Events

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: 20% of the total profit will be paid for each accepted story (at quarterly intervals; if more than five stories are accepted, they will be placed in another anthology in this series. We’d dislike reducing your pay) The cashier who hands you your change as if bills are foreign and coins are a tiny mystery, cast in circle, is a fay; he’s still ginger with the silver coins, expecting iron. He gives pennies, mostly. Bridge trolls are misplaced in the city, shoving themselves between the homeless (there are no goats; they eat dogs now, mostly). A siren in fishnets pouts on her corner, her whispers drawing in more dinner than her cleavage. In the subway station three old women, six blind eyes among them, sell doilies to the tune of a jangling cup; the first spins the thread, the second allots them to your days, the third inexorably binds it to you. Avoid them. But there are others. So many others. The son of Zeus is among the WWF. The daughter of Fu Manchu rules much of the world. Not with bombs or blades or the ever-popular dacoits, but with the subtle weapons of her age: treaties and laws and, most frightening of all, accountants. Sherlock Holmes is dead, replaced by fellows with all of his name and none of his talent. Cell phones are better than talent, aren’t they? We seek stories that take something out of the past, be it mythological or fictive or horrific, and show us how it adapts to the present. Show us why the old myths are still relevant, show them stepping into our lives and disarraying every little thing we tell ourselves. We’re open to everything from urban fantasy to magical realism to golden age detection to noir...

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: We pay five cents per word up to 5,000 words, with 30% paid on acceptance and the remainder to be paid after the complete manuscript has been accepted by the publisher. Stoker Award-winning anthologist Del Howison (Dark Delicacies 1-3, The Book of Lists: Horror) and internationally bestselling urban fantasy author Joseph Nassise (Eyes To See, By the Blood of Heroes) have joined forces with horror Grand Master Clive Barker to bring you back to the city of Midian and the creatures of the darkness known as the Nightbreed! Tor Books will be publishing MIDIAN UNMADE: TALES OF CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED in simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions in the fall of 2014 and we’re looking for original horror and dark fantasy stories that fit the guidelines below. MIDIAN UNMADE: TALES OF CLIVE BARKER’S NIGHTBREED We’ve all felt it at one time or another – that sense of unbelonging, of being isolated, possibly even shunned because of our differences; not for anything that we’ve done but for simply being who we are. We’ve all felt it – in childhood and adolescence, certainly, but even as adults as well, when the winds of change blow through our lives and we discover that those things we thought immutable are, in reality, anything but. When this happens we all become like changeling children, at odds with those around us as well as with ourselves, looking to distant horizons for fresh comprehension of our purpose, sometimes even of our very nature. The fiction of the fantastic literally overflows with metaphors for times like these, though none more so than the Nightbreed, those freaks and grotesques and shapeshifters extraordinaire that inhabit the hidden necropolis of Midian and make it their own in the pages of Clive Barker’s CABAL. The Nightbreed are...

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Miseria’s Chorale is a planned anthology of horror short stories comprising the best in the genre from both established and new voices. This will be the first volume in what is set to be an annual release. The topics of your stories can be far-ranging, however originality is key. We also encourage writers to push the envelope. Nothing is off-limits. We are particularly interested in dark, atmospheric literary fiction that shows a proficiency in language and tone. Terrify us. Challenge the boundaries of horror. Word Count: 2000-10,000 words. Closing Date: 31 September 2013. Reprints: No. Multiple Submissions: Yes. Simultaneous Submissions: Please do inform us if your story gets accepted elsewhere before the end of the reading period. Payment: This anthology is a for-the-love market. Payment will be exposure. Rights: Forgotten Tomb Press request One Time Print and Electronic Publishing Rights for each story published. How To Submit: Submit it as a .doc or .rtf attachment to [email protected] with the subject line “Miseria’s Chorale”. Include the word count and a brief biography in the body of the email.

Deadline: September 30th 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word December 2013: Family Traditions "Ah Christmas…warm and rosy time. The hot wine steams, the Yule log roars, and we're the fat that's in the fire." Geoffrey, The Lion in Winter—Act I Obviously, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine probably aren't the best example for family traditions—particularly when the biggest tradition they shared was warring with each other, but we couldn't resist giving our Christmas issue a bit of spice. While we realize that we'll be getting a plethora of stories about murdering in-laws over the holiday turkey—BUT we are still holding out hope that we won't get Norman Rockwell in space. Family traditions can happen anywhere—or anywhen—so take the turkey and run with it. CALL BEGINS ON JULY 1, 2013 CALL ENDS ON SEPTEMBER 30, 2013 Penumbra is looking for original, unpublished stories of 3500 words or less. We prefer that writers use Standard Manuscript Format for submissions. (You can read this article by Chuck Rothman on the SFWA site on preparing a manuscript for submission if you are unfamiliar with SMF.) Please send your stories as file attachments in .rtf or .doc formats only. Please include a cover letter in the body of your email, with the manuscript title, you pen name if applicable, the exact word count of the story not including title and byline, and a publication history if applicable. Penumbra is a professional rates paying publisher, paying 5 cents per word. We will evaluate poetry submissions for each issue. We will also consider previously published stories with rights reverted to the author. Penumbra has multiple issue calls open at the same time, therefore it is imperative that you include the issue theme in the subject line of your email. Submissions that do not include this information risk...

