March, 2026 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

  HWA L.A.: For March, 2026
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Tea or Coffee, Stars, and Gravity (Sci-Fi anthology, Air and Nothingness Press)
http://aanpress.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 2,000 words
Deadline: Open between March 1–March 31, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: May 1, 2026
Description: Hard Science Fiction stories that include the 3 title elements: 1. Tea or Coffee, 2. Stars, 3. Gravity.


Flash Fiction Online
https://ffo.submittable.com/submit
Payment: $100 flat
Story Length: 500 to 1,000 words
Deadline: Open each month until reaching the cap of 1,000 submissions
Reprints?: Yes (payment at 2 cents/ word)
Response: Within eight weeks
Description: A very short but complete story of flash fiction. Strong, interesting characters. See Guidelines for MONTHLY THEME.


Story Unlikely
https://www.storyunlikely.com/#submit
Payment: 8 cents a word (up to $200 cap; no longer minimum “pro” pay after 4,000 words)
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: October 14, 2026
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 1 cent/ word up to $75)
Response: 90 days
Description: Good stories that elicit emotion. Any genre. NOTE: Submissions require (free) subscription to monthly e-mag publication.


Tales of Horror Magazine
https://ashtonspot.com/talesofhorror/
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Intermittent. Currently open, but may close at any time.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed horror short fiction and poetry (seemingly with a preference to work that touches on the classic style).


Pulp Literature
https://pulpliterature.com/submissions/submission-guidelines/
Payment: minimum 5 cents a word for first 5,000 words, then diminishing scale thereafter
Story Length: up to 20,000 words (preference to 5,000 and less)
Deadline: Intermittent. Currently open, but unknown when it will close.
Reprints?: No
Response: 6 months.
Description: Any genre or between-genre work of literature. Anything entertaining and well written. We want our magazine to include a balance of all genres, including fantasy, romance, mystery, literary, etc.


ESCAPE ARTISTS PodCasts (4 separate markets; different editors, similar guidelines)

All:
Payment: 8 cents a word/ original; $100 flat rate for reprints
Story Length: 1,500–6,000 words (preferred 4,500 words or less)
Deadline: Intermittent (each market opens as needs)
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Up to three months

1. PodCastle (Fantasy Fiction Podcast)
http://podcastle.org/guidelines/
Description: Publishes in both text and audio. Looking for fantasy stories. We’re open to all the sub-genres of fantasy, from magical realism to urban fantasy to slipstream to high fantasy, and everything in between.

2. Cast of Wonders (Y.A. Fantasy Fiction Podcast)
http://www.castofwonders.org/submissions/schedule
Description: Stories that evoke a sense of wonder and have something unreal about them. We aim for a 12-17 age range: that means sophisticated, non-condescending stories with wide appeal, and without explicit sex, violence or pervasive obscene language. Think Harry Potter or The Hunger Games.

3. Escape Pod (Science Fiction Podcast)
http://escapepod.org/guidelines/short-fiction
Description: Our mandate is fun. We are fairly flexible on what counts as “science” (as we’ll delve into superheroes or steampunk on occasion) and are interested in exploring the range of the genre, but we are not looking for fantasy, magical realism, or more than a tinge of horror. If your story isn’t centered on science, technology, future projections, alternate history, and how any or all of these things intersect with people, we’re probably not the right market for it.

4. Pseudopod (Horror Fiction Podcast)
http://pseudopod.org/submissions
Description: Horror: dark, weird fiction. We run the spectrum from grim realism or crime drama, to magic-realism, to blatantly supernatural dark fantasy. We publish highly literary stories reminiscent of Poe or Lovecraft as well as vulgar shock-value pulp fiction; strong pacing, well-defined characters, engaging dialogue, and clear action.



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

Bog Matter (magazine)
https://martian.press/bog-matter
Payment: 2 cents a word
Story Length: up to 3,500 words (prefer under 2,000)
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: 2–6 weeks
Description: Seeks to publish new short fiction, poetry, and graphic shorts that could be described as science fiction, horror, fantasy, magical realism, slipstream, New Weird, utopian, dystopian, satirical, cross-genre, experimental, or exuding a general air of oddness.


SNAFU: Level Up
https://www.cohesionpress.com/submissions
Payment: Australian 5 cents a word (abt. 3-1/2 cents a word US)
Story Length: 2,500–12,000 words
Deadline: March 31, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: estimate 3–4 months
Description: LitRPG-style story, where characters gain skills and level up their abilities during the combat with horrendous beasts… to be filled with tales of champions and heroes, villains and monsters, all fighting to beat the other into paste. Our reality, alternate worlds, wherever our defenders aren’t quite good enough, watch as they raise themselves to the level they need to be, or more in some cases. And VIOLENCE!

