June, 2021 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

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

Vastarien: A Literary Journal
https://vastarien-journal.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 6 cents a word)
Story Length: Nonfiction 2,000–7,500 words; Fiction 750–6,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
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.


Uncharted
https://uncharted.submittable.com/submit
Payment: $200 flat
Story Length: 1,000–5,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: Yes (but no pay)
Response: Three months
Description: Any type of genre story: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, etc.


Zooscape
https://zooscape-zine.com/guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: Yes (up to 10,000 words, but pays only $20 flat)
Response: Two months
Description: All stories must be furry. That means an anthropomorphic animal figure should be significantly featured in your story — it could be anthropomorphic in body or only intelligence… Any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks. We love science-fiction with animal-like aliens and fantasy with talking dragons, unicorns, or witch familiars.


Fireside Fiction Company
https://firesidefiction.com/submissions
Payment: 12.5 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,000 words (flash fiction preferred)
Deadline: Open only July 5–July 11, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: 1 month after close of submission period
Description: To publish great speculative fiction storytelling, regardless of genre (ex. Neil Gaiman); unique voices.


Diabolical Plots ezine
http://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500 or less
Deadline: Open between August 1–August 14, 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.”)


Life Beyond Us (anthology)
https://laksamedia.com/life-beyond-us-submission-guidelines/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–5,000 words
Deadline: Open between July 1–August 19, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: October 15, 2021
Description: Thoughtful short stories exploring the unknown: life forms we’re not familiar with on Earth (from extreme environments, to those right beneath our noses) and beyond our planet; strange life’s discovery, peculiarities, and the ethical questions arising from these. Alien life does not have to feature there; consider exploring the implications of finding a potentially life-bearing environment in space, trying to answer a burning question about habitability, or exploring the far past or future of life in the universe. If alien life does appear—microbial to huge, ‘stupid’ to ‘intelligent,’ perceptions similar to ours or very different—the perspective doesn’t have to be human.



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

Mythic Magazine
https://www.mythicmag.com/p/submissions.html
Payment: 4 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: July 31, 2021
Reprints?: No
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.


The Dread Machine
https://www.thedreadmachine.com/submit/
Payment: 3 cents a word (reprints at 1 cent/ word)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (reprints up to 10,000 words)
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Two months
Description: Futuristic dark fiction, speculative fiction, cyberpunk, slipstream, and science fiction.