Submission Window: June 22nd, 2021 – August 1st, 2021
Payment: $50 + royalties spilt and a contributor’s copy
Theme: original, unpublished horror stories dealing with urban legends, either an authentic one or your own creation.

We’re excited to be opening up to submissions for our as-of-yet untitled horror-focused Urban Legends Anthology, edited by Phil Breach, Sarah Walker, and Gordon B. White. (Sarah and Gordon previously collaborated on last year’s folk horror anthology “A Walk in A Darker Wood.”) We have a number of wonderful authors already participating, and we’re looking to fill in several more slots with an open call from June 22nd, 2021 – August 1st, 2021. We are looking for original, unpublished stories – no reprints at this time.

We’re aiming to publish both physical and electronic copies in late Fall 2021. Stories will be accompanied by illustrations. Depending on the number of outstanding stories we received, we may decide split this into two volumes.

What we want: Your best original, unpublished horror stories dealing with urban legends, either an authentic one or your own creation. Give us the supernatural or the all-too-natural; maniacs or monsters; scary stories from the sleepover or something that happened to your best friend’s uncle’s cousin’s sister. We want stories that have an undeniable sense of setting – bring the urban to life as well as the legend. We also want you to capture the haunting quality of these “true” stories – gives us the shiver that comes from the possibility that the story could not only be true, but that it could happen in your town. The more specific and local your urban legend inspiration, the better!We are also open to excellent poetry based on this theme of urban folklore. We will take only the best of the best.

What we DON’T want: We don’t want generic monster stories or cliches that have been done to death. No rape or child abuse. Extreme violence is a hard sell unless integral to the story. We’re not looking for erotica.

Word Count: Up to 6,000. We will consider longer, but these will need to justify their length.

Reprint Policy: We are not accepting reprints for this project. Stories must be original and unpublished.

Payment: $50 + royalties spilt evenly amongst all participants and one contributor’s copy of the physical anthology. This is the same for the poetry we accept.

Format: Please follow something close to Shunn format. (https://www.shunn.net/format/story/) Especially: 12-pt. font; double-spaced; use the indent setting for first lines rather than Tab.Save your story as a .DOC or .DOCX file, with the name: “TITLE – AUTHOR LAST NAME – # OF WORDS.”Send your story as an attachment to Urban.Legends.Antho [at] gmail.com.

Cover emails: Please give your email the subject: “URBAN LEGENS SUB – STORY TITLE – # of WORDS”. In your email, please include your name and any pen name, story title, and word count. Please tell us what urban legend your story is based on, or if it’s original. You may include an author bio of up to around 100 words, although it is not required for submission.

Multiple or Simultaneous Submissions? No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions okay, but please advise us if your piece is accepted for publication elsewhere.

Response Timeline: We will endeavor to respond in a reasonable time, but please allow up to 90 days from the close of submissions before querying. All rejections will be form rejections – it’s nothing personal (literally), but we cannot provide individual feedback on any submission. Please do not reply to rejections, even to acknowledge receipt. We’ll get too many emails otherwise. Thank you for understanding.

Inclusivity Statement: We believe that the best horror anthologies are those that reflect a variety of stories and experiences. We encourage people of color, Black people, Indigenous people, Native people, women, people with disabilities, older people, LGBTQIA+, and anyone from typically marginalized or underrepresented communities to submit their work. You do not need to disclose any aspect of your identity in your submission. Please submit your work, and we will read all stories with an eye towards creating the best overall product.

Have some fun with this! We look forward to reading your work. Feel free to share!

Via: Gordon B. White.