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Deadline: May 1st, 2025 Payment: 15GBP Theme: World Horror (Vol 109) WORLD HORROR, 1st May 2025 We want to cast a shadow over the entire globe. Bring us tales of the Shakchunni from Bangladesh, the Djinn from the Middle East, the Yokai from Japan. There’s a whole world of horror and fantasy out there and we want to showcase it all. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. *** WHEN WILL I HEAR IF MY STORY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED OR NOT? We carefully review every single submission that comes through our door. If you’ve submitted a story to us, please be patient. We WILL let you know if your submission has or hasn’t been successful. Having said that, if you haven’t heard anything up to twelve weeks after the deadline has passed, feel free to ping us an email to check in on it. Submission Guidelines • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document • Stories must fit an upcoming theme • By submitting your story to us, you are confirming that you are the original creator of the story • We will consider entrants whose work has been entered and published elsewhere, however please ensure you state where and when your story...

Deadline: May 1st, 2025 Payment: 1 cent per word for fiction, $10 flat fee for poetry, $25 for visual art ($50 for cover art.) Theme: Epiphany Note: Reprints Welcome NonBinary Review is currently open for submissions on the theme of EPIPHANY. It's a flash of inspiration. It's a slow realization of something that was in front of you the whole time. It's seeing something familiar from an entirely unexpected angle. We have these sudden flashes of inspiration all the time - some as subtle as discovering you like tea with honey, others as momentous as realizing that your idea for a new invention could change the world. We're looking for speculative takes on epiphany, from the realization that television is all real and true, to the discovery that the life you live in your dreams is your real life, and this one is the dream. We want to be just as surprised as your narrators by the things they discover and where those discoveries lead them. We're NOT looking for "I realized I hated my spouse so I left and my life got better" stories, sexual coming of age stories, or anything else that doesn't fit the speculative genre. IMPORTANT NOTICE Zoetic Press does not accept AI generated content. If our editors judge that your content is AI-generated, it will be declined. Fiction: All submissions must have a clear relationship to our theme, and be double-spaced in 12pt Times New Roman or they will be rejected. NonBinary Review  pays 1¢ per word for prose with a limit of 3000 words. Poetry: All submissions must have a clear relationship to our theme and be submitted in 12pt Times New Roman, or they will be rejected. Submitters may include up to THREE poems per submission, but each must be a separate file. NonBinary Review pays a...

Deadline: May 1st, 2025 Payment: $25.00 - $50.00 for fiction, $5.00 - $10.00 for poetry Theme: Story must begin with: No one really knows why restoration stopped on the abandoned St. Julian hotel, where commoners and kings once came to relax in luxury. We love that writers around the world are inspired by our first lines, and we know that not every story will be sent to us. However, we ask that you do not submit stories starting with our first lines to other journals (or post them online on public sites) until we've notified you as to our decision (usually four weeks after the deadline). When the entire premise of the publication revolves around one sentence, we don't want it to look as if we stole that sentence from another writer. If you have questions, feel free to drop us a line. Also, we understand that writers may add our first line to a story they are currently working on or have already completed, and that's cool. But please do not add our first line to a previously published story and submit it to us. We do not accept previously published stories, even if they have been repurposed for our first lines. And, just to be clear, we do not accept simultaneous submissions. One more thing while I've got you here: Writers compete against one another for magazine space, so, technically, every literary magazine is running a contest. There are, however, literary magazines that run traditional contests, where they charge entry fees and rank the winners. We do not - nor will we ever - charge a submission fee, nor do we rank our stories in order of importance. Occasionally, we run contests to help come up with new first lines, or we run fun, gimmicky competitions for free stuff,...

Deadline: March 1st - May 1st, 2025 Payment: $50 Theme: Writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. Schedule We publish two issues a year, September 1 and March 1. We accept general submissions for poetry, nonfiction, and fiction between two reading periods, and the first 300 submissions to each are free. We also run a collaborative writing contest in August. We also accept visual art all year. General Submissions: March 1 – May 1 General Submissions: October 1 – December 1 Collaboration Contest: July 15 –  August 31 Payment We are thrilled to finally be able to say that, starting with issue 17, we will be able to offer our contributors a small payment of $50 upon publication. A Note on Our Aesthetic We believe there is beauty in scars on smooth skin, in the small fissures where things begin to break apart. Sundogs are not the sun itself but phantom stars appearing on the horizon, illusions produced by the play of the sun’s heat with crystals of ice. They shed their light all the same. Many are tinged with color. We look for this same quality in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. We want writing that attempts to salvage something pure from the collision of warmth and cold, that says what it can about the world it finds itself in. We seek a diversity of voices speaking from visceral, lived experience. We like truth we can stare at until our eyes water, words so carefully chosen we want to reread them as soon as we have finished. Practical Matters We are grateful to be a part of a literary community that is taking action against systemic racism. We will also be donating submission fees...

