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Articles / Guest Post

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How to Write Horror For Kids and Teens?

How to Write Horror For Kids and Teens?

 

Horror stories are supposed to be scary, entertaining, and attention-grabbing. This is a universal rule that gets the thrill and excitement going in all the readers, regarding their age. So, why make a difference between adults and kids and teens? Because kids and teens have a mindset completely different from adults and you as a writer need to recognize that.

 

In addition, don’t think that kids and teens are easier to scare.

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Anthology / Events / Semipro

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Taking Submissions: Horror Tales of Rock Music!

Deadline: December 1st, 2021
Payment: $.03 per word
Theme: Bloody Rock Anthology

Scary Diary Press is accepting submissions from 01 August 2021 to 01 December 2021 for an anthology that has gutsy strings attached! But don’t fret! Are you a horror writer and a music lover? Does the rock of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s take you back to the nightmares of yore? If you can brew a scary tale that Alice Cooper and the Dead would love, we just might love it too! Submission Guidelines: Scary Dairy Press is seeking short story submissions between 2,000 and 5,000 words max for an anthology that combines a rock song theme and creepy horror into a tale that rocks readers to their bones! Anthology title pending the kinds of stories submitted and selected.

 

For now, “Bloody Rock” is a placeholder. This ear-bursting anthology draws inspiration from the terrifying tunes of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Stories need not use the song title as the story title. Stories must not use the original song lyrics, however the song inspiring the tale should be clear. We are looking for stories that channel deathly waves on the air! Bonus points if tales champion animals or animal rights (animals can be our heroes!), focus on human rights, climate change, gender issues, and other important social issues.

Any story that combines a terrifying tune and a creepy tale is welcome as long as we can pick it up, play it and shiver! What we want: Stories for this horror anthology may include additional elements of dark fiction, dark fantasy, speculative fiction, sci-fi or bizarro as long as horror is the primary venue. Your story may occur in any time, place or space. Mix it up, but make it thought provoking and disturbing to the human conscience. It’s up to you whether you curse the world with the Monster Mash or end the tale making every day Halloween. What we don’t want: No child abuse/sexual abuse scenes. No gratuitous splatter, gore or rape. If you use it, there must be a clear purpose for it. If you use vampires, werewolves or zombies then make the creatures or situation something unusual and unique.

If you are not sure about your idea, then message us at [email protected] and ask. Payment: $.03 per word.

Submit your manuscript on Duotrope starting 8/1/2021. Look for the “open” announcement. Your subject line should read: Bloody Rock_Name_Title of Submission. Shunn Manuscript Format is required. Please follow the directions to have your story considered. Use Word documents only: doc or docx are fine. Exclusive publishing rights remain with the publisher for a total of 12 months after publication, and may include written, electronic and audio formats. We look forward to reading and dancing to your words!

Submit

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Articles

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Indie Bookshelf Releases 08/20/21

Click on the book covers for more information. Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page – there’s all sorts lurking in the deep.

Got a book to launch, an event to promote or seeking extra work/support as a result of being hit economically by Covid or life in general?

Get in touch and we’ll promote you here. The post is prepared each Thursday for publication on Friday. Contact us via Horror Tree’s contact address or connect via Twitter or Facebook.

Services

Editing: Michael David Wilson, This Is Horror Founder and Editor In Chief, podcaster, and writer (The Girl in the Video) is currently offering his freelance editing services. “Michael David Wilson invented the fine-toothed comb. His attention to detail is second to none, and he has a wonderful understanding of structure. This is a guy who knows how good writing works.”—Ray Cluley, author of WATER FOR DROWNING Michael has over ten years of editing experience and has edited books by Josh Malerman, Pat Cadigan, Stephen Graham Jones, David Moody, and many others. He’s worked with various publishing houses and small presses including Rebellion Publishing and Broken River Books. Prices start from £0.01/word. For further information go here: michaeldavidwilson.co.uk/editing/. Contact Michael: [email protected]

Editing, critiquing, artwork – Eugene Johnson is a man of many talents, an award-winning editor, filmmaker and artist. He will be will be selling his art, book covers, book art, logo designs, making prints, offering short story critiques/edits, special book projects like a coloring book he’s creating with another author and more for a small fee. Initially to fund desperately needed repairs on his car, once that is complete he hopes to turn his focus towards helping others that need support. Join him in his endeavours in getting this help to those who need it. Contact him via https://plaiddragonpublishing.com/ and he can also be found on https://www.facebook.com/eugene.johnson.14855. If you’d like to help him get his car fixed that bit quicker, please drop in on his Fundraiser set up by friends. (I think another link will be set up in the near future regarding his services and I’ll update it here when that happens.)

