DAY 7 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 7 OF 30: BENTLEY LITTLE

7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”

###

In “In the Valley,” a farm boy is haunted by a mysterious naked woman in the night, and discovers he’s not the only one she visits.

STORY EXCERPT:

          …On a leany homemade shelf on the wall next to his gun rack was what looked like a line of little dolls, and I moved closer to get a better look. I saw that they was made out of dried up animal parts, chicken guts mostly, all twisted and tied together with hair and fishing line. He’d put little clothes on them. Pants and shirts and even hats.
          They looked like our neighbors, the other farmers and ranchers.
          “Made ’em myself,” Blum said proudly as he come through the door.
          I just nodded cuz I didn’t know what else to do.
          “Gonna display ’em.”
          “At the fair?”
          “No. I’m settin’ me up a museum.”
          I nodded like what he said made sense. He was doing that staring thing again.
          “Wanna see it?”

—In the Valley by BENTLEY LITTLE

###

ABOUT: BENTLEY LITTLE

Bentley Little is a Luddite with no access to the internet, which means that he still believes in such outmoded concepts as facts, truth, justice, and democracy. Oh, and science. He still believes in science.

###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

January, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: January, 2022
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Uncanny Magazine (FLASH FICTION ONLY)
http://uncannymagazine.com/submissions
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 750–1,500 words
Deadline: Open between March 14, 2022–March 21, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: One month
Description: Passionate, diverse SF/F fiction and poetry... intricate, experimental stories and poems with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs.


Human Monsters (anthology from Dark Matter Magazine)
https://darkmattermagazine.com/submission-guidelines/human-monsters-anthology/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words
Deadline: Open between February 15–March 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: 30–45 days
Description: Monsters in human skin: Twisty-turny, dark, psychological, thrilling, dangerous, menacing, gothic, strange, ugly, murderous, messed-up tales of people doing awful, no-good, very bad things to one another. (Noting related to cosmic, paranormal, science fiction, cryptid/creature, or supernatural, etc.).


Cthulhu FhCon (anthology)
https://impulsivewalrusbooks.com/2021/06/call-for-submissions-cthulu-fhcon/
Payment: At present, a guarantee of 3 cents a word, but with Kickstarted funding, expecting to go to 8 cents/word (presumption of success, based on their other projects).
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: April 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror or humorous tales of a mysterious riverside 1980s-built hotel (built secretly as an alter to Cthulhu) where is being held a fan convention! What sort of story happens within the hotel is entirely up to the author—but some sort of interaction between the Lovecraftian-style Old God in the river and the convention must be a focal part of the story.


Seize The Press Magazine
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: unknown
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).


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?: No
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.


Infinite Worlds Magazine (and Infinite Horrors)
https://www.infiniteworldsmagazine.com/submissions-faqs
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 90 days (beyond that is “assumption” of rejection)
Description: Unthemed, new science fiction and horror.


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

Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology
https://ericraglin.com/2021/12/16/shredded-a-sports-and-fitness-body-horror-anthology/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,500 words
Deadline: Open between March 1–March 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: By April 15
Description: Stories of body horror in sports and fitness: grotesque, strange, frightening, and thought-provoking stories—ones with complex characters, unapologetic weirdness, and horror that takes bold narrative risks.


SNAFU: Dead or Alive (edited by Geoff Brown; publ. by Cohesion Press)
https://cohesionpress.com/snafu-submissions/
Payment: Australian 5 cents a word (abt. 3-1/2 cents a word US)
Story Length: 2,000–10,000 words
Deadline: March 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: estimate 3–4 months
Description: Action-based horror, themed within conflict in the wild, wild West. EX: soldiers/cavalry, bandit gangs (or bandidos, for south of the border), sheriffs, private security for gold claims. We want lots of monster goodness and lots of action.

DAY 6 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

 ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 6 OF 30: REX BURROWS

6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”

###

In “Skandalopetra,” an immigrant Greek fisherman follows the “old ways” to collect deep-water sponges, which proves an increasing mystery to his well-meaning grandson.