Deadline: May 1st, 2025 Payment: Approximately: 10,000 words – $100, 7,500 words – $75, 5,000 words – $50, 2,500 words – $25, 1,500 words – $20 Theme: Horror set in Texas written by Texas authors HellBound Books is pleased to announce the 2025 edition of Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers. Author E. R. Bills will edit Vol. 10 of the series, which has featured works from Joe R. Lansdale, Katherine Anne Porter, Stephen Graham Jones, Robert E. Howard, Madison Estes, Jeremy Hepler, Bret McCormick, Josh Rountree, Patrice Sarath, Mario E. Martinez, James H. Longmore, William Jensen and others. RK10 is looking for original horror stories 1,500-10,000 words in length. The stories must be written and submitted by Texas authors and must be set (based) here – hence the title. One cent per word and contributing writers will receive two free copies and a discounted wholesale price on any copies of the book that he or she purchases to carry and sell on their own. Writer stipends will look something like this: 10,000 words – $100, 7,500 words – $75, 5,000 words – $50, 2,500 words – $25, 1,500 words – $20. All payments will be made after official acceptance, and when acceptance is communicated, each author will need to send a short bio. HellBound will be requesting two-year non-exclusive rights. This means we will use your story in this anthology and we can print excerpts of it online and otherwise (for promotional purposes, etc), but two years down the road you can do with it what you like.   The Submission Period begins FEBRUARY 1, 2025. The deadline to turn in stories is MAY 1, 2025, and our intent is to have the book printed and available by October 1, 2025, in plenty of time for Halloween. Please...

Deadline: May 5th, 2025 Payment: $25 and a contributors copy Theme: short comedic fiction Eggplant Emoji, the comedy literary journal is currently seeking previously-unpublished comedic short fiction submissions for its fifth volume. Eggplant Emoji Volume 5 will be a print and eBook collection of hilarious short stories that are character-driven and culturally striking. We are not looking for essays; we want scenes with dialogue, and stories with a beginning, middle, and an end. For a better sense of what we’re looking for, check out previous Volumes of Eggplant Emoji, available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. Submissions should be 1,000 – 8,000 word prose, with a comedic tempo of at least one witty line or funny moment per page, but ideally more than one. The intended audience will be 17+ and we encourage adult or sexual themes. Submission Guidelines: We use a blind submission process. That means your name, email address, or any other identifying information should be absent from the pages of your .doc/.docx piece. Please title your work and reference it in the body of your email. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please immediately advise us if your piece is accepted elsewhere. A maximum of 2 pieces will be accepted per person for consideration. Contributors will receive a $25 one-time payment and author copy per accepted piece. Please send submissions to [email protected] Deadline: Monday, May 5, 2025. Decisions will be rendered by Thursday, July 30, 2025. Projected release date: September 2, 2025. Read “Advice on Writing for Eggplant Emoji, and Biggest Mistakes Made by Submitters“ on Eggplant Emoji’s Substack. Via: Eggplant Emoji.

Deadline: May 7th, 2025 Payment: 8 cents per word and a contributor's copy Theme: Speculative Fiction, ideally with sci-fi elements if not sci-fi itself People of the World! Planet Scumm accepts submissions from writers across the world. Our pages have hosted the imaginative work of authors from every contintent but Antartica. We want to hear from writers with as various experiences, identities, and points of view as possible. Please do not busy our big-hearted slush readers with AI-generated tripe. Stories generated in part or whole by AI are in violation of our author contract. Specs WHAT TO SUBMIT Hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, sci-fi that melts in your mouth-brain not your hand-brain Speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream Basically anything that pleases Scummy, our megaphone-toting slime buddy, will be considered for entry to the interstellar archive aboard Scummy’s saucer HOW TO SUBMIT Include submissions as a .doc or .docx attachment to [email protected] along with a brief cover letter in the email body. Please attach only your story (no images, do not put your story in the body text of the email). Stories, or collections of flash fiction, should be no more than 5,000 words in length, and submitted in standard manuscript format. Submit only ONE previously unpublished short story or flash collection. We do not accept multiple submissions from the same author in one reading period. Simultaneous submissions are okay, as long as you promptly withdraw a story accepted elsewhere. SCHEDULE, RIGHTS, AND PAYMENT Accepted authors receive 8 cents a word and one contributor copy. Our publication operates in print, e-book, and audiobook. Some accepted stories will also be published on our website. We purchase exclusive English-language print, audio, and electronic publishing rights for six months, with non-exclusive rights thereafter. Authors will receive payment within 3 months of finalizing story edits. Via:...

Deadline: May 13th, 2025 Payment: $20 for original fiction. $10 for poetry. $5 for reprints, $5 for short articles, poems and spells on winter rites, traditions and rituals - Payment and a contributor's copy for US authors Theme: Stories of how winter relates to rest and rejuvenation and refinement of dreams involving fantasy, folklore, and magic Winter Lore Book 3: Aurora: Tales of Winter Dreams: Submission Open March 25 to May 13, 2025 Word count 2,000 to 6,000 Pay: $20 for original fiction $10 for poetry $5 for reprints $5 for short articles, poems and spells on winter rites, traditions and rituals Payment and a contributors copy Paperback for US residence Ebook for Non-US residence Please read and Follow All Guidelines Carefully or your story may be discarded without being read. Use QueryManager to submit your story. https://QueryTracker.net/query/SpecPub To submit to the query manager you need to upload your complete manuscript, .doc and .docx files, formatted in standard Shunn Format, (double spaced, times new roman ect) Have your name, word count and email at the top of the story document. Format files with the project title, story title and author name in the name. For example : Winter Dreams- Booger Nights- Jensen This is a collection of fantasy, folklore, and magic. It can be dark or light, but try to keep it within the bounds of fantasy. Stories of how winter relates to rest and rejuvenation and refinement of dreams. Stories will be about astral projection and lucid dreaming, dream spells, dream rituals, the magic of dreams, and subconscious desires and manifestations. What dreams come in the longest nights? What is imagined in the long cold months? -Stories of all faiths and spiritualities -Folklore, myth and Magic around dreaming and Winter -Stories of Winter Holidays and Traditions that tap into...