January, 2026 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

 HWA L.A.: For January, 2026
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

The Phantom Pulse
https://www.thephantompulse.com/
Payment: 3 cents a word (reprints at 1 cent/word)
Story Length: up to 3,000 words (up to 5,000 for reprints)
Deadline: Open between January 1 and February 14, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: By March 31, 2026
Description: speculative fiction, RE: the grey corners of humanity, dread that permeates the skin, and the bizarre. Our pages are haunted by twisted longing, inevitable darkness, and quiet obsession.


Nightmare Magazine
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/nightmare/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–7,500 words (prefer 5,000 words or less)
Deadline: January 25–February 1, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: within 30 days
Description: Exceptional non-themed horror.


Teeth (Published by Dreampunk Press)
https://www.dreampunkpress.com/blogs/news/call-for-anthology-submissions-ends-31-march-2026
Payment: $200 flat rate
Story Length: 3,000–3,500 words
Deadline: March 31, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: April, 2026
Description: Horror short stories about Teeth. Tone of eerie, or creepy, or Gothic—NOT slasher or gory.


Strange Horizons
http://strangehorizons.com/submit/fiction-submission-guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 10,000 words (under 5,000 preferred)
Deadline: Open 2 days only, between January 19 and January 21, 2026 (check specific times)
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown. Previously at 40 days
Description: Imaginative, good speculative fiction, broadly defined, particularly from diverse perspectives; Unusual yet readable styles and inventive structures and narratives.


Summer in the City (Ruadán Books)
https://ruadanbooks.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,000–7,500 words
Deadline: January 31, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Dark, speculative short stories that fit the theme of “Summer in the City”. i.e., an open and far-ranging theme that must involve the setting of a city (pop. 700,000+) and the season of Summer, and have a speculative fiction element.


Newsela (News ELA)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SCKan8D75EUTe6zsZLMU4kUwcptSsb_Z50MjLgS7QYc/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.7epn1k7z9zw3
Payment: $1,500 flat rate
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: March 15, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: April, 2026
Description: Original short fiction that students want to read—stories that grab them from the first sentence and refuse to let go. We are moving beyond standard "lesson texts" to find vibrant storytelling that spans Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Adventure, Love, and Contemporary Realistic Fiction.
(Note: Appears they ask for Permanent, Exclusive rights)




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

Roses & Wildflowers: Le Chat Noir: Alternative Histories … With Cats
https://societyforritualarts.com/coreopsis/roses-wildflowers-autumn-2026-submissions/
Payment: $20 flat rate
Story Length: unlisted. Assume up to 7,500.
Deadline: June 2026 (or, “until full”)
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Alternate histories with cats playing a major role… Asking this question: What changed because The Cat told all? (Or didn’t.) Folk and Fairy tales re-imagined, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Eerie tales, Cross-genre Noir, Climate Fiction, Science Fiction and Space Opera, Adventure Tales, Humor, Cozy, Hope-, Solar -, Cyber -, Steam – and Gaslight Punk … all are welcome.


Just Keep Up Magazine
https://www.justkeepupmagazine.com/submissions
Payment: $10 flat rate
Story Length: unlisted. Assume up to 7,500.
Deadline: Currently open with no end date listed
Reprints?: No
Response: 3–4 months
Description:  Short stories that are science fiction and/or horror (preferably both) and can be of any length, although we tend to accept shorter pieces. We also are looking for pieces that are more on the experimental and weirder side of the horror/science fiction spectrum.

December, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For December, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Book Worms Horror Zine, Issue #10: Apocalyptic Horror
https://rsaintclaire.com/2025/11/03/call-for-submissions-4/
Payment: 8 cents a word ($25 flat for poetry)
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: January 10, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original, non-themed short stories of end-of-the-world dread, AKA: Apocalyptic Horror. We’re looking for stories and poetry that dive into nuclear winters, climate catastrophes, algorithmic uprisings, techno-anarchy, or whatever fresh brand of apocalypse your twisted imagination can conjure.
**Note: This publisher accepts submissions ONLY via postal mail


Plott Hound Magazine
https://plotthoundmag.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (preferred 3,000–4,000); or flash fiction up to 999 words
Deadline: Open between December 1 and December 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists; Animal-centric speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror). (Also open to poetry and non-fiction.)


