Events

Deadline: January 31st 2014 Payment: 5 cents/word Lethe Press is seeking short stories and novellettes for its forthcoming anthology, Daughters of Frankenstein: Lesbian Mad Scientists! We're looking for more cinematic-style "mad science"--over-the-top vs. textbook--so everything from alchemy to steampunk to cloning in tanks is fine. The protagonist must be lesbian and her sexuality cannot be a stigma. While the mad scientist need not be the protagonist, she must be a three-dimensional character and her interest in (mad) science should have a natural rationale as in real life (though her desired ends to whatever experiment takes place as one of the story arcs need not be natural at all!). Our preference is stories that take place in 19th and 20th centuries, but we are open to other time periods and contemporary tales. This book would be shelved in SF/Fantasy. So this is not an erotica anthology. Elements of romance are fine and welcome as long as they are natural to the story. Stories should be 2,500 to 12,500 words. Payment is 5 cents a word upon publication, which will be in the fall of 2014. Deadline for all submissions is January 31st, 2014. Submissions must be sent as rtf files to [email protected] with the subject line DAUGHTERS OF FRANKENSTEIN. Feel free to query us.

Deadline:January 1st 2014 Payment: Unknown Now through January 1st, Dark Hall Press will be accepting submissions for a Cosmic Horror Anthology. Ten short stories will be selected for inclusion. Submissions should be under 5,000 words, in PDF format, and include a brief author bio. Please include "Cosmic Horror" in the email heading. We will not accept simultaneous submissions. Winners will be contacted in the month of January. Winners will split the profits of the collection evenly. Submit to: [email protected] Via: Dark Hall Press.

Deadline: January 1st, 2014 Payment: Authors of fiction chosen for the anthology will receive two free copies of the book as compensation. Poets will receive as compensation one contributor’s copy. Cairo by Gaslight Edited by Brandon Black Poetry Editor: Cathy Chandler Call For Submissions: This is a general call for poetry and fiction of a steampunk and gaslamp fantasy nature set within the city of Cairo, Egypt. Stories need not remain within the confines of Cairo for their entirety but those stories that are well-written and make use of the unique setting and culture of Cairo as a colorful backdrop will be more favorably regarded. Writers of fiction may send no more than two works unless they have published with Black Tome Books before (i.e., in the pages of New Orleans By Gaslight), in which case they may submit up to three stories. Novel excerpts are acceptable so long as they work independently as short stories. Poets may submit no more than five poems. While short stories are expected to be both steampunk (or gaslamp fantasy) and set in Cairo, our requirements for poetry are less stringent. Poems should be about 19th century Cairo, or steampunk themed or both. As we seek to publish the highest quality steampunk fiction and accept both traditional and experimental writing, we place no arbitrary limits on length. Writers, however, should be aware that short shorts and longer manuscripts, such as novelettes and novellas, will have to be exceptionally good to be accepted for publication. While writers are encouraged to present a nostalgic view of Victorian-era culture as such is in general keeping with the optimistic ethos of the steampunk genre, we encourage authors to present the various and sundry evils of Victorian-era society (religious persecution, slavery, classism, racism, poverty, a lack of child labor laws,...

Deadline: January 1st 2014 Payment: 5 cents per word March--A Night at the Villa Diodati During the Summer of Darkness in 1816, literary giants includng George Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, and John Polidori embarked upon a contest to write the scariest story. The contest resulted in the writing of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Pollodori's lesser known tale The Vampyre. Both were the first novels to introduce two horror staples--the reanimated man and the vampire. So what does this have to do with Penumbra? We want an issue filled with stories that we could have told to these masters by candlelight, pausing occasionally to wet our throats with wine as we read the stories aloud. We want the 19th century elegance paired with the creation of new horror staples in the 21st century. We do NOT want to see stories about vampires, werewolves, re-animated humans/zombies. So channel Byron and Shelley, and write a story worthy of the Villa Diodati. CALL BEGINS NOVEMBER 1, 2013 CALL ENDS JANUARY 1, 2014     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...

