Apparition
Lit
https://apparitionlit.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–5,000 words
Deadline: August 15-31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: by the 15th day of the
following month after submissions close
Description: Speculative fiction
that meet our quarterly theme. Speculative fiction is weird, almost
unclassifiable. It’s fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and literary. Send us stories
with enough emotional heft to break a heart, with prose that’s as clear and
delicious as broth. We’re looking for proactive characters and beautiful
language, all wrapped up in a complete story. Month of August Theme = NOSTALGIA.
https://www.assemblemedia.com/artifacts
Payment: 8–10 cents a word
Story Length: “at least” 5,000 words
(soft range)
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: Responses only for
acceptance. Assume rejection if no response after 90 days.
Description: Stories of wonder and
suspense that also reflect contemporary issues and incite meaningful
conversation. (*NOTE: Submitters, double-check the rights that are being sold
with work).
Diabolical Plots ezine
https://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500 or less
Deadline: Open between July 24–August 1, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response Time: One month after end of submission window
Description: telepathy stories of every shape and style. Stories might
be as intimate as mind-readers in love, forever seeing themselves through their
lover’s eyes; or as harrowing as a telepath on the battlefield, drowned in
every iota of pain, fear and grief felt for miles. They might be as bizarre as
telepathy tourism from alien planets, all cognitive connoisseurs who find
humans to have a particularly piquant mindset; or as familiar as a job
interview, which has simply gained a new mental level to spar upon.
Dracula Beyond Stoker: Issue 2:
Renfield
https://www.dbspress.com/submissions
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: January 15, 2023
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown, but reported as
generally between 30 and 60 days.
Description: The best new fiction
based on Stoker’s characters, locations, and themes. This issue: Give us your
best Renfield story. Everybody’s favorite flyman is such a rich character, yet
we know so little about him. Who do you think he is?
Dark Recesses Magazine
http://darkrecessespress.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 500–5,000 words
Deadline: Revolving submission
periods. Current widow is through August 15.
Reprints?: No
Response: Up to 12 weeks
Description: Non-themed horror/dark
fiction pieces.
WEBSITE (No mention of
Submissions): https://www.borderlandspress.com/
Social Media Submissions
Post): https://www.facebook.com/tom.monteleone.1/posts/pfbid02UJCkwFcxiubiDxpnbGqT5hoUFchLJR4biSQ4zV3s3zgDUBw7aRhvCCarZwEnyo8el
Payment: 5–7 cents a word
Story Length: No limit. (Suggested 2,000–5,000
words)
Deadline: No deadline. “Until
Filled”
Reprints?: No
Response: Up to 3 months
Description: Original, weird/ horror
fiction. NOTE: Submissions are to be postal mailed in only; no email.
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
https://theevilcookie.com/pages/submissions
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,000 words
Deadline: August 1–October 1, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within 30 days
Description: Short stories filled
with gore, splatter, and extreme horror: Water, Extreme Horror, Splatterpunk,
Dark Humor.
https://www.bourbonpenn.com/submissions
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–7,500 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 3 months
Description: Highly imaginative
stories with a healthy dose of the odd. Odd characters, odd experiences, odd
realities. We’re looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial
to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal.
Thursday, July 28, 2022
August, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
Saturday, July 23, 2022
Nomination to the 2022 World Fantasy Awards!!
This week I learned that I was nominated to the 2022 World Fantasy Awards!!! To say I am insanely thrilled and honored for this recognition would be an understatement. I have long followed and admired the World Fantasy Awards and recipients, and it’s the realization of a dream to be named among such highly-esteemed peers. I’ve been named a finalist in the category of anthology for my book Professor Charlatan Bardot's Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World, published last November by Dark Moon Books.
Thank you to all contributors who were a part of this creative journey. There were 63 authors involved, 2 artists, and, of course, my editing counterpart, Professor Charlatan Bardot (who also wishes to extend his gratitude).
Thank you also to the judges, readers, reviewers, and other supporters!
And congratulations also to many other friends and authors I admire who are on this year’s ballot, such as Jeffrey Ford, Eugen Bacon, Ellen Datlow, Paula Guran, Usman Mlk, Angela Slatter, Liz Hand, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and so many others!
And this coming on the back of a 2021 Bram Stoker Award in category of anthology, and I can safely say this book is still going strong! I'm so proud of it!