Submission Window: May 7th - 14th, 2025 Payment: 3 cents per word Theme: Sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and science fiction stories under 6,000 words What do we want?  Sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and science fiction stories under 6,000 words When do we want it?  Once per year: May 7-14 How do we want it?  Submitted via Publications | Moksha. Please do not submit fiction submissions by email. Other Stuff! Please submit your work only once, and please submit only one work per submission period. Please only resubmit works that have already been rejected if invited. Diversity is important and we wish to see that viewpoint reflected in our fiction content and submission queues. We are especially interested in hearing from those whose voices are underrepresented in the fantasy space. If comfortable, feel free to drop this information in your cover letter. We strongly favor stories that use contemporary narrative styles. Prose Poetry and other types of fiction with unique formatting/spacing are not a good match due to the print layout of the magazine. Please submit manuscripts that work in digital and print formats. If you aren’t sure how to format, check out Shunn. It’s not required to rigorously stick to formatting standards, but it helps. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but please withdraw immediately upon acceptance elsewhere. We pay 3 cents (USD) per word for original fiction. We do not take unsolicited reprints. What we don’t want We do not take any work that used AI in its creation, work that uses established genre tropes in a standard way, and queries. Art OPEN What do we want?   Pieces that you feel might be fitting to appear on the cover or in the interior of the magazine When do we want it?  We take art submissions all year long. How do we want it? ...

Submission Window: April 15th - May 15th, 2025 Payment: $15.00 for short stories $5.00 for poems and flash (<1000 wds) fiction pieces. $5.00 for reprints Theme: SF/Fantasy stories that feature strong / complex female characters The Lorelei Signal is a quarterly SF/Fantasy electronic magazine - one that will feature strong / complex female characters. This does not mean your female character has to be the main hero or villain in the story. What it does mean is no shrinking violets, or women who serve only to get into trouble so the male hero can rescue them.Each issue I hope to publish:7 short stories, 1 flash fiction piece and 2 poemsthat meet the following guidelines:My primary guideline is simple:Write a good fantasy story with strong/complex characters.What I am NOT looking for - erotica / slash / or other such stories.Although well written love scenes that are IMPORTANT to the story will be considered on a story-by-story basis. 1) Stories should be no longer than 10,000 words.However, tell the story - if it takes more than 10,000 words to tell the story properly so be it.Just try to cut it down if possible - but remember the story is the important part. NOTE: stories in the 2500 - 5000 wd count range will have a better chance at acceptance.2) Stories must feature 3 dimensional / complex characters.3) I will accept reprints as long as it has been at least 1 year since the story was previously published,rights have reverted back and you tell me where it previously appeared.These will be limited to 2 per issue.4) Please keep the graphic gore down to a minimum(only what's needed for the story).5) Please keep the obscene language to a bare minimum(again, only what's needed for the story).6) Simultaneous Submissions will be considered IF:a) You tell me up frontb)...

Deadline: May 16th, 2025 Payment: Contributors Copy (as this is a charity anthology outside of that.) Theme: Humorous, weird western science fiction This is a humorous, weird western science fiction anthology, created in honor of Ken Rand. Ken was a fixture at Utah writing events, whether it was workshops, conventions, LTUE, or just hanging out. He’s perhaps best known for his The 10% Solution writing book, where he helps writers learn how to effectively edit their own work in order to greatly improve their stories. He also wrote a lot of weird westerns, science fiction, fantasy, and horror short works throughout his career, and almost all of his stories had humor in them. We want humorous, weird west, science fiction tales and poetry (as long as the poetry tells a story, and long-form poetry would be awesome). Think The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr., The Wild Wild West TV series, and Cowboys and Aliens. Make your stories fun to read, make the characters interesting, and make us grin. The tales must have heart, must be solid stories, and must be positive in their outlook. About the charity and more details for submissions: Since its beginnings in the early 1980s, the Life, the Universe, & Everything Symposium (LTUE) has been a staple of the Utah and Intermountain West author and artist community. Many authors, artists, and editors have found inspiration for their careers at the feet of scores of symposium guests. Influential professors and others have mentored those planning and running the symposium, but many of these mentors have passed on. The symposium helps students of all ages by providing greatly discounted student memberships. Hemelein Publications—in conjunction with LTUE Press—created a series of memorial benefit/charity anthologies to help the symposium continue to help these aspiring creators learn about their crafts at a reasonable cost. Author, artist,...