* Deadline: January 1st 2014 Payment: $20 and contributor's copy CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS My shadowy but sensational small press Mega Thump Publishing** is now accepting Short Stories to be considered for its upcoming Horror/Science Fiction Hybrid Anthology (title TBA), to be edited by yours truly. Submission Details: Mega Thump Publishing is looking for quality short stories that mix both science fictionand horror elements. Evil robots, mad scientists, bloodthirsty aliens, and haunted spaceships would all qualify. Think of films like ALIEN, THE THING, EVENT HORIZON,INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, THE BLOB, PHANTASM, and FROM BEYOND. As long as they fit the above criteria, stories can be horrifically humorous or dead serious in tone. They can be completely over-the-top in gore, sex, and any nastiness you can think of (no YA stuff here). They can even be thought-provoking. Most importantly, all stories must be well-written and entertaining. Submission Guidelines: Stories should range between 1,000-15,000 words. Stories must be written in English. Stories should be submitted as an MS Word doc/docx. Stories must be received in proper manuscript format. See example HERE. Stories must be original to author. Persons submitting must hold copyright to the material, or have legal authority to submit work on behalf of author. Stories previously published in magazines, on websites, or in other periodicals are eligible; however, they cannot have before appeared in another published anthology or collection of works. Selected authors will grant one-time anthology rights for publication in the English language throughout the world, with no publication elsewhere for 12 months after acknowledging Author/Publisher Agreement, upon which time rights revert back to the author. Authors of stories accepted for this anthology will receive as compensation $20.00 USD and a free copy of the book (your choice of print or digital). Deadline for submitting is JANUARY 1, 2014. Submissions should be emailed to [email protected] Use “H/SF Anthology – Your...

Deadline: January 1st 2013 Payment: This will be our first anthology and all profit (if any) will be evenly distributed to the contributors on a quarterly basis. December is the final month to submit for our upcoming Anthology. The Theme for this one is supernatural horror. The dead-line for submissions is January 1st. Stories should be within the horror genre and have a supernatural element. All lengths will be considered, by primarily looking for short stories that are between 2000 and 5000 words. If you have a masterpiece that's over 5000 words, please submit it. This will be our first anthology and all profit (if any) will be evenly distributed to the contributors on a quarterly basis. If you contribute, it is in your best interest to promote it...a lot... See how smart we are :P Submit at: Submittables.

Deadline: January 1, 2014 Payment: Royalties Submissions are now OPEN for Big Bad 2 – An Anthology of Evil Volume 2 The immediate success of The Big Bad has been mind-blowing, and Dark Oak has signed us on to do it all over again! Emily Lavin Leverett and I are back to create another anthology of the greatest bad guy stories we can find. This is a mixed anthology, which means that there have been some folks invited to participate, and we will accept some stories through open calls. The invitations have gone out, and we have ten open slots, so we expect the competition to be fierce. Send us your best short story (3,000 – 9,000 words, if it has to be longer contact me first) that features a bad guy or evil character as the protagonist. It can be fantasy, urban fantasy, superhero, sci-fi, horror, whatever. Just send us your best bad guy story. We’re taking ten. That’s right, there are only ten slots available in this anthology. Email submissions to johnhartness AT gmail DOT com, as a .doc or .docx attachment. Include a brief author’s bio, please. Please do not send RTF files. I hate them and will delete them unread. Please single-space in Times New Roman 12 point. Please label the file NAME.TITLE.doc and include “Big Bad Submission” in the email header. This is a royalty-based anthology, with exclusive rights for one year. This is not a “for the love” antho – Dark Oak is a real publisher that sends out real royalty checks. I should know, I’ve already received one for Big Bad 1. After the first year we retain rights to publish electronically in the anthology only, and in print in this anthology only, but you can take it and sell it somewhere else,...

Deadline: January 5th, 2014 Payment: Contributor's Copy and $5 advance on royalties An anthology of mystery stories set during Mardi Gras. We expect the majority of the stories to be set in New Orleans, but it is not mandatory. The holiday, its celebration, and its depredations should set the stage. Paranormal elements (e.g. Louisiana Voodoo) are acceptable if they are appropriate to the traditional Mardi Gras locations and events. We're seeking stories that are 2000 - 8000 words in length. Query about reprints. We will accept multiple submissions, but not simultaneous submissions. Open submission period: October 21, 2013 - January 5, 2014. 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. Via: Mystery and Horror LLC.