Editing – Elle Turpitt, elleturpittediting.com, is facing redundancy. Help her by considering her as an editor. She is available for all editing work – short story, novella, novel, or chapter extracts. She also has a Ko-Fi (ko-fi.com/elleturpitt), or if you’d rather send a little gift to help her smile at a stressful time, she has a wishlist set up for this month (amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls). All support is appreciated. 

 

Writing and Editing Services from Ben Long. Go to Ben for ‘Killer Copy, Creative Content, and Eye-opening Edits’! Ben is ‘a passionate and engaging freelancer with 2+ years of experience in a variety of writing and editing endeavors. He is also a regular contributor to several online brands in the horror niche.’ You can find out more about him here https://readingvicariously.net/services/.

 

Events

Please send us details of any online panels, conventions, festivals and workshops and we’ll list them here.

Buzz Book Expo 2021 4th – 5th Sept. Showcases horror novels and novellas due for publication Sept 2021 to Dec 2022. Organised by Mary Sangiovanni, Somer Canon, Matt Wildasin and Katie Southard. Click the image for more info.

 

 

Charity Anthologies

 Tales Of The Lost Volume Two- A charity anthology for Covid- 19 Relief: Tales To Get Lost In A CHARITY ANTHOLOGY FOR COVID-19 RELIEF by [Gaiman, Neil,, Hill, Joe,, Johnson, Eugene M,]  Flashes of Hope by [Anna Taborska, Dave Jeffery, Amy Grech, Matthew Davis, John Cady, Emma Lee, Gwen Weir, Ken Goldman, Alyson Faye, Theresa Derwin]    

May be an image of text

 

Latest Book Launches

Horror Tree Sponsor* and Patreon Releases!

Trembling With Fear: Year 4 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis] Trembling With Fear: More Tales From The Tree: Volume 3 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis, Catherine Kenwell] Trembling With Fear: Serial Killers: Volume 2 by [Stuart Conover, Stephanie Ellis, Catherine Kenwell]

*All Horror Tree sponsors are able to claim a spot at the top of our listing during the donation of their sponsorship. Please use our contact form for more advertising pricing.
 
 

July

Non-Practicing Cultist (Short Sharp Shocks! Book 75) by [Scott J. Moses] Milk Kisses & Other Stories (Short Sharp Shocks! Book 68) by [Ross Jeffery]

Lambs Among Wolves by [Russell James] The Samaritan by [Dave Jeffery] A Gift of Death by [Daniel J. Volpe]

Dead Men Tell No Tales by [Jeffrey Kosh] After the Fall (Underground Book 5) by [Stephen Herczeg] Brand New Dark by Beau Johnson

Picture Separating You: A Self-Help Book for the Lost, Lonely, and Psychotically Obsessed by [Jason Carson] Demons Never Die: A Collection of Artwork & Flash Fiction by [P.J. Blakey-Novis, David Paul Harris]

Immortelle by [Catherine McCarthy] 

Abhorrent Siren by [John Baltisberger]  Slattery Falls by [Brennan LaFaro] Only The Stains Remain by [Ross Jeffery]

J is for Jack-o'-Lantern (A to Z of Horror Book 10) by [Daniel R. Robichaud, Dona Fox, Sofie Wilkes, Robert P. Ottone, Rob Robson, Ariel Dodson, Donna Cuttress, Tori Danielle Romero, Sarah Jane Huntington, Jack Joseph]  Beyond Human Back from the Dead: A Collection of Zombie Fiction by [C.M. Saunders, Greg Chapman]

 Absolute Unit by [Nick Kolakowski, Crystal Lake Publishing]  They Come in the Night by [Lynn-Cee Faulk]

The Bad Book by [John F.D. Taff, Philip Fracassi, Sarah Read, John Langan, Kristi DeMeester, Alan Baxter, V. Castro, Errick Nunnally, Todd Keisling, Giuseppe Balestra] South by Southwest Wales by [David Owain Hughes] The Horror Collection: Extreme Edition by [Matt Shaw, Kyle M. Scott, David Owain Hughes, Nic Brady, Natasha Sinclair, Matthew M. Clarke , Kevin J. Kennedy]

August

1 Berserker - Green Hell: Sometimes War Is Beyond Hell by [Lee Franklin]1 Pariah in Paradise 1 1 Totally Tubular Terrors by [Jenna Moquin, Rebecca Rowland, R.C. Mulhare, Steve Van Samson, Rob Smales, Barry Dejasu, Mary E. Hart]

