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Articles

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Pearl Necklace

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Pearl Necklace

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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Anthology / Events / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Scary Stories to Tell in October

Submission Window: April 1st – 15th, 2025
Extended Window (Disabled, Neurodiverse, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and other underrepresented voices): April 16th – 30th, 2025
Payment: $13
Theme: Halloween

Death by TBR Books is a woman/disability owned indie online bookshop and indie press. We will be opening submissions for our upcoming Halloween horror anthology set to be released in August 2026!

If you don’t know the owner of Death by TBR Books then you may not be aware of her obsession for all things fall and Halloween. THIS anthology will be all about Halloween. This could be a nostalgic memory from your childhood or a more recent Halloween experience.

We strongly encourage lovers of Halloween to apply even if you don’t have prior publishing experience. From folk horror and vampires to psychological and werewolves and beyond. Think of nostalgic media that you watch every year. We want those who miss Halloween and October every year to have a way to stop and savor it every day of the month.

Submissions

Scary Stories to Tell in October
A Halloween Horror Anthology

Open call submission window: April 1st – April 15th
Extended submission window: April 16th – April 30th
(Exclusively for Disabled, Neurodiverse, BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, and other underrepresented voices.)
We are looking for 31 flash fiction/short stories so people can spend every day of October reading a very short story.

Payment
Royalties are $13 for the story and one electronic copy of the anthology.

Word Count
Between 2,000 and 4,000 words.

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Anthology / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Flat Amount

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Taking Submissions: Ghost to Ghost to Ghost

Submission Window: April 2nd – 16th, 2025
Payment: $15.00 CAD and a contributors copy
Theme: Ghosts in Canada
Note: Canadian authors only

Submissions open April 02 – 16

Canadians! We want your strange, unsettling, spooky tales featuring a ghost of one kind or another  – open to your interpretation.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific and anywhere in between…from our southern border up to the Arctic Ocean – from coast, to coast to coast, bring us your ghosts.

 

Original stories only – written by you, not previously published.

Set in Canada, written by Canadian authors.

500 – 1500 words.

(The submission portal will show 2 categories: flash fiction 500-1000 words, and short stories 1000-1500 words)

 

Please only submit one story

Simultaneous submissions are fine, please withdraw your story if accepted elsewhere.

 

 

NO AI: we do not want to publish work written in whole, in part, or assisted by artificial intelligence.

We want to publish your words, not machine-genterated words, which, by the way, are taken from other authors’ work – that is how these ‘programs’ are trained. So no, no thank you.

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Articles

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WiHM 2025: Is it Downhill After 50(+) for Women in Horror Part 2

Is it Downhill After 50(+) for Women in Horror

Part Two

by Stephanie Ellis

Recap: I recently wrote a blog post of this title (which can be read here) because I wanted to find other older female writers in the genre and see if any of their experiences mirrored mine. I wanted to see if I was making assumptions and if my perceptions were misconceived, or if my experiences were shared by others. I asked a number of questions and several writers volunteered their answers and I’d like to give the following a huge thank you for giving their time to respond. These include: Alma Katsu, Alyson Faye, Beverley Lee, Catherine McCarthy, CC Winchester/Carla Conorino, Erin Al-Mehairi, Ruthann Jagge, and Valerie B. Williams. In addition, a handful of writers also offered one or two comments online. This continues from the previous post.

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Novella / Ongoing Submissions / Royalties

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Big Thinking Publishing is open to Novellas

Payment: 20% Royalties
Theme: Fantasy, Science Fiction novellas

Right now, we are only looking for:

  • Middle-Grade Fiction (8-12)
  • Teen (11-14)
  • Novellas (20,000-45,000 words) – Any age range for novellas, in the following genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, LGBTQ+, Historical Fiction, Romance, Crime/Mystery/Thriller, Contemporary.

We are not accepting Horror submissions at this time.

We are not currently looking for poetry, picture books, or chapter books.

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Anthology / Artwork / Contributor's Copy / Events / Flash / Poetry

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Taking Submissions: Promised Protagonists Anthology

Deadline: April 30th, 2025
Payment: Contributor’s copy
Theme: The YA stories you wish you had as a kid with someone like you as the protagonist
Note: This anthology is looking for diverse characters. All genres are welcome, though I suspect Fantasy and SciFi will be an easier sell than horror or anything dark

Submissions open March 15 for the first Promised Protagonists anthology!

This collection of diverse fiction, poetry, and art will be published in print (paperback and potentially hardcover), as well as in ebook format, in the second half of 2025.

Submissions will be open from March 15 to April 30. The Google Form for submissions will appear below once the window opens.