Submission Period: December 26, 2013 and January 10, 2014 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy WRAPPED IN WHITE Thirteen Tales of Spectres, Ghosts, and Spirits Here is your chance to be a WRAPPED contributor! We are very excited to have several up-and-coming authors featured in this anthology and we look forward to filling the other available slots through open-call submissions.You may submit your story as an attachment to [email protected] between December 26, 2013 and January 10, 2014. Remaining contributors will be announced by February 2. Expected release date for Wrapped in White is March 2014. Original stories only please. No reprints. Any submissions or inquiries sent anywhere other than [email protected]  will be deleted. Submissions received before or after open call dates will be deleted. Stories should range from 4,000 to 6,000 words. In your email, make sure to include your full name, the title of the work you are submitting, and a word count. A short Bio will be requested upon acceptance of story. Please spend time proofing and editing your submissions before sending them. Submissions with incorrect grammar, misspellings or formatting will be automatically excluded from the review process. Those submissions that are accepted must be open to receiving minor editorial corrections. If your story is chosen, payment includes $25 within 30 days of acceptance/signed contract and one print copy of WRAPPED IN WHITE within 90 days of publication. Publisher will retain first worldwide publication rights for one year from publication date. Good luck Submission Guidelines: TITLE Author Name Word count e-mail address 12pt Garamond or equivalent Single Spaced Do not use TAB key. New paragraphs should be formatted with a 0.3 indent. Do not use symbols such as # or * between sections. A single blank space is sufficient. Now go write a ghost story! Via: Sekhmet Press.

Deadline: January 15th, 2014 Payment: Exposure Only The Shadows Only Hide the Monsters: A Tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe. Micro (100-500 words), Flash (500-1K) and Short Stories (1k up to 2500 words). Lovecraft and Poe style horror stories. Special win for a good-old Poe style detective stories (it has to have monsters, though) and new takes on the Cthulhu Mythos. Deadline: January 15th 2014. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] Copy and paste your submission in the body of an email. Attachments will not be opened. No exceptions. 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 Submissions page. The basic format is: NAME OF ISSUE-TITLE OF YOUR STORY. In all caps. Easier...

Deadline: January 15th, 2014 Payment: 2c/word or a percentage of net sales Note: The publisher doesn't list 'horror' as a theme so I'd keep this in the light horror or suspenseful to most likely have a shot. Just a thought and not advice you need to listen to. Local Magic This is your opportunity to add a little magic to the past. Tell me the tale of a real place, in a real time, but with a fantastical science element. The story must feature a real geographic place, a building, a street. It doesn’t have to exist now, but it has to have really existed. A lake? A saloon? An alley? Stories we will be including in this anthology should include: 1 part Magic Your choice of wizards, artifacts, monsters or the like. 1 part Science The magic component above is fueled by Science! 1 part Local History Set your story in a real place that you know well. The location is not just window dressing. The location should be integral to your story. Culture and geography and real world history have conspired to create events that could have occurred no where else. Email submissions to: [email protected] Subject ATTN: LOCAL MAGIC Word count: short stories of 3,000 to 5,000 words, novelettes of 7,500-10,000 words. Pay: 2c/word or a percentage of net sales. This is going to be a digital-only publication. Your story should arrive in Microsoft Word and be formatted in the industry standard (or come so close that no one will notice: i.e. Times New Roman or Courier, double-spaced). Antimatter Press welcomes submissions from all people, regardless of age, color, religion, gender identity or writing experience. Deadline is January 15, 2014. Via: Antimatter Press.

