Taking Submissions: Dead Letters: Episodes Of Epistolary Horror (Early)

Submission Window: April 1st, 2023 to June 1st, 2023
Payment: $0.01 per word
Theme: Short horror stories in the 2,500-7,000-word range written in epistolary format—meaning, stories written as letters, journal entries, transcripts of radio broadcasts, newspaper clippings, text messages, etc.

Edited by Jacob Steven Mohr

 

From Jacob Steven Mohr and Crystal Lake Publishing comes Dead Letters: Episodes of Epistolary Horror, a new anthology set to debut (tentatively) February of 2024.

 

As the name betrays, we’re looking for short horror stories in the 2,500-7,000-word range written in epistolary format—meaning, stories written as letters, journal entries, transcripts of radio broadcasts, newspaper clippings, text messages, etc.

 

Furthermore, each story should include some mention of how its manuscript was “discovered.” A letter found in a historian’s archive, for example. Or emails saved as part of a missing persons investigation. Or an audio file recovered from a dead podcaster’s PC. Push boundaries and play with the format—and above all, be scary!

 

Some comparable titles: Dracula, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Carrie, House of Leaves, and World War Z.

 

We will be accepting approximately 10-15 stories from this open call. Accepted tales will appear alongside original yarns from invited authors, who include Gemma Files, Ai Jiang, Red Lagoe, J.A.W. McCarthy, Scott J. Moses, and Gordon B. White.

Submissions Open: April 1, 2023

 

Submissions Close: June 1, 2023

 

Length: 2,500 – 7,000 words

 

Payment: $0.01 per word

 

Format: Stories should be formatted in 12 pt. Times New Roman, double spaced.

 

Rights: Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print and Electronic Rights for 1 year (from date of publication), and non-exclusive rights thereafter.

 

Contributor Copies: 1 paperback and 1 eBook copy.

 

Simultaneous Submissions: Allowed. But please promptly withdraw your story if it is accepted elsewhere. No reprints or multiple submissions.

 

Contact: All submissions should be sent to [email protected] (Word files only, please do not paste your story in the body of the email). Please make your subject line: SUBMISSION – “Story Title” – Author Name – Word Count.

 

Responses: We aim to finalize the table of contents by August 1 of 2023.