Adventitious e-Magazine
https://www.adventitious.net/submission-guidelines/
Payment: 8 cents a word (1 cent/word for reprints)
Story Length: up to 17,000 words
Deadline: Open between December 1 and December 5, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Within 8 weeks
Description: Stories that offer a sense of wonder through their language, characters, plots, or all of the above. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and all speculative/surreal will always be welcomed, but we’re also happy with stories that shock and delight right here on this plane of existence.


Night Shades Magazine
https://www.nightshadesmag.com/submissions/
Payment: $65 flat rate
Story Length: up to 500 words
Opens: December 26, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed, original speculative fiction. All types of Fantasy/ Science Fiction/ Horror. “Something genuine and strange, that takes big swings with language, and that takes advantage of the short form rather than strains against it.”


Rotting Leaf Magazine
https://www.briefecology.com/p/annoucement-rotting-leaf-magazine
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: Open between December 1 and December 6, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short stories of Eco-Fiction (broadly defined), including: Eco-Horror; Eco-Gothic/Anti-gothic; Haunted/Unhaunted Landscapes; Transcorporeality; Eco-Surrealism/Existentialism/Absurdism; etc.)


More Alternative Liberties (anthology, published by B Cubed Press)
https://bcubedpress.moksha.io/publication/yes-this-is-the-more-alternative-liberties-portal-you-are-seeking/guidelines
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–3,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: December 20, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Stories, poems, and essays about the potential consequences of the 2024 Presidential election told in current, near future or even similar situations where such a leader is in power; stories of people who fight the change, endure the change, or embrace the change. But key word is People. I want the stories to be about the People (an maybe the animal liberation front in Springfield or a couch salesmen in Ohio who knows things.



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

The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2 (anthology)
https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html
Payment: $30 flat rate for original stories ($10 flat for reprints)
Story Length: 3,000–9,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Does not send rejections. Acceptances sent by January 15, 2026.
Description: Non-themed quality horror short stories.


Drek Death and Doom: Bloodlust anthology
https://drekdeathanddoom.com/submissions/
Payment: between 1–4 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: December 25, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original Valentine’s Day Horror Stories Wanted (no horror comedy).

November, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

 HWA L.A.: For November, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Apex Magazine
http://www.apex-magazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 9,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: One month
Description: Exceptionally well-written science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all its sub-genres.
NOTE: ALSO Open to Flash Fiction contest, usually between the 7^th through last day of each month. Stories up to 1,000 words based on a theme to be announced on the 7^th day of the month.


TWO SEPARATE ANTHOLOGIES: Romantic Fantasy from Flame Tree Publishing
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/romantic-fantasy-first-submissions-0
Payment: 8 cents a word (6 cents/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: November 10, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadline

1. Of Blood & Petals: Tales featuring strong-willed, independent leads who are resilient, perhaps flawed or possess hidden powers, secrets or royal bloodlines. Such protagonists would not be defined solely by their love interests but grow through emotionally charged journeys. Friendships and love interests might be brooding, mysterious or dangerously alluring. Relationships might emphasize deep emotional connections, with lyrical, romantic scenes central to each character’s arc. Ideal submissions will weave emotional tension such as longing, betrayal and love into epic fantasy worlds depicting prophecies, injustice and conflict.

2. The Tarot of Love: The Lovers Tarot card can signify attraction, love, and commitment, but reversed, it may represent failure and foolishness. Which fate will it be? Since ancient times, divination has been a tool for seeking answers through mediums such as readings, tangible objects, or tapping into other realms and spirit worlds to gain guidance… in these tales of romance, will lovers meet their fated end, and will the prophecy be fulfilled?


Shotgun Honey (flash fiction)
https://shotgunhoney.com/submissions/flash-fiction/
Payment: $15 flat
Story Length: Flash fiction up to 700 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed crime, noir, and hard-boiled flash fiction.


DreamForge Magazine
https://dreamforgemagazine.com/for-authors/call-for-submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,000 words
Deadline: December 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: 6–9 weeks
Description: Positive (and “clean”) science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction. Hope and advancement;


Views From the Overlook (publ. Vintage Books)
https://jamieflanagan.com/guidelines-2/
Payment: $2,000 flat rate
Story Length: 3,000–5,000 words
Deadline: March 2, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original stories set in the infamous hotel from Stephen King’s THE SHINING; stories that take place in Stephen King’s world of THE SHINING, prior to the Torrance family’s arrival at the Overlook Hotel. The anthology will be based on lore from King’s writings (follow the books; not the films). NOTE: Only “1 or 2” stories to be accepted.



