Taking Submissions: A Darkness Visible

Deadline: October 31st, 2022
Payment: £80
Theme: The inter-relationship between the postmodern and horror

A Darkness Visible – Submissions due by Midnight GMT, 31 October 2022

Ontology Books is seeking submissions for its upcoming anthology A Darkness Visible focused on postmodern horror.

Postmodern literature has often been an ill-defined concept. Critics have cited the deconstruction of narrative, inter-textual storytelling, and the subversion of genre conventions in attempting to define what “postmodern” constitutes. Others have noted the interplay of high and popular culture, dark humor, and literary experimentation as hallmarks of the postmodern. It is safe to say that “postmodern” is a slippery concept open to multiple interpretations and meanings.

This anthology will explore the inter-relationship between the postmodern and horror. We are seeking short stories of between 3,000 and 8,000 words addressing this theme. Writers like Mark Danielewski (House of Leaves), Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho), William Burroughs (Naked Lunch) or Thomas Pynchon (Gravity’s Rainbow) may be reference points, although thinking outside the box is welcome. Stories may be in the horror genre, or they may investigate horrific aspects of what Jean-François Lyotard called “the postmodern condition.”

How you address the theme is up to you.

Include a short cover letter with your submission in the body of the email citing any relevant writing credits or experience.

A number of award-winning writers have already been contracted for the volume by invitation. We are now opening the call to public submissions, although spots will be limited.

We expect highly polished manuscripts in standard Shunn formatting complete with contact information.

Submissions should be sent to [email protected] and attached as a single document (.doc, .docx, or .pdf files are acceptable formats). Accepted contributors will be paid a flat fee of £80 and receive a contributor copy of the book. The editors expect to notify authors on the outcome of submissions by mid-December.

No reprints. Simultaneous submissions are permitted, although you must notify us immediately if the work is accepted elsewhere. We are purchasing first world-wide serial rights for the period of one year from publication (although special dispensations regarding reprints will be allowed for prestigious “best of” yearly anthologies).

The anthology is slated for publication in mid-2023. Questions (although not submissions) can be sent to [email protected]

Requirements for submissions:
1. Short story addressing themes on the inter-relationships between postmodern and horror
2. 3,000-8,000 words submitted by email to [email protected] (.doc, .docx, or .pdf formats accepted)
3. Submissions sent in by 31 October 2022
4. Inclusion of a cover letter with relevant writing credits or experience, if any

Via: Ontology Books.

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