 1,000 words in length, and fall under the genres of science fiction, fantasy or horror. MetaStellar is an online publication focusing on horror, fantasy and science fiction, launched in September 2020, founded by a dozen speculative fiction writers, editors and artists from around the world. Since our launch in September 2020, we’ve had 50,000 page views from more than 16,000 unique visitors and published over 350 pieces (out of more than 1,000 submissions) by more than 170 writers. We are accredited as a Google News publisher. We pay for original speculative fiction, at a rate of 8 cents a word. We also have non-paying publishing opportunities for reprints, essays, how-to articles and reviews. Click below for the submission form Via: Metastellar Magazine.