Taking Submissions: Medieval Horror Novel Proposals
Sentinel CreativesDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: $2,000 advance with 25% Royalties upon completion and final approval of the manuscript Theme: Medieval Horror Medieval Horror Novel Proposals Sentinel Creatives is now accepting book proposals for 2025 in the genre of Medieval Horror. Deadline for Submissions: 30 April 2025 Proposal Pagecount: 1–2 pages Remuneration: $2,000 advance with 25% Royalties upon completion and final approval of the manuscript Novel Length: 50,000–75,000 words We do not expect the proposed novel to be completed or even started yet. This is an opportunity to pitch your idea and work with us to bring it to life. WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR We’re looking for original weird tales set in the medieval period that explore the human (and inhuman) experience through the lens of horror. WHAT TO INCLUDE A 1–2 page pitch for your novel. A 2–3 page sample of your writing (from a current work-in- progress or a previously published piece). A list of books and/or movies you think your novel might be similar to, draw inspiration from, or share an audience with. Some Ideas to Explore: A co-mingling of plague and cosmic horror A Lovecraftian twist on the numinous (what exactly were those voices Joan of Arc was hearing?) Go epic in scale: The Crusader States at War/The Norman Conquest/The Wendish Crusade Adapting folklore & myth: Prester John and his mythical kingdom of Christians amidst pagans and Muslims in the East… with a twist. An ill-fated incident during the Children’s Crusade—what happened to those who followed a goat into the dark forests of Europe, never to be heard from again? TROPES AND THEMES While we are looking for innovative, fresh ideas, don’t be afraid to adopt some more familiar horror tropes as a springboard for your story. The “small town horror” or Stephen King’s “The Peculiar Little Town” trope hasn’t been widely explored in medieval horror literature (though it has seen some...
Taking Submissions: manywor(l)ds March/April 2025 Window
Manywor(l)dsSubmission Window: March 1st - April 30th, 2025 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories of any genre by writers who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. We welcome submissions by those who identify with and as any of the following descriptors: trans, two-spirit, disabled, neurodivergent, Mad, queer, crip, nonbinary, genderqueer, intersex. This is a space for the words, works, and worlds of and by those whose bodyminds defy social expectations and invite new ways of thinking and knowing. We do not need to know the specifics of your identity/diagnosis/experience unless you want us to. We invite closeted and questioning people to share their work, as well as those whose experiences fall outside the confines of the language we used above. We welcome submissions from creators of all ages. We particularly encourage unpublished/emerging/young creators to submit. If you know an incarcerated/institutionalized creator who would like to submit, email us for information as to where to mail the submission, or clearly indicate in your message that you are submitting on their behalf. We publish on a quarterly schedule, with issues coming out on: February 15 May 15 August 15 November 15 We are open for all submissions EXCEPT during publication months. That is to say, we are open for submissions January, March, April, June, July, September, October, and December. Things to note This is a leftist magazine. We hate capitalism, “america,” cops, prisons, borders, neoliberalism, and all the rest. We don’t tolerate white supremacy, zionism, cisheterosexism, ableism, transmisogyny, xenophobia, fatphobia, intersexism, and anti-sex worker sentiment here. We reserve the right to reject and/or remove content from creators whose work does not align with our values. We do not tolerate AI-generated or -assisted submissions. Anyone found to be using AI will have their content immediately rejected/removed...