Deadline September 30th 2013 Payment: 2¢ USD/word We like things Martian: the Red Planet, H.G. Wells, Bradbury, Robinson, Burroughs, Roman God of War, Yellowknife Bay, Marvin ... Reading Period: August 1 - September 30, 2013 Writer Deadline: September 30, 2013 Publication Date: December 1, 2013 If you’re interested in having your work read and getting paid a little something for it, then submit your story today. Third Flatiron Publishing are a specialist digital publisher and can help you distribute your work to a truly global audience. Third Flatiron Publishing is an e-publishing venture based in Boulder, Colorado. We are looking for submissions to our quarterly themed online anthologies. Our focus is on science fiction and fantasy and anthropological fiction. We’re looking for tightly plotted tales in out-of-the-ordinary scenarios. Please send us short stories that revolve around age-old questions and have something illuminating to tell us as human beings. Fantastical situations and creatures, exciting dialog, irony, mild horror, and wry humor are all welcome. Stories should be between 1,500 and 3,000 words. Role models for the type of fiction we want include Kurt Vonnegut, Arthur C. Clarke, Dan Simmons, Connie Willis, Vernor Vinge, and Ken Kesey. We want to showcase some of the best new shorts available today. See the "Submissions" tab for preferred formats, etc. For each anthology, we will also accept a few very short humor pieces on the order of the "Shouts and Murmurs" feature in The New Yorker Magazine (600 words or so). These can be written from a first-person perspective or can be mini-essays that tell people what they ought to do, how to do something better, or explain why something is like it is, humorously. An SF/Fantasy bent is preferred.

Deadline: Contributor's Copy copy, and 25% of proceeds to be distributed among contributors Payment: September 30th, 2013 An anthology of the aberrant Edited by Christine Morgan To be published in 2014 by Daverana Enterprises What we’re looking for: Short fiction, poetry, or non-fiction written darkly! Send us the indescribable, the transgressive, the controversial, the surreal, the darkety-dark, the gothic-as-hell! Traditional horror, horror targets, and stuff that could have come right out of a horror writer’s nightmare, or a metal album! Send us your “nods” to the genre’s greats! Send us arachnid domiciles, apocalyptic weather systems, obfuscated oculars, ghostly periodicals, intentions of scandal-sheets, archives of nameless dreads! Are you a woman? LGBT? A fan-fiction hack? Conservative? Christian? Fine by us; we welcome authors of all kinds because, here, it’s the story that counts! We’re far less concerned with subject matter (even erotica, or extreme stuff like self-cannibalism!) than we are with good writing, a sense of humor, the ability to handle criticism and work with an editor, and just generally being personable and having fun. Basically, if you’re reading this, you probably already have an idea of what we’re looking for, and why. Bonus points for stories set in, mentioning, loosely tied to, or in some way involving a ‘Fossil Lake,’ however you choose to interpret it. Deadline: September 30, 2013 Word Limit: up to 5000 Compensation: comp copy, and 25% of proceeds to be distributed among contributors Standard manuscript format preferred; Times New Roman or Courier 12-point Send submissions attached as a .doc or .rtf to: [email protected]

Deadline: September 30th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Revenge! Have you ever wanted to get back at someone for something? Here's your chance. Immortalize them and their wrong doings with words... Remember that 7th grade teacher who failed you because she was having a bad-hair semester? Or how about that low-life grub who stole the promotion you worked so hard for because he was willing to brown-nose and you weren't?? Or worst of all, that reviewer who read your story and gave it a one star review because your MC was named Martha, and that's their mother-in-law's name??? Yeah, we understand how it went down. All those wrongs perpetrated against you were no fault of your own... And they deserve to be righted! Or written! Do it with class, style, and an air of arrogance that would make a peacock blush. Have at 'em folks! Accepting Submissions: September 1 - 30, 2013 Submission guidelines:Accepting Submissions - September 1 - 30, 2013Sirens Call Publications is currently accepting submissions for our bi-monthly e-zine, focusing on edgy & dark fiction including Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Suspense genres. We welcome short stories (1000 - 2500 words), flash fiction (300 - 500 words), and dark poetry. Artwork, photography and literary reviews are also accepted. Interviews with both up and coming or established authors will also be featured. Take advantage of this superb opportunity to gain exposure for your work and email [email protected] with your submissions, or contacting [email protected] with any queries. Ad space is available for books, web sites and organizations supporting the literary or artistic community. A full page ad is $25. Please contact [email protected] for information. We ask for one time publication rights only; stories that are previously published elsewhere are accepted provided that you hold the rights to them. Via: Sirens Call Publications.

