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Deadline: August 27th, 2023 Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Theme: Ghost Stories by African and African-diaspora writers Following our hugely successful Black Sci-Fi Short Stories, First Peoples Shared Stories, Immigrant Sci-Fi Short Stories and Asian Ghost Short Stories, we're now seeking tales from African and African-diaspora writers to be included in our powerful collection of African Ghost Short Stories. The volume will explore the deep-seated supernatural element in African storytelling – whether reaching back to the spirits, ancestors and ogres of folklore or the vibrantly modern ghosts of today's African horror. New and contemporary stories will complement poignant folktales such as ‘The Story of Takane’ from Lesotho and  ‘The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull’ from Nigeria. The book will delve into the fascinating heritage of African ghostly lore and literature, encouraging it to be reclaimed and retold by contemporary African voices. As with the collections mentioned above, this new title in the Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy series will be supported by a new Foreword (written by award-winning Nigerian-British writer Nuzo Onoh) and a new Introduction. We are also proud to announce that we are working in partnership with outstanding African literature magazine Brittle Paper. Nuzo Onoh (foreword) is an award-winning Nigerian-British writer of speculative fiction. She is a pioneer of the African horror literary subgenre. Hailed as the ‘Queen of African Horror’, Nuzo’s writing showcases both the beautiful and horrific in the African culture within fictitious narratives. She is a Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Nuzo’s works have featured in numerous magazines, podcasts, and anthologies, and have been longlisted, shortlisted and recommended. She has given talks and lectures about African Horror, including at the prestigious Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, London. Her works have also appeared in academic and feminist studies and she has also featured in Starburst magazine, the world’s longest-running magazine of cult entertainment. Nuzo holds a...

Newsletter | Flash Fiction Guidelines Authors submitting must sign up to the Flame Tree Fiction Newsletter, here. Submission window announced in each Newsletter, and on social media, at the beginning of each month. Usually one horror, one sci-fi. Themes to be announced each month. Submit by email to [email protected]. Preferred format is .doc, .docx or .rtf, double-spaced, with author email at the top of the first page. Use the story theme as the subject heading on your email. One entry per author. Add full author details at the end of the story, to include published work, influences, hometown and social media links. Only original, unpublished work, will be considered. (although we do accept reprints for our short story anthologies submissions). 1000 word count. Actually we allow a strict range from 700-1000 words. Please indicate at the top of the submission. Submission window usually 2 weeks. Confirmation will be made in the form of acceptance or (polite!) rejection. Successful authors will receive a simple contract for the primary purpose of publication in the Newsletter, and possible publication in a later printed form. Payment will be 8 cents for each word (SFWA qualifying market rate) and 6 cents for reprints. Once the contract is signed by the author and Flame Tree, payment will be made in 30 days by Paypal, (to reduce costs of money transfer for both parties). Alternative arrangements can be made if necessary. Good luck, and thank you...

Submission Window: July 31, 2023-August 6, 2023 for marginalized voices; August 7, 2023-August 28, 2023 for all submitters Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Disquieting and disturbing New Weird horror set in landscapes and communities on the edge of the sea. The Off-Season is an anthology of disquieting and disturbing New Weird horror set in landscapes and communities on the edge of the sea. These coastal stories defamiliarize the ordinary, evoke dread even in the daylight, and haunt like half-remembered nightmares. Think ocean-loving cults, crumbling seaside mansions, empty resort towns, strange fisherwomen, beachside arcades, eerie lighthouses, literal tourist traps, jellyfish swarms, red tides, oil spills, intertidal zones, salt marshes, gaudy luxury hotels reclaimed by sea, the cosmic indifference of capitalism, creeping urchins, thousand-yard stares, wrecked cruise ships, weird biotech, evening dock workers, and slippery marine metamorphosis. I’m especially looking for uncanny ecology, uneasy atmosphere, and strange characters who are either transcending their environment or subsiding into it. I’d love to see unusual coastal settings from around the world, or traditionally romanticized settings transformed into places of unfamiliarity and subtle wrongness. Most of all, I’m looking for fiction that makes the reader feel uncomfortable dread mixed with intense curiosity. Not sure if your story is New Weird? New Weird is a subgenre of horror-fantasy that slides along the margins of other speculative fiction genres, subverts old tropes and conventions, and/or plays with form, style, and ideas. Its roots are in the subtle ambiguity and mystery of Weird horror and the subversive playfulness of New Wave science-fiction, but it is constantly innovating itself. For me, the best of New Weird blends the mundane with the sublime, the grimy with the divine, and the grotesque with the beautiful. It seduces and horrifies at the same time, filling the reader with a quiet kind of dread-fascination. While the genre dwells...

