Events

Taking Submission: Monster

Deadline: June 25th, 2022 Payment: $0.01 per word and royalties Theme: Original monster stories Every culture has stories about those things that go bump in the night. From Mary Shelley to Stephen King and everything in between, our stories are filled with monsters. For this submission call, we are asking for your best original monster story. The monster can be real, in a character’s imagination, or something in between. The only requirement is that the story falls into the horror genre, and features the idea of a monster. So here are the details for submission: Deadline for submission is June 25, 2022 9PM MST. Submissions are to be sent in William Shunn’s Manuscript Format Please place your name and contact information on the manuscript itself. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Reprints are NOT accepted. All submissions must be written in English, or translated into English prior to submitting. Accepted file formats include docx, odt, txt, rtf, and doc. Word count is between 1,000 and 7,500. Submissions that do not follow these requirements will be ignored. Please send submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “Submission-Your Name-Monster” If you don’t hear from us within a month after closing, consider your piece a better fit somewhere else.   Payment is $0.01 per word plus a percentage of royalties. Expected publication is late 2022 or early 2023. Looking forward to reading your best! Via: Antimony and Elder Lace Press.

Taking Submissions: Soldiers of the Old Ones

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $25 Theme: Tales of the people who fight for, sacrifice for, and work toward the takeover of the world by the Old Ones. In this, our seventh anthology of the Lovecraftian series, we are looking for tales of the people who fight for, sacrifice for, and work toward the takeover of the world by the Old Ones. In a previous anthology, we dealt with the worshipers. They helped bring about the appearance of the Old Ones. The soldiers in this anthology are those who actually help the manifest Old Ones in their conquest. This is war. Conflict. There will be atrocity. Horror in the truest sense of the word, from madness to mayhem. Tell us about the weapons, physical and not, used by the soldiers in their campaigns. Show us the progress or lack thereof toward the endgame of total victory for the Old Ones or humanity. Is it possible humanity can win? Maybe, but show us how. 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. A certain amount of gore is to be expected, but don't overdo it. • 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...

Taking Submissions: Freeze Frame Fiction 2022 Call #1

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: A complete story in any genre What are we looking for? Good flash fiction is like a freeze frame—a snapshot of a real story about real characters. The word count is low, so many of the details are left to the reader to fill in, but they’re there. Flash fiction is neither a vignette nor a character sketch. Something must happen, and there must be an ending, whether explicit or implied. So first and foremost, we want a story. A complete, interesting story. 1000 words or less, any genre, no content restrictions. We want your science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, drama, literary works, satire, bizarre fiction, or anything else you can come up with or mix together. The more original, the better. The weirder, the better. The best way to find out what we’re looking for is to read what we’ve already published! Check out our current volume, free to read at https://freezeframefiction.com/. What are we NOT looking for? We are 100% okay with explicit content, so long as it serves a purpose to the story and/or characters. Profanity for the sake of profanity—or the same thing for sex, violence, or gore—does not impress us. Also, animal cruelty. Please just send that somewhere else. We do not publish fan-fiction, i.e., stories based in worlds or using characters created by other authors. All content must be original. The following things might be accepted, but will be a very hard sell: stories involving vampires, zombies, or werecreatures (read an exception here) pure romance with no other significant elements the now-ubiquitous young adult paranormal romance military fiction or stories of battles or wars stories with a religious message or theme We’re also pretty tired of reading about straight cis white guys, honestly. We get it; they’re everywhere. Give us some diversity,...