Deadline: September 30th, 2013 Payment: Exposure Only The Little Magazine of Magnificent Monsters. Micro (100-500 words), Flash (500-1K) and Short Stories (1k up to 2500 words). Fantasy/Steampunk. Dragons, dinos (in unusual settings and circumstances), sea serpents, basilisks, etc. All with the added awesomeness of being man-made…clockwork monsters made of metal or other substances. For instance, a living dragon made of jade. UPDATE: Deadline: September 30th, 2013. Please do NOT format your stories in blog-format style. Format it as you would for a regular print submission. Formatting blog-style (no paragraph indents, spaces between paragraphs) causes me horrible headaches when I try to load the stories onto a post. Spaces between paragraphs adds more than one extra space on the post, due to the HTML horror known as a div tag. I truly hope the son of a bitch who came up with that rots in hell. WordPress automatically inserts a crapload of div tags whenever it encounters space, adding even more space. (I know, WTF? Right?) I am a college student and I don’t have time to take out extra space, which would really make your stories look horrible if left in. But please DO indent paragraphs. If you don’t, I won’t know where new paragraphs begin and will have to reject your story just because of that. Please include with your submission a 50-100 word author bio. You can include a brief publication history and any web/social media links you’d like readers to know. For the subject line, follow the directions listed for each issue on the Call for Submissionspage. The basic format is: NAME OF ISSUE-TITLE OF YOUR STORY. In all caps. Easier to sort out the junk mail that way. If you have a question for the editor (me), put QUESTION in all caps in the subject line. If...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: This anthology pays $100/story and 2-Copies of the Anthology CY Canis Majoris is the largest known star in the Universe. If this massive body were in the exact location as our own Sun, its outer edge would stretch to the area where Jupiter orbits. A star with this mass would have an inhabitable zone as large as our entire solar system, if not much larger. With this premise, imagine the worlds which could orbit such a body. Then imagine the beings who could inhabit those same bodies. The Worlds of CY Canis Majoris is not a science fiction anthology, but an anthology covering all speculative fiction and its sub genres. If there are beings on other worlds, they surely have all the issues we experience on Earth... More information about CY Canis Majoris can readily be found on the web. Word Count: 5000 to 10,000 All submissions should be thoroughly edited, before submitting. We are not English majors (Ok, one of us used to be, lol... but you get the point.) and will not spend a lot of time rewriting a submission which obviously hasn't been read for typo and grammatical errors. All manuscripts should be in Microsoft Word and should be double spaced with an extra space between each paragraph. This extra space should be done in Word, through your paragraph settings, not by you actually hitting enter twice. There should be no indention at the start of each paragraph. All emails should have "CY Canis Majoris" in the subject box. The submission period will remain open until October 2013. (This anthology pays $100/story and 2-Copies of the Anthology)

Deadline: Oct. 1st 2013 Payment: $10 Our payment for stories is $10. Our general rules are: (1) We hew to a PG standard and (2) nothing that makes our editors sick. (3)Please put in your "subject" line the title of the antho for which you intend your story. Please read our Style Book before you send us a story. The link to it is next to this Writers' Guidelines link at the top of the opening screen. NOTE FOR 2013 ANTHOLOGIES: Since so many people are at least a bit superstitious about the number "13," and we're going to be stuck with it for a whole year, let's have some fun with it. By adding the word "Lucky" to our 2013 titles, our writers can add an element of "luck" into their stories. Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows? Associate Editor, David Perlmutter Send stories to him at lucky [email protected] THEME: It's Christmas and it's lucky -- or unlucky? -- and sf/f/h. Maximum word length, 4000 words. Deadline Oct. 1, 2013 (or when book is filled, meaning 20 stories accepted.) Reading period Oct 1 - 31 Formatting period Nov 1 - Nov. 15 Publication date Nov 15, 2013 Before submitting make sure to read the Guidelines!

Deadline: August 1 - October 1, 2013 Payment: free trade paperback copy of the book, plus a $5 advance on royalties. Contributors will also be able to purchase more print copies at a 50% discount on the cover price Mummies, Zombies, Vampires, Ghosts... if it's dead and still getting around, we're interested in it. Stories should be set in the winter months. Holiday stories are welcome... Hanukkah, Christmas, Solstice, Kwanzaa, etc... but they should be winter holidays. We're seeking stories that are 3000 - 8000 words in length (firm). Query about reprints. We will accept multiple submissions, but not simultaneous submissions. Open submission period: August 1 - October 1, 2013. All contributors will receive a free trade paperback copy of the book, plus a $5 advance on royalties. Contributors will also be able to purchase more print copies at a 50% discount on the cover price. We're seeking first world rights in English to publish in print and electronic format for 12 months, beginning on the date of publication. Please see our Guidelines and Payment page for further information on the rights we ask for and the compensation we offer. Publisher's note: Mystery and Horror is a market that welcomes LBGTQ, multiethnic,multinational, nontraditional, and unusual fiction. We are concerned with well-written stories involving well-developed characters.

Deadline: October 1st Payment: Exposure Only Quick Snippets: Genre -- Horror Word Count -- 2k to 4k Payment -- None Story Status -- Unpublished Submission Period -- July 1st through October 1st (not before) Illustrations -- Please Reading Period -- October 1st through December 1st Response Time -- 30 days after end of submission period Publication Target -- First Quarter 2014 (or earlier) STORYLINE For Mother of Gothic Angels, Razor Thin Studios is looking for tales of horror with a Gothic mood. Angels is of course the primary goal, but beyond that it is up to the writer. The only things we ask is that the tales are dark brooding and show the darkness that resides within the Gothic hearts of the angels being portrayed. Finally, make your angels unique, genuine – no need to bring up Constantine or Gabriel rich tales as they are, what they are … used. FORMATTING We prefer standard manuscript formatting (good example: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). FIRST PRINTING RIGHTS Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint, which severely limits the number of markets that will accept it, and drastically reduces the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for no and/or a token payment, is really what you want to do. Format MS Word (.rtf .doc .docx) WORD COUNT Our target is ten to fifteen short stories composed of two- to four-thousand words each. We may accept slightly longer or shorter stories if they appeal to...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: Electronic copy of the book and $10 OR One paperback contributor's copy Yup… it's a bizarro anthology… but what the heck is bizarro? To us, it's intellectual and poetic freedom. It's about exploring the limits of literature and creativity. It can be argued that many classics are bizarro: George Orwell's Animal Farm has talking animals that take over a farm, and Kafka's Metamorphosis features a suffering protagonist who has spontaneously become a cockroach. For more on this visit the bottom of our Submissions page. If you're still unsure what bizarro is, we suggest checking out this article about the topic. Please don't use Wikipedia for your definition. In addition, you can peruse the library of books already published by Bizarro Pulp Press. Here's the article by Mike Klein at Flavorwire. The artwork for this anthology was provided by Alan M. Clark. How to submit: Format/Content: Please send submissions to [email protected] Your query must include a brief synopsis of the story (200 words maximum). We are doing this to help narrow down the non-relevant submissions. Word count must be between 3500 and 7000 words. Please query for longer works, but use professional discretion in this matter. Georgia font, 12 pt, double space .Doc or .rtf files only Labeling: The first page of your document must have ONLY the title of the story. Your biographical information, including name and word count, are included AT THE BOTTOM of the document. (we explain this strange request further down in this post) Please refrain from using an Email Address that may give our editors a clue toward who you might be. We prefer receiving submissions blindly if we can help it. Deadline: August 1st-October 1st Acceptances/rejections will not be mailed out until after the anthology has closed. Payment: You will...

