Events

Deadline: August 15th, 2017 Payment: Contributor's Copy Note: Reprints Accepted The first anthology of Gehenna & Hinnom will be published in late-September of 2017. It will feature only the most disturbing and horrifying body horror tales readers have ever read. The challenge is up to you, the authors. How strange is your narrative capable of being? How morose is your prose? How in touch are you with the macabre? WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: We are seeking stories for this anthology that are of a Cronenberg-style theme. If you don’t know who David Cronenberg is, we suggest watching clips or the entire length of films such as Videodrome, The Fly, and Scanners. Genres can meld together. Science fiction, horror, weird fiction, cosmic horror, fantasy, all of these are acceptable as long as the stories don’t deviate from the body horror nature of the anthology. As defined by Wikipedia, BODY HORROR, BIOLOGICAL HORROR, ORGANIC HORROR OR VISCERAL HORROR IS HORROR FICTION IN WHICH THE HORROR IS PRINCIPALLY DERIVED FROM THE GRAPHIC DESTRUCTION OR DEGENERATION OF THE BODY. SUCH WORKS MAY DEAL WITH DECAY, DISEASE, PARASITISM, MUTATION, OR MUTILATION. WHAT WE’RE NOT LOOKING FOR: Absolutely no erotica. This is non-negotiable. Nothing political, unless it is satire. Uses of rape, necrophilia, etc., are allowed though be very careful with these themes. If it is not integral to the plot, or if it is clearly gratuitous, your story will be rejected. We want to provide a certain amount of quality for our readers. This is an adult-aged anthology, but please be professional and technical with your writing. Stories that are not proofread and have mistakes that would be avoidable with a single read-through WILL be rejected. DEADLINE: AUGUST 15TH, 2017 PAYMENT: UNFORTUNATELY, WE ARE UNABLE TO PAY OUR AUTHORS AT THIS TIME SINCE WE ARE A NEW, EVOLVING COMPANY. HOWEVER,...

Deadline: August 15th, 2017 Payment: .003 Cents per Word. $5 minimum and $25 maximum payments and contributor's copy GREETINGS FROM THE ETHER, The second anthology of Gehenna & Hinnom will be published in late-November of 2017. It will feature only the most speculative, intriguing, and mind-enhancing science fiction stories readers have ever read. The challenge is up to you, the authors. How in depth is your grasp of the rapidly evolving technological advances? How well could you portray the eventual cybernetic destiny of humanity? How engaging and mind-blowing can your depictions of Utopian and Dystopian worlds be? WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We are seeking stories for this anthology that properly portray the technological evolution of humans, be it cybernetics, immortality granted through means of science, transcendence of AI into consciousness, the AI singularity and its impact on humanity, the assimilation of human and machine, and anything else you could think of that would fall into Transhumanism. For reference, think of films like, Elyisum (2013), Ghost in the Shell (1995), The Matrix (1999), Gattaca (1997), Ex Machina (2014), Avatar (2009), and Blade Runner (1982). Genres can meld together. Science fiction, horror, weird fiction, cosmic horror, fantasy, space opera, slipstream, etc. All of these are acceptable as long as the piece does not deviate from the transhuman theme of the anthology. Transhumanism as defined by Wikipedia, TRANSHUMANISM (ABBREVIATED AS H+ OR H+) IS AN INTERNATIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL MOVEMENT THAT AIMS TO TRANSFORM THE HUMAN CONDITION BY DEVELOPING AND MAKING WIDELY AVAILABLE SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES TO GREATLY ENHANCE HUMAN INTELLECT AND PHYSIOLOGY. Transhuman as defined by Wikipedia, TRANSHUMAN OR TRANS-HUMAN IS THE CONCEPT OF AN INTERMEDIARY FORM BETWEEN HUMAN AND POSTHUMAN. IN OTHER WORDS, A TRANSHUMAN IS A BEING THAT RESEMBLES A HUMAN IN MOST RESPECTS BUT WHO HAS POWERS AND ABILITIES BEYOND THOSE OF STANDARD HUMANS. THESE ABILITIES MIGHT INCLUDE IMPROVED INTELLIGENCE, AWARENESS, STRENGTH, OR DURABILITY. TRANSHUMANS SOMETIMES...