Unlike our usual submission periods, we will NOT be offering detailed feedback on all anthology submissions due to the expected volume! Particularly for submissions that reach the final rounds of consideration, we may give a few lines of feedback; if you aren’t interested, let us know in the form’s comment box.

Overall Guidelines

We want the stories you wish you had as a kid! Send us your quirky short fiction, your thoughtful fantasy, or anything that shows that you—yes, you!—can be the protagonist in your own story.

We want diverse characters and diverse stories, the perspectives that are too often left out of the general narrative, and pieces that remind young readers that they deserve to take up space and have their own adventures.

To get a better sense of the sort of work we’ve published in the past, check out Promised Protagonists Issue 1, Issue 2, and Issue 3 (linked here).

Don’t self-reject—if in doubt, submit! We want to see your work, and it won’t get published if it never leaves your computer.

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Articles

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WiHM 2025: Is it Downhill After 50(+) for Women in Horror Part 1

Is it Downhill After 50(+) for Women in Horror

Part One

by Stephanie Ellis

I recently wrote a blog post of this title (which can be read here) because I wanted to find other older female writers in the genre and see if any of their experiences mirrored mine. I wanted to see if I was making assumptions and if my perceptions were misconceived, or if my experiences were shared by others. I asked a number of questions and several writers volunteered their answers and I’d like to give the following a huge thank you for giving their time to respond. These include: Alma Katsu, Alyson Faye, Beverley Lee, Catherine McCarthy, CC Winchester/Carla Conorino, Erin Al-Mehairi, Ruthann Jagge, and Valerie B. Williams. In addition, a handful of writers also offered one or two comments online.

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Trembling With Fear

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Trembling With Fear 3-23-25

Greetings, children of the dark. We are heads-down here in TWF Towers, desperately trying to get through the proofreading of the 2023 anthology so we can get it into your hot little hands. No, that wasn’t a typo; I’m seriously talking about the anthology from two years ago. This is how utterly destroyed we were last year—we just did not have the bandwidth to even think about it. Now we have a host of new helpers, we’re trying really hard to catch up (yes, the boss man is even cracking the whip). Hopefully we’ll have a new helper dedicated purely to the anthologies soon, and that will help us get back into shape. Slowly, slowly, dear children of the dark. Be patient with us, for we are emerging from the ashes. 

But enough apologising; let’s dive into this week’s edition of dark speculative fiction. For our main course, we’re dining with some sinners, landlords, and K.A. Sweitzer. That’s followed by the short, sharp speculations of:

  • SG Perahim’s glimpse at future film,
  • Sian O’Hara’s snowed-in hotel, and
  • Shiloh Kuhlman’s otherworldly paramour.

Want to join these four in the illustrious pages of TWF? Here’s what we’re looking for:

  • Always, always with the drabbles – those short, sharp bursts of exactly 100 words. Make it dark and make it speculative (scifi, fantasy, horror). We publish three of these every darn week of the year.
  • Unholy Trinities – that’s three drabbles that are connected in some way. Sarah Elliott awaits your tales.
  • Serials, or dark speculative fiction that can be serialised on the site over several weeks. Vicky Brewster is ready for ‘em.
  • Finally, our next submissions window for general short stories opens at the beginning of April. 

Make sure you check our submissions page here for what we do and DON’T want. That last bit is super important – don’t waste your time sending us things we have publicly stated we’ll reject! (Seriously, you’d be surprised…)

And finally, if you’re in the vicinity of Kent, England, this Saturday 29 March, make sure you head to Westgate Hall in Canterbury for the UK Indie Chapter’s next indie horror marketplace. You’ll find all the details over on Facebook. I went to the first one in Birmingham last year and it was fab. This time they’ve got 40 indie horror authors from across the UK and Europe, with book signings, readings and panels throughout the day—plus free entry, so you get more money to buy books directly from the creators. See you there, maybe? 

Over to you, Stuart.

Oh, and PS: Happy birthday to my other half!

Lauren McMenemy

Editor, Trembling With Fear

Hi all.

More progress on the layout, I believe the main page is done, just working on a few sub-pages and the individual posts. We’re closing in!

Also, progress IS being made on the next Trembling With Fear print addition! It’s moving slow but steady.

Now, for the standards:

  • Thank you so much to everyone who has become a Patreon for Horror Tree. We honestly couldn’t make it without you all!

Offhand, if you’ve ordered Trembling With Fear Volume 6, we’d appreciate a review!

For those who are looking to connect with Horror Tree as we’re not really active on Twitter anymore, we’re also in BlueSky and Threads. *I* am also now on BlueSky and Threads.

Stuart Conover

Editor, Horror Tree

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