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Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: .01 a word Theme: Literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams Note: Slightly early listing on this one Dark Ink Books, the home of Tom Savini’s and Kane Hodder’s official biographies, is proud to announce an open call for submissions for its newest thematic horror fiction anthology.   “Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.”  -Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether    For this submission period, we are asking for literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams. Quality of writing, adherence to call parameters, originality, and alignment with other stories selected for publication are the determining factors in selection or rejection for this anthology.    Working Title: The Half That You See: Nightmares, Deliriums, and Illusions    Submissions will be accepted April 1, 2020 through April 30, 2020 only.    Response time: Decisions will be emailed before June 1. If a submission is held for more than three weeks, it is likely being considered for publication.    Payment: .01 a word up to 7000 words (firm)    Word count: 1500-6500 words (a little over is fine, but make it worth the space)    Multiple submissions: No, thank you. Please send your one best story.    Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted elsewhere, and if we select your tale, please remove the work from consideration elsewhere immediately. No reprints; work must not have been printed elsewhere in any language, including on a blog or personal webpage.    If your previously unpublished piece is accepted for publication in this anthology, Dark Ink takes First Print, Electronic, and Audiobook Publishing Rights...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: Dark fantasy and horror with a historically inspired setting Theme: Royalties VISIONS OF DARKNESS, VOLUME ONE Visions of Darkness, Volume One, is the first of a planned annual anthology of dark fantasy tales to be released each October. What we are looking for Genre: Dark Fantasy Word Count: 7,500 – 20,000 words Deadline: April 30, 2020 Submission Guidelines What to Include in the Email An introduction is always nice. Tell us who you are. Have we met, or did somebody refer you to us? Here is a good place to remind us. The elevator pitch. In one to three sentences, what’s the selling point for the story? What’s it about? What makes it stand apart? What are the genre(s), main theme(s), and word count? The dreaded synopsis. Try to keep this around 500 words or less. We don’t need to know who everybody is or every detail of what happens in the story, just the broad strokes. Give us an idea of what to expect. Think of it like a movie trailer in text! The Manuscript Please attach your manuscript to the email in standard manuscript format as a Word document (.doc or .docx). This should be double-spaced in 12 point Times New Roman or Courier (we prefer Courier) with non-spaced, indented paragraphs. Ensure that your legal name, address, email address, and the word count appears at the top of the first page. If you are not familiar with standard manuscript formats, please review this article. Only original, unpublished submissions will be considered. What is dark fantasy? The definition of dark fantasy can be debated, but it is generally any story with fantastic or supernatural elements that incorporate horror themes and/or a gloomy atmosphere. In all, the genre is hard to pin down with any specific...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 (not in post, confirmed on Twitter from the publisher.) Payment: Flash short story (up to 250 words) – $25, Short story (up to 2500 words) – $100, Long form (up to 7500 words) – $200, Comics – $75 Theme: Queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors Decoded is a story-a-day anthology of queer science fiction, fantasy, and horror by queer authors. We will feature writing and comics released to subscribers every day of Pride month. If you want to get an email when subscriptions become available, please sign up for our email list. We are both avid readers, and as such, we welcome a wide array of subject matter. Everything from experimental comics to thinly-veiled fanfiction to good old formulaic genre is right up our alley, so don’t disqualify yourself – submit! Our only rule for the month is that you’re a queer creator – and that you bring your A-game! The point is to create a space for queer folks to build community as fiction writers and comic creators. We seek to center the voices of those most marginalized within queer communities. We want to facilitate works with queer themes, writers, and audiences. If that sounds like you, read more below about logistics and how to submit your story. Fees paid to authors Flash short story (up to 250 words) – $25 Short story (up to 2500 words) – $100 Long form (up to 7500 words) – $200 Comics – $75 Fees will be paid via PayPal. Submitting stories Please email your submission to [email protected] with the title “DECODED SUBMISSION – ” by midnight on April 30th. Attach your submission in a word document with 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced with one inch margins (or something similar). For comics, email us the best way...