Tuesday, February 23, 2021

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



Monday, February 22, 2021

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.


Thursday, February 18, 2021

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.

???




Thursday, February 4, 2021

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, February 1, 2021

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