Deadline: January 14th, 2014 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. Debuting in 2014 Jamais Vu - The Journal of Strange Among the Familiar is a new pro journal from Post Mortem Press, set to feature the absolute best in dark fiction, poetry, factual morsels, criticism, and more. Issue Two is scheduled for release April 15, 2014. Submission Window is open December 1, 2013 - January 15, 2014. Decisions will be made no later than March 1, 2014. 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 in a completely new light. Stories that really work to act out your latent parental issues or your insecurities with the opposite sex are best given to your therapist, not us. Stories which exist solely to depict the abuse of children, women, or animals will be rejected outright.  Similarly, NO torture or splatter-punk. More concise than we could ever put it, the folks over at Strange Horizons have compiled a list of "Horror Stories We've Seen Too Often".  Check it out: http://www.strangehorizons.com/guidelines/fiction-common-horror.shtml  Granted, some of these things offer an interesting premise within which a brand new and different story can be written, but if your story...

Deadline: January 20th, 2013 Payment: $10 per story   Each monthly flash fiction call has a theme. We ask you to write an SFF story (SciFi, Fantasy, Horror, or related sub-genres) that fits the theme in some way. You’ll find a list of upcoming themes below. Please only submit a story for a particular theme during that theme’s submission period. Stories submitted during the wrong submission period will be deleted unread. Though this is a flash fiction contest, we’re still looking for stories with a strong narrative arc. We want stories that introduce us to character, world, and conflict in the opening 1-2 graphs. (Conflict isn’t just a fight, by the way.) We want a middle free of too much backstory; we want forward momentum. Last, we want an ending the resolves the plot, directly or subtly. We only want stories between 500 and 1,000 words, inclusive. We pay a flat rate of $10 per story, regardless of length. Now, without further ado, let’s showcase the themes, shall we?   Send your submission in an email to kazkasubsgmail.com. Attach your file to the email. Don’t forget to include your cover letter in the body of the email. Subject Line: Flash Fiction Contest (e.g. “Flash Fiction Contest ” for the ‘Sax & Violins’ prompt). Imprecise subject lines may result in lost submissions. Here are the rules and details. Word Count: We’re looking for a piece of flash fiction that is between 500 and 1000 words long. Thus: 499 < YOUR STORY < 1,001 We won’t publish stories north or south of this mark. Deadline: At midnight, as the 20th rolls into the 21st in California, we’ll stop accepting submissions for the current month’s contest. All dates and times relate to California time (Pacific PST/PDT). Manuscript & Cover Letter: Please get close to standard manuscript formatting. However, we’ll be formatting your...

Deadline: January 31st 2014 Payment: One electronic copy of the publication (due Spring 2014) and one electronic copy of Matt Leyshon’s The Function Room: The Kollection Take a hike. Seriously, I’ll know if you haven’t. I want stories that feel authentic and capture the mystery of the countryside. Befriend a hedgewitch, take up twitching, gather some mushrooms… Do whatever it takes to transport your readers from their homes and into the fields. Then send them running home to book a long course of trauma counselling! Resist the temptation to write another sequel to The Darling Buds of May or a James Herriot spin-off; the atmosphere in your story should be less than comfortable. Morpheus Tales is Britain’s most controversial horror magazine afterall - so do not feel obliged to spare the scythe. I won’t be offended by the spilling of sap, though I might be more impressed by a subtle sense of unease or strangeness. The following are a few examples of what I consider to be good horror tales that are set in rural Britain: Arthur Machen’s The White People, The Woodwitch by Stephen Gregory, The Rain Horse by Ted Hughes. The Wendigo and The Willows by Algernon Blackwood are not set in the UK, but they are also a good indication of what I’m looking for. Your story must be set in the countryside or within a rural community. It does not have to be set in the British countryside, though I might show a preference towards those tales that are. I’m looking for stories of around 3500 words. Submissions over 5000 words won’t be read. Morpheus Tales’ usual formatting guidelines apply. The deadline for submissions is 31/01/14. Send submissions to [email protected] with “Rural Horror Submission” in the subject. Payment will be one electronic copy of the publication...