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

Interzone Magazine (TTA Press)
https://interzone.press/submissions/
Payment: 1.5 euro cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–17,500 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: usually within 5 weeks
Description: Fantastika fiction: non-themed, general audience, science fiction, fantasy, and horror.


Propagule Magazine (Issue 8)
https://www.propagule.co
Payment: $5 per 1,000 words for the first 2,000 words, and $10 per 1,000 words thereafter (up to a maximum of $30)
Story Length: 1,500–10,000 words
Deadline: December 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Speculative, non-traditional stories, preferring science fiction and fantasy.


Horrific Scribes
https://horrificscribblings.com/submissions/
Payment: $25 flat rate
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: Is open intermittently (currently open) with no listed closing date.
Reprints?: No
Response: Two weeks up to six weeks
Description: Dark, transgressive fiction, horror and horror-adjacent, e.g. dark fantasy, dark sci-fi, and surreal and experimental work with dark edges.

October, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For October, 2025

New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes

At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Ghoulish Tales
https://ghoulish.rip/ghoulish-tales-reopens-for-submissions-9-17-10-17-2025/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: October 17, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short stories that fit our personal definition of the word GHOULISH, which is “fun horror that aims to celebrate all things spooky.”


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 (falls under Thriller/Mystery), Science Fiction, Crime, Fantasy, etc. (see submission page for additional themed 1-time calls).


No Laughing Matter (Flame Tree)
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/no-laughing-matter-call-for-submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 3,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: October 20, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadline
Description: Looking for fiction which embraces the horror/thriller genres with elements of bleak, black humor, wry observation, a touch of irony and satire, and hints of the absurd.


Small Wonders
https://smallwondersmag.com/submissions/
Payment: 10 cents a word (1 cent a word for reprints)
Story Length: up to 1,000 words (or 1,100 words for reprints)
Deadline: Intermittent
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Unspecified, but according to online reports up to five months
Description: Non-themed short stories relating to Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.


Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/guidelines/
Payment: 8 cents/ word original; 2 cents/ word reprint (range for non-fiction)
Story Length: 1,000–10,000 words (focus on shorter form)
Deadline: Opens the 1^st and 2^nd day only of each month.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: abt. 2 months
Description: Well written original stories in science fiction, fantasy, myth, fairy tales, and eldritch; in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. We care about character, plot, ideas, and storytelling ability. We accept both serious and humorous work (no horror). Also interested in poetry and non-fiction (articles).


MetaStellar (Flash Fiction)
https://www.metastellar.com/write-for-us/flash-fiction-story-submission
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,200 words
Deadline: Open between October 1–October 31, 2025
Reprints?: Yes (unpaid) (longer word count also allowed)
Response: unknown
Description: Original speculative fiction, focusing on horror, fantasy and science fiction.



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

Humans From Earth!! (anthology)
https://daftnotions.com/humans-from-earth/
Payment: $100-$150 AUD flat rate (about $65-$100 USD). $50 AUD for reprints.
Story Length: 3,000–7,000 words
Deadline: October 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Science fiction horror stories in which Earthlings are the boogyman to an alien race.


Drek Death and Doom (Theme of: Thanksgiving Folk Horror)
https://drekdeathanddoom.com/submissions/
Payment: between 1–4 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: October 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Folk Horror stories themed around Thanksgiving. Horror, thriller, splatter, extreme; it’s all good as long as there is a story.


Made in L.A. (anthology)
https://www.madeinlawriters.com/submission-guidelines/
Payment: 1 cent a word
Story Length: up to 2,500 words
Deadline: October 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: by December 31, 2025
Description: Stories that evoke nuanced feelings and leave a lasting impression. We want to meet vibrant characters, hear their distinct voices, and—as always—see the action unfold in a strong Los Angeles setting.

September, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For September, 2025

New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes

At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Into the Deep, Dark Woods (anthology, edited by Kevin J. Anderson and Western Colorado University)
https://wordfirewestern.moksha.io/publication/into-the-deep-dark-woods/guidelines
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Open September 1 – October 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Any genre, but the setting of “deep, dark woods” must be central to the story: Stories that explore the magic and mystery of the primeval wilderness, where tangled branches create a foreboding canopy… A place of fairy tales, secrets, and monsters.


Utopia SF Magazine
https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,000 words for flash fiction issue (normally up to 4,000 words)
Deadline: Regularly Open. See list of THEMES and associated deadlines.
Reprints?: No
Response: Up to four months
Description: See site for quarterly themes! Fiction to be “enthralling stories set in a future we want to believe in”. Mag is also interested in poetry, non-fiction, and art, all science-fiction related.