Submission Window: February 23rd to May 23rd, 2025 Payment: $20 Theme: Answering the question - why are angels so compelling as anti-heroes and/or villains? Monstrous Angels is an anthology that will explore one of the most enduring questions of religious horror–why are angels so compelling as anti-heroes and/or villains? We’ve seen it time and time again: Angelfall, Constantine, Legion, Angelology, the list goes on. We love our dark angels. ​We want stories of the morally gray. Of angels and humans trying their best and failing. We want to explore all corners of this topic so feel free to be broad. Angel-like beings from other cultures are welcomed and encouraged. Our definition of angel is loose. We want winged divine creatures trying to navigate moral quandaries, being consumed by righteous anger, and experiencing the consequences of being too close to humans.  Give us your nasty angels. Your conflicted angels. We want dark, complicated stories. Looking for:  Microfiction up to 250 words Flash pieces up to 1,000 words Short stories up to 8,000 words Reprints? If you have the rights back, yes. Please include original/copyright supporting information. Simsub? Absolutely, just let us know ASAP if you get accepted somewhere else.  Honorarium: $20 Maximum: Only 15 submissions will be accepted. ​ Submission window opens February 25th, 2025 and closes May 25th, 2025.  Early or late submissions will be deleted and left unread.  Submissions should be in the Shunn format but no need to put your address or phone number, just your state/country is fine.  Include a short Bio  One submission per author, please. ​ Please send submissions in .docx or .pdf format ​ All proceeds will be donated to the Avian Haven Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Freedom Maine Submit Here I have a question! Via: Conquest Publishing.

Deadline: May 29th, 2025 Payment: $20 CAD Theme: Diverse horror, showcasing short stories, poetry, and essays written by queer, neurodiverse, BIPOC, female, and disabled writers. Thank you for your interest in submitting your work to (s)crawl magazine. We are a Canadian-based magazine that publishes the best in diverse horror, showcasing short stories, poetry, and essays written by queer, neurodiverse, BIPOC, female, and disabled writers. We accept submissions globally, however we currently only publish works in English. We welcome both seasoned and emerging writers to submit. Please review our submission guidelines carefully before submitting your work. general guidelines » genres      › (s)crawl magazine publishes thought-provoking horror writing that lingers long after it is read. we seek stories and poems that are psychologically and/or emotionally complex and do not rely on extreme or gratuitous violence. (read more on this in our “what we’re looking for” and “what we don’t accept” sections)      › we seek work that explores social, cultural, and personal horror—think of narratives that unsettle on a deeply emotional or intellectual level.      › some examples of our favorite subgenres are psychological horror, supernatural horror, gothic horror, folk horror, existential horror, surreal horror, and body horror.       › non-fiction submissions must be related to horror literature, writing, or genre theory. » word count      › short stories: approx. 1,000-5,000 words      › poetry: up to three (3) poems per submission      › essays or articles: approx. 1,000-3,000 words » exclusivity      › we accept simultaneous submissions, but kindly inform us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.       › we do not accept previously published work (including self-published or blog posts). » fees and payment      › there is no fee to submit your work to (s)crawl    ...

Deadline: May 30th, 2025 Payment: $50 AUD and a contributors copy Theme: Edited by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost Halloween. So much more than costumes and candy, it’s the time when the veil between our world and the other side is at its thinnest. The hour when dark forces come into the light in search of innocent souls. A time of blood and evil. Australian Shadows Award-winning and multiple Bram Stoker Award-nominated author and artist Greg Chapman, and acclaimed author Cameron Trost, are seeking new original Halloween tales for this anthology, planned for release in October 2025. We want memorable, character-driven stories set on, or near, the last night of October. Give us ghosts, serial killers, rituals and monsters, heroes and villains, but most of all give us the true dark side of Halloween - and make it terrifying. Payment is $50 AUD for stories up to 5,000 words. Contributors will also receive a complimentary print and digital copy. The anthology will feature original cover art and internal illustrations by co-editor Greg Chapman. The submissions window opens March 1st and closes midnight May 30th. Send all submissions to [email protected] Story submissions should follow the Shunn format. Via: Black Beacon Books.

Deadline: May 30th, 2025 Payment: $10 Theme: Dark speculative fiction that explores various aspects of otherness and its effect on those so othered Dim Shores will be publishing an anthology in late 2025 or early 2026 — Suffering the Other. America’s blossoming fascist state is vigorously persecuting basically anyone who is not a healthy well-off cisgendered heterosexual white male: LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, the disabled, the poor, women in general. Particular attention is being paid to immigrants/non-citizens of any stripe, and the transgender community. As such, this book will be a benefit for RAICES and Transgender Legal Center, two of the many organizations helping those who are being victimized by this roaring tsunami of oppression and vitriol. Suffering the Other will be edited by Justin Steele and myself (Sam Cowan), just like both volumes of Looming Low. Unlike Looming Low, we are taking submissions for this book. Following are some guidelines. WINDOW: March 30 through May 30, 2025. THEME: People tend to fear what they don’t understand. Throughout history these fears have festered and metastasized, again and again, into prejudicial hatred and violence against out-groups. Too many people have become very adept at dehumanizing those who are not like themselves. The stories in this book will explore various aspects of otherness and its effect on those so othered via dark speculative fiction. COMPENSATION: Please bear in mind this is a benefit book, and compensation is limited to a token payment of $10 plus a copy of the book. All other proceeds will be split between RAICES and Transgender Law Center. FICTION LENGTH: 2,500 – 10,000 words. ORIGINAL STORIES, REPRINTS: Original stories preferred but reprints are acceptable. If you are submitting a reprint, please include information about where the story was originally run. SUBMISSIONS: Please, only one story per submission, in Word format (.doc or .docx) or .rtf. Please use page numbers and...