Deadline: August 30th, 2023 Payment: $5 Theme: Short stories about casual encounters of fictional people with serial killers Have you ever wondered about the ordinary people who came in contact with famous serial killers before everyone knew them for their depraved, murderous acts? What did Jeffrey Dahmer's plumber experience when he unclogged the notorious cannibal's toilet? Or how about the guy who worked in the music shop where Charles Manson had his guitars strung? The girl who waited on Ted Bundy at his favorite coffee shop? Jack the Ripper's neighborhood bartender? How about one of the kids who had John Wayne Gacey perform as a clown at their birthday party? For this anthology, we're looking for short stories about casual encounters of fictional people with serial killers, that turned creepy or deadly. Stories can be straight crime/thriller stories or ones with a supernatural bent (haunted objects, ghosts, demons, etc.). Characters and victims, aside from the serial killers, must be fictional—real names of victims or family members can not be used. Also, feel free to use lesser-known killers like Richard Speck or The Boston Strangler, in case the Bundy and Manson stories start piling up like the bodies of their victims... Note: Stories should not lionize or celebrate the serial killers, or promote racism, bigotry, or depictions of violence against children. 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! * Up to 5k word count (although we are incredibly flexible for awesome stories!) * Write SERIAL KILLERS 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...

Deadline: August 31st, 2023 Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $5 per poem Theme: Where cosmic horror meets campy romantic comedy! Romance. Laughter. Tentacles... Welcome to where cosmic meets cute Welcome to the Necronomi-RomCom! About this Project On the face of it, blending the Necronomicom and a Rom-Com seems obvious.  Once the idea came into my mind in the summer of 2022, it wouldn’t leave until I decided to make it into a reality.  The goal is to see how many engaging ways people can blend humor, love, and the mythos. Love can be funny and it can be scary, why can’t it be both?  While also having big teeth, or tentacles, or even too many eyes? We hope this is just the first project that will link disparate concepts in unusual ways. Just because the cosmic flirts with disaster doesn’t mean it can’t flirt with other things! In this anthology, we’re looking for cosmic tales with a light romantic twist. Think couples visiting Leng on blind dates and Carcosa on their honeymoons, Valentine's Day roses tinted with the Color Out of Space, and brains in jars finding everlasting love with Mi-go. Think the lost pages of the Necronomicon written in sonnet form, Shoggoths shape-changing to impress the objects of their affection, and Nyarlathotep crushing on someone while Azathoth is piping a love song. Send us your best blend of cosmic and romance… just no erotica. Satire is great, and a little bit of dark is always welcome—after all, just because depressed, angry Deep Ones meet cute too doesn’t mean it’s all a bed of roses. That said? We look forward to reading your most imaginative comic romance fantasies! Open to poetry, and stories 1,000 to 6,000 words, in English. We are not considering stories written, or co-written, by AI at this...

Submission Window: April 2nd to August 31st Payment: Half cent per word Theme: Speculative Fiction taking place in the Wild West Graveyard Boots: The Old West. Lawless. Filthy. Challenges were numerous. Justice was haphazard. One could die from a gunshot, a snakebite, a disease, or any number of reasons. It was not a place for the weak of heart. And that was just the wild west all by itself. For “Graveyard Boots,” we seek stories that add creatures, gunslingers, ghouls, ill omens, bad luck, evil minds, monsters and more to the already desolate landscape and ghost towns. Yet there was still humor back in those days of yore, and with “Graveyard Boots,” stories with humor will give you a leg up. "Graveyard Boots" Guidelines: Here are a couple of tips to put your story in better position to be accepted. 1. Fit the theme. Old West. Horror. Of course, Jolly Horror Press loves humor. 2. Be within our word count guidelines (for “Graveyard Boots”, 2500 to 5500) or query us for shorter/longer. 3. No matter how good your story is, if it hasn't been edited, there is a big chance we won't accept it. In the past, we've accepted stories that needed a lot of editing work, but it took so much effort to make them presentable. We aren't doing that anymore. If within a page or two of reading the story we find a bunch of editing issues, it's going to be rejected. 4. Be unique. No matter what the theme of the anthology is, you should always be unique. If it's a stalker anthology for example, and your ex or some guy you work with is your stalker, it's trite. If your grandma is stalking your fiancée, well, that's unique. 5. At Jolly Horror Press, we prefer subtle horror. We generally don't like gruesome and overly bloody stuff. If someone...