Book Worms Horror Zine, issue: Folk Horror
https://rsaintclaire.com/2025/08/05/call-for-submissions-for-our-halloween-issue/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: September 10, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Folk horror—that uncanny space where ancient legends, rural isolation, and old-world rituals fester just beneath the surface of pastoral charm. Remember: Folk horror is fluid—so stretch the boundaries. Invent your own cursed villages, pagan rites, or ghost-haunted fields. Just keep it eerie, keep it folkloric, and above all, make it scary.
**Note: This publisher accepts submissions ONLY via postal mail


Tractor Beam
https://www.tractorbeam.earth/about
Payment: $1,000 flat rate
Story Length: up to 6,000 words
Deadline: October 6, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Written and graphic works that have actionable soil-based technologies as their premise: Stories exploring a positive future on Earth with an emphasis on soil and agriculture in the winter, the productive role of ice and snow in the seasons, frost and permafrost, future fashion and style, entertainment and culture, the ocean and soil under water, soil as tech, soil as the origin of life and anti-apocalyptic futures, etc.


Three-Lobed Burning Eye
https://www.3lobedmag.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,000–7,500 words
Deadline: Open September 1 – September 1, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response Time: within two months
Description: Non-themed, original speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, and science fiction.


Night Shades (micro-fiction)
https://www.annareser.com/night-shades-mag/
Payment: $65 flat rate
Story Length: up to 500 words
Deadline: Currently open. Closes intermittently.
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed speculative fiction. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, or Horror.


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

Not One of Us (small print digest)
https://legacyliteraryservices.com/not-one-of-us/
Payment: 1/4 cent a word
Story Length: soft cap at 5,000 words (hard cap at 6,000 words)
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: Usually within two weeks
Description: People (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the SF sense—anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. Open to horror, SF, fantasy, noir, slipstream, Western, mainstream, whatever.


Polymorphic
https://polymorphicmagazine.com/submissions/
Payment: $30 CAD flat rate
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Open September 1 – December 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed short horror stories and art from creators around the world, illustrated and organized by a small team of Canadian visual artists; From the grotesque to the absurd, Polymorphic highlights horrors of all kinds, building a unique experience that’s sure to leave you terrified!

August, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For August, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Tales of Horror Magazine
https://ashtonspot.com/talesofhorror/
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Intermittent. Currently open, but may close at any time.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed horror short fiction and poetry (seemingly with a preference to work that touches on the classic style).


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.


TWO SEPARATE ANTHOLOGIES from Flame Tree Publishing
Payment: 8 cents a word (6 cents/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 3,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: August 24, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadline

• The Valkyries: Fiction stories that explore and expand on existing tales associated with Valkyries (not simply retelling classic tales) or imagine completely new names and narratives for those who have never seen the limelight.
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/the-valkyries-call-for-submissions

• Odysseus: Fiction short stories that present the fully formed, rounded and complex figure that is Odysseus, from his point of view and as others see him, as he faces the challenges of living up to the expectations put upon him.
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/odysseus-call-for-submissions


Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
https://cosmicrootsandeldritchshores.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents/ word original; 2 cents/ word reprint (range for non-fiction)
Story Length: 1,000–10,000 words (focus on shorter form)
Deadline: Opens ONLY the 1^st and 2^nd day only of every month.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: abt. 2 months
Description: Well written original stories in science fiction, fantasy, myth, fairy tales, and eldritch; in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world. We care about character, plot, ideas, and storytelling ability. We accept both serious and humorous work (no horror). Also interested in poetry and non-fiction (articles).


Crepuscular Magazine (drabble/flash fiction)
https://www.patreon.com/posts/submission-85137677
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: up to 250 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: undeclared (seems to average less than one month)
Description: Microfiction stories exploring places, characters, and questions buried in the gray areas between this and that, here and there, night and day, alive and dead, evil and good, feminine and masculine, up and down, real and unreal. If you're not quite sure what that means, lean into that feeling... While we lean toward speculative pieces, we have a love for those in-betweeny pieces that blur genre. We accept horror (both spec and non), fantasy, science fiction, general/literary fiction, and everything in between.


No Gods No Masters (anthology from Sans. Press)
https://www.sanspress.com/submissions
Payment: €200 flat rate
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: August 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: All genres: stories that are ready to get their hands dirty in the making of a newer, fairer world; it is for the characters that are driven not for the love of power but for solidarity, for genuine belief, and for a refusal to surrender to cynicism and despair.


