The Horror Tree Recent Markets, Articles, Interviews, and Fiction!

Articles

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Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Improve Your Skills with the ProWritingAid Writers’ Weeklong Online Summits

Hi all, I’m back! I know it’s been a long time, but I’m still alive and here to share some more tips with you all.

So, what do I have for you today? I believe that learning is a great way to tackle your self-doubts and fears, so over the last couple of years, I’ve attended many webinars and online summits hoping to improve my writing craft and business skills. And today I want to talk to you about one of these events: the ProWritingAid Writers’ Weeklong Online Summits.  

ProWritingAid offers genre focused weeklong online summits every year. The two events I have attended are the fantasy week and the crime week because I write in these genres as well as horror. (Side note: I hope they eventually do a horror week)
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Ongoing Submissions / Online / Pro

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Ongoing Submissions: Bullet Points Blog

Payment: The lesser of $0.10 per word or $500 (in US dollars)
Theme: Speculative military fiction

Bullet Points publishes speculative military fiction that is sensitive to the complexity, tragedy, and hope of warfare and violence in human (and nonhuman) society. The editor considers fiction stories from any author. Original stories run between 100 and 5,000 words, although reprints can deviate from this guideline. Authors retain all rights not specified in the publication agreement (signed only upon acceptance for publication). Payment is $30 for original stories and $20 for reprints, upon digital publication, via PayPal.

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Articles

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Ken MacGregor’s Unsolicited Advice on Doing Shows

Ken MacGregor’s Unsolicited Advice on Doing Shows

So you want to sell books to real people, in the real world, for real money. Okay. Cool. Let’s talk about that.

First things first, I know a lot of writers are, shall we say, not the most socially comfortable people in the world. I mean, I’m not one of those, but many are. To misquote the Tick, I’ve…heard of social anxiety. Before I was a writer, I was an actor. I did sketch comedy. I was a jury foreperson (not because I was necessarily the most qualified, but because I wasn’t afraid to express my opinion in the juror’s room). I have always been outgoing. Always loved being the center of attention. So, yeah. I have some tips.

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Articles / Interviews

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Read Our Interview With Philippa Ballantine and Clara Carija!

Today I’m excited to be speaking with Philippa Ballantine and Clara Carija, the creative minds behind Alien: Inferno’s Fall. Fans of the Alien franchise are always thrilled by the latest works delivered to us from Titan Books and I can tell you that this one is no exception!

Before we dive into the interview, the synopsis for this novel reads as follows: “As war rages among the colonies, a huge ship appears over the UPP mining planet Shānmén, unleashing a black rain of death that yields hideous transformations.

 

Monstrous creatures swarm the colony, and rescue is too far away to arrive in time. The survivors are forced to seek shelter in the labyrinth of tunnels deep beneath the surface. Already the grave to so many, these shafts may become the final resting place for all who remain.

 

Hope appears in the form of the vessel Righteous Fury. It carries the Jackals—an elite mix of Colonial Marines led by Zula Hendricks. Faced with a horde of grotesque mutations, the Jackals seek to rescue the few survivors from the depths of the planet. But have they arrived too late?”

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Articles / Guest Post

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Scaring Children for a Living: Writing Horror for Middle Grade and Young Adult

Scaring Children for a Living: Writing Horror for Middle Grade and Young Adult

By Ty Drago

The release of my novel RAGS through eSpec Books in the coming weeks marks my fifth published horror novel targeted to YA or Middle Grade readers. RAGS tells its story through the eyes of 16-year-old Abby Lowell, who must navigate through one supernatural terror after another in order to save the people she loves. Her journey is harrowing, suspenseful, and often a bit gory. But that’s horror in the nutshell, isn’t it?

The challenge arises when the writer has to balance traditional horror elements with the demands of a younger audience. Miss the former and the story comes off as more of an adventure than true horror. Miss the latter and readers will shy away. 

Let me elaborate.

Traditional horror novels are paced slow. Don’t believe me? Have a gander at Stephen King (back when he was still penning the scary stuff). Then check out Joe Hill, Dean R. Koontz, and even H.P. Lovecraft. In horror, one builds tension by “filling in the reader’s blanks,” describing the texture of the air, the nuance of a thrumming heart, the bitter coppery tang of blood. Every sensory experience of the character in the thick of things drags the reader from scene to scene. Anticipation is the order of the day—and all else, including action, takes a back seat to it.

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Anthology / Events / Flash / Pro / Reprints Allowed

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Taking Submissions: Immigrant Sci-Fi Short Stories

Deadline: August 30th, 2022
Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints
Theme: stories from a diverse range of writers who have direct or familial experience of immigration and migration and its complex issues.
Note: Reprints Welcome

We are seeking stories from a diverse range of writers who have direct or familial experience of immigration and migration and its complex issues. Writers with origins from all over the world, including but not limited to Latinx, Caribbean, Asian, African, Arabic, North American and East European, are invited to challenge the reader with stories that spill out into space, parallel realms or just hidden in plain sight. The stories will explore the world from the gaze of the incoming, whether forced through slavery, economic choice, necessitated through war or oppression, or hope for a better future, examining the perspectives of displacement in a future or fantastical setting. The new stories will be set alongside older narratives – real and speculative – by Frederick Douglass, Sutton Elbert Griggs, Harriet E. Wilson, Sui Sin Far and more. An intriguing view of the conflict and anxiety between the settled and the unsettled.

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Contest / Events / Flat Amount / Online

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Taking Submissions: Short Story Substack September 2022 Window (Early Listing)

Submission Window: September 1st-30th, 2022
Payment: $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue
Theme: Any genre, short story

Changing the world, one story at a time

Mission = Revive the art of the short story, support artists, and produce something wonderful.

Payout = Base Pay of $100 for the chosen story + 50% of subscription revenue to be sent by Paypal, Zelle, or check.

Wait, you mean if this substack gets thousands of subscribers, the winner would get thousands of dollars?

Yes! The New Yorker pays roughly $7,500 per story and I sincerely hope to go way past that.

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Articles / Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: The Name of Fear Collection by Scott Harper

Disclosure:

Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you.

Title: The Name of Fear Collection Tales of Anton the Undying
Author: Scott Harper
Publisher: Input/Output Enterprises
Genre: Occult
Release Date: 11th March, 2022

Synopsis: Rome may have fallen, but its greatest hero still fights to keep the supernatural world in check.

Once a powerful gladiator, Anton is now a vampire enforcer tasked with eliminating creatures that expose the secret supernatural society hidden within our world. But not all monsters are willing to lay low—some passionately yearn for a return to the good old days when they fed openly and dominated humanity. These diehards will go to any lengths to achieve their goal, even if it means destroying Anton. But Anton guards a terrible ancient secret, and those foolish enough to challenge him soon discover there are things even monsters fear.

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