STORY EXCERPT:

     …A stream of bubbles exits Yorgos’s nostrils and begins a long, meandering journey back to the surface. Carbon dioxide has been steadily building in his bloodstream, and on cue, a mild spasm seizes his diaphragm. This is a persuasive warning sign of impending asphyxiation, but Yorgos pays it no mind. Even in the blank sameness of the ocean’s twilight zone, a diver of his gifts knows how to keep track of his depth. He’s just passed a key threshold, the point at which salinity and pressure and darkness come into proper alignment to wake the skandalopetra.
     It begins with a flickering greenish light that shines first from one carved rune, then another, then across full sequences of characters. Soon, the glow steadies and spreads across the entire surface of the stone. A warm tingling spreads throughout Yorgos’s body as it begins to coax his anatomy into a more suitable configuration…

—Skandalopetra by REX BURROWS

###

ABOUT: REX BURROWS

Rex Burrows is a writer and environmental microbiologist. He’s lived in lots of different places, most recently Washington, DC. His short fiction has appeared in Weird Horror Magazine.

###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

DAY 5 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 5 OF 30: ALEX WOODROE

5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”

###

In “Abandon," a tour guide takes friends to visit his home village, long-since deserted and languishing under superstition.

STORY EXCERPT:

     “And . . . three, two. We’re here in Spooksville, Transylvania with our terror tour guide, C. He’s about to take us on a trip through an abandoned village. How did that happen?”
     “It’s hard to be sure. People grow old and die, the younger ones leave. This place isn’t unique, there are hundreds of abandoned villages throughout Romania.”
     “But this one’s special, isn’t it? You grew up here.”
     “I did.”
     “Ever see anything strange?”
     I hesitated for a moment, wondering which story to tell them first. Some of them were too good to break out right away. Some of them, I never wanted to tell…

—Abandon by ALEX WOODROE

###

ABOUT: ALEX WOODROE

Alex Woodroe was raised—possibly by wolves—in Romania, where she stumbled into weird speculative fiction and an endless supply of folklore. She made a career out of doing terrible things to words in multiple languages, and her favorite horror story is Alice in Wonderland. She is a member of the Horror Writers Association. You can read more of her work at www.alexwoodroe.com.

###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

DAY 4 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 4 OF 30: CODY GOODFELLOW

4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”

###

In “Hand of Glory,” a despairing prison inmate studies astral projection in order to escape his cell.

STORY EXCERPT:

     … Newcomb lacked the initiative or imagination to conceive an escape, or the skills or connections that would make him an asset in a jailbreak. He had no friends inside. He avoided the gangs. Kept his head down, just doing his time, but he wasn’t going to last another year.
     He strolled the yard, avoiding searching eyes while scanning the parade of hard, hate-etched faces. The driving wind was full of sand, so the cons huddled close to the outer wall, scheming and smoking. He came to the end of the line and was ready to give up. Look at the wrong con too many times and you get stomped or stabbed.
     He didn’t know how long the other man had been walking alongside him. “Make a wish,” the man said. Voice like a radio announcer, his stale sweat and sage-smoke smell just like the book…

—Hand of Glory by CODY GOODFELLOW

###

ABOUT: CODY GOODFELLOW

Cody Goodfellow has written eight novels and five collections of short stories, and edits the hyperpulp zine Forbidden Futures. His writing has been favored with three Wonderland Book Awards for excellence in Bizarro fiction. His comics work has appeared in Mystery Meat, Dark Horse’s Creepy, and Slow Death Zero. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous TV shows, videos by Anthrax and Beck, and a Days Inn commercial. He also wrote, co-produced, and scored the Lovecraftian hygiene films Baby Got Bass and Stay At Home Dad, which can be viewed on YouTube. He “lives” in San Diego, California.

###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

DAY 3 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

 ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 3 OF 30: NATALIA THEODORIDOU

3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”


###

In “The Mouth,” an unemployed man is anguished to watch his pet mouth go hungry.

STORY EXCERPT:

            …The clock ticks loudly on the wall, and Paul glances at it sideways, as if trying to conceal his impatience. He wants this over with.
          “I can’t lose this job,” Samuel says. “I’ve got a mouth to feed.”
          Paul raises his eyebrows. His mouth forms a brief O. “I didn’t know you had a child.”
          Would that change things, Samuel wonders, if he did?
          “Not a child,” he corrects. “Just a mouth.”
          The manager laughs. A short, nervous sound, like a hiccup. He thinks Samuel was joking…

—The Mouth by NATALIA THEODORIDOU

###

ABOUT: NATALIA THEODORIDOU

Natalia Theodoridou is a World Fantasy Award-winning author, a Nebula Award Finalist, and a Clarion West graduate (class of 2018). Natalia’s stories have appeared in venues such as Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Uncanny, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Black Static, Nightmare, and The Dark, and have been translated in Italian, French, Greek, Estonian, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. An immigrant to the UK for many years, he has recently returned to Greece. For details, visit www.natalia-theodoridou.com or follow @natalia_theodor on Twitter.

