December, 2020 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: December, 2020
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying Rates (5 cents+ per word)

Departure Mirror Quarterly
http://departuremirror.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word (payment capped at 3,000 words)
Story Length: up to 20,000 words (preferred less than 12,000)
Deadline: Open between January 2–January 31, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response Time: 3 months
Description: Original fiction and poetry, all of which must be broadly “speculative fiction” (science fiction, fantasy, alt-history, magical realism, slipstream, or in some other way altered reality).


Midnight from Beyond the Stars (Silver Shamrock Publishing, ed. Kenneth Cain)
https://www.silvershamrockpublishing.com/midnight-from-beyond-the-stars-anthology
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 2,500–6,000 words
Deadline: April 30, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response Time: unknown
Description: Space Monster horror! original alien horror stories with a The Thing/Alien/The Blob/Critters/Night of the Creeps kind of vibe.


Diabolical Plots ezine
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500 or less
Deadline: Open between January 1–January 31, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response Time: One month
Description: Science fiction, fantasy, and horror (everything must have speculative element, even horror), including mixed-genres. (This is the same founders of the market submission tracker, ‘The Grinder’.)


Daily Science Fiction
http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: to 1,500 words (prefer less than 1,000)
Deadline: Continually open (EXCEPT during December 24, 2020–January 2, 2021)
Reprints?: No
Response Time: 1 month
Description: Speculative fiction, such as science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, etc. Daily publications.


Unfettered Hexes: Queer Tales of Insatiable Darkness (Neon Hemlock Press)
https://www.neonhemlock.com/submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–6,000 words (less than 4,000 words preferred)
Deadline: January 15, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response Time: unknown
Description: Speculative stories of witchery with queer narratives; Tales that explores the boundaries between queer witches, the profane, and infinite darkness.


Analog Science Fiction and Fact
https://www.analogsf.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines
Payment: 8–10 cents a word (9 cents a word for non-fiction)
Story Length: up to 20,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: 2–3 months
Description: Science fiction stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse.



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

Three-Lobed Burning Eye
https://www.3lobedmag.com/submissions.html
Payment: $100 flat
Story Length: 1,000–7,500 words
Deadline: Continually open
Reprints?: No
Response Time: within 3 months
Description: Non-themed, original speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, and science fiction.


Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne
http://najvs.org/anthology.shtml
Payment: 2 cents a word ($30 for reprints)
Story Length: 3,000–5,000 words
Deadline: Open between January 1–April 30, 2021 (or until filled)
Reprints?: Yes
Response Time: unknown
Description: Short stories inspired by the writings of Jules Verne. Your story may be set in any time or place. You may use characters from Verne’s novels (they’re all in the public domain) or make up your own. You need not write in Verne’s style. The connection between your story and at least one of Verne’s works must be obvious and significant.