Deadline: May 31st, 2024 Payment: Written work: .02c/word, Artwork: $75 Theme: Grim, gothic, morbidly funny, and terrifying works Calling all poetry authors AND artists! We're stepping outside of the box here and trying something new. We're calling on poets and artists this time to help us craft an illustrated poetry anthology. Give us your limericks, sonnets, haiku, ballads, and free-verse! Have visual poetry? EVEN BETTER. We want grim, gothic, morbidly funny, terrifying works. Your poetry submission: should be 150 lines (not words) max horror centric any form of poetry is allowed multiple submissions allowed Your art submission: color or black/white (a color edition is tentatively planned) various sizes/dimensions considered submit as jpg, tiff, png, or pdf multiple submissions allowed NO GENERATIVE AI ART OF ANY KIND. Est. publication date: July 2025 Compensation (written work): .02c/word Compensation (artwork): $75 Poetry+art submissions from the same submitter are allowed. If the pieces are related, please upload them in the same submission. Because of the rarity of horror poets, submissions will remain open until we feel we've received a good pool to select from. Submit Graveside Press is a new imprint focused on horror, managed by members of the publishing teams that brings you Paper Angel Press, Water Dragon Publishing, Unruly Voices, and Cupid’s Arrow Publishing. We plan to bring you sleep-shattering tales of horror beginning October 2024. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES When submitting, we would greatly appreciate if you can follow the formatting guidelines below: file type: *.doc or *.docx Spelling: US and UK/AU-spelling and colloquialisms accepted Punctuation: US (modern, e.g. single space after periods) Font: Any legible serif, e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond Include author information at the top of page 1 (see sample below) Use formatted indents and not tabs to begin each paragraph Use hard returns to start new paragraphs Use page breaks to begin chapters on a new page If you would like an example of what a...

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: $20 (CAD) or a physical copy of the magazine Theme: Slice of Life After the release of our first publication "The Stygian Collection", there was demand to continue producing anthologies. To continue growing our community and keep the anthology spirit alive, The Stygian Society presents: The Stygian Zine! January's Theme: Slice of Life Tell us about your day-to-day darkness... Released: Every January and July!​ ​ Accepting: Poems Short stories Personal musings Visual art Comics ​ For selected works, you will receive a $20 (CAD) honorarium (OR physical copy of the zine), pdf copy of the zine, and the option to purchase print copies at cost + shipping.  ​ Works received between June 1 and November 30 will be considered for the January issue Works received between December 1 and May 31 will be considered for the July issue Specifications:  We will accept Word or PDF format for written works. Written works must not exceed 2500 words (poetry included). Name, contact information and work title must be included in your submitted document. Works must be in 12 helvetica or arial, double spaced. For artwork please send pdf or png, 300dpi minimum (Colour or black and white accepted). Comics must not exceed 5 pages. ​ *All submissions are kept on file for future consideration, so please be sure to withdraw if you receive publication elsewhere. **If your piece has been previously published, please inform us on submission, and specify where it was published. Email responses will be sent upon receipt, and acceptance only.  Please note that minor edits may be made to your work after acceptance as our editor will review for spelling and grammar. Submit Your Work mail to: [email protected] "The Stygian Zine: Contribution" Via: Stygian Society.

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: 2 cents per word for poetry, $75 for artwork Theme: Grim, gothic, morbidly funny, terrifying works of poetry and artwork Calling all poetry authors AND artists! We're stepping outside of the box here and trying something new. We're calling on poets and artists this time to help us craft an illustrated poetry anthology. Give us your limericks, sonnets, haiku, ballads, and free-verse! Have visual poetry? EVEN BETTER. We want grim, gothic, morbidly funny, terrifying works. Your poetry submission: should be 150 lines (not words) max horror centric any form of poetry is allowed multiple submissions allowed Your art submission: color or black/white (a color edition is tentatively planned) various sizes/dimensions considered submit as jpg, tiff, png, or pdf multiple submissions allowed NO GENERATIVE AI ART OF ANY KIND. Est. publication date: July 2025 Compensation (written work): .02c/word Compensation (artwork): $75 Poetry+art submissions from the same submitter are allowed. If the pieces are related, please upload them in the same submission. Because of the rarity of horror poets, submissions will remain open until we feel we've received a good pool to select from. Categories: Fiction/Poetry/Art File types: .doc, .docx, .pdf, .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .tif, .tiff Number of Pieces: Up to 2 pieces per submission. Single File: Not required; may include a separate file/link for each piece. Anonymous submissions are not required. Simultaneous submissions are allowed. Reprints are allowed. (We will consider reprints, however preference will be shown for new original works.) Multiple entries are allowed. AI-assisted works are not allowed. Via: Graveside Press's Duotrope.