More here: https://locusmag.com/2022/07/2022-world-fantasy-awards-finalists/
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Monday, June 27, 2022
July, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
Cosmic Horror Monthly
https://www.cosmichorrormonthly.com/submissions/
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–6,000 words
(preference of 3,000–5,000)
Deadline: Open from July 1–July 7,
2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Cosmic Horror,
Lovecraftian, Weird stories, etc. Lovecraftian themes and mythos works are welcomed
but try to avoid Lovecraft pastiche and styles mimicking that of his writer
circle from the early 20th century; we are strongly favoring stories with a
contemporary narrative style.
https://www.seizethepress.com/submissions/
Payment: British 6 pence a word (abt. 8 cents a word
US)
Story Length: up to 2,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: 30 days
Description: Dark speculative
fiction and anticapitalist sci-fi, fantasy and horror pop culture analysis.
Neon, dragons and gore. Bleak science fiction, dark fantasy and horror (No
moralizing, No happy endings).
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/alternate-history-call-for-submissions-0-0
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words
(soft range)
Deadline: July 11, 2022
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 6 cents a
word)
Response: generally 3 months
Description: Every angle of
alternate history from ancient worlds to distant futures, world wars, steampunk
and more. What if the course of history had been changed by a different
decision, a different victor, a different invention? Reimagine the world around
us – some examples just to give you an idea: What if the Ancient Egyptians had
conquered Rome? What if World War II had been won by the loser, not the
victors? What if women had ruled the world for 4,000 years not men? The options
are limitless for tales of true originality and with a vivid sense of
realism...
Apex Magazine
http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: One month
Description: Exceptionally well-written Science fiction, fantasy,
horror, and all its sub-genres.
Little Blue Marble
https://littlebluemarble.ca/submission-guidelines
Payment: 11 cents a word
(Canadian; translates to about 8 cents/word)
Story Length: up to 2,000 words (reprints
allowed up to 5,000 words at <1 cent/ word)
Deadline: Intermittent (currently
set to close July 31, 2022)
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 12 weeks
Description: Speculative fiction
that examines humanity’s possible futures living with anthropogenic climate
change. We prefer fiction with a hopeful outlook, but the occasional dystopia
might fit too.
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/fantasy/guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: Up to 7,500 words
(preferred less than 5,000)
Deadline: Open from July 1–July 7,
2022 (open to BIPOC authors year-round)
Reprints?: No
Response: within 3 months
Description: Exceptional original
fantasy and dark fantasy stories (including horror).
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
https://mythulu.submittable.com/submit
Payment: 4 cents a word (up
to $75)
Story Length: 500–2,800 words
Deadline: October 1, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: 90 days
Description: “Utterly unique” stories
that brilliantly demonstrate the specific storycraft skill we’re teaching in
each issue. Concept and clarity are more important than prose.
CURRENT THEME: Submit co-authored stories in any genre. (Also looking
for non-fiction commentary and experiences with co-created projects.)
https://34orchard.com/guidelines
Payment: $50 flat
Story Length: 1,000–5,000 words
Deadline: July 1, 2022–July 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: August 31, 2022
Description: Dark, intense pieces
that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary,
disturbing, unsettling, and sad.
Sunday, May 29, 2022
June, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
HWA L.A.: June, 2022
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)
Shakespeare Unleashed (edited by
James Aquilone)
https://www.jamesaquilone.com/submissions
Payment: 6 cents a word (or
$35 flat for sonnet)
Story Length: 1,500–6,000 words
Deadline: July 22, 2022–August 31,
2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror stories based on
Shakespeare's plays and characters, as well as horror sonnets: Dark and scary
stories — no parodies or humor pieces. Stories can be set in time periods other
than the Elizabethan era, and can be updated or reimagined or merely “based
on.”
https://brigidsgatepress.com/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word (or
$50 flat for poem; $50 flat for drabble)
Story Length: 500–3,500 words
(poetry to 350 words; drabbles of 100 words)
Deadline: June 30, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror or dark fantasy
stories, poems, and drabbles about malevolent mermaids, sinister sirens, scary
selkies, spirits, and other deadly and dangerous women of the sea. Stories
including the ocean or sea are the focus of the anthology, but we will consider
stories involving rivers as well.
https://vastarien-journal.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 5
cents a word
Story Length: Nonfiction 2,000–7,500 words; Fiction 750–6,000 words
Deadline: June 1, 2022–June
30, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: Two months
Description: Scholarly and/or critical articles pertaining
to Ligotti or associated authors (see below) or the kind of thematic and
topical issues in which we’re interested; OR: Original fiction or poetry or art
inspired by Ligottian and/or related themes.
Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine
https://www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/guidelines/
Payment: 5-8 cents a word
Story Length: 2,500–8,000 words soft
range (additionally, ‘Minute Mysteries’ of as little as 250 words)
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: Three months
Description: (No Horror, but Mystery and Crime) Every kind of mystery
short story: the psychological suspense tale, the deductive puzzle, the private
eye case—the gamut of crime and detection from the realistic (including the
policeman's lot and stories of police procedure) to the more imaginative
(including "locked rooms" and "impossible crimes"). We need
hard-boiled stories as well as "cozies."