Deadline: October 1st 2013 Payment: 2 cents/word on publication Mythic Delirium is an online and e-book venue for fiction and poetry that ranges through science fiction, fantasy, horror, interstitial and cross-genre territory— we love blurred boundaries and tropes turned on their heads. We are interested in work that demonstrates ambition, that defies traditional approaches to genre, that introduces readers to the legends of other cultures, that re-evaluates the myths of old from a modern perspective, that twists reality in unexpected ways. We are committed to diversity, and are open to and encourage submissions from people of every race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, political affiliation and religious belief. We publish 12 short stories and 24 poems a year. Our quarterly ebooks in PDF, EPUB and MOBI format, published in July, October, January, and April, will each contain three stories and six poems. We will also publish one story and two poems on our website each month. Short stories: We are seeking short stories of up to 4,000 words. Electronic submissions only. Word limit firm. No unsolicited reprints. No simultaneous submissions. No multiple submissions. Please use the words “fiction submission” in the e-mail subject line. Stories should be sent in standard manuscript format as .rtf or .doc attachments. Payment is 2 cents/word on publication. Poems: You may submit up to 6 poems at a time of any length. Electronic submissions only. No unsolicited reprints. No simultaneous submissions. Please use the words “poetry submission” in the e-mail subject line. Poems may be included in the e-mail or sent as .rtf or .doc attachments. Payment is a $5 flat fee on publication. All submissions should be sent to mythicdeliriumgmailcom.

Deadline: October 2nd 2013 Payment:$10 per story accepted Mocha Memoirs Press is pleased to announce that a new horror and dark fantasy anthology is now open for submissions. Please read all of the information provided. Submission Deadline and Publication Schedule:We will remain open for submissions from August 12-September 12, with an expectation that the anthology will be published by October 2. What We Want In the Bloodstream will be an open themed dark fantasy and horror anthology of 31 short stories, released as a digital book and as a paperback book. Your submission must contain elements of dark fantasy or horror to be considered. The subject matter is up to you. We want beautiful prose and originality wrapped up in the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived. What We Don’t Want We don’t want slasher horror or splatterpunk for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain . Stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will be an extremely hard sell. Violence is fine, but gratuitous gore isn’t. We don’t mind sex if its integral to the plot, but we don’t want an adult-film script. Other than that, use your imagination to make us cringe and tremble. Submissions ▪Submit your work to mmphorror(at)gmail(dot)com with Submission: your story title_your last name in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. Submissions sent in the body of the email will not be read. ▪ We prefer to see submissions using something approaching Standard Manuscript Format, which can be found here: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html The only exception is that italics MUST appear as they will be used; no underlining.  Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, pen name (if using one), story title with word count, address, website or blog, and any professional publication credits you think...

Deadline: October 4th, 2013 Payment: $10 and audio format publishing for the winner geophagy : noun the practice of eating earthy matter, especially clay or chalk. Some people eat dirt. Yes, really. It is weird, it is widespread, and it is not well-understood. Which for our money makes it perfect fodder for this month's flash fiction contest. We're looking for a story of no more than 1,000 words that explores this strange custom. The story does not necessarily need to focus on real examples of geophagy, though it is worth remembering that the best lies stories contain some kernel of truth. The deadline for entry is October 4th of 2013. Send entries to [email protected] and include "Eaters of Earth" in the subject line. Word documents are very much preferred. The winner of the contest will receive ten dollars and the story will produced in audio form and published on the Human Echoes Podcast. Good luck, and happy writing! Via: Human Echoes Podcast.

Deadline: $25.00, payable upon publicatio Payment: October 15th 2013 Submit to Emby Press Reading Period: 3/15/13 through 10/15/13 Tentative Publication Date: December 2013 Payment: $25.00, payable upon publication for First Worldwide Print and Electronic rights. Word Limits: 2000 to 10,000 words. Submissions will only be accepted as DOC (Word) or RTF formats, submitted through our submissions link. Genres Accepted: Steampunk Original, unpublished work only. No reprints, please! No simultaneous subs (submitting to emby and another press at the same time). No multiple subs, please (keeping in mind that I will notify all authors as soon as possible if a story is declined so that they may submit that story to another market and hopefully submit another story to our book). Please read and follow our submission guidelines. Steampunk and monster hunting; allow me to submit that a more perfect union has never been. Give us an undersea expedition set after marine reptile remnants of the Mesozoic Era, airships engaged in a moonlit campaign against murderous lycanthropes or even a young inventor finally succeeding in the trapping of a ghost… Stories may be set in the past, present or future. I hesitate to say more, lest I disturb the turning of ideas that have already begun in the gears of the Steampunk’s minds. Suffice it to say that I’m looking for all new, unpublished material. Any further inquiries may be made directly to the editor (myself) at [email protected] [via: Emby Press.