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

Remains Magazine (edited by Andy Cox)
https://remains.uk/pages/submissions
Payment: Unknown. ESTIMATE 1–3 cents a word (negotiated)
Story Length: Unknown. Previously open to work up to 10,000 words; however suggested probably no more than 5,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Non-themed, general audience, thoughtful horror. From the former editor of Black Static Magazine.


Tales to Terrify (story podcast)
https://talestoterrify.com/submissions/
Payment: 2 cents a word (1 cent/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 2,000–10,000 words
Deadline: Currently open. Unknown when will close
Reprints?: Yes
Response: up to 3 months
Description: Non-themed short horror, dark fantasy, and other disturbing fiction. We want to read works that threaten to bleed into our reality and corrupt something as ordinary as a toaster. Anything is allowed as long as it’s well-conceived and well-written.


Deadly Duos: Funfair (Dreadstone Books anthology)
https://www.dreadstonebooks.com/submissions
Payment: £0.01 per word (capped at 3,000 words)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (prefer only up to 3,000 words)
Deadline: September 30, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: within 1 month of the submission deadline
Description: Dark tales from the fairground—twisted rides, carnivals of terror, sideshows, and the sinister shadows behind the bright lights.

July, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For July, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes

At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Mmeory (anthology, Air and Nothingness Press)
http://aanpress.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,500 words
Deadline: Open between July 7–August 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: September 15, 2025
Description: Stories of memory manipulation. Examples include magic spells, cyborg memory edits, very unreliable narrators, time travel gone horribly wrong; open to all genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Alternate History, Steampunk, Hopepunk, Solarpunk, and beyond...


Diabolical Plots ezine (ed. David Steffen)
https://www.diabolicalplots.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 3,500 words or less
Deadline: Open between July 7– July 21, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response Time: One month after end of submission window
Description: Speculative fiction–science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Everything should have a speculative element–that includes horror. Feel free to mix in other genres at will–a fantasy mystery or a science fiction romance.


Mysterion (ezine)
https://www.mysteriononline.com/p/submission-guidelines.html
Payment: 8 cents a word (4 cents for reprints)
Story Length: up to 9,000 words
Deadline: Open between July 1–July 31, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Four months
Description: Christian-themed speculative stories and artwork—science fiction, fantasy, horror—with Christian themes, characters, or cosmology; science fiction and fantasy, good ghost stories, etc.; there's great fiction material hidden in the mysteries of Christian theology—cherubim, leviathan, nephilim, visions, prophecy, and more.


The Orange & Bee
https://theorangebee.substack.com/p/submission-guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 4,000 words
Deadline: Open between July 1– July 14, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: Within three weeks
Description: Fairy tale narratives: Original works of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction that engage in a significant way with the long history of fairy tales. We are interested in works that stretch, expand, test, subvert, and challenge the fairy-tale tradition. We are interested in works that are entertaining, but also in works that matter: that is, in works that are both pleasurable to read and thought-provoking.


TWO SEPARATE ANTHOLOGIES: Romantic Fantasy from Flame Tree Publishing
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/romantic-fantasy-first-submissions-0
Payment: 8 cents a word (6 cents/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: July 20, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadline

1. A Breath of Time: Lost loves, love discovered, love unreachable unless Time itself is conquered, these and many other time-bending, time traveling, time feasting themes can spark your imagination for stories of alternate history, of ancient forests returning to haunt the present and great adventures through dreams and timeless mountain tops, all with hearts beating to the rhythm of romance.

2. Of Love & Dragons: Dragons may be fierce but they are symbols of great power, and the bond between human and dragon, once forged can never be broken. Or can it? Can romance deal a deathly trail of vows abandoned, or forgotten, can realms beyond our time conjure tales of Dragon Lords and warrior princesses, of great rivalries and oceans yearning with desire and determination, can you tempt the ancient ways into new meanings, and new stories.


Mergnaser Magazine
https://mergansermagazine.com/about.html
Payment: 8 cents a word ($1/line for poetry)
Story Length: up to 2,000 words (soft limit)
Deadline: No closing date listed
Reprints?: No
Response: Within two months
Description: Strong, well-written pieces across a wide range of material, including fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry.


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

Inner Worlds (magazine)
https://inner-worlds.ghost.io/submission-guidelines/
Payment: £0.02 (about US 3 cents a word)
Story Length: 500–2,500 words
Deadline: Open between July 15–August 31, 2025
Reprints?: Yes (if not available online)
Response: Three weeks
Description: Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus.


