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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Jake’s Guide to Getting Into Hell by Jake Bannerman

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: Jake’s Guide to Getting Into Hell
Author: Jake Bannerman
Genre: Dark Humor / Satirical Horror / Religious Satire
Publisher: Independent
Publication date: 4th April, 2025

Synopsis: Jake’s Guide to Getting Into Hell is a ferocious, no-holds-barred guide for those who have rejected the polished dogma of religion and are seeking something more real, raw, and laugh-out-loud funny. Written with blasphemous wit, it tears apart religious conventions and exposes the absurdities of society’s sanctimonious attitudes. The book uses humor and extreme language to make readers question their beliefs, laugh at their own discomfort, and consider what “hell” really is.

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Artwork / Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine / Poetry / Reprints Allowed / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Radon Journal October 2025 Issue

Submission Window: May 1st – August 31st
Payment: Fiction: 2¢ per word for original, 1¢ per word for reprints. Poetry: $20 per original poem and $10 for reprints. Artwork: $100 for issue cover art, $30 for back cover art, and $20 for art used on our site
Theme: Stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.
Note: Reprints Welcome

Radon welcomes short stories and poetry containing elements of science fiction, anarchism, transhumanism, or dystopia.

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We publish quality literature the first of every February, June, and October.

  • Submissions are accepted year-round.

  • Simultaneous submissions are welcome.

  • Reprints no longer accepted as of 2025.

  • AI submissions are not allowed at Radon.

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Events / Flash / Magazine / Reprints Allowed

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Taking Submissions: Taking Submissions: Allegory Volume 48

Submission Window: May 1st, 2025 – June 30th, 2025
Payment: $15
Theme: Speculative fiction, primarily horror, science fiction, and fantasy.
Note: Reprints welcome

Formatting Guidelines

This is proving to be a recurring problem, so we’re putting it up front. Please, for all our sakes, read this next part carefully.

All submissions should be sent by e-mail (no letters or telephone calls please) to [email protected]. Below are some formatting rules to help us process your submission more quickly.

EMAIL AND COVER LETTERS

Email is accepted in both text and HTML formats. When submitting, please put this in the subject line:

Submission: (Title) – (First and Last name)

Include the following in the body of the email and in the attached submission:

Your name
Name to use on the story (byline), if different
Your preferred email address
Your mailing address
The story’s title
The story’s word count
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Articles

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Round the Maypole

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Round the Maypole

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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Events / Magazine / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Flashpoint Science Fiction Spring 2025 Window

Submission Window: June 1st – July 31st, 2025
Payment: $0.02 per word
Theme: Science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between
Note: Reprints Welcome

Flash Point Science Fiction wants speculative fiction stories from 100 to 1,000 words in length. Send us your science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, and everything in between, so long as it’s short. We here at FPSF are partial to flash fiction and want to see the flash market grow. So as much as it pains us, please take your 10,000 word tour de force elsewhere. We’re not looking for the next Brandon Sanderson. (Unless you are, in fact, Brandon Sanderson, in which case we’d be delighted!)

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Events / Flash / Flat Amount / Magazine

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Taking Submissions: A Coup Of Owls Autumn 2025 Issue

Submission Window: June 1st – 7th, 2025
Payment: Drabbles and Flash – £5, Short Stories 1001 to 4000 words – £10, Short Stories 4001 to 8000 words – £15
Theme: Stories you’ve poured your soul into but haven’t been able to find the right home for. We do not have set issue themes but feel free to be inspired by the season, seasonal occasions and events.
Note: Only publishes creators from under represented and/or marginalized communities.

WE ONLY PUBLISH CREATORS FROM UNDER REPRESENTED AND/OR MARGINALISED BACKGROUNDS AND/OR COMMUNITIES
We don’t ask for any proof, we take this on trust with the expectation that anyone not from a marginalised background or underrepresented community wouldn’t take up the space of someone who is. We ask you to consider this before submitting.

QUARTERLY ONLINE ANTHOLOGY: BRIEF
We’re looking for stories you’ve poured your soul into but haven’t been able to find the right home for. We’re looking for stories that make us feel something.

Warmth, love, melancholy, rage. We want it all.

All genres, styles and themes will be considered and we especially love stories that are outside the box in their telling. Ambiguous endings? Non-linear storytelling? Antagonist’s point-of-view? A story told in just one scene? We love it all.

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: This Skin Was Once Mine By Eric LaRocca

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances
Author: Eric LaRocca
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Titan Books
Publication date: A brand-new collection of four intense, claustrophobic and terrifying horror tales from the Bram Stoker Award®-nominated and Splatterpunk Award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke.

THIS SKIN WAS ONCE MINE
When her father dies under mysterious circumstances, Jillian Finch finds herself grieving the man she idolized while struggling to feel comfortable in the childhood home she was sent away from nearly twenty years ago. Then Jillian discovers a dark secret that will threaten to undo everything she has ever known about her father.

SEEDLING
A young man’s father calls him early in the morning to say that his mother has passed away. He arrives home to find his mother’s body still in the house. Struggling to process what has happened he notices a small black wound appear on his wrist. Then he discovers his father is cursed with the same affliction.

ALL THE PARTS OF YOU THAT WON’T EASILY BURN
Enoch Leadbetter goes to buy a knife for his husband to use at a forthcoming dinner party. He encounters a strange shopkeeper who draws him into an intoxicating new obsession and sets him on a path towards mutilation and destruction…

PRICKLE
Two old men revive a cruel game with devastating consequences…

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Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Magazine / Pro

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Taking Submissions: Three-Lobed Burning Eye May 2025 Window

Deadline: May 16th, 2025
Payment: $.08 per word and a contributor’s copy
Theme: Speculative fiction with strong narrative voices

Three-Lobed Burning Eye (3LBE) is a speculative fiction digital magazine published online and ebook (thrice per year) and print anthology. Each issue features four original stories (six per issue starting in 2025), some with audio readings. 3LBE was founded by Editor Andrew S. Fuller in 1999.

We recommend reading an issue or two of the magazine before submitting to have an idea of the fiction we publish.

Our submission windows are open three times during the year: January 1–16, May 1–16, September 1–16. We open and close at 12:00 AM Pacific Time (UTC -8).

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