1 The Undertaker and Other Macabre Tales by [Derek Hutchins]3 The Final Gate by [Wesley Southard, Lucas Mangum]4 5

5 Devil's Night by [Curtis M. Lawson, Joe Morey] 8 DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST: A TRUE STORY OF TERROR by [Michael Anthony Gagliardi]6 Oblivion in Flux: A Collection of Cyber Prose by [Maxwell Ian Gold, Crystal Lake Publishing]16 Pandemic Unleashed by [Skywatcher Press, Matthew Hollis Damon, Marie Lanza, Rich Restucci, Claire Davon, Victoria Hancox, Hillary Lyon, Kara Race-Moore, Rachel W. Roth, Richard Clive]

17 17 Below by [Kev Harrison] 17 24 The Rules of the Road by [C.B. Jones]

26 The Girl in the Attic by [Jon Athan] 27 31 Jedi Summer by [John Boden]

September

1 The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by [Eric LaRocca] 1 Writers Workshop of Horror 2 by [Michael Knost] 6 Picture 7 Grimoire of the Four Impostors by [Coy Hall]

10Floaters by [Garrett Boatman, Crystal Lake Publishing]21 The House of Little Bones by [Beverley Lee]21 Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology by [Jonathan Maberry, Eric J. Guignard, Stephanie Ellis, Catherine McCarthy, Gabino Iglesias, Cindy O'Quinn, Cynthia Pelayo, Christina Sng, Laurel Hightower, H.R. Boldwood, Ben Monroe, Elle Turpitt, Michelle Garza, Melissa Lason, Beverley Lee, S.H. Cooper, Villimey Mist, Kev Harrison, Theresa Derwin, Ruschelle Dillon, Linda Addison, Stephanie Wytovich, Tabatha Wood, Shane Douglas Keene, Sara Tantlinger, Alyson Faye, Baba Jide Low, S.D. Vassallo] 21

22  26 Whitesands: A John Dark Case by [Johann Thorsson]28 Midnight From Beyond the Stars by [Gabino Iglesias, James Newman, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Tim Curran, Lee Murray, Ronald Kelly, Samantha Kolesnik, William Meikle, Kenneth W. Cain] 30 Kill Kit Killers: Premeditated murder, proved with their kits

October

1 Gorefest: Extreme Horror Anthology by [Wrath James White, Stephen Kozeniewski, Armand Rosamilia, Wesley Southard, Jay Wilburn, Jonathan Butcher, Jack Bantry, Robert Essig, Patrick C. Harrison, K. Trap Jones] 1 A House At War: House Arrath Book 11  1

16 Seeds by [Tabatha Wood]

November

12 With Benefits: What's a bit of fun between friends?

Kickstarters!

IN SOMNIO: A Collection of Modern Gothic Horror Fiction. Twenty-five macabre voices from Horror fiction & illustration jolt the corpse back to life & drag Gothic fiction back into the daylight! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maddoctorscomic/in-somnio

Happy reading.

Steph

 on behalf of Stuart and the Horror Tree Team

 

Trembling With Fear

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Unholy Trinity: 3 Drabbles by Diane Arrelle

Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

A  Much-Needed Companion

Alicia walked into the dying forest following the bleat of the fawn.  She knew it was starving. Everything was starving,

  And dying of thirst. With Earth heating up, clean water became impossible to find.  Alicia still had a couple of gallons hidden away. She knew it was futility, but the drive to survive was overpowering.

Alicia found the baby deer and carried it home. She soothed it, kissing its sleek fur.  It was a much-needed companion for the end of the world. 

And if it didn’t end quickly enough…  well, then, she’d cook it and survive a few more days.  

 

Watching The Rain Fall

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few days,” Roger reassured her. 

Sherry smiled and watched her husband drive away.  She stayed at the farm and took care of the crops and animals. 

The rain came and the river overflowed its banks. Roger called and said he was on his way home. 

The rain continued and the water covered the roads. Roger called and said he had a boat and was almost there. 

The flood drowned the animals, and Sherry was forced up to the roof in time to see Roger’s body floating by as the water continued to rise. 

 

Too Little Too Much

Alex and Alexi sat in the never-ending heat watching their vegetable garden wilt. “How many bottles of drinking water are left?” Alex asked.

“Five.” Alexi answered. “If we drink a mouthful a day we may be able to keep the food growing another two weeks.”

Then like a miracle the rain came. Dirty gray sheets of water falling day after day. 

The garden drowned and they heard the crack of the dam bursting a few miles away.   

Alex and Alexi sat, greedily gulping the last bottles of clean liquid and waited for the wall of water to sweep them away.  