Submission Window: September 1st 2013 - October 15, 2013 Payment: 5 cents per word and contributor's copy What we are looking for? Short fiction 2,000 to 4,000 words Book reviews (classic & contemporary) 500-750 words each (click HERE for suggested titles) Film reviews (classic & contemporary) 500-750 words each (click HERE for suggested titles) Poetry (100 words or so) Non-fiction (on topic) 500 to 3,000 words Simultaneous submission are acceptable (with notification) Sorry, NO reprints or FAN FICTION Topics? Winter 2014 - Strange Among the Familiar 15-JAN-14 Release Date Payment? In most cases payment will be 5 cents per word within 60 days of acceptance and a contributor's copy within 30 days of publication. Exceptions may be made for work outside the word count parameters. In return we ask for first worldwide print and digital rights for SIX (6) months from publication. After six months from publication, all rights revert. Winter 2014 - September 1 - October 15, 2013 Decisions by December 1, 2013 The Devil's in the Details Jamais Vu is a new pro journal from Post Mortem Press, set to feature the absolute best in dark fiction, poetry, factual morsels, criticism, and more. The title comes from the French--The strange among the familiar--and is as close to a "theme" as we're looking for. Confused? Think Richard Matheson, Jack Finney, Neil Gaiman. Specifically, we're a horror/thriller market, but are open to crossing genres, given that one of the crossed genres is horror/thriller (no western-romance, or science fiction-mystery, okay?) Language and violence are not a problem if both components are integral to the plot, dedicating 3,000 words of your 4,000 story to the graphic depiction of human mutilation would have a hard time. The tropes--vampires, zombies, serial killers, werewolves--will have also struggle to get noticed unless the writer presents them...

Deadline: October 15th 2013 Payment: Exposure Only General Deadline for general submissions with any horror theme is October 15th 2013 (midnight, GMT). Submissions received AFTER this time will be considered for future editions. Click HERE for full submission guidelines. Special Call As the summer recedes and the days grow shorter…and darker…and colder, the longest night approaches. Massacre Magazine is looking for winter solstice themed stories for its first edition. Can your words chill Jack Frost to the bone? Will your demons drive an icicle through the heart of Krampus? Whether your story is about the longest night itself, rituals gone awry, Hell freezing over, or creatures that lurk beneath our frozen surface, we want to see it. Deadline for winter solstice themed stories is October 31st 2013 (midnight, GMT). Word count: 1000 – 5000. In the subject line of your email please put: SOLSTICE/YOUR NAME/TITLE OF YOUR WORK. For complete guidelines click HERE. It is our aim to release Issue 1 with the winter solstice content around December 1st 2013. However, we are looking for great writing and if this means we have to extend that date we will do so. We will provide further information if you are accepted and before you sign a contract. Guidelines What do we need? We do not accept submissions by post or courier. You must submit to us by email and the address is: [email protected] 1. In the subject line of your email please put: MAGSUB/YOUR NAME/TITLE OF YOUR WORK 2. Attach your work as a .doc .docx or .rtf attachment ONLY. Emails with other kinds of attachment (eg. Zipped files) will be deleted. Sorry, but this is for internet security. Manuscripts should be formatted in 12 point Times New Roman, double spaced with one inch margins. Please indent paragraphs do not TAB;...

Deadline: October 31, 2013 Prize: a comprehensive round of edits and manuscript assessment. The two runners-up are each awarded a round of comprehensive edits and assessment of a short story or novella-length work. The winner, runners-up and finalists then have the option to be included in the short story anthology to be released mid-2014 by Dark Continents. Authors whose stories are included in the anthology will receive US$20 flat rate payment plus one paperback contributor copy. As the editor of the SA HorrorFest Bloody Parchment short story competition, I am pleased to announce that I’ve opened submissions for the 2013 short story competition. For those of you who’re curious to find out more about our previous finalists and winners, do consider picking up copies of our existing anthologies: Volume 1 (free download) Bloody Parchment: Hidden Things, Lost Things and Other Stories Bloody Parchment: The Root Cellar and Other Stories The aim of the Bloody Parchment short story competition is to help develop talented, fresh voices in the horror, dark fantasy and weird genres, by offering a platform and signal boost for finalists. Every year we assemble a kick-ass panel of judges who are all movers and shakers in the publishing industry, with such notables as Sarah Lotz, Joe Vaz, Cat Hellisen and others who have helped in the selection process in the past. While we’re yet to announce which publisher will be picking up where eKhaya left off, there is a fantastic first prize up for grabs for the winner: a comprehensive round of edits and manuscript assessment. The two runners-up are each awarded a round of comprehensive edits and assessment of a short story or novella-length work. The winner, runners-up and finalists then have the option to be included in the short story anthology to be released mid-2014 by...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Prize: All kinds of stuff, read below! Note: This is for full lengths and novellas Want to make your dream come true while writing about everyone’s worst nightmare? Then read on. Assent Publishing’s Bad Day Books imprint is announcing the 2013 Assent Publishing “ROGUE WRITING” Contest. Horror, thrillers, suspense,, apocalypse, and mystery submissions welcome. The rules of the road are listed below for an opportunity to lead the 2013 Assent Publishing “ROGUE WRITING” pack. Got mayhem? CONTEST RULES “ROGUE WRITING” Contest submissions accepted from July 1, 2013 through midnight (U.S. Eastern Time), October 31, 2013 All subgenres of horror, thriller, suspense, and apocalyptic fiction accepted Manuscript must be complete Word counts accepted – full length (70,000 to 120,000 words) and novella (40,000 – 50,000 words) You must note “2013 ROGUE WRITING Contest” and book title in subject line of submission email One “ROGUE WRITING” contest submission per author Follow ALL Bad Day Books Imprint Submission Guidelines http://assentpublishing.com/BadDaySubmissions.aspx All submissions will be judged by Assent Publishing Imprint Editors and Acquisitions Editors “ROGUE WRITING” Grand Prize Winner will receive: DarkHallway Assent Publishing Contract including all benefits offered through Assent Publishing – professional editing, professional cover design, print and ebook formatting, distribution, intense marketing training through the AssentAcademy, and the unparalleled Assent Publishing commitment to author success A ROGUE WRITING GRAND PRIZE WINNER Promotional Announcement Blitz promoting the winner and their book ($2,000 value) 50 FREE print copies of their book 10 Months (ten, 2 hour sessions) of One-on-One Author Marketing Coaching with Author Success Coach and Dean of the Assent Academy, Deborah Riley-Magnus ($2,000 value) An Opportunity to Speak as the Rogue Expert in their own Assent Publishing ROGUE WRITING GRAND PRIZE WINNER blog for one full year $100 toward membership in a writers organization or guild of...

