Taking Submissions: Modern Mummies

Submission Window: Feb. 1st – Feb. 28th, 2025
Payment: 5 cents per word for original fiction, 1 cent per word for reprints
Theme: New horror related to the sub-genre of Mummies in horror
Note: Extended submission window exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices: March 1 – March 15, 2025
Note: Reprints Welcome

Modern Mummies Anthology

Open call submission window: Feb. 1 – Feb. 28, 2025

Extended submission window exclusively for BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+, Disabled, Neurodiverse, and other underrepresented voices: March 1 – March 15, 2025

The Prompt

Modern Mummies is a new horror anthology looking to update the “mummy genre.” The anthology’s title has several possible interpretations to help guide submissions.

First and foremost, it means stories that take place in the reasonably understood present day. That means a world in which the internet, social media, industrialization, urbanization, etc. exist. Sure, some elements can be fictionalized to make a story work, but we don’t want period pieces that take place in the 1920s or in the far-flung past.

“Modern mummies” has other meanings to us too. In the short story “Asleep on the Job” by Scott Parson, mummies were described as time travelers in a sense. Through the preservation of their bodies, these characters awaken to find all that they had known and loved gone, replaced by some modern-day other. While time is certainly a key element of the equation, we also want you to think about space. Mummies all over the world are likely to find themselves in radically different locales than where they were originally buried. With these ideas in mind, we’re curious what you think a mummy might have to say about modern-day living. What might they have to say about their new surroundings and the colonialism that brought them there? How might these things influence their actions over the course of the story?

Modern mummies could also mean a modern-day person being mummified and its ramifications. We’d like you to think about how social media or our politics might react to a “new wave” of mummification. And what does that say about death in the modern era?

We are also keenly interested in seeing:

• Mummies as heroes AND villains

• Diverse characters with agency (we’d love to see stories with gender-inclusive, BIPOC, queer, and/or disability visibility)

• Mummification from around the world (i.e. not just Egypt)

• Non-human mummies

• Unique, modern settings (museums are not off-limits, but we do foresee quite a few stories taking place in that setting.)

Word Count

Stories should be between 1,500 and 5,000 words.

Submission Format

Submissions should follow something that looks like the Shunn manuscript format (Times New Roman, 12 pt font, double-spaced). Please note, however, we don’t need your physical mailing address, just a good email address to contact you.

All story submissions should be attached as a .doc or .docx. Please DO NOT paste the story in the body of the email.

Multiple and Simultaneous Submissions

Please submit no more than 2 stories for this project. Each story should be sent in its own individual email.

We’re fine with simultaneous submissions as well. Just let us know immediately if your work gets accepted elsewhere. That said, we’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Emails and Cover Letters

Send stories to submissions [at] cateyepress [dot] com with the subject line: MODERN MUMMIES – STORY TITLE – AUTHOR NAME.

Cover letters should be relatively short and in the body of the email. Introduce yourself and the name of your story. Include word count and any relevant content warnings. Please don’t summarize your story (we want to be surprised). Include a third-person bio containing some of your relevant publications credits if you have them. If not, don’t worry! We’re looking first and foremost for strong stories, not impressively long bios.

All story submissions should be attached as a .doc or .docx. Please DO NOT paste the story in the body of the email.

Payment

We pay 5 cents USD per word for original fiction works and 1 cent per word for reprints. All payments are made via PayPal.

Diversity and Inclusivity Statement

Horror is for everyone. We at Cat Eye Press encourage BIPOC, women, people with disabilities, 2SLGBTQ+ and gender expansive people, and anyone from traditionally marginalized or underrepresented communities to submit their work to us. We want to hear your stories and share in the great diversity of the horror genre.

Content Warnings

Look, some people need them. Don’t be an ass about it. We don’t want to spoil anything, so content warnings will be placed at the back of the book, where people can find them if they want them.

With this in mind, if your work has any particular triggers for people, please let us know in your cover letter. In particular, please include content warnings about suicide, sexual assault, car crashes, and animal death.

What We Don’t Want

We understand that the horror genre is filled with all sorts of messy issues, but there are a few things that we don’t want to see in our inbox, including:

• Super duper graphic depictions of violence for the sake of violence

• Stories that promote hate speech, defamation, or racial/ethnic stereotypes

• Graphic depictions of sexual violence, especially those involving children

• Work created by or with the assistance of AI in any capacity.

Failure to follow these guidelines may cause you to be banned from submitting/your work going unread and discarded in the future.

Additional Questions

If you have questions, drop us a line using our Contact page.

Via: Cat Eye Press.