Taking Submissions: Consumed
Arbutus StudiosDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: 1500-4000=$10, 4001-75000=$20 Theme: Horror that involves food Arbutus Studios is planning our first prose horror anthology, “Consumed” for publication in 2025. The anthology’s title alludes to a central theme of food and eating. Itching to tell a twisted cannibal tale? Have a unique take on zombies? Cursed birthday cakes? All the above are in line with what we’re looking for. What we want For this anthology, Arbutus Studios seeks original horror stories that fit snugly within the imagery, concept, and theme of food. Tales submitted to Consumed can encompass more than one horror subgenre or blend other speculative genres into the narrative. We want to read stories we can’t put down, and thoughtful tales that linger with you long after the final page. Original, compelling stories will grab our attention. Retreads of familiar horror clichés will be privately mocked, and the tales sent straight to hell. We want to see interesting characters, unique worlds, and unsettling atmosphere. Surprise us. Scare us. Tickle our imagination. Arbutus Studios will automatically reject stories with extreme gore or stories that glorify sexual violence, child abuse, cruelty to animals, body-shaming, or other deviant behaviour. AI Statement Arbutus Studios does not accept submissions written, developed, or assisted by AI tools such as ChatGPT. We want stories created and written by real, living human beings. Any attempts to submit AI-assisted work will result in a permanent ban from future submissions to Arbutus Studios. Submissions All submissions must be emailed to [email protected] Please structure your email subject line as follows: Your story title/Your name/Horror anthology. Stories must be between 1,500 and 7,500 words in length. Submissions falling outside either end of this range will be automatically rejected. For reference, hyphenated words will be counted as one word and paragraph breaks are not included in word counts. Submission...
Taking Submissions: Something Out There
Terrorcore PublishingDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Theme: Welcome to Bellflower, a sleepy (fictional) Nevada town where nothing much happens. Well, except for the influx of tourists asking about Area 51, which lies to the southwest, and the annual UFO festival, which happens every August. For years, man watched the skies. In Bellflower…the skies watched back. We're looking for submissions that take place during or around this festival, a town-wide event where locals dress up, set up telescopes, take tourists on shady desert tours, and stay up all hours of the night, hoping for a glimpse of something from the great beyond. Additional InformationAll stories should take place in the 1980s. So keep this in mind with the technology you feature. The stories should lean more into the horror genre but can be horror/sci-fi. They should include an alien encounter of some kind and mention the annual UFO festival in Bellflower, but they don’t have to take place at the UFO festival. Anywhere in the general vicinity (see map) is acceptable as long as it ties back to Bellflower somehow. For example, it could be a family road trip to Vegas along the Extraterrestrial Hwy and one of their stops is Bellflower, etc. Some other examples could include but are not limited to: a slumber party kids in a treehouse mysterious rock falls from sky weird goo in water flashing lights in the sky getting lost in the nature reserve after hours and experiencing something weird encounters with the eccentric “townspeople” of Bellflower themselves Military run-ins You name it. Think outside the box. There will be several rounds of editing and this phase is important. Submitters must be committed to help in the editing process. Make sure that you upload your document as a WORD document (.doc...
Taking Submissions: Strange Legacy: 2025
M. KeatonDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: $20 and a contributor copy for US authors or $35 for non-US authors Theme: "Classic" monsters creature feature story (think all of the old Universal Monsters for inspiration.) Note: Reprints welcome Strange Legacy: 2025 (Creature Feature) is actually a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. We are going in a slightly different direction this year thematically with a bit of a break from purely cosmic horror and focusing instead on the creatures, both traditional and original. The editorial style will remain the same. As usual, these style preferences apply to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references. (You do not have to remove all profanity from your submission—I can read around it—but, if your story is accepted, you will be required to remove it from the final version.) The theme of this year’s anthology is the “classic” monster story—from old favorites like vampires and werewolves to Lovecraftian creatures to the byproducts of insane science experiments. 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. 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. 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. I will prioritize original stories over reprints and older, more obscure reprints over more recent ones. Simultaneous and multiple submissions are acceptable; please...