Diane Arrelle

Diane Arrelle, the pen name of South Jersey writer Dina Leacock, has sold more than 350 short stories and has three published books including Just A Drop In The Cup, a collection of short-short stories and her collection of horror stories, Seasons On The Dark Side.  Retired from being director of a municipal senior citizen center, she is now co-owner of a small publishing company, Jersey Pines Ink LLC. She resides with her sane husband and her insane cat on the edge of the New Jersey Pine Barrens (home of the Jersey Devil).of a small publishing company, Jersey Pines Ink LLC and resides with her sane husband and her insane cat on the edge of the Southern New Jersey Pine Barrens (home of the Jersey Devil).

 www.arrellewrites.com  FaceBook: Diane Arrelle  www.jerseypinesink.com

Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Tales of Sley House 2021

Submission Window: September 1st – 15th, 2021
Payment: $25
Theme: Genre fiction
Note: Only open to college students

As a publisher in the best of genre fiction, we are looking for novels that blend genres and styles to deliver stories as surprising and shocking as they are relevant. 

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Tales of Sley House, 2021– Open 9/1/2021 – 9/15/2021 for college students only. Graduate or undergraduate, you must send in your submission from your school email address to be considered. Open submissions for all others will be 9/16/2021 – 9/30/2021.

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Reviews

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Epeolatry Book Review: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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: Mexican Gothic
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Del Ray
Release Date: 15th June, 2021

Synopsis: After receiving a frantic letter from her newly-wed cousin begging for someone to save her from a mysterious doom, Noemí Taboada heads to High Place, a distant house in the Mexican countryside. She’s not sure what she will find—her cousin’s husband, a handsome Englishman, is a stranger, and Noemí knows little about the region.   

Noemí is also an unlikely rescuer: She’s a glamorous debutante, and her chic gowns and perfect red lipstick are more suited for cocktail parties than amateur sleuthing. But she’s also tough and smart, with an indomitable will, and she is not afraid: Not of her cousin’s new husband, who is both menacing and alluring; not of his father, the ancient patriarch who seems to be fascinated by Noemí; and not even of the house itself, which begins to invade Noemi’s dreams with visions of blood and doom. 

Her only ally in this inhospitable abode is the family’s youngest son. Shy and gentle, he seems to want to help Noemí, but might also be hiding dark knowledge of his family’s past. For there are many secrets behind the walls of High Place. The family’s once colossal wealth and faded mining empire kept them from prying eyes, but as Noemí digs deeper she unearths stories of violence and madness. 

And Noemí, mesmerized by the terrifying yet seductive world of High Place, may soon find it impossible to ever leave this enigmatic house behind.

I’m not sure what to expect going into this book. Mexican Gothic got a ton of positive press and was nominated for the 2020 Superior Achievement in a Novel Bram Stoker Award. But, I wasn’t interested at first. Not sure why. Then, after a little convincing from some friends (I did my best to avoid spoilers), I finally convinced myself to give it a try. I suggest that you readers do the same; go into this one blind. The less you know, the more you’ll enjoy.

But, if you do want a little taste of what’s in store, here’s what I have to say…

So, our protagonist, Noemi, travels to a remote estate in Mexico to check on her cousin. There, she meets the residents of the old family estate. Of course, the family’s fortune is haunted by a bloody past. What secrets hide beneath the deteriorating walls? Will Noemi save her cousin or get pulled into the intrigue herself? 

It’s a bit of a slow burn. Silvia (can I call her Silvia?) luxuriates in the gloomy descriptions of the spooky, and somewhat familiar, gothic settings. But once things start to wrap up, the end comes at a blistering pace.

Think Crimson Peak crossed with Haunting of Hill House and Dracula with a touch of horrifying moldy mansion. All of this is topped with a healthy dose of Hispanic culture.

I give this   out of 5 ravens.

Available from Amazon and Bookshop.

Flat Amount / Magazine / Ongoing Submissions

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Ongoing Submissions: The Razor

Payment: $100
Theme: Literary Fiction

About The Razor:

The Razor is a literary magazine produced by Gotham Writers Workshop. We publish two pieces each month—one fiction, one nonfiction. For now, we do not publish poetry (though we so appreciate the poet’s artistry with words). Each published piece will also be presented in audio format.

What we’re looking for:

The Razor wants your best story in a 2,000-word box.
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Magazine / Ongoing Submissions / Semipro

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Ongoing Submissions: Sciencefictionery Magazine

Payment: 3 pence per word for fiction (UK)
Theme: A broad spectrum of stories from every Science Fiction subgenre

What we want:

We are looking for original works of fiction from 300 to 5000 words to feature in our magazine. We want to offer a broad spectrum of stories from every Science Fiction subgenre. So send us your robots and space cowboys. Send us your dystopian-alien-invasion-post-apocalyptic-cyberpunk tales. We like weird. We like adventure. We LOVE SCIFI!!

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