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: $0.01 per word Theme: Dark stories with the theme of patterns PATTERNS Submission window now open. Deadline: May 31st 2025 We’re looking for dark stories (2-4k words) on the theme of patterns. Please interpret this theme however you like. Write us a quiet mood piece or an action-packed powerful, character-driven story. Make it humorous or as dark as the night. Send us your best speculative, horror, dark fantasy or dark sci-fi stories, as long as it's full of the feels. We are not, however, the market for violent, bloody, racist, homophobic, or masochistic fiction. And no poetry please, just short fiction. Some ideas: the pattern could be in the narrative technique (fragmentation, mirror writing, foreshadowing, meta-fictional repetition), the thematic composition (think cycles of death and birth, family curses, sin and retribution) for example. Or how about incorporating chants, supernatural rituals, or echoes in your prose? A story with temporal patterns in it might float our boat (although be careful, we don’t want our inbox flooded with time loops and cyclical stories, unless done exceptionally well or with a novel twist). Seasonal patterns, recurring times, patterns in nature, patterns in objects which feature in your tale, geographical patterns, repetitive architecture, patterns in weather, behavioural ticks, recurring nightmares, obsessions…any tenuous link will do, just make it your best work and give it a good edit prior to sending it our way. You get the idea. Surprise us. If you want an idea of what we publish (and my, oh my, what an eclectic range it is), why not check out some of our other publications? Links can be found by clicking here: Books.   Normally, we only allow one submission per author, but we're going to try something new this time. If you send us a story and...

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: $0.08 /word Theme: Fantasy, science-fiction, and horror short stories that embrace punk and queer rage. edited by C.L. McCartney, Trip Galey & Robert Berg We’re seeking fantasy, science-fiction, and horror short stories that embrace punk and queer rage. There’s a glass ceiling in SFF representation, and we want you to throw a brick through it. Bring us the coven that burned Salem and your roaring bear-serkers. We want gangs of acid-wash werewolves, furious bipyromancers, flesh-eating femmes, and vengeant celestial bois—a cast of the downtrodden who make ruins of their oppressors. Wrath lies at the heart of queer liberation—it can be a spur to action and the only righteous response to a world that would prefer we didn’t exist. So crash mainframes, collapse empires, and break normativity. Pride month is over. It’s time for— Wrath Month Guidelines Submissions: All stories should be submitted via our Google Submission Form as a .doc or .docx file (link below). We are seeking original fiction for this project, not reprints. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please withdraw immediately if your story is accepted elsewhere. No multiple submissions, but if you have a story rejected before the deadline you may submit again. (But note: the editors make no promises about how quickly submissions will be reviewed.) Word Count: Stories should be no more than 6,000 words long, but 4,000-5,000 is a good target. Flash fiction will happily be considered, but as the exception rather than the rule. Format: We don’t wish to create barriers to entry, so if you have a story in standard manuscript format you’re absolutely fine. However, the editors are fans of Modern Manuscript Format, Garamond, and italics as italics. Rates: Authors will be paid $0.08 /word for worldwide English language rights (including audio). Cover letters: None! Nada!...

Submission Window: May 1st - 31st, 2025 Payment: 1 cent per word Theme: Reprints of fantasy stories in all of its subgenres IMAGITOPIA is a new fantasy fiction podcast and digital magazine produced by Android Press and featuring narrated fantasy fiction plus other fun stuff like author and editor interviews, news and events, and nerd-outs on fantasy tropes and other related topics.  We currently accept submissions of previous published fantasy short stories for REPRINT ONLY to be narrated for the podcast. We'll also publish in print here on the webzine.  Our first submission window opens on September 1, 2023. For more information on when we're open and closed to submissions throughout the year, please see our Schedule. Submissions are only accepted through IMAGITOPIA's Moksha submission portal. Any submissions received via email or any other method will be deleted without review or response. Email accounts inevitable get tons of spam. So this policy helps make sure we don't lose your submission in the email shuffle. But if for some reason you're unable to submit via our Moksha portal, for example due to accessibility issues, please message us using the form at the bottom of this page, and we'll be happy to make alternative arrangements for your submission. *We're a womxn and trans run publication. We hope authors of all types and stripes will submit work, but we especially encourage BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, womxn, people living with disabilities, those living in the Global South, and authors from other marginalized populations. ​ WORD COUNT flash fiction: up to 1,500 words short stories: up to 5,000 words ​ PAY RATE We currently pay 1 cent USD per word for previously published flash fiction and short stories with a $10 USD minimum. ​ GENRES We accept submissions of fantasy and all its subgenres including but not limited to:  ​​ high fantasy low...