Deadline: October 31, 2013 Payment: Royalties will be paid every six months via Paypal or check. 70% of all revenue will be paid out to the 100 contributors in even denominations. We are seeking horror tales no longer than 1,000 words (flash is acceptable). Royalties will be paid every six months via Paypal or check. 70% of all revenue will be paid out to the 100 contributors in even denominations. There are no limitations on subject matter so long as there is a strong horror/suspenseful element. Once tales are accepted we will contact you for royalty payment information. Cover art will be commissioned by illustrator Steve Wenta. Please send submissions to: [email protected] with the subject "Delicious Malicious: 100 Tales of Horror". The submission deadline for the first book is October 31, 2013. Delicious Malicious is intended to be a series. All 100 authors accepted will automatically be invited to submit additional stories for "Delicious Malicious 2: Another 100 Tales of Horror", "Delicious Malicious 3: 100 Tales of Horror", etc. Each author will then receive their royalty share every six months for each book in the series, cumulatively perpetually. The goal will be to have each book in the series feature each of the same authors in exactly the same order. The goal is to initiate an ongoing series which will gain a very large following and extend over many years. Reprints are acceptable.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy We’ve all heard the stories of the ancient Gods, the Titans, the cryptozoological oddities. We know their names by heart, Jersey Devil, Nessie, Mothman. Really… well, we’ve heard all we need to hear about them, right? How about some new legends? ThunderDome Press is preparing a short story collection of NEW myths and urban legends. We don’t just want spooky tales, we want you to make local history. Pick a city (preferably one that hasn’t been written to death) and tell us an original tale so fantastic that all of the locals already know it’s true. It can be hyper-realistic or paranormal. It can be the focus of the story, or just the dread that influences what happens in the tale. Make our skin crawl, make us question reality, but most of all, make us believe. Legend: True Stories From a Friend of a Friend Edited by Chris Deal & Michael Paul Gonzalez Word Limit: 5,000. Deadline: October 31st (spooky!) Pay: $25 + 1 Contributor's Copy [via: Thunderdome Magazine.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Prizes: $25-$100 usd   The Story Quest Short Story Contest at a glimpse One contest a year - Open for Submissions 1 August, closes 31 October. Winners and finalists announced mid November. The contest is restricted to Speculative Fiction, for general adult readership.  Note contest rules regarding content. Not for children. Periodically contests will have a broad theme - in these cases stories must adhere accordingly. Submissions must be strictly between 1000 to 3000 words - automatic rejection applies otherwise. This is the count of the body of the fiction, not the title, credits or other material included in the submission document. The Winner receives $100US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Second place receives $50US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Third place receives $25US cash prize and WILL be published in SQ Mag ezine. Judges will also identify a short list of non-winning finalists who WILL ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine. Winners and finalists MAY ALSO be published in SQ Mag ezine's yearly 'best of' anthology. All material published in SQ Mag ezine and potentially its anthology, will be paid a token amount (other than the prize money stated above). All profits reaped by SQ Mag ezine is regenerated into running costs for the site.   Terms and Conditions Stories must be 1000 – 3000 words in length, no exception. Any English idiom is accepted. Stories must be written with an emphasis on the speculative fiction genres (horror, science fiction and fantasy). Note that the judges will be looking for fresh, character-centric stories with depth of skill in theme and plot construction. Zombies, vampires, elves, hobbits, orcs, are unlikely to get past round one. Fan fiction, or the like, will be automatically rejected. Stories must be oriented toward...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Kraken Press will be publishing a 50’s themed horror and dark fantasy anthology called ”American Nightmare” in eBook and paperback editions with a tentative release date of January 2014 . We’re looking for original, unpublished horror and dark fantasy (sci-fi with a dark bend is okay) short stories between 2500 and 7000 words. We are not interested in flash fiction or poetry. The theme is 50s (and early 60s) Americana. We’d like to see modern genre fiction with a literary bend, set in those decades. We want to see classic cars, drive ins and white picket fences. Suburbia and small towns are a good choice for setting. Think Pleasantville, Mars Attacks, Fido, American Graffiti, October Sky, Ed Wood and Stand By Me. Deadline: October 31st Tentative publication date: January 2014 Payment: Pro rata share of 15% of list price and one copy of the anthology. Word count: 2500 to 7000 words. Simultaneous submissions: No. Multiple Submissions: No. Via: Kraken Press.