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $25 AU Theme: Science Fiction We're looking for fantastic fantasy, super-duper science fiction,  Wonderfulliy Weird, and Macabre. ​ Think classic outer-worldly.  Think swashbuckling adventure.  Think stuff that would give Lovecraft the shivers.  Mad professors, demons of the dark, heroes, monsters, giant robots...  We could could go all day.  You get the idea. ​ New, unpublished writers are welcome! ​ Think you've got the chops?  Here are the rules: Under 18? No problem. Just send a note from your teacher or guardian with your submission, telling us it's ok for you to write for us. No gratuitous sex or excessive profanity.  No nasty sex of any kind unless it's inherent to the story, and not glorified.  Gore is fine if it's written well.  Hate speech, or material we might find offensive is not. ​ We pay a flat rate of $25 AU per original piece of fiction.  That’s low right now, but Rufo’s Dog is still a pup.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to pay more soon.  The best way for that to happen is for you to you tell all your friends to buy a copy and or subscribe, then we’ll have more moolah to throw at the next issue. We pay a flat rate of $100AU for any original colour artwork that makes the cover, and $25AU for any other artwork.  For commissioned work, payment is subject to negotiation with the individual artists. ​ For contributors with an Australian bank account, payments made via bank transfer are possible.  For international contributors, we prefer to pay via PayPal.  We do not pay via Western Union or similar services which charge payment fees.  WU charges $15 AU per transaction, and we just can't afford that. ​ Rufo's Dog will also provide a password and login for the full zine, valid for 12 months, for each contributer we publish. ​ No...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $20 or 2 paperback copies for US residents, $20 for everyone else around the globe Theme: Time Travel Get ready! Smoking Pen Press will be issuing a Call for Submissions for a short story anthology for our Read on the Run series. We do not yet have a title for this anthology, but the theme is Time Travel.  Sci-Fi, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure …  Yes! We welcome stories involving all types and aspects of time travel. Multiple submissions accepted. Simultaneous submissions permitted, but please let us know immediately if your submission is accepted elsewhere. Reprints are accepted as long as all rights have reverted to you; please identify your submission as a reprint when you send it in.  Note: all selected stories (including reprints) will be edited before publication. The Call for Submissions will be open from April 1-April 30, 2020. Stories should be between 1,200 and 6,000 words. Submissions should be polished, (ie, not first draft) in Word (.doc or .docx) format, and written in English. Send to  [email protected] as an attachment. Stories submitted before April 1 or after April 30 will not be considered.  All stories submitted during the open Call will be acknowledged within three days of receipt, and authors of stories submitted during the open Call will be notified of a decision by June 1, 2020. There is no submission fee. As with all previous Read on the Run titles, this title will be published in both digital and paperback form. US and Canada authors of stories that are selected will receive their choice of a one-time payment of $20 USD, or 2 copies of the paperback; non-US/Canada authors will receive their choice of a one-time payment of $20 USD, or one copy of the paperback. For more information —  email us at [email protected] Remember: Submissions accepted: April...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: 1 cent per word, a flat rate of $20 if under 2,000 words. Theme: Speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre. The Overcast is currently open to submissions three times a year, during the months of January, April, and October. (Note we are no longer reading during July.  Our summers have just gotten too hectic.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Thank you for understanding.)   What We Want We are interested in speculative fiction, whatever that means to you, be it Science Fiction, Fantasy, Steampunk, Magical Realism, Slipstream, or an as-yet-unnamed genre.  Anything that looks at the world and life from an unexpected angle.  We want the original vision of William Gibson.  The magic and beauty of Erin Morgenstern.  The uncompromising voice of Margaret Atwood.  The technical brilliance of Ted Chiang.  We want to read stories that transport us to places that we've never imagined.  We want to still be thinking about a story days after reading it.  Be original.  Be amazing. We are based in Portland, OR, and shine a spotlight on writers hailing from, living in, or connected in some way to the Pacific Northwest, as loosely defined by the bioregion of Cascadia.  We feel there is an exceptionally strong talent pool of speculative writers in Cascadia, and we want to celebrate and promote them to a larger audience.  Roughly half the stories we publish are by PNW writers.  That said, we are not exclusive, and the other half of our stories come from authors all over the globe.  So no matter where you live, send us your stories.  If they make us laugh, cry, or turn cartwheels of astonishment, preferably all at once, we will find a place for them on...