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: Royalties Theme: Haunted workplace stories What I'm Looking For: Haunted workplace stories, modern day or historical, it's completely up to you. Just write a great character-driven story that hooks the reader fast and reels them in hard. There do NOT need to be ghosts. You don't need to have a truly haunted workplace. You can have spooky vibes, vampires, werewolves, the whole nine. Story length will be between 5,000 and 10,000 words. Dates: Open immediately with the final entry being accepted May 31st, 2025. The contracts will be sent out June 30th, 2025. The anthology will be published July 25th. If there are enough awesome stories for more anthologies, you will be informed as to which one you will be included in and when it will be published.  Payment: Payment will be done through Pubshare and will be royalty based.  Rights: I will require the English text exclusivity for one year. You will be paid past the first year, but you can then publish it on your own at that point.  Please send all stories to [email protected] Small details: Please use .docx or .doc to save your file.  Save the file as StoryName-Yourname.docs 12 Times New Roman, double spaced. If you are unsure as to how to format a short story, please refer to https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/ .  Thank you and happy writing!!  Via: Ps and Qs Publishing.

Deadline: May 31st, 2025 Payment: Royalties Theme: Stories where liminal space is a priority  M Presents Publishing is looking for short stories for its forthcoming anthology: Liminal Madness. Liminal Madness is a slight departure from the straight horror that previous anthologies had focused on; while horror is definitely a theme in this book the stories can be about anything so long as the idea of liminal space is priority. Think of the popular Backrooms or any place that is an eerie transition between places, a place that seems normal yet there is something... wrong: a hallway in a school that is strangely silent or a staircase that seems to keep descending with no discernable bottom. Liminal: adj: relating to a transitional or intermediate state, stage, or period Liminal Space: noun: a state or place characterized by being transitional or intermediate in some way; informal: any location that is unsettling, uncanny, or dreamlike Let your imagination run wild as these spaces envelop your mind, whether you've no-clipped out of reality or wandered off the forest path. Looking for: fiction pieces with a horror element with a focus on Liminal Spaces. While there is only one planned anthology, if a sufficient number of entries are received, a second anthology will also be released, title TBD.  Stories by LGBTQ+ and POC authors are welcome, disclosure is unnecessary and won't be asked. Not looking for: erotica, pornography, stories suggesting sexual abuse or child endangerment in a tactless way; if you wouldn't want to read it, do you think I will? Stories written by AI. Payment: Royalties and a digital copy of the book. If you wish to buy a physical copy yourself, it will be made available to you at cost; but it is entirely optional if you wish to do that. Submission length: 3000-5000...

Deadline: June 1st, 2025 Payment: 2 cents per word for fiction, 3 words per word for poetry Theme: The history and power of Memento Mori artifacts or relics Memento Mori Ink Magazine, in collaboration with Crystal Lake Publishing has issued an open call for submissions to our 2026 anthology. In this collection, we explore the power of Memento Mori artifacts or relics. We want ancient objects or seemingly mundane items which have the power to whisper to those who possess them. We are looking for character-driven stories with a focus on the history and source of power behind their chosen object which must be tied to the afterlife, the passage of time, or the thin veil separating the living from the dead. As these objects reveal their secrets, characters must confront their deepest fears and the inevitable reality of their own mortality. Submission Guidelines: Short Stories: 3,000–5,000 words Poetry: 250–1,500 words (accepting three poetry pieces for this anthology) Compensation: Short Stories: $0.02 per word Poetry: $0.03 per word Important Details: •Deadline: June 1, 2025 •No reprints or simultaneous submissions •Email and word count at the top of your document •Payment via PayPal or Zelle upon acceptance; please include preferred payment method and details under your email •Submit a 100-word bio and a black-and-white photo •No AI-generated content; originality is essential Acceptance letters will go out approximately September 1, 2025 but we reserve the right to move this date. Submit here: https://form.jotform.com/243066993006055 Via: Memento Mori Ink Magazine's Facebook.

Deadline: June 1st, 2025 Payment: 15GBP Theme: Eldritch (Vol 110) ELDRITCH, 1st June 2025 Peel back the curtain of reality and reveal the ultimate indifference and the horror of the infinite beyond. If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we'll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. *** WHEN WILL I HEAR IF MY STORY HAS BEEN ACCEPTED OR NOT? We carefully review every single submission that comes through our door. If you’ve submitted a story to us, please be patient. We WILL let you know if your submission has or hasn’t been successful. Having said that, if you haven’t heard anything up to twelve weeks after the deadline has passed, feel free to ping us an email to check in on it. Submission Guidelines • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document - Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document • Stories must fit an upcoming theme • By submitting your story to us, you are confirming that you are the original creator of the story • We will consider entrants whose work has been entered and published elsewhere, however please ensure you state where and when your story has been used elsewhere on the document • You will be allowed to place one call-to-action for your own work at the end of the episode. Be sure to...

Deadline: June 1st, 2025 Payment: AU 1c/word Theme: What happens to a person after a major transformation Submissions open until 1st June 2025 The Morning After is an anthology about what happens after a sudden transformation. This could be an individual person transforming into something new or a mass change that effects humanity as a whole. How does this person or society react to no longer being human? As an editor, I am keen to see how people react in this unique situation. Focus on struggles and adaptation to new forms are highly encouraged. Despite the name of the anthology, the story does not need to begin with waking up in this new reality - but it should start shortly after the transformation has taken place. Submission guidelines Stories should be within 2000 words and 10,000 words. Please enquire with stories above or below this wordcount. Stories may be of any age rating including explicit 18+ stories. Stories may be of any genre so long as they include the transformation elements. As a variation to our usual guidelines, authors do NOT need to be trans, non binary, or female. Cis male authors are encouraged to submit. Payment will be AU 1c/word. Original/unpublished stories only for this anthology. how to submit Submissions should be sent to [email protected] Please use the subject format of: MORNING AFTER SUBMISSION: , by . Include the story as a .doc or .docx file attachment. Via: Transcendent Fiction Publishing.