Deadline: January 31, 2014 Payment: Contributor's copy and unnamed token amount LADIES AND GENTLEMEN AND AUTHORS OF ALL AGES ... GOOD MORNING CIRCUSPUNKS!! I am pleased to announced that Chupa Cabra will be publishing my Circuspunk book Bumping Noses and Cherry Pie. Editing and artwork are in progress now. Look for it around the beginning of the year. Now we move on to Circuspunk 2.0. Now I want to hear YOUR strange and bizarre tales of the world of the circus, carnivals, side shows, magic shows etc. Bring me your freaks, your bearded ladies, your tightrope walkers, your magicians, your lions and tigers and bears (OH MY!). I want it all. I will be editing a book that Chupra Cabra has already agreed to publish. It will be called The New Whakazoid Circus - The Greatest Show on Paper. And I want to hear from YOU. Circuspunk can be anything from bizarro to scary and everything in between. Got a favorite author? Write a circus story in their style. ANYTHING GOES in the world of Circuspunk! Not sure what Circuspunk is exactly? This is my listing at Urban Dictionary "Circuspunk is a new sub-genre of punk/bizarro literature scene created by Charie D. La Marr aka Persiphone Hellecat aka Kotton Kandy - a former professional clown. The genre includes stories that take place in circuses, carnivals, midways, sideshows and also includes stories of birthday party clowns, freaks, magicians and costumed characters. With some elements taken from her experiences in the world of clowns (she won't tell which are true and which aren"t) the genre is a blend of truth and fantasy that takes in the usual bizarro mixture of fun, sex, satire and splatter. Also included in the genre are dark stories, Lovecraftian stories, noir stories and other variations and combinations...

Deadline: January 31st 2014 Payment: $25 USD and contributor's copy A new anthology is open. We are looking for stories that are between 3,000 to 6,000 words. This is a speculative fiction anthology for dark tales. Bugs and Creepy-Crawlies focuses on all sorts of organisms with six, eight, and millions of legs. Themes range from swarms of bees that kill, alien bugs that cause havoc to the ecosystem, robotic bugs and nanotechnology that scientists lose control of, mosquitos that spread illness to thousands, spiders that lay their eggs on the human body. We want original tales that will scare and creep out a reader. Great fiction, well written, and enjoyable to anyone that loves the weird tale. Get your writing hats on and start producing. We look forward to your submissions. Full guidelines can be found here.

Deadline: January 31st 2014 Payment: An eBook copy will be sent to all contributors and up to 5 paperback copies per author will be available to purchase at cost plus shipping. 50% of the royalties will be distributed between all contributors This is a Horror Anthology. What are we looking for? Let's equate it to the red-headed stepchild of the family. What does that mean? It means we're looking for stories of horror that may be perceived as a bit odd or different from the rest. Tales that take two steps to the left of normal instead of one. Peculiar yarns just bizarre enough to straddle the line. We're not just looking for odd - we're looking for good stories with a unique spin. No horror trope is too tired for this one as long as it's strange enough to grab our attention. Intrigue us with your eccentric imaginings, and we may adopt your tale as a part of our family of offerings.   Submission Deadline: January 31, 2014 Word Count minimum: 4,000 words - nothing less will be reviewed; no reprints considered. Submission guidelines:Submission Deadline - January 31, 2014Word Count: 4,000 - 8,000 words. Please submit your manuscript as a *.doc or *.docx file (all other formats will automatically be rejected. Contact us prior to submitting if this presents an issue for you.) Font and formatting: Please submit in Times New Roman, 12 point font; single line spacing with a 0 point definition above and below each line. Please format the document to 1st line indentation of .5" (1.27cm), do not space or tab to indent the line. The page margin should be set to .5" (1.27cm) on all sides. Graphic gore must be kept to a minimum unless it is integral to the story; absolutely no incestuous or sexual abuse...