Deadline: August 15th, 2017. Payment: $5 per submission, plus digital copy of issue to appear in. The 'Biweekly Bite' -the horror newsletter that gives you a short, a flick, and a surprise- is announcing the ’Horror Bites Magazine.’ We’re all about finding creative people doing interesting work and throwing views at them, and the magazine will be our next step in bringing small name horror authors to the people's attention. We can't do that without your submissions though! Deadline: August 15th, 2017. Payment: $5 per submission, plus digital copy of issue to appear in. Due for publication: in October. Word Count: 1,500-5,000 Reprints are allowed. Response Time:  If we don't get back to you by the end of September, shoot us a quick email. Payment: $5 per story paid via PayPal, plus a digital copy of the issue you will appear in. Payment will be distributed once we agree on the terms of using your story. Please send separate submissions attatched to separate emails. Guidelines for Submissions: At this time the Horror Bites Magazine is open to all short, horror fiction. Note that there are some things that we don’t publish: Nonfiction (for now). Poetry. Anything to close to ‘the classics.' Violence that doesn’t contribute to the story. Gore for the sake of gore. Torture and rape. Erotic horror.  All submissions are to be sent to [email protected] Please format your subject line as "Horror Bites Magazine: ." In the body of your email, please include your name (or pseudonym) and word count. If the story is under 2,000 words, please paste the text in the body of the email, otherwise please attach it as a .doc, .docx, etc. Just use your better judgement. Only .PDF is unacceptable.  Accepted stories will appear in the first three issues (October, November, and December) of the 'Horror Bites Magazine,' to appear on...

Deadline: August 22, 2017 Payment: $10 usd and contributor's copy WE ARE SEEKING: Dark, vicious explorations of the terrifying thoughts lingering in the backs of our heads. Fictionalized accounts of real-life nightmares. The desires you'd never disclose to a partner. Those thoughts at 3 a.m. when the pain in your side won't go away. We want you at your worst. We want honesty. We want hate. We want solace. AGAINST SURVIVAL is an outlet. A place to voice otherwise unspeakable things. A violent reassurance that you could, in fact, be worse. This anthology welcomes essays and stories exploring these concepts and themes. Fact, fiction, and everything between. 1,500 to 5,000 words. Form and structure are up to you. Pseudonyms welcome. Email submissions as a .doc file attachment to [email protected] with author name and "AGAINST SURVIVAL" in the subject line. New, original work only. No simultaneous submissions. Multiple submissions are welcome, but understand we reserve the right to accept only one submitted work. Payment: $10USD and one contributor copy. Deadline: August 22, 2017. 50% of all proceeds for this project are being donated to Planned Parenthood. "Red Slur Forsaken" by Arthur Welles is our urtext example and is available to download here for your creative inspiration and emotional repulsion. Via: Carion Blue 555.

Deadline: August 25th, 2017 Payment: One half-cent per word, with a minimum payment of $5.00 and a maximum of $15.00. Estimated to come out in November.   Word Count:    500-10,500 Theme:    Autumn is a beautiful and magical time, and yet many times it is the most neglected. You hear of the wonder of Winter, the beauty of Spring, and the joy of Summer, well, this time we want to hear about Autumn. It is a time of death and rebirth. As the trees loose their leaves in one last explosion of color before the stark paleness of Winter, waiting to return again like a pheonix, what becomes of the world around them, both seen and unseen? What lurks benaeth the harvest moon? What only comes out when the world is fading and the Earth itself holds its breath, waiting for the first snow to fall? Fairies? Monsters? Witches? What adventures wait in this magical in-between? We can't wait to find out! We are primarily wanting fantasy and dark fantasy settings focusing on an Autumn theme. While we will consider modern/futuristic stories, we want the focus to be on the nature of Autumn and magic/fantasy elements inspired by it. ALWAYS READ THE FULL THEMES AND GUIDELINES WHEN SUBMITTING. PIECES THAT FAIL TO MEET THE GUIDELINES/THEME WILL BE AUTOMATICALLY REJECTED.   Response Time:  Please allow up to one month. After that, if you don't hear from us then feel free to give us a little nudge.   Payment: Payment will be one half-cent per word, with a minimum payment of $5.00 and a maximum of $15.00. Payments will be made by PayPal in USD. Payments will go out no later than four months after the publication date. Editing: Yes, your story will be edited if we decide to accept it. After we go through and edit your...