Submission Window: April 15th - June 1st, 2025 Payment: 40% royalties for net eBook sales with a chance to increase to 50% should a specific threshold of sales be met. Theme: Novels and novellas in dark fiction, horror, dark romance, and horror romance. Publishing Opportunities for 2026 We are happy to announce that our focus for 2026 is to highlight the voices of underrepresented Canadian authors. We are seeking submissions from Canadian authors who identify as BIPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+, or are from marginalized communities. We are seeking two novels or novellas in the genres of dark fiction, dark romance, horror romance, or horror, to be published in the latter half of 2026. If you are a Canadian author with a unique story to tell, we encourage you to submit your work for consideration. Let's bring your voices to the forefront of the literary world. Our submission window will be from April 15 - June 1. We are seeking completed manuscripts. Eerie River Publishing only publishes a handful of novels a year. Regrettably, this means we will have to pass on some fantastic writing. We wish we could publish them all but the truth is we wouldn't be able to put the resources needed behind each project to make them a success. And that is what we are here to do. We are an inclusive company that accepts submission from anyone regardless of race, gender or sexuality. We accept agented and non-agented submissions during our submission window. What are we looking for?IN DARK FICTION ​​ We are seeking high-quality, novel and novellas in dark fiction, horror, dark romance,  and horror romance.  ​ We want unique, well-crafted stories with compelling plots, terrifying twists, and entertaining characters, for mature audiences. Give us your grim, heart-wrenching twist. The perfect story would balance the light and...

Submission Window: May 1st - June 1st, 2025 Payment: $5 Theme: Poetry or short fiction about the Gods and Goddesses and heroes of the world’s many Pagan/polytheist traditions that somehow features Music Summer Solstice 2025: Music. Submission Period: 1 May through 1 June 2025. Jazz and blues. Rock and opera. Ballads and filk songs. Music has been an integral element of human creativity and culture since we first learned to carve holes into bones. Send us your best poems, short stories, and essays about music — in all its forms — from a Pagan/polytheist, witchy, and mythological point of view. Send us poems about the duel between Apollo and Marsyas, Bragi wooing Idun, and Pan stalking a poacher with madness-inducing pipe music. Send us short stories about a desperate musician making a crossroads deal with Dionysus, a composer praying to Hymen for inspiration, an archaeologist uncovering a temple and sacred instruments of Kothar-wa-Khasis. Send us essays about Väinämöinen as archetypal musician, Mozart’s opera Apollo et Hyacinthus, and the rise of the modern Pagan music scene. What is Eternal Haunted Summer? EHS is an ezine dedicated to 1) original poetry and 2) short fiction about the Gods and Goddesses and heroes of the world’s many Pagan/polytheist traditions. We feature 3) reviews of books, graphic novels, academic journals, magazines, movies, plays, and so forth which have a Pagan focus, or which otherwise might interest our Pagan readership. And 4) interviews with established and new Pagan authors, or authors of texts that interest a Pagan audience. And finally, 5) essays concerning the Gods, Goddesses, heroes, myths and folklore of the world. What do we mean by “original?” The submission must not have been previously published in hardcopy, or on another ezine, or website, or blog. Since people often discuss their writing on email lists and messageboards,...

Deadline: June 1st, 2025 Payment: $10 and a contributors copy Theme: New and unique takes on the legends and realities of the Lizzie Borden story Everyone knows the legend of Lizzie Borden, especially the dark nursery rhyme...   Lizzie Borden took an axe Gave her mother 40 whacks. When she saw what she had done, Gave her father 41 Riverdale Avenue Books has teamed up with the Historical Lizzie Borden house to put together an anthology of stories, under the direction of award-winning horror author Sèphera Girón, who has visited the house multiple times over the past few decades. The “Official” Story of the Lizzie Borden House Lizzie Borden was born in 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Since her mother had died when she was young, she had been at odds with her stepmother, Abby, who she and her older sister, Emily, believed married her father for his wealth. Their father, Andrew, was a prominent developer in Fall River. Lizzie grew up an upstanding member of her community, being heavily involved in the church and performing services for the poor. As Lizzie grew older, the tension between the parents and the daughters grew. Lizzie and Emily remained unmarried, bringing negative attention to the family from their peers and the sisters were critical of the way their father was distributing his wealth to their stepmother’s family.. The story says that Lizzie, blind with rage, hacked her father and stepmother to death in the house. The trial that followed became one of the most sensationalized courtroom cases in American history, attracting hundreds of tourists to Fall River. Lizzie was acquitted due to lack of evidence and reasonable doubt although the fact that she destroyed the clothes she wore have convinced some of her guilt. She lived the rest of her life in relative anonymity, but...