Taking Submissions: Demonic Medicine – Take Your Pills a Demonic Anthology

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: 2 Contributors Copies Theme: Mixing up some humor, horror, and medicine! Whose advice do you trust when your health seems amiss? Are you afraid of going to the doctor? Dentist? Voodoo Doctor? Alchemist? Perhaps you can recommend a witch or mage or occult healer? Suffering from a toothache, measles, black plague, boils? Is it time to get that back pain from the demon possession looked at? Submit all your horrifying and humorous medications, cures, malpractice, and more in this collection of squeals and squeamish delights! Deadline JUNE 30th 2022 at Midnight EST Publications October 2022 Rights & Payments 2 complimentary Access to buy author copies at a discounted rate We retain first publication rights for the first 90 days of publication. After that feel free to sell and republish your entry as you wish. All entries will solely belong to you. This only covers publishing for this particular volume. This will be sold wide – Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, and beyond. Retail price to be determined at a later time. By sending in a submission, you are agreeing to the rights above and will receive confirmation to further clarify. If no response in 7-14 business days is received, please feel free to contact or resubmit. Submission Guidelines Here’s what we need from you to include: 12 pt font Calibri or Times New Roman Double-spaced throughout (without extra spaces between paragraphs) Indented for new paragraphs 1-inch margin all around Include a title page with:First and last name Title of work Blurb/Pitch Header with last name, title, and page number in top right-hand corner. 2,500 – 5,000 words Via: 4 Horsemen Publications.

Taking Submissions: Strange Sunrises

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $30USD Theme: Science fiction stories that take place on another planet. Title: Strange Sunrises: Tales from Distant Planets Theme: Science fiction stories that take place on another planet. The setting should feel alive and have some influence on the plot. Any subgenre is welcome, but please submit horror stories to the Sunsets collection. Word Count: Preferred 2500-7500. Hard cap on 10,000 words for exceptional stories. Payment: $30USD Rights: First time publishing rights for one year after publication. The author is free to publish the story elsewhere afterwards. Reprints: No. Original stories only. Multiple Submissions: Welcome. Simultaneous Submissions: No. If you do not hear back within eight weeks, you may submit the story elsewhere. How to submit: Email manuscript to [email protected] attached as a Word (.docx) document. In the subject line, please write Sunrises_Your_Name. In the body, please include a few sentences summarizing the story. Via: War And Whiskey.

Taking Submissions: Kids Are Hell!

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $5 Theme: Scary Kids You don't have to be a parent to know just how horrifying children can be. We want your stories innocent youngsters turned malevolent (think: The Omen, Children of the Corn, The Midwich Cuckoos, etc.)- the more terrifying the better! PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines...  * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * Double spaced * Absolutely NO extra lines between paragraphs! * 4K-10K word count * Write 'KIDS' along with your name and story title in the header of your email *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. * The submission documents are to be separated and Word (.doc or .docx) documents are to be attached to your submission email. To submit, email your polished story to [email protected] - Make sure that you check your mss for grammar and punctuation, use our guidelines to help you: DOWNLOAD YOUR HBB GUIDE TO GRAMMAR HERE (PDF) Deadline: 30 June 2022 NO REPRINTS - ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY Payment - $5.00 for first rights. Capped at 120K words in total. Via: Hell Bound Books.

Taking Submissions: Rites of Passage: An Anthology of Queer Pagan Fiction

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: A flat payment of $25-$75 Theme: The theme of coming of age as a queer pagan Rites of Passage: An Anthology of Queer Pagan Fiction Coming of age as a queer person can be a difficult but exciting time. Queer people know that they’re different growing up but it’s during this coming of age that they finally connect the dots and understand what is so different about themselves. Previous generations identified heavily with labels such as gay, bi or lesbian and with various queer subcultures. The current generation has largely eschewed these labels and allowed their identities to be more fluid in terms of both sexuality and gender. Along similar lines, the current generation of Pagan have had ample resources available such as books and the internet. They haven’t taken the traditional road of finding a teacher or initiating into a tradition. This sets up a tension between the generations as the older generations attempt to gatekeep based on initiations, traditions and labels while the younger generations live more fluidly. This anthology will explore the theme of coming of age as a queer pagan. We are also interested in exploring this difference between the generations with one generation identifying their difference through labels while the other refuses to label what makes them different. The genre or setting of the story is less important than the exploration of the theme. Please submit your stories of 2500 – 7500 words that have not been previously published. Simultaneous submissions are fine. Payment will be a flat payment of $25-$75 within 30 days following publication. To submit, please end an email to [email protected]. Put the title of the anthology in the subject line. Deadline: June 30, 2022 Via: Periculum Press.