Deadline: January 31st, 2014 Payment: $100 flat rate per each manuscript accepted into the anthology Now Accepting Short Story Submissions What happens after death? That’s the question Grey Matter Press would like you to answer. For our next anthology–working title “Death’s Realm”–we’re looking for dark, horrifying tales exploring themes from “the great beyond.” We do not want to limit your creativity with a narrowly themed collection, so “Death’s Realm” will include works of truly terrifying dark fiction that investigate the concepts of hauntings, spirits, life after death, ghostly encounters and just about any other subject that pertains to the afterlife and the horrifying things that might reside just beyond the veil. Be prepared to scare the hell out of us. Please review our Submissions Guidelines below, and feel free to contact us here on the site with any questions. or send a message to [email protected]. We thank you for your interest in considering Grey Matter Press as a potential home for your work. *”Death’s Realm” is a working title. Grey Matter Press reserves the right to change the title as necessary.   GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSIONS Word Count: 3,000 – 10,000 words Deadline: January 31, 2014 Payment: $100 flat rate per each manuscript accepted into the anthology Formats: *.doc, *.docx, *.txt, *.rtf Contact Address: [email protected] Acceptable File Formats: Grey Matter Press wants to make your submission process easy and painless. We accept manuscripts that are *.doc, *.docx, .txt or .rtf file formats. If you have any questions about the formatting of your manuscript, feel free to contact us directly [email protected] Digital Submissions: Unfortunately, we cannot accept manuscripts of previously published pieces. (Published work includes work that have appeared online in magazines, journals and/or personal websites.) Only previously unpublished work will be accepted. We will accept your submission via email at [email protected]. Subject lines should...

Deadline: January 31st, 2014 Payment: Exposure Only Women in Horror - Issue #13 Hard to believe a year has gone by, but it has! It's almost February again, which means 'Women in Horror Recognition Month' is almost here!!! The 13th issue of The Sirens Call eZine is all about celebrating women in the horror genre! Rule One: You have to be a woman! Rule Two: It has to be a work of horror! Rule Three: See rules one and two again if it isn't clear by now... Ladies, send us your creepiest, darkest, most twisted submissions. Deadline: January 31, 2014 Sirens 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 in the dark fiction/horror realm. Artwork, photography, film and literary reviews are also accepted as long as they are horror related. Submissions should be sent to [email protected] with the subject line of "eZine(number)Submission_(YourStoryTitle)_(YourName)" Formatting: The file should be a .doc or .docx; Times New Roman 12 point font; single spaced; first line indented. Please do not include a header. Please inquire if you have any questions, or visit our Submission Guidlines page. 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...

Deadline: January 31st, 2014 Prize: $10 and read in audio form   Current Contest: Aliens Invade History Aliens. What’s up with these guys anyway? They’re always flying across the unimaginable interstellar void to conquer earth, and somehow, despite being vastly outgunned, those plucky earthlings always manage to blow them out of the sky. It’s like, guys, if you have the technology to traverse the great gulf of darkness, how do you not have the ability to terraform Mars? Or one of the other planets in your own system for that matter? What? Oh, right the prompt. See, Aliens are sort of a recent idea. You can probably trace the alien invasion genre back to H. G. Wells and the War of the Worlds, and you could argue the whole flying saucer sighting thing got kicked off with the Great Airship Scare in 1896, both pretty recent on the scale of human civilization. But what if the flying saucers had shown up earlier? How would the fictional aliens of today fare against the Roman Empire or the Genghis Khan’s Mongol army? That’s the idea we want to explore in this month’s flash fiction challenge. You get a thousand words. Send your entries in to [email protected] with “Aliens Invade History” in the subject-line of your email. We prefer “.doc” attachments. The winner of the contest will receive ten dollars and have their story produced in audio form to air on the podcast. Good luck and happy writing! The deadline for this contest is January 31st, 2014. Story Examples: To get an idea of what we are looking for, check out these stories. Expecting by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt Zombies Have No Respect for Plumbing by Tony Southcotte

Deadline: January 31st, 2014 Prize: £15/$20 Amazon voucher Do you like a challenge? Can you write short and snappy horror? Why not enter our spring flash fiction contest? Take a look at the photograph below…   Now, write a story in no more than 250 words, drawing inspiration from the photo. Remember, we are looking for horror, the strange, the weird and worrisome, the macabre and mysterious. When done, paste your story directly into the CONTACT form in the top menu. Please add SPRING CONTEST to the ‘Subject’ line. Closing date is 31st January 2014. We will pick one winner who will receive a £15/$20 Amazon voucher and have their story published in Massacre Magazine. Our decision is final, any moaners will be mangled. Good Luck! Source: Massacre Publishing.