###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

DAY 2 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 2 OF 30: JO KAPLAN

2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”


###

In “Her. House.,” a couple visits a haunted house, to discover hauntings may not be as traditionally expected.

STORY EXCERPT:

     My mother used to tell me that drinking, for people like her brother, was all about “chasing the demon.” It starts with one drink, a nice little buzz; but once they’ve gotten the taste, they grow convinced there’s a better buzz out there, one for which they search with great zeal. Pretty soon they’re sloshed, but they keep drinking anyway, always convinced a better buzz is hiding just beneath the next bottle. Always chasing the demon.
     I never really understood what she meant by that until I started visiting haunted houses for the thrill of it. Not your tacky Halloween haunts, I mean—real haunted houses…

—Her. House. by JO KAPLAN

###

ABOUT: JO KAPLAN

Jo Kaplan is a Los Angeles based writer and professor. She is the author of the haunted house novel It Will Just Be Us and the forthcoming gothic western When the Night Bells Ring. She also writes under the name Joanna Parypinski. Her work has appeared in Fireside Quarterly, Black Static, Nightmare Magazine, Vastarien, Haunted Nights edited by Ellen Datlow and Lisa Morton, and Bram Stoker Award-nominated anthology Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horrors. She teaches English and creative writing at Glendale Community College.


###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

DAY 1 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!

DAY 1 OF 30: MICHAEL HARRIS COHEN

1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”


###

In “Never Better,” two waitresses begin experimenting with mystical shrooms, both on themselves and on those they serve.

STORY EXCERPT:

     It started with two gobs of spit.
     Dee wanted what I wanted, what all wage-slaves want—Justice.
     If the customer was always right, that made us always wrong.
     “Why not go way wrong?” I’d said.
     Dead flies followed, stashed under a scallop in a coquilles Saint-Jacques or rolled into a dessert crepe. Other things came later. We were inventive.
     I felt like we were throwing tea in Boston Harbor or Tenskwatawa rallying the tribes. Food sabotage was our reckoning.
     Dee called it culinary karma. “Stiffers reap what they sow.” …

— Never Better by Michael Harris Cohen

###

ABOUT: MICHAEL HARRIS COHEN

Michael Harris Cohen’s work is published or forthcoming in various places including Conjunctions, On Spec, F(r)iction, The Dark magazine, Pseudopod, and numerous anthologies. He’s won several writing contests and is a recipient of a Fulbright grant and fellowships from the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Hawthornden Castle, The Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation, and others. His first book, The Eyes, was published by the once marvelous but now defunct Mixer Publishing. His forthcoming story collection, Effects Vary, will be published by Off Limits Press in 2022. He lives with his wife and daughters in Sofia and teaches creative writing and literature at the American University in Bulgaria. Find him online at Michaelharriscohen.net and @fictionknot.


###

AVAILABLE HERE!:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/

Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html 

Overview of my 2021 Writing Accomplishments

I don’t usually put together year-end wrap-ups, but I felt inspired last week, and wanted to recap what I’ve done, mostly for goal-setting/ objectives “missed-or-met” purposes, but partly, also, just to have everything listed in one place instead of several dozen separate social media posts!

In the year of 2021, this is what I did (related to writing!):

OVERVIEW

• I wrote and had published seven original short stories
• I had published four reprint short stories
• I edited and had published four volumes in the series, Haunted Library of Horror Classics (through SourceBooks)
• I edited and published through my press (Dark Moon Books) one Primer book for Ramsey Campbell (part of the Exploring Dark Short Fiction series)
• I edited and published through my press (Dark Moon Books) one themed anthology

(Plus a number of blurbs, reviews, introductions, etc. I didn’t particularly track)

###

ORIGINAL STORIES PUBLISHED:

The Shimmer of Trees
Published in: Campfire Macabre
January, 2021
www.cemeterygatesmedia.com
(1,065 words)