Deadline: August 25th, 2017 Payment: $100, on publication, and 10% of one’s own e-book sales General submissions are open! The Fantasist is now considering work for Issue 5 and, potentially, Issue 6. Submissions will close on August 25th, 2017. General Submission Guidelines: 1. Well-written. Prose craft matters a lot. And do your dialogue well (we read everything out loud). 2. Ideally 15,000 to 40,000 words, although, in exceptional circumstances, we may consider work that is somewhat longer. Stuff we like: We especially like stories set in a well-researched historical setting, set in the present or the future, stories with interaction between magic and science, the Napoleonic Era, Faeries, Dragons (but no dragon tragedy!), and stories not set in Europe. We love apprenticeship narratives/magical education, people coming together, stable romantic partnerships, nuanced friendships, remotely accurate economic and political systems, realistic depictions of power, magic that isn’t explained, highly systematized magic, made up plants, medical stuff combining magic and medicine, tall tales, pastorals, 2nd person, formal weirdness, real languages other than English (bonus points for Russian), constructed languages, intricate worldbuilding, interesting things with real or fictional religion (bonus points for Islamic characters), Speculative CNF, lyric essay, stories that engages with well-known texts, stories that deal with obscure or technical bodies of knowledge, epistemological fiction, epistolary fiction, fantasy inside virtual reality inside science fiction, surrealism, dark fantasy and horror, diagrams, psychology (but do your research), disabled people having sex, fake scholarship (Especially without seeing action in that world), trans and nonbinary characters in historical fantasy, technologically and/or historically accurate seafaring fiction, sex workers, domesticity, stories set in cities about something other than crime, the black-plague as apocalypse, the ridiculous backstabby internecine warfare of the faerie poetry community in Indianapolis, fantasy in small town America, addiction storylines, 12-step programs for magical things, socialism, communism,...

Deadline: August 31st, 2017 Payment: Royalties No, we are not looking for Twilight fan fiction. We are looking for short stories that deal with the grey area between night and day, between sanity and madness, good and evil, monster and hero … you get the point. Any genre will be considered. Submission length: 1,000-15,000 words. This is a loose guideline. Don’t self reject if you are a little longer or shorter. If in doubt, send us a note with the word count and we’ll let you know if it’s something we’d consider. We require at least 5 stories to publish. We’d like to reach 10. If by some miracle of the internet we get tons of high quality stories we’ll publish two volumes. Please submit using the contact form on the blog – copy and paste your story into the comment/contact box. If your story is accepted we will request a .doc file. As stated in our submission guidelines authors will be paid a royalty split which will be paid out 6 months after the release date and on the anniversary of the release date yearly. We pay via paypal. Authors will also be sent a copy of the book in the digital format of their choice with the understanding that it is for personal use only. We request first digital, or reprint, rights. All the details will be provided in a contract sent out in September. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: August 31, 2017 Authors will be notified before September 10, 2017 Authors may submit more than one story though only one will be selected per volume. We accept simultaneous submissions and reprints (so long as the rights have reverted back to you). Any questions? Just ask! Via: Schreyer Ink Publishing.