Taking Submissions: Untitled Creature Feature Anthology
Inky Bones PressDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: 1 cent per word and a contributors copy Theme: Creature Feature with the premise of situations where something is being sought out by a person/group. My first foray into horror was creature features. Growing up, I loved movies that involved monsters: Them!, Godzilla, The Birds, Swamp Thing, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Fly, and many more. Pair that with my background in anthropology and biology, and it’s a Petri dish of ingredients bound to spawn new terrors. What better way to celebrate the second year of Inky Bones Press than to publish an anthology based on the subjects that inspired me to both love and write horror. I can’t wait to read your twists and interpretations of the requirements lurking below. What horrors will you unleash? Theme: Situations where something is being sought out by a person/group. They could be grave robbers, treasure hunters, archaeologists, cryptozoologists, entomologists, biologists, hide-and-seek fanatics, anything you choose—as long as their plans go awry. Get weird and creative! Must Include: Bones: you can mention the word itself or be more specific. Ex: spine, skull, vertebrae, ribs, skeleton A creature of your choice: tiny, monstrous, an alien—just make sure it’s scary! Genres: Horror | Science Fiction | Fantasy Applicable horror sub-genres of the above Type & Length of Work: 1,500-3,500 words Short story (English only) Release: Late 2025/Early 2026: date to be determined Submission dates: Opens: March 1, 2025 Deadline: April 30, 2025 (11:59pm EST) Payment: Semi-Pro: 1c/word Contributor copy E-book copy I’m looking for: Examples: Action/Adventure Horror, Creature Horror, Dark Fantasy, Dark Fiction, Dystopian, Gothic, Historical, Paranormal, Science Fiction Horror, Paranormal, Supernatural, Vampire, Zombie, etc. Scares, creepy vibes, nightmare fuel, unease, monsters, and fear—just to name a few. Make me afraid to turn off the lights when I go to sleep! I’m NOT looking for: Hate-based stories, extreme horror, splatterpunk, rape,...
Taking Submissions: Trollbreath Magazine April 2025 Window
Trollbreath MagazineSubmission Window: April 1st- 30th, 2025 Payment: Fiction: 4 cents per word for original works, and 1/2 cent per word for reprints. Poetry: $25 flat fee for any poem. Non-Fiction: $40. $150 for cover artwork. Theme: Speculative fiction, poetry, and non-fiction of all kinds with a particular fondness for slipstream and fabulism in all their delightful forms Trollbreath Magazine is a journal of speculative fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, publishing electronic issues on a quarterly schedule. Our interests are as varied as the endless amount of genres, from dark fantasy to hope punk to surrealism, and everything in between. We have a particular fondness for slipstream and fabulism in all their delightful forms, but what motivates us most are great stories by wonderful authors eager to share their visions of the past, the future, the in between, and everything that lies outside the margins. Coloring beyond the lines encouraged. Feel free to review our already published stories and poetry to get an idea of what we like. Stories, poems and articles will be available at the beginning of the quarter to paying members. Web Memberships give the subscriber the opportunity to read the issue on our website; eBook Memberships provide the additional right to download the issue in PDF or epub file format(s). Over the course of the quarter, a new story will be released from the paywall every Friday to the those without subscriptions, until all stories are available to the public. We read for two issues at a time during our month-long submission periods. Submission periods for fiction/poetry are as follows: April 1st- 30th (for the September and December issues of the same year) October 1st – 31st (for the March and June issues of the following year) Note: stories/poems sent outside the submission period will be deleted unread. We are open...
Taking Submissions: Mythaxis April 2025 Submission Period (Early Listing)
Mythaxis MagazineSubmission Window: April 23rd-30th, 2025 Payment: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Theme: Diverse sci-fi and fantasy fiction. We are open to submissions within the following periods: January 23rd-30th April 23rd-30th July 23rd-30th October 23rd-30th Submissions received outside of these dates will unfortunately be lost and therefore not responded to. When open, we seek and offer the following: Length: 1,000-5,000 words. These are firm limits. Shorter or longer works will be considered, but the further a story goes outside these bounds the more it will need to impress. Compensation: €0.01 per word, with a €20 minimum. Please be aware that payment is via PayPal only. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours of submission, please get in touch. We aim to accept or reject within 14 days of acknowledgment, but rl (real life) and rl (reading load) can get in the way. If you do not hear from us after 30 days, feel free to query. REQUIREMENTS Mythaxis seeks speculative fiction (sf/f/h) of all stripes for our first three issues each year. We are also interested in submissions of crime fiction for our end-of-year “all crime” issue. All these genres are equally welcome in each submission window. We acquire First Print, Digital, and Audio rights with a six month period of exclusivity from the date of publication. We also ask permission to potentially include accepted pieces in future anthologies; in event of agreement, an additional compensation will be offered. All other rights remain entirely with the author. See here for an overview of our editorial process. Simultaneous submissions are not only accepted, they are encouraged. Please tell us if you sim-sub, and we merely ask that you notify us of acceptance at another market as soon as possible. In the event that we accept first, we expect a positive and timely confirmation. Therefore we recommend sim-subbing...