Slugger
https://sluggerfiction.com/submit/
Payment: $25 flat
Story Length: 1,000–4,000 words
Deadline: July 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: 45 days after close of submissions
Description: Non-themed horror; all subgenres of horror (dark fantasy, sci-fi, noir all accepted as long as horror plays a central role).

June, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For June, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes

At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Deep Anthology (Death's Head Press)
https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market/Index/19663
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 2,500–10,000 words
Deadline: July 31, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Original horror short stories regarding the unexplored depths of our planet and the universe.


SmokeLong Quarterly
https://smokelong.submittable.com/submit/316909/dark-fantasy-and-psychological-thriller-a-smokelong-themed-call-for-submission
Payment: $300 flat
Story Length: up to 1,000 words
Deadline: August 14, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: Two weeks
Description: Prose that is troubling, that explores our darkest fears. We're not quite sure we're ready for this to be honest, but that's part of the appeal. We are looking for literary prose. We do not want to weather gratuitous violence or cruelty, but we do--or at least we think we do--want to feel fright, unease, a racing heart. If you are a writer of stories that do this, this call is for you. Think Shirley Jackson.


Plott Hound Magazine
https://plotthoundmag.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (preferred 3,000–4,000); or flash fiction up to 999 words
Deadline: Open between June 1 and June 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Stories with anthropomorphized animals as protagonists; Animal-centric speculative fiction (fantasy, science fiction, horror). (Also open to poetry and non-fiction.)


Anomaly
https://forms.gle/gyYiefg2A2rffr779
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: flash fiction up to 300 words
Deadline: Open between June 1 and June 7, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Dark and disruptive SF stories that have strong emotional resonance.


Haven Speculative
https://www.havenspec.com/submit/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 6,000 words
Open From: June 1–June 30, 2025
Reprints?: No (with some exceptions)
Response: within 70 days
Description: Fantasy and science fiction stories, poems, and non-fiction, for a modern audience with a sensibility for social consciousness.


Clarkesworld Magazine
https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/
Payment: 14 cents per word
Story Length: 1,000–22,000 words
Deadline: Intermittent (usually open)
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Science fiction and fantasy. No horror, but dark SF/F is permitted.


***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”
Saturday Mourning Television (anthology)
https://sliceduppress.com/submissions/
Payment: $35 flat
Story Length: 1,000–4,000 words
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: July 31, 2025
Description: Horror fiction inspired by early morning kids TV; the educational/bizarre 1960’s & 70’s, the advert-packed 80’s, the radical 90’s, the wayward & wacky 2000’s or anything beyond. Even web-based entertainment is fair game. And don’t limit yourself to tales involving kids, what about parents, or performers & hosts, workers behind the scenes, even animated creations.


Fearmoji: Queer Emoji Horror
https://www.slashichorrorpress.com/submissions
Payment: $25 flat
Story Length: 4,000–7,500 words
Deadline: August 1, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: Presumably within three months
Description: Adult queer body horror that somehow strongly incorporates the use of emoji…. sentient emojis, cursed emojis, a secret combination of emojis that unlocks a demon, a serial killer whose signature is the love heart reaction, disaffected youths whose use of the shrug emoji comes back to haunt them, a coder with an emoji axe to grind… The potential here is limitless. Include believable, authentic characters, and crazy fucking scenarios!


Kozy Krampus: The Cosmic Horror of the Holiday Sweater
https://www.underlandpress.com/the-cosmic-horror-of-the-holiday-sweater/
Payment: 1 cent a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (also open to poetry)
Deadline: June 15–June 30, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Cosmic horror inherent in the holiday season with Kozy Krampus, a collection of stories merry and monstrous, cozy and cosmic. The gothic nightmares and horrific haunts of our forebears persist in our fever-fueled dreams. Some monsters are never vanquished; they merely find new shapes. Slip into the dark shadows behind the million flickering holiday lights. Stare down the prehistoric fruit log in which lurks something truly eldritch and batrachian. Hark to the songs sung after midnight by carolers with extra-long tongues and extra-sharp teeth. This is the holiday season with the masks ripped off.

May, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For May, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

Skull X Bones (Zombies Need Brains, LLC)
https://zombiesneedbrains.moksha.io/publication/skull-x-bones/guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words
Deadline: June 30, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: by July 31
Description: Original stories of science fiction or fantasy pirates, whether they be on the sailing ships of the deep wide ocean or the spaceships of the black void.