Deadline: August 31st, 2017 Payment: $10 and a contributor's copy Release the monster within. Nothing is quite so deliciously freeing as caving to your instincts. For centuries, shapeshifters have personified our impulse to bow to our animalistic nature. From lycans to skin-walkers and everything in between, shapeshifters give us a chance to connect with our inner-selves and celebrate our intriguing differences, our passions, and ultimately our humanity through their necessity of striking a balance between their human selves and supernatural selves. We are seeking romantic and heated stories that delve into the different challenges all shifters face while navigating the mysterious paths of love and forbidden attraction. Transformed will be an exploration of our dark side through characters that challenge the human experience by simply being different. We would love to follow the tale of a misunderstood lycan just trying to find his true place beside the woman he loves. We want to experience the angst of a pair of shapeshifting lovers who must fight against their curse to shift into predator and prey every lunar cycle. We would love for you to explore the endless undercurrents of romance, intrigue, and passion that bubble under the surface of not only human and shapeshifter relationships but also those of star-crossed shapeshifting partners. Give us your misunderstood werewolves and gentle fawn-folk. Build us a world where anything goes and the term “humanity” is a loose distinction. We would love for you to write with passion and energy, but please keep violence to a respectful and tasteful level. All heat levels accepted, but strong emphasis on plot is a must if you wish to succeed. The details: Stories between 1,000 – 15,000 words long (query for longer) Reprints accepted but not preferred. When submitting a reprint include information about its original publication in your...

Deadline: August 31st, 2017 Payment: 0.03/word and a contributor's copy CRYPTOZOOLOGY:  the study of and search for animals and especially legendary animals (such as Sasquatch) usually in order to evaluate the possibility of their existence CRYTPID: an animal whose existence or survival to the present day is disputed or unsubstantiated; any animal of interest to a cryptozoologist We’ve explored loneliness, isolation, and solitude in our first anthology. We Put the Love Back in Lovecraft in our second anthology. Now we are looking for stories involving the creatures which hide in the shadows -- the monsters of cryptozoology. Bigfoot, Nessie, el Chupacabra, The Jersey Devil -- cryptids so well known that they have become part of the cultural zeitgeist. For our new anthology, tentatively entitled Hidden Animals: A Collection of Cryptids, we are looking for lesser known cryptids, creatures of the dark corners of cryptozoology. They can be the antagonist, the protagonist, the creeping dread which drives the story, but they must be present. What We Want: Finely crafted works of Dark Speculative fiction which feature one (or more) of the lesser known, but established cryptids. Authors are encouraged to put their own spin on the classic creature. Make them terrifying. Make them sympathetic. Make them humorous. Above all, make them feel real. What We Don’t Want: Non-fiction. We want fictional stories with a plot and a well defined story arc. While we are interested in hearing about your own personal experience, or that of your friend or family member, this is not the book for that. New Monsters. While we appreciate your creativity, we are looking for stories which feature creatures that readers will have at least a passing knowledge of. Give us your giant cats, dogboys, and lake creatures, but please do not create your own creature. Stories where...

Deadline: August 31, 2017 Payment: 50% of royalties go to the story contributors, prorated to each author by word count. There are stairs in the woods - as if you cut and pasted stairs from a house. The stairs are usually in good shape - strong and sturdy and not rotted. Sometimes they are in immaculate condition, as if somebody is maintaining them. ​They're locations don't follow any understood pattern. ​You might or might not be able to find the same stairs twice (up to the individual author). ​Approaching and/or climbing the stairs gives a sense of foreboding and weirdness. ​Sometimes really bad things happen if you approach or climb the stairs. ​The authorities (notably the park service) is keeping quiet about the stairs. Officially, they don't exist. The authorities do not talk about them - even among themselves. ​You can explain the stairs or leave them unexplained - up to you. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror are most likely - but your story can be in any genre. One author I contacted told me I wasn't likely to get many Romantic Comedies - but if you've got a good one, submit it! ​You can submit as many stories as you like, but we'll only publish one story per author in this anthology. ​Submissions should be in the 3000-20,000 word range. ​Submissions should be never before published, and we're asking for exclusive rights on this one. ​Submissions should be in Microsoft Word format (doc or docx) and should be in a legible font and size. EMail Submissions to [email protected] and must include contact information (name, e-mail, etc). Submissions are due by August 31, 2017. Payment will be the Silver Empire anthology standard: 50% of royalties go to the story contributors, prorated to each author by word count. Via: Silver Empire.