Deadline: February 1st 2014 Payment: 5 cents per word April--Issac Asimov Of all the greats, who's easier to recognize than Asimov? We want to see stories that are written in the style of this master, that are in homage to him, or that include Asismov as a character. Also, please include a brief paragraph at the beginning of your story, letting the reader know what Asimov story inspired you to write this one. CALL BEGINS DECEMBER 1, 2013 CALL ENDS FEBRUARY 1, 2014 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 getting lost in our queue and not read before the deadline. Penumbra uses Musa Publishing's house style guide, which relies upon the Chicago Manual of Style. All accepted stories will be edited to reflect Musa house style. If you have never been published before, please tell us. Penumbra likes publishing new authors...

Deadline: February 1st, 2014 Payment: $25 and two contributor’s copies     Call For Submissions for: Boroughs of the Dead II – An Anthology of New York City Ghost Stories  We are looking for your best original short horror and ghost stories set in and around New York City. This anthology of urban horror will focus on telling tales of terror from the five boroughs. Any style of horror is welcome, from the weird tale to supernatural stories, and nothing is off limits. Stories can be historical fiction or pure imagination – the only parameter is that your tale must take place in one of the five boroughs or within a reasonable distance (e.g. Yonkers, or in a tunnel under the Hudson River). The city plays a huge part in this anthology, and it is critical that the setting contribute to the story in a significant way. Think of New York City as a character in your tale, and let the story tell us why it is so. For an idea of the type of story we’re looking for, check out   Boroughs of the Dead Volume 1 or The Friendly Horror and Other Weird Tales.   Word count is generally limited to 3,500 words but you may query longer stories up to 5,000 words if you feel they fit the parameters of this anthology. Flash fiction and poetry will be considered, but preference is given to short stories between 1,000 – 2,500 words. Contributors will receive payment of $25 and two contributor’s copies. This anthology will be edited by Anthony Burdge, Jessica Burke, and Andrea Janes and published by Myth Ink Books. Sub stories in body of an email to Myth Ink Books (Click here to open email) (no attachments, please). Please include a brief note with your submission telling us where in NYC your...

Deadline: February 1st, 2014 Payment: $0.02 USD per word and contributor's copy Aercastle Narratives:  Speculative Fiction Magazine is currently reading submissions for Issue 1. Accepted submissions will be featured in Aercastle Narratives’ debut issue, scheduled for publication in March 2014. We are open to writers and voices of any genre (adventure, fantasy, horror, humor, mystery, occult, psychic, paranormal, supernatural, romance, science fiction, thriller and western stories, and very interested in reading writers who are unafraid of combining any of these genres). We are open to debuting and seasoned writers alike. We’re looking for quality tales that take us away, make us think and make us feel. To be considered, speculative elements must contribute to your story. We’re looking for those tales which have the potential to keep our readers engaged, on a plane, commuter train, library, or in the comfort of their living rooms. 2014 SUBMISSION DEADLINES: Issue 1, March 2014 deadline: February 1, 2014 Issue 2, June 2014 deadline: May 1, 2014 Issue 3, September 2014 deadline: August 1, 2014 Issue 4, December 2014 deadline: November 1, 2014 MANUSCRIPT FORMAT Submitted manuscripts must be at least 500 words and no longer than 2,000 words in length. Use a professional, easy to read font, 12pt in size. SUBMISSION Please e-mail manuscripts as an attachment, in either *.doc, *.docx, or OpenOffice *.odt files. In the subject of the e-mail, begin your subject line with “Submission” and the title(s) of your submission. We are seeking First Electronic Rights, First Print Rights, or Reprint Rights where applicable. Please include a brief author bio in your e-mail submission, with publication history and/or website with us. We’d love to tell our readers about you. E-mail submissions to:  [email protected] PAYMENT Payment for accepted works is $0.02 USD per word (i.e. $10 for 500 words, $40 for 2000 words) Payment in the form of PayPal transfer or money order (contributor’s preference) upon publication. Contributor’s copy....