Deadline: August 31st, 2023 Payment: Royalties and a contributors copy Theme: An anthology of new, original weird and strange fiction set between 1938 and 1946 CORE CONCEPT: An anthology of new, original weird and strange fiction set between 1938 and 1946 – from (and including) the Spanish Civil War to the immediate winding down of conflicts after World War Two. Weird fiction is a mode of writing which includes the subversion of many standard tropes, or more imaginative interpretations, and has a strong psychological component, so please bear that in mind. SETTING: Geographically, stories should fall in the zone from Ireland to Russia, the Arctic Circle to the Mediterranean shores. Stories can be set during direct military conflicts or far from battle, where distant wars have local repercussions for society or individuals. We’re not looking for ‘war stories’ so much as stories set DURING the war across Europe and showing some awareness of its impact. This was a bleak time for most. Go inventive with this one, such as (a few throwaway illustrations): Something unnatural walking through the fires of the London Blitz German occupiers learning terror in an isolated Norwegian village Dread and disquiet amongst the Free French in Tunisia US troops lost in the Ardennes Families in Britain sensing a wrongness about returnees Torn loyalties and minds in Ireland Horror in the snows of the Eastern Front An Italian soldier dealing with fear by disassociating from reality Balkan partisans trapped in the mountains Communities trying to pretend that there is no war APPROACH: Submissions could cover themes such as the intrusion of the ab-natural into the natural, the changing nature of society, and psychosocial issues at any level. Cosmic Horror is very relevant — explore the realisation that we are potentially insignificant in the cosmos, and that our understanding of the...

Deadline: August 31st, 2023 Payment: AU$5.00 - under 3.000 words,. AU$10.00 - between 3,000 and 7,000 words, AU$15.00 - between 8,000 and 11,000 words, AU$20.00 - between 11,000 and 20, 000 words Theme: All genres, all themes! Yabblins is our theme-free collection. All themes, all genres, all the time. Deadline: August 31 2023 Word count: 1000 - 20,000 words Payment: AU$5.00 - under 3,000 words AU$10.00 - between 3,000 and 7,000 words AU$15.00 - between7,000 and 11,000 words AU$20.00 - between 11,000 and 20,000 words Please ensure that you read through the general guidelines and format your submission accordingly. If you have any specific questions please contact us using the form on the home page or via the listed social media accounts. To help make sure that your submission gets to the correct place, please include the following in the subject line of your email: Yabblins - Story Title. Via: Gypsum Sound Tales.

Deadline: August 31st, 2023 Prizes: First Place – £20, Second Place – £10, Third Place – £10 Theme: Halloween Short Stories We are currently OPEN for submissions. The winners of the 2023 Halloween competition will be announced in October. We’ll be back with another competition in the new year! Keep an eye out for the next theme. Submit stories to [email protected] – please read the below guidelines before submitting. 2023 Halloween Short Story Competition We want your spookiest horror short stories! Anything goes: from your classic ghosts, vampires and werewolves to something a little stranger. We are looking for short stories of no longer than 2,500 words that include horror elements. This means the overall genre can be non-horror, but there must be something in there that is spooky and gives us a scare. It could be a monster story, a killer on the loose, someone/something unnatural, or somewhere haunted. It’s up to you! If it keeps us up at night, it counts. Closing Date: August 31st 2023, 11:59 PM Winners Announced: October 2023 Prizes: First Place – £20 Second Place – £10 Third Place – £10 The top 15 to 20 stories will be published in our Halloween anthology in October 2023. For this competition, all submissions from young writers (aged 16 and under) will be judged separately for our Young Writer’s Award. The prize for this is £10 and website publication. Submission Guidelines Your story must be no longer than 2,500 words (not including the title) Only one story permitted per person; you can enter again if you entered our previous competitions Stories must be in English All stories should be written in Times New Roman, in 12pt, and double spaced. Stories must be submitted in Microsoft Word Please include your name (or preferred pseudonym), age, story title,...

Deadline: August 31st, 2023 Payment: 2 cents per word and royalties and a paperback for US authors Theme: Bold, imaginative fantasy, horror, and sci-fi sculpted to thrill and entertain readers with the bizarre or delve into the shadows. Finish it off with a twist of betrayal! Our 2024 edition. Submissions open on June 1, 2023. Theme: Hidden Villains: Betrayed– Bold, imaginative fantasy, horror, and sci-fi sculpted to thrill and entertain readers with the bizarre or delve into the shadows. Finish it off with a twist of betrayal! Betrayed- double-cross, fail, deceive, cheat, sell-out, let down, stitch up, rat out, turn traitor, rat on, expose, reveal, lay bare, stab in the back. There is no restriction as to how you incorporate the theme into your story as long as the genre falls within Speculative Fiction, including Sci-Fi or Fantasy. We encourage you to weave the theme into an engaging story with well-developed characters and deep emotion. Suspense and thrillers are encouraged over horror for this anthology, but a great horror story will rise to the top. Stories that contain infanticide, rape, or gratuitous gore will not be accepted. Submission Period: June 1, 2023 to August 31, 2023 Submissions: 1 per author; no reprints, no simultaneous submissions, no AI; Submission Cost: Free Word Limit: 2,000 to 8,000 words Submission Guidelines: Anonymous submission with no author name in document; 12 pt Times or Arial; .Doc or .Docx; double-space; first line indent; no tabs used. Genres: Fantasy, Sci-Fi Anticipated Pay: .02 per word + Royalty share from all Draft 2 Digital sales. A paperback author’s copy will be provided for US authors. Authors outside of the US will receive at least a digital copy, depending on shipping costs on a case by case basis. Each story will receive a share from Draft 2 Digital’s wide...