Deadline: April 30th, 2020 Payment: $25 and 2 contributors copies Theme: Rebellious pixies and fae Submission deadline has been extended to April 30th, 2020! We are seeking short stories of up to 10,000 words that deal with the theme of rebellious pixies and fae. Please limit your topic to the mythical beings commonly described as fae (do not submit stories of mermaids, trolls, werewolves, vampires, zombies, unicorns, dragons, or other legendary creatures).   Accepted submissions will be notified via email. All accepted authors of the anthology will receive a one-time payment of $25 and two free copies of the published anthology in either ebook or print format.   Please send your submission to [email protected] as an attachment with the word “submission” in the subject line of the email. Multiple and simultaneous submissions are accepted, and there is no reading fee. Estimated response time is up to eight weeks. Via: Corrugated Sky.

Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: $20 Open for submissions from the first of May, 2019 until the first of May, 2020. After much back and forth about what the third volume would focus on, we have realized that all roads were leading back to the Rome (as it were) of Folk Horror, and we are immensely excited to explore the fields and hollows, tenements and seashores, where the notions of folk tradition abut and subsume the contemporary. Where the past and the now collide. We do hope you’ll join us. GENERAL GUIDELINES THINKING HORROR is a journal dedicated to exploring horror in literature exclusively. We do not publish articles or essays concerning any other medium (such as films, television, or games). The unofficial theme of the literature journal is “Why Horror?” We are looking for non-fiction articles about the genre written by the people who generally think most about it. Interested contributors must submit a short proposal to the editors outlining the proposed topic. It needn’t be long, just so long as it communicates the topic and the goals of the essay. This will help prevent repetition, or work on something that ultimately does not fit the journal’s intentions. We are not accepting interview proposals at this time. When imagining ideas for the literature journal, please keep in mind the idea of ‘timelessness’. In other words, material that would date the journal isn’t encouraged, unless a strong case can be made for it. The hope/goal of the journal is to have its issues remain releveant in perpetuity. We do not publish articles or essays concerning any other medium (such as films, television, or games). The sorts of articles we envision/encourage: • analysis of specific authors and how their work illuminates the genre as a whole • discussions of movements like Splatterpunk and New Weird • essays on the different facets of written horror (i.e. Nightmare Horror, Folk...

Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: 1c per word Theme: Note: Texas authors only TEXAS’S 1ST AND ONLY HORROR ANTHOLOGY—Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers—is currently accepting submissions for Volume 5 (RK5). THE GUIDELINES REMAIN THE SAME: Texas tales by Texas writers. Stories must take place in Texas and be written by native or naturalized Texans. Be original. Be scary. Be weird, wild, wacky and/or insane. But be scary. SUBMISSIONS SHOULD BE BETWEEN 2,500 AND 10,000 WORDS IN LENGTH. We’d like to pay more, but for this edition of Road Kill we’ll be shelling out one cent per word. That means a 10,000-word story will receive a check for $100 USD. We are buying first publication rights. Stories must be original, never before published tales designed to haunt, shock and terrify readers in a big way. Contributors will be free to publish the story as a reprint elsewhere after two years. RK5 will be compiled and edited by award-winning author and Road Kill co-creator, E. R. Bills, and published by HELLBOUND BOOKS PUBLISHING. Send your best, finely polished yarns to erbillsthinks at gmail.com. Include ‘RK5 Submission’ in the subject line. Include your current address and phone number. Submission deadline is May 1, 2020 But submitting sooner rather later, earns you brownie points. PLEASE read and adhere to our submission guidelines. * Word format saved in .doc, or .docx * 12 pt times new roman * single-spaced * 2.5K-10K word count * Write ‘RK5 Submission’ along with your name and story title in the header of your submission *The body of your submission email will be considered the cover letter. Attach your story to email. *Make sure that you check your manuscript for grammar and punctuation. NO REPRINTS—ORIGINAL UNPUBLISHED WORKS ONLY.      Payment—1c per word for first rights

Deadline: May 1st, 2020 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: The door was locked. We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually three to four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff, but the actual journal is not a contest in the traditional sense. Fiction: All stories must be written with the first line provided. The line cannot be altered in...