Baffling Magazine (published by Neon
Hemlock)
https://www.bafflingmag.com/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: under 1,200 words
(preference under 500 words)
Deadline: Opens June 1, 2022–to
close unknown (presume June 15, 2022, per the previous year)
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 5 months
Description: Speculative stories
that explore science fiction, fantasy, and horror with a queer bent. We welcome
weird, slipstream, and interstitial writing.
https://thedeadlands.com/guidelines/#fiction
Payment: 10 cents a word (1
cent for reprints)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
(preferably 3,000–4,000 words)
Deadline: ongoing or intermittent
(currently open)
Reprints?: Yes
Response: unknown
Description: Speculative fiction
stories about death, or what death may involve. EX: A ghost in a shadowed wood.
An afterlife discovered through a rusted door. An abandoned house in the middle
of a haunted field. A skeletal figure moving with intent toward something unseen.
Death personified; stories from a worldwide perspective, different cultures,
different approaches to death.
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
https://perpetualpublishing.com/2022/05/21/now-open-for-submissions-night-frights-a-ya-horror-magazine/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,500 words
Deadline: August 1, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: After September 1, 2022
Description: Stories with complex
characters and new ideas. Scare us. But also, inspire young readers into a
lifelong obsession with the genre.
https://www.mythicmag.com/p/submissions.html
Payment: 1 cent a word ($25
flat for reprint)
Story Length: 2,000–5,000 words
Deadline: June 1, 2022–June 30, 2022
Reprints?: Yes
Response: unknown (estimated 3
months)
Description: Diverse sci-fi and
fantasy fiction. All types and sub-genres, particularly views of the future and
realms of the fantastic that don't necessarily involve quasi-medieval settings.
Monday, May 2, 2022
May, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
HWA L.A.: May, 2022
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)
Literally
Dead (Halloween Ghost) anthology, edited by Gaby Triana)
https://www.gabytriana.com/alienheadpresssubmissions
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words
Deadline: May 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short stories of
classic paranormal, poltergeists, ghosts, spirits, haunted places and objects,
and the eerily unexplained that take place on or around Halloween. Bonus points
if they’re about families, siblings, longtime pals, or pets. Just creepy and
dark ghosts!
https://spacefantasymag.com/submission-guidelines/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,250 words
Deadline: May 30, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Space fantasy flash
fiction—Give us your living planets, stardust-peddling witches, and quantum
ghosts. We want stories that challenge our relationship with space—past,
present, and future. Show us new mythologies and undiscovered gods. Show us
what emerges from a black hole when its egg finally cracks. Show us the place
where science becomes magic.
Hidden Villains: Arise (anthology by Inkd
Pub)
https://inkdpub.com/submissions/
Payment: between 5 and 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,000 words
Opens From: June 1, 2022–August 31,
2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: old, imaginative
fantasy, horror, and sci-fi sculpted to thrill and entertain readers with the
bizarre or delve into the shadows; looking for engaging stories with
well-developed characters and deep emotion with focus on the “rising” of a
villain.
Campfire Macabre: Volume 2
https://cemeterygatesmedia.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500–1,500 words
Opens From: June 1, 2022–August 15,
2022
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown. Assume rejection
if no response after 90 days.
Description: Flash horror fiction.
SEE PUBLISHER WEBSITE. There are 5 specific themes to write toward!
Fiends in the Furrows III: Final
Harvest (Published by Nosetouch Press)
https://www.nosetouchpress.com/call/
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500–7,000 words
Deadline: July 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Folk Horror from around
the world; isolation, paranoia, depravity, loss of individuality, and rustic
madness, etc.
https://reckoning.press/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 20,000 words
Deadline: September 22, 2022
Reprints?: Query first
Response: 1 to 4 months
Description: Creative writing about
environmental justice. Diverse fiction stories (and poetry) including a
speculative element: Searingly personal, visceral, idiosyncratic understanding
of the world and the people in it as it has been, as it is, as it will be, as
it could be, as a consequence of humanity’s relationship with the earth.
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
https://bcubedpress.moksha.io/publication/madam-president/guidelines
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
(with a preference below 5,000)
Deadline: June 30, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Alternate History
and/or Speculative Fiction: An anthology about leadership. How did having to
fight for staff of power affect how is wielded.
Not just from the women who fought these battles, but for the very
people engaged, one side, or another who stood for or against those principles
that made it possible for the writing on
the office door to say Madam President. Looking for: Good writing, imaginative
scenarios, and a good bit of humor in stories.
https://www.commontonguezine.com/guidelines-submissions/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 500–7,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Dark fantasy magazine
aiming to bring cultural and integral voices to fantasy and diversify the
genre. Primarily interested in Fantasy (esp. High Fantasy) with a dark theme.