Taking Submissions: Strange Aeon: 2022

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $20 and a contributor's copy, or $35 for authors outside the USA Theme: Solid stories in a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vein Note: Reprints welcome Yes, we're starting our third year. Thank you for your interest and support. The guidelines are below. Strange Aeon: 2022 (Hopeful Monsters) is a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. As always, I want good, solid stories in a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vein.  I specifically say Lovecraftian rather than Cthulu because I’d like stories across the entire Mythos, including additions by the original group of Mythos authors like Robert Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. . In fact, I’d like to use more stories that do not have specific Lovecraftian references and that move away from the traditional Lovecraft style and voice. Try to avoid pastiche and tell fresh new stories in your own settings. Style preference applies to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references. I am especially interested in stories of mad science, monster-based horror, weird western, and stories that “peel the onion.” Indeed, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the need for these categories. Victoriana and Lovecraft era period pieces will have a much harder time finding acceptance. This year’s anthology is slanted more towards stories showing protagonists “fighting the good fight” in the face of implacable horror and fewer stories that are mood based rather than plot driven. That being said, please send anything you consider a good story. Feel free to query for any questions. If you are planning to write a story especially for this anthology, by all means query the idea first. For this anthology I’m asking for non-exclusive rights and will happily take reprints. Simply tell me the publication history so that I can give proper copyright acknowledgement. Simultaneous and multiple submissions...

Taking Submissions: LOLcraft: An Compendium of Eldritch Humor

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $0.04/word and a contributor's copy Theme: Dark Speculative fiction which combine humor and something from the Cthulhu Mythos. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: LOLcraft: An Compendium of Eldritch Humor “Comedy and horror are opposite sides of the same coin.” Robert Bloch There is a long history of blending comedy and horror, two genres which shouldn’t work together, but movies from Beetlejuice to Cabin in the Woods show that they can. Both genres evoke visceral, physical reactions. Horror generates fear and dread. Our hearts race. The stress rises and we feel the need for a release, to scream. Humor generates similar physical reactions, but the release comes in the form of laughter. When done well, the feelings don’t leave us when the story is finished, they stay with us. And this is what we want from you. Make us laugh. Make us cry. Reduce us to maddened, mindless, lumps of goo. Make us long for that release, whether it be in the form of laughter or shrieking in dread.  In Eldritch Embraces: Putting the Love Back in Lovecraft we were looking stories which combined the elements of the Cthulhu Mythos and romance. This time around we want you to mix humor with your favorite Mythos elements. What We Want: Finely crafted works of Dark Speculative fiction which combine humor and something from the Cthulhu Mythos. The humor can be light or dark, subtle or over the top. We want the laughter but we also want that sense of helplessness and dread that comes with a good Lovecraftian tale. While not strictly necessary, it would certainly be helpful to have a strong Mythos knowledge base. Read the originals, but also read recent works which put a new spin on the material.  To get an example of what we have published in the past, feel free...

Taking Submissions: The Quarterly Journal – Myths, Fables, and Folklore

Deadline: June 30th, 2022 Payment: $5 or a contributor's copy Theme: Show us your spin or retelling of old tales; create some new ones; tell us of your childhood—or current—obsessions. A Literary Journal with Some Art and Analysis Thrown in for Good Measure As Quarter Press continues to grow, we’re adding another coin to our pocketful of change. We want to offer a space for shorter works to mingle with art and other bits of nonsense, so we bring you The Quarter(ly): It just makes cents. Each issue will be themed; however, we will consider any interpretation of said themes. Myths, Fables, and Folklore (June 30) What’ve you got to show us? Stories and / or Poems For Stories: We’re open to micro works all the way up to 10,000 words. Just keep two things in mind: We want to be engaged and the submission must be completed (no pitches, please!) For Poems: We’d love to see up to five poems from you, but you can always just send one, too. Graphic Stories Show us your comic strips or complete short works; we’d love to see them all! Please try to keep submissions to 20 pages or less. Feel free to also send a collection of comic strips / one shot comics, as well. (Please note that our publication size / dimensions might change between issues. Our “Norm” is 5x8”). These must be COMPLETE works. Art As long as it has some tie to the current issue’s theme, we’re open to see any art created in any medium at any time. Just know that it will need to “work in print” and—might—be presented in black and white. Analysis / Interviews / Reviews As long as it is tied to the theme in some way, we’d love to see any and...