Taking Submissions: Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mystery 1889 & 1890
Belanger BooksDeadline: Deadline for proposals is April 30th, 2025. Submission deadline for stories is June 30th, 2025. Payment: $125 dollars and a contributor's copy Theme: Sherlock Holmes stories that are canonical in nature and fit the timeline below. “When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which present strange and interesting features that it is no easy matter to know which to choose and which to leave.” - Dr. Watson Synopsis: The year 1889 was a particularly busy one for Holmes with a number of cases including The Hound (Sept. 25-Oct. 20); “The Beryl Coronet” (Feb. 19-20); “The Man with the Twisted Lip” (June 18-19); “The Naval Treaty” (Aug. 1); “Cardboard Box” (Aug. 31- Sept. 2); “The Engineer’s Thumb.” (Sept. 7-8); “Crooked Man” (Sept. 11-12); and “Blue Carbuncle) (Dec. 27). Although things slowed a bit in 1890, prominent cases included “Copper Beeches” (April 5-20); “Silver Blaze” (Sept. 25-30) and “The Red-Headed League” (Oct. 9-11). But what other cases did our heroes encounter in these years? Find out in Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1889 & Sherlock Holmes: A Year of Mysteries – 1890. Submission Guidelines: The stories must be Canonical in nature and fit with the timeline. Holmes and Watson should act like they do in the original stories. As you can see above, a number of the original cases from this period are specifically dated, so please bear that in mind when you are writing your story. Authors interested in participating should first send a synopsis of their adventure and the month of the year they wish it to take place. If your story does not need a specific month (i.e. it takes place in autumn and could be in September, October, or November)...
Taking Submissions: Space Opera Stories
Residential AliensDeadline: April 30th, 2025 Payment: $50 and a contributor's copy Theme: Space opera stories with any of the following themes: Note: Reprints welcome Here's a new project I'll be launching via Kickstarter in May, 2025. And I'd like to invite you to submit a story for consideration! Feel free to share the link to this page with others. New Sci-Fi Anthology Series 24 Space Opera Short Stories Wanted Sub Window Closes April 30, 2025 Genre: Space Opera Four Volumes of Six Stories Each Each Volume Will Feature a Specific Theme: First Contact Alien Invasion Generation Ship Colony World Deets: Send 2 stories maximum (each story with a different theme) Mainly wanting brand new stories; simultaneous submissions okay No f-bombs or GDs/blasphemies, no excessive violence or gratiutous sex Reprints considered, query first (basically, no longer widely available and older than 2020) 6,000 to 8,000 words; use standard manuscript format, American quotation marks; American or British spelling okay More Info: * Launching via Kickstarter, Spring 2025 * Payment is $50 per story (upon successful Kickstarter campaign); additional one-time payment possible; plus contributor paperback and ebook copy * Eventually published on Amazon and beyond; ebook, audio, and paperbacks * Will have non-AI illustrated covers (artists and graphic designers, contact me!) * Author retains copyright - asking for 9 month exclusive use; no royalty share Send submissions to Lyndon Perry at tulefogpress @ gmail . com with last name and volume theme in subject line (e.g., Perry, First Contact) any time before April 30, 2025. Space Opera Stories Edited by Lyndon Perry Published by Tule Fog Press Via: Residential Aliens.