Herein, the Dusk of Time Which Awaits Us All: An Account of the Astral-Afterlife
Published in: Paranormal Contact: A Quiet Horror Confessional
March, 2021
www.cemeterygatesmedia.com
(3,724 words)

Ommetaphobia
Published in: Boneyard Soup Magazine, issue #2
April, 2021
www.boneyardsoup.com
(2,838 words)

Down Amongst the Graves, Where Yon Family Lay Eternal
Published in: Unreal Magazine, issue #5
June, 2021
www.unrealmag.com
(3,506 words)

Two Hearts Make a Half; or, Ghosts of a Rodeo Clown
Published in: Were Tales: A Shapeshifter Anthology
September, 2021
www.brigidsgatepress.com
(4,000 words)

Incident at the Red Hawk Road Stop
Published in: December Tales
September, 2021
www.curiousbluepress.com
(7,162 words)

If I Drive Before I Wake
Published in: In Darkness, Delight: Fear the Future
September, 2021
www.corpuspress.com
(2,817 words)


###

REPRINT STORIES PUBLISHED:

The Shimmer of Trees
Published in: Pseudopod Podcast
December, 2021
www.pseudopod.org
(1,065 words)

The Moon Over Andersonville
Published in: Horror for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads
July, 2021
www.madhousemanor.com
(1,289 words)

Footprints Fading in the Desert
Published in: Longshot Island Magazine
May, 2021
www.longshotisland.net
(3,875 words)

A Case Study in Natural Selection and How It Applies to Love
Published in: Tales to Terrify Podcast
March, 2021
www.talestoterrify.com
(7,491 words)


###

HAUNTED LIBRARY OF HORROR CLASSICS SERIES (AS SERIES EDITOR)

The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Published by Poisoned Pen Press through SourceBooks
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
http://ericjguignard.com/haunted_library.html

• The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Vol. VIII: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M.R. James
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published October, 2021

• The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Vol. VII: The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published August, 2021

• The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Vol. VI: The Parasite and other Tales of Terror by A.C.D.
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published May, 2021

• The Horror Writers Association Presents: Haunted Library of Horror Classics
Vol. V: Of One Blood: or, The Hidden Self by Pauline Hopkins
Edited by Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published February, 2021


###

EXPLORING DARK SHORT FICTION PRIMER SERIES (AS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER):

Exploring Dark Short Fiction #6: A Primer to Ramsey Campbell
Edited by Eric J. Guignard
With fiction written by Ramsey Campbell
Published by Dark Moon Books
September, 2021
www.darkmoonbooks.com/Primer_6.html


###

ORIGINAL ANTHOLOGY AS EDITOR AND PUBLISHER:

Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World (2021 edition)
Edited by Eric J. Guignard
Published by Dark Moon Books
November, 2021
www.darkmoonbooks.com/travel_anthology.html


###

+HORROR LIBRARY+ ANTHOLOGY SERIES:

Additionally, I took over the anthology series +HORROR LIBRARY+ and rereleased all volumes (#1–6, plus BEST OF) under Dark Moon Books, AND read 1,200 submissions for upcoming Volume 7!
http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/horror_library.html

Interview up today with ITW's THE BIG THRILL magazine

This just in! The latest article today from THE BIG THRILL magazine is for me!!

This fantastic write-up and interview covers my latest anthology book, PROFESSOR CHARLATAN BARDOT’S TRAVEL ANTHOLOGY TO THE MOST (FICTIONAL) HAUNTED BUILDINGS IN THE WEIRD, WILD WORLD, published by Dark Moon Books!

I’ve been reading the prominent THE BIG THRILL magazine for many years, and am so proud and thrilled to be part of this issue. Published by the International Thriller Writers, and written by Allison McKnight, my thanks to all involved and best wishes for a successful and safe 2022.

= “…PROFESSOR CHARLATAN BARDOT’S TRAVEL ANTHOLOGY TO THE MOST (FICTIONAL) HAUNTED BUILDINGS IN THE WEIRD, WILD WORLD is a guided journey through six continents… a beautifully presented anthology of ghost stories from around the world by writers from around the world. These stories come with illustrations, maps, latitude and longitude, and individual introductions from Professor Bardot himself. (Imagine Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone openings, but instead it’s a widely traveled professor of the obscure and haunted.)… ”

More Here: https://www.thebigthrill.org/?p=73797