Deadline: October 31st, 2013 Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Via: Kickstarter.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. We are now open to submissions for Tales of the Black Arts, a swords & sorcery anthology, for POD paperback and eBook publication. We are looking for dark fantastic tales in the tradition of Moorcock’s Elric stories, Wagner’s Kane tales, or the Morlock Ambrosius stories by James Enge. As you might expect from the title, magic must play a central role in the story, not just be in the background. Cover art by Luke Spooner, www.carrionhouse.com. Word Count: 2,000 to 15,000 words. Payment: $25, plus one paperback contributor’s copy. Rights: we purchase First Electronic and First Print Rights, with a 6 month exclusivity period. Please remember that you can only sell your various “First” rights once, and that you will only be able to market your accepted story later as a reprint, once we have published it, which may limit where you can submit it to in the future, and how much you may be paid for it. Only you can make this business decision for yourself. Deadline: October 31st, 2013. Expected publication in January 2014. Submit the full story to us as a doc or rtf file to [email protected], with “Tales of the Black Arts” in the subject line. Include a little information about yourself as well. Multiple submissions: Ok Simultaneous submissions: Ok, just let us know. Reprints: No reprints, please. Via: Hazardous Press.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue A memory, a spectre, a feeling of regret, a sense of déjà vu, ghosts, machines, something you can’t quite put your finger on, a dark double, the long shadow of illness, your past, a nation’s past, your doppelgänger, a place, a song, a half-remembered rhyme, guilt, trauma, doubt, a shape at the corner of your eye, the future, the dead, the undead, the living, a grey cat, a black dog, a ticking clock, someone you used to know, someone you used to be. We are all haunted. Submissions wanted for a new anthology of short stories based on the theme of haunting. What we want: Edgy, dark and weird fiction. Any interpretation of the theme is welcome – and we have no preconceptions about what ‘haunting’ might mean. Any genre considered: dark fantasy, urban fantasy, Gothic, horror, sci fi, steampunk, cyberpunk, biopunk, dystopian, slipstream. We’re looking for original and fresh voices that challenge and unsettle. (And, please remember, we do not publish misogyny, misandry, homophobia, transphobia or racism.) Editor: Hannah Kate Publisher: Hic Dragones Word Count: 3000-7000 Submission Guidelines: Electronic submissions as .doc, .docx or .rtf attachments only. 12pt font, 1.5 or double spaced. Please ensure name, story title and email address are included on the attachment. Email submissions [email protected]. Submissions are welcome from anywhere, but must be in English. Submission Deadline: Thursday 31st October 2013 Payment: Contributor copy: 1 copy of paperback, eBook in ePub and/or mobi format; permanent 25% discount on paperback (resale permitted); 1 free eBook from our catalogue. Via: HIC Dragones.

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: Grand Prize of $25 and second through forth will recieve $10 each   This year’s edition of The Rogues Gallery will feature images from one of the tabloids of the late 1800s: The Illustrated Police News A newspaper vendor in the nineteenth century could always ensure sales with the gruesome cry “Murder! ‘Orrible Murder!” Published around 1870, the Victorian tabloid The Illustrated Police News took this business angle to heart. It had the largest circulation of any periodical of that time and fed the public on a weekly diet of real-life horrors calculated to chill the strongest stomach and boost the next issue’s sales. Sharpen your pencils for a gruesome Halloween contest! Firbolg Publishing is giving away Amazon gift cards just in time for the Christmas shopping season. GRAND PRIZE one $25 Amazon gift card First, Second, Third prize one $10 Amazon gift card   There will be four winners, and just in time for the holiday season! Here are the rules: 1) You may send in as many stories as you like, but your name is only entered once. 2) Submissions must be in by 31 October. Winners will be announced 1 November. 3) Gift cards will send via email. 4) All authors already accepted are automatically entered in the drawing. Every author who submits a story will be entered into the drawing. 5) The top twenty-five stories selected by our editors will be published in The Rogues Gallery anthology due in January. 6) All authors selected will receive an e-copy of the anthology. 7) Your story must use one of the image prompts, and you must indicate which prompt you’ve chosen. (They are numbered) 8) 500-1000 words (this is strict) 9) Avoid excessive gore/ violence. We are most interested in gothic dark fiction rather than splatter style horror. Atmosphere and...

Deadline: October 31st 2013 Payment: 7cents per word An original science fiction anthology of cyborg stories edited by a cyborg. Pay rate: Seven cents per word Story Length: 1000-8000 words Simultaneous Submissions: NO Reprints: NO Formatting: .doc or .rtf files in Standard Manuscript Format Paper Submissions: NO Electronic Submissions: clarkesworldmagazine.com/cyborg Rights Purchased: First Print and Electronic Rights. Book will be published in print, ebook and (possibly) audio editions. Deadline: Tentatively set for 9/15/2013. Will revise after first week of submissions. October 31, 2013 Obvious Requirement: Cyborgs or cyborg-related issues must play a role in the story. Feel free to explore this theme as widely as you like. Have fun with it and keep in mind that not all cyborgs need to be human. Don’t Send: Zombie stories. Seriously. NO. Stories previously rejected by Clarkesworld. (I’ve seen it already.) Stories involving horrible things happening to children. Cyborgs that just escaped from Doctor Who, Star Trek, etc. Authors already scheduled to appear in this anthology: Elizabeth Bear, Helena Bell, Tobias S. Buckell, Pat Cadigan, Greg Egan, Xia Jia, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Yoon Ha Lee, Ken Liu, Chen Qiufan, Robert Reed, E. Catherine Tobler, Genevieve Valentine, Peter Watts, E. Lily Yu. Via: Neil Clarke.

