Deadline: April 30th, 2020
Payment: .01 a word
Theme: Literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams
Note: Slightly early listing on this one

Dark Ink Books, the home of Tom Savini’s and Kane Hodder’s official biographies, is proud to announce an open call for submissions for its newest thematic horror fiction anthology.

 

“Believe nothing you hear, and only one half that you see.” 

-Edgar Allan Poe, The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether 

 

For this submission period, we are asking for literary horror stories that contain major plot elements of nightmares, illusions, hallucinations, delusions, or waking dreams. Quality of writing, adherence to call parameters, originality, and alignment with other stories selected for publication are the determining factors in selection or rejection for this anthology. 

 

Working Title: The Half That You See: Nightmares, Deliriums, and Illusions 

 

Submissions will be accepted April 1, 2020 through April 30, 2020 only. 

 

Response time: Decisions will be emailed before June 1. If a submission is held for more than three weeks, it is likely being considered for publication. 

 

Payment: .01 a word up to 7000 words (firm) 

 

Word count: 1500-6500 words (a little over is fine, but make it worth the space) 

 

Multiple submissions: No, thank you. Please send your one best story. 

 

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know right away if your work is accepted elsewhere, and if we select your tale, please remove the work from consideration elsewhere immediately. No reprints; work must not have been printed elsewhere in any language, including on a blog or personal webpage. 

 

If your previously unpublished piece is accepted for publication in this anthology, Dark Ink takes First Print, Electronic, and Audiobook Publishing Rights with exclusivity for twelve months from the date of publication. At the end of the twelve months, all rights revert back to the story author. 

 

Anthology will be released as a print book, e-book, and audiobook with a publication date of March 2021. 

 

Guidelines: 

• Please use traditional Shunn manuscript format (though header/footer is not necessary) 

 

• Cover email should include a 150-word max biography and a one- sentence summary of the story, all written in 3rd person voice. Previous publication is not a requirement for acceptance; we just want to know about you! Please include this content directly in the body of your cover email; do not attach anything but the Shunn-formatted story for consideration. 

 

• Document must be in .doc or .docx format and the file saved as “Author’s Last Name_Story Title” (ex: Poe_The Pit and the Pendulum). Please do not lock the document against changes as we may make notes on our copy as it is being considered. 

 

Email your submission directly to the editor: [email protected] 

 

• Please note that while we want the darkest of fiction and appreciate gore, we will not publish stories that depict pedophilia, animal abuse, or sexual assault in an extraneous or positive light. If you’re unsure about your content, please email us! 

 

Via Dark Ink Books 

https://aminkpublishing.com/open-calls