ANNOUNCING! IMPERATIVE AND THRILLING +HORROR LIBRARY+ NEWS!!!

ANNOUNCING!

It’s thrilling! It’s magnificent! It’s extensive and dark and gleefully wicked—It’s this news, the books, their impact…

Dark Moon Books has taken over as the new publisher for +HORROR LIBRARY+ anthology series, with Eric J. Guignard becoming the new series editor!!!

The Horror Library series began in 2005, and since has published six volumes, plus a “Best Of” comp. These anthology books have been a home for non-themed short works of horror & dark fiction for both new and established authors. Past contributors have included such notables as Bentley Little (a regular contributor), Jeffrey Ford, Kealan Patrick Burke, Jeff Strand, Ray Garton, Tim Waggoner, Lisa Morton, et al. My own induction into the series was as guest editor for Volume 6, and as an author before that for Volume 5 and the “Best of”.

The current +HORROR LIBRARY+ volumes will be temporarily offline from bookstore sites for the next 1 or 2 months while they transition the necessary minutia of publisher accounts, but all this being in advance of promotions and preparation for open submission call of an upcoming NEW volume, HORROR LIBRARY, VOLUME 7!

I’ll be molding Vol. 7 and future volumes to be in line with the hallmarks of anthology series that influenced my own dark reading tastes, such as Borderlands (ed. Thomas Monteleone); Shadows (ed. Charles Grant); Whispers (ed. Stuart David Schiff); Masques (ed. J.N. Williamson), etc., not to mention the general tone and thoughtful, literary styles found in current and ongoing annual editions of “BEST OF HORROR” series by editors such as Ellen Datlow, Paula Guran, and Stephen Jones.

More announcements on the series acquisition and development for Volume 7 as they occur!

C’est tout, and midnight cheers,

Eric

February, 2021 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

 HWA L.A.: February, 2021
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Cryptids Emerging: Tales of Dark Cheer
https://improbablepress.co.uk/blogs/improbable-press/call-for-submissions-cryptids-anthology
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: May 1, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Contemporary supernatural or historical fantasy about cryptids living with humans, or just at the edge of our vision, stories of what the world would look like if cryptids were real.


Enchanted Conversation Magazine: Folklore, Fairy Tales, & Myths
https://www.fairytalemagazine.com/p/submissions.html?m=1
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,200–2,500 words
Deadline: Open only the first three days of each month
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: Healers, Midwives and Cunning Folk.”


DreamForge Magazine
https://dreamforgemagazine.com/call-for-submissions/
Payment: 6 cents a word (slightly less for reprints or online-only option)
Story Length: up to 4,500 words
Deadline: March 13, 2021
Reprints?: Yes (less pay, “about” 4 cents a word)
Response: 6–9 weeks
Description: Positive (and “clean”) science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction.


Nightmare Magazine
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/nightmare/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–7,500 words
Deadline: March 14–March 20, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: within 30 days
Description: Non-themed horror.


The Arcanist
https://thearcanist.io/sa-call-for-submissions-244f646d25a4/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: flash fiction up to 1,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: Yes
Response: 1–2 months
Description: Engaging science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories (and associated sub-genres) that are flash fiction. Focus on originality and strong/ interesting characters.


The DARK (monthly online e-magazine)
http://thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: Currently open, but intermittent
Reprints?: Yes
Response: between 1 day to 1 week
Description: Unique Horror and Dark Fantasy (No graphic/ violent content); fiction that may fall out of “regular” categories (Tons of great authors publish here).



***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

GOREFEST anthology (edited by K. Trap Jones)
http://theevilcookie.com/open-calls/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,000 words
Deadline: March 1, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: generally within 30 days
Description: Short stories filled with gore, splatter, and extreme horror!


Black Static Magazine (TTA Press)
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.

A Rumor in Haiku...

I heard a rumor, and decided to tease it through Haiku.

But I’m not a poet, and I do know it, so which sounds better?

***

Months counting down for

+HORROR LIBRARY+ volumes

to continue more.

or:

O! Hear the fans roar,

+HORROR LIBRARY+ volumes

will continue more.

???