Dealdine: October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication.   We just wanted you to be the first to know that Flytrap will be opening to fiction submissions starting next Tuesday, September 4th! Below are the guidelines. Go forth, submit, and conquer! Flytrap, the little zine with teeth, will open to submissions for issue #11 on September 3, 2013. Fiction: I will consider work up to 5,000 words (query for longer, but don't let it hurt your feelings if I say no). Any form, any style, any genre welcome; cross-genre and experimental work especially appreciated. I consider vignettes, fantasias, and hallucinagenia in addition to more traditional narrative approaches. Surprise me, or delight me, or both. I like stories with sex and feminism and apocalypses and snarky humor in them, but don't let that limit you. Straightforward adult content and conventional horror are unlikely to find a home here, but otherwise, I'm happy to consider pretty much anything. Send stories to Heather Shaw at [email protected]. Send in the body of an e-mail, or as Word or RTF attachments. Non-Fiction: Due to enthusiastic pre-soliciting, we are full on non-fiction for this issue. Poetry: We are not open to poetry submissions for issue #11. We're having a featured poet instead. But you might be able to slip a prose poem past the fiction editor. Multiple submissions are okay, within reason (that is, sending two pieces won't annoy us too much, but sending three probably will). No simultaneous submissions (but we'll try to answer every submission by mid-November, so it shouldn't cramp your submitting style too much). Deadline: We open September 3, 2013, and close October 31, 2013. Payment: $0.05/ word for fiction, and a copy of the digital issue on publication. Thank you to...

Deadline: November 1st 2013 Payment: Exposure Only Quick Snippets: Genre -- Horror Word Count -- 2k to 4k Payment -- None Story Status -- Unpublished Submission Period -- August 1st through November 1st (not before) Illustrations -- Please Reading Period -- November 1st through January 1st Response Time -- 30 days after end of submission period Publication Target -- First quarter 2014 STORYLINE Angels versus Zombies - one would assume what we are looking for and you would be right. Give us angels and give us zombies, pitted against one another in any format you want. Horror, fantasy, Weird, erotic, romance ... go ahead, use your imagination. FORMATTING We prefer standard manuscript formatting (good example: http://www.shunn.net/format/story.html). FIRST PRINTING RIGHTS Bear in mind that most publications will not publish pieces that have been published in print, eBook, or on the web, so for all intents and purposes after your work is published by us it can only be marketed as a reprint, which severely limits the number of markets that will accept it, and drastically reduces the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work in print and/or eBook formats and/or on the web, giving up your First Publishing Right for no and/or a token payment, is really what you want to do. Format MS Word (.rtf .doc .docx) WORD COUNT Our target is ten to fifteen short stories composed of two- to four-thousand words each. We may accept slightly longer or shorter stories if they appeal to us, so don’t feel that you need to drastically shred your story or add unnecessary material to fit the qualifications. ILLUSTRATIONS Love to see what you have - please do so in JPG/JPEG format and follow the storyline! SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS Sorry, are not...

Deadline: November 1st 2013 Payment: 1p (2¢) per word. Accepted authors will receive three hardcover copies of the anthology, and will also be able to purchase further copies at cost (not including shipping). Payment will be made within 30 days of publication. Of Devils & Deviants: An Anthology of Erotic Horror We are pleased to announce that a new anthology, Of Devils & Deviants, is now open for submissions. Please make sure you read all of the information provided. Submission Guidelines What We Are Looking For Of Devils & Deviants will be a literary anthology, released as a hardcover book and a digital book, of around 90000 words with the theme of erotic horror. Your submission must contain elements of both to be considered. We want stories that will make us think, we want tales of the flesh, of the lengths people will go to for gratification. Think Cronenberg and Lars Von Trier; Clive Barker and HR Geiger. We want beautiful prose and originality. Most importantly, we want the darkest, creepiest story you’ve ever conceived. What We Don’t Want We don’t want slasher horror; a naked woman getting hacked to death will not be considered for this collection. We will reject any stories that contain rape, and the abuse of minors. We will be looking for originality, so stories featuring well-worn tropes (vampires, zombies, werewolves) will almost certainly be rejected. We don’t want gore for the sake of it, and we don’t want something that could be used as an adult-film script. Submissions Submit your work in Standard Manuscript Format to [email protected] with Fiction Submission: Your Story Title in the subject line. Attach your story as a DOC, DOCX, or RTF file. Include a brief cover letter in the body of your email stating your name, story title with word...

Deadline: November-ish, 2013 Payment: $0.05 US per word, $0.025 US per word, by invitation only, or if queried first and accepted. VIRAL INVITATION Written Backwards is accepting submissions for Chiral Mad 2, an anthology of psychological horror. While the first two anthologies by Written Backwards were open to submissions following initial invites, Chiral Mad 2 is by viral invitation only. What does that mean? Well, if you can read this, you are invited. It’s that simple. You know someone or heard about this incredible opportunity by someone, or read a thread on Facebook, or twatted a tweet on Twitter, or found out somehow on one of the other social media outlets, or you possibly know a highly-respected acquaintance of yours truly, and here you are. Personal email invitations were sent to a select few prior to this page going live, like before, but you are now reading this, and this will soon go viral, so, well, you are invited to submit a story. Who’s the editor? This anthology will be edited by Michael Bailey, creator of the Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy anthologies, and author of Palindrome Hannah, Phoenix Rose, and the upcoming Psychotropic Dragon. He has a few collections as well (Scales and Petals and the upcoming Inkblots and Blood Spots), and has appeared in some other books and magazines. You may have heard of him, maybe not. What really matters is this next book. Why should you submit? To date, Chiral Mad and Pellucid Lunacy have raised over $6,500 for Downs syndrome charities, with a majority of that donated to the Down Syndrome Information Alliance (DSIA). That’s why. Well, that’s the main reason. There are other reasons: both have received nothing but positive reviews, critical praise, and some awards. Pellucid Lunacy, during its run, won the International Book...