Monday, March 28, 2022
March, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
HWA L.A.: March, 2022
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)
The Librarian
(anthology, Air and Nothingness Press)
http://aanpress.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–3,000 words
Open From: May 1, 2022–June 30, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: September 15, 2022
Description: A librarian's
adventures roving through the multiverse: The Librarian travels the multiverse
(along the timeline - past through the future - and across planetary systems
and universes) helping out people, societies, and those in need, with their
questions, problems, and research (as librarians do). Looking for positive,
hopeful stories with positive endings, and narratives that celebrate
librarians.
https://www.fairytalemagazine.com/p/submissions.html?m=1
Payment: $50 flat rate
Story Length: 750–1,000 words
Deadline: May 1, 2022–May 3, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: NO rejections sent out. Assume rejection if not heard 10 days after close
of submission window.
Description: Fairy tales that are
almost or entirely new or are just new takes on old tales are all welcome.
Mashups of existing fairy tales are welcome as well. CURRENT THEME: Weather.”
Ahoy Comics
https://comicsahoy.com/submissions
Payment: $200 flat rate
Story Length: 500–1,500 words
Deadline: Intermittent
Reprints?: No
Response: Six weeks (sometimes up to
three months)
Description: Smart, weird, funny
articles or stories; short fiction for mature readers, pieces that uphold the
story-telling legacy of comics. It could be a delirious rant, a personal
anecdote, a tale of horror or even poetry. It can be about anything, but we
have a soft spot for submissions with a dash of humor. These stories can be
political, but they must not be based on events that might be outdated by the
time we publish. Whatever the subject, it must still be relevant a year from
now.
Orion’s Belt (online magazine)
https://www.orions-belt.net/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,200 words
Deadline: September 1, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within one week
Description: Bold, experimental
literary science fiction and fantasy stories that blur the line between “genre”
fiction and literary fiction.
Mother: Tales of Love and Terror
anthology (Weird Little Worlds)
https://weirdlittleworlds.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–3,000 words
Deadline: Open between April 15–May
15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: There is no one with
more power and control over the fate of the world than a mother. Whether it’s
an evil stepmother or a virtuous mother-to-be, there are stories inherent in
the acts of mothering and being mothered; mothers become heroes and villains.
The concept of motherhood is examined and stretched to its ultimate limits
across time, space, gender, location, and concept. Deliciously dark, each tale
forces us to examine the depth and breadth of what motherhood is and what a
mother will do for her offspring.
All:
Payment: 8 cents a word/
original; $100 flat rate for reprints
Story Length: 1,500–6,000 words
(preferred 4,500 words or less)
Deadline: Intermittent (each market opens as needs)
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Up to three months
1. PodCastle (Fantasy Fiction Podcast)
http://podcastle.org/guidelines/
Description: Publishes in both
text and audio. Looking for fantasy stories. We’re open to all the sub-genres
of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high
fantasy, and everything in between.
2. Cast of Wonders (Y.A. Fantasy Fiction Podcast)
http://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/schedule
Description: Stories that evoke a sense of wonder and have something unreal about
them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending
stories with wide appeal, and without explicit sex, violence or pervasive
obscene language. Think Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.
3. Escape Pod (Science Fiction Podcast)
http://escapepod.org/guidelines/short-fiction
Description: Our mandate is fun. We are fairly flexible on what counts
as “science” (as we’ll delve into superheroes or steampunk on occasion) and are
interested in exploring the range of the genre, but we are not looking for
fantasy, magical realism, or more than a tinge of horror. If your story isn’t
centered on science, technology, future projections, alternate history, and how
any or all of these things intersect with people, we’re probably not the right
market for it.
4. Pseudopod (Horror Fiction Podcast)
http://pseudopod.org/submissions
Description: Horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or
crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We
publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as
vulgar shock-value pulp fiction; strong pacing, well-defined characters,
engaging dialogue, and clear action.
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of
the Month”
http://ttapress.com/blackstatic/guidelines/
Payment: 3 cents a word
(ESTIMATE, as it can vary)
Story Length: up to 10,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: usually within 2 weeks;
but up to 3 months
Description: Non-themed, general
audience, thoughtful horror.
https://translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: April 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: 60 days after the
submission period has closed
Description: Stories that are fun
and have a speculative element to them. Swashbuckling adventure, deadly intrigue,
and gleeful romance are some of the most obvious examples of what we’re looking
for, but we won’t say no to more subtle or complicated topics.