My February TBR pile

My February TBR pile:

THE ANCESTOR by Danielle Trussoni (2020, William Morrow)

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones (2020, Gallery/ Saga Press)

THE SILENT COMPANIONS by Laura Purcell (2018, Penguin Books)

Monday Morning Musing: Book Review of Dan Simmons' THE TERROR

My TBR list is just insanely long, and it keeps growing, and I’m not a fast reader to begin with. So I never read a book a second time, or least I haven’t since I was a teenager, and reread Stephen King’s THE STAND like about a dozen times.

But since then, nope… until now. I saw the cover on my bookshelf, and after watching the AMC series twice, I couldn’t resist: I HAD to go back and reread one of the greatest horror fiction novels of my life: THE TERROR by Dan Simmons.

I do realize how much detail got past me the first time, and why the AMC series made changes to consolidate plot points, or add in events. Anyway my full (old) review from 2013 here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/540252816?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

 

January, 2021 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: January, 2021
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Upon a Twice Time (Air and Nothingness Press)
http://aanpress.com/UaTT2021_submission.pdf
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–3,000 words
Deadline: February 28, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: March 31, 2021
Description: New interpretations of fairy tales for modern audiences; select two fairy tales, as well as a genre style, and create a new tale. EX: Snow White and the 3 Little Pigs as Detective Noir; or: Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk as a Grimdark fantasy.


Constelación Magazine
https://www.constelacionmagazine.com/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 6,400 words
Deadline: Open 2 weeks, from March 15, 2021–April 1, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Quarterly THEME: Myths and Monsters. Tell us about the myths and monsters that have shaped your perception of the unknown. The theme is open to interpretation, as long as the stories fit under the speculative fiction umbrella. NOTE: Stories are published in English and Spanish. Authors can submit in either language, and the story will be translated for publication in both languages.


Little Blue Marble
https://littlebluemarble.ca/submission-guidelines
Payment: 11 cents a word
Story Length: up to 2,000 (reprints allowed up to 5,000 at <1 cent/ word)
Deadline: Intermittent
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.


1986 (anthology from The Dread Machine)
https://www.thedreadmachine.com/submit/submit-anthology
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 3,000–10,000 words
Deadline: February 25, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Dread-inspiring stories that take place in 1986—either the 1986 of our reality (Stranger Things) or an alternate version (Tales From the Loop). Bring us back to a simpler, scarier time. Let’s make something radical together.


Flash Fiction Online
https://ffo.submittable.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500 to 1,000 words
Deadline: Open from the 1st to 21st of each month
Reprints?: Yes (payment at 2 cents/ word)
Response: Within eight weeks
Description: A very short but complete story of flash fiction. Strong, interesting characters, in genres of dark sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, crime, horror, and even literary.


Beneath Ceaseless Skies
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: Up to 15,000 words
Deadline: None at present. Closes intermittently
Reprints?: No
Response: Two to seven weeks
Description: “Literary adventure fantasy”: stories with a secondary-world setting and some traditional or classic fantasy feel, but written with a literary approach. We want stories set in what Tolkien called a “secondary world”: some other world that is different from our own primary world in some way. It could be different in terms of zoology (non-human creatures), ecology (climate), or physical laws (the presence of magic). It could be set on Earth but an Earth different from our primary world in terms of time (the historical past) or history (alternate history). It could have a “pre-tech” level of technology, or steampunk technology, or magic as technology, or anything else that’s not advanced or modern technology. However, the setting should contain some element that is in some way fantastical.



***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”

Triangulation (Parsec Ink): Habitats (annual themed anthology)
http://parsecink.com/index.php/triangulation-submissions/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: February 28, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: April 30, 2021
Description: Theme of sustainable habitats, in tune with their surroundings; show us places we want to live that never existed or that we don’t know ever existed. Past, present, and future domiciles for humans, aliens, and fantasy creatures.


Tales From the Magician’s Skull
https://goodman-games.com/tftms/2020/10/20/announcing-open-call-for-sword-sorcery-fiction-for-tales-from-the-magicians-skull
Payment: 4 cents a word
Story Length: up to 10,000 words (but prefer less than 6,000)
Deadline: April 1, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Sword-and-sorcery, heroic fiction, sword-and-soul, swashbucklers, and the like. Tales of adventure shot through with elements of horror and magic. Give us interesting people doing interesting things for interesting reasons in fascinating places.