The Daily Tomorrow
https://www.thedailytomorrow.com/submissions
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 2,100–3,500 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown (reports within a month)
Description: High concept science fiction stories. (A preference for stories that bring a new idea to the genre and explore it efficiently in a story with compelling characters.)


Dracula Beyond Stoker: Issue 7: Mina Harker
https://www.dbspress.com/submissions
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Open From: Open between May 1–June 30, 2025
Reprints?: Yes (if older than 10 years) (and paid flat rate of $55)
Response: Unknown, but reported as generally between 30 and 60 days.
Description: The best new fiction based on Stoker’s characters, locations, and themes. This issue: Mina is teacher, a wife, and the heart and the hero of the novel. Her spirit and intelligence keep her resilient even when darkness closes in. But who is Mina beneath the surface? Did her experiences leave her haunted? How did her connection to Dracula affect her view of the world or her family? Whether it’s before, during, or after the events of the novel, let’s explore her strength, her struggles, and her secrets.


Story Unlikely
https://www.storyunlikely.com/#submit
Payment: 8 cents a word (up to $200 cap; no longer minimum “pro” pay after 4,000 words)
Story Length: up to 10,000 words
Deadline: September 29, 2024
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 1 cent/ word up to $75)
Response: 90 days
Description: Good stories that elicit emotion. Any genre. NOTE: Submissions require (free) subscription to monthly e-mag publication.


Utopia SF Magazine (Flash Fiction issue)
https://www.utopiasciencefiction.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 1,000 words for flash fiction issue (normally up to 4,000 words)
Deadline: June 1, 2024
Reprints?: No
Response: Up to four months
Description: See site for quarterly themes. Current issue is non-themed. Mag is also interested in art and non-fiction, all science-fiction related.


The DARK (monthly online e-magazine)
http://thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines
Payment: 5 cents a word (1 cent a word for reprints)
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”

Goblins & Galaxies Magazine
https://goblinsandgalaxies.com/submissions/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 6,000 words
Deadline: Open between May 7–May 14, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Sword & sorcery, dark fantasy, and science fiction stories. A sense of adventure in the story is important. Action should take center stage.


The Necronomicon of Sherlock Holmes
https://belangerbooks-sherlockholmes.blogspot.com/2025/02/call-for-submissions-for-new-sherock.html
Payment: $125 flat
Story Length: 5,000–10,000 words
Deadline: June 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Stories must feel like traditional Holmes and Lovecraft stories. The stories should have the traditional Holmes and Watson working with the traditional characters, creatures, and/or gods of H.P. Lovecraft. Remember, there was a logic to the writing of Lovecraft, a rationale behind the otherworldly beings even if humans couldn’t conceive it, that should blend well with the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes.


Self (S)care: Best of 2026 Self Published Horror (Edited by Candace Nola and Paul Carro)
https://www.uncomfortablydark.com/uncomfortablydarkdozen
Payment: 2 cents a word 
Story Length: 1,000–8,500 words
Deadline: Opens mid-May for work previously self-published Jan–April 2025
Reprints?: Exclusively
Response: By end of 2025
Description: Seeking unique voices in horror and unique stories that were originally self-published.

April, 2025 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

HWA L.A.: For April, 2025
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)

The Deadlands
https://thedeadlands.com/guidelines/
Payment: 10 cents a word (1 cent for reprints)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words (preferably 3,000–4,000 words)
Deadline: Open between April 1–April 30, 2025
Reprints?: Yes
Response: Two weeks
Description: Speculative fiction stories about death, or what death may involve. EX: A ghost in a shadowed wood. An afterlife discovered through a rusted door. An abandoned house in the middle of a haunted field. A skeletal figure moving with intent toward something unseen. Death personified; stories from a worldwide perspective, different cultures, different approaches to death.

Solarpunk Magazine
https://solarpunkmagazine.com/submissions/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 500–7,500 words
Deadline: Open between April 1–April 14, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Short stories and poetry that strive for a utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimistically struggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a world in which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than in conflict, etc. Also open to poetry and non-fiction.

Story Unlikely
https://www.storyunlikely.com/#submit
Payment: 8 cents a word (up to $200 cap; no longer minimum “pro” pay after 4,000 words)
Story Length: up to 3,500 words
Deadline: September 29, 2025
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 2 cents)
Response: 90 days
Description: Good stories that elicit emotion. Any genre. NOTE: Submissions require (free) subscription to monthly e-mag publication.

Scary Stories Whispered in the Rain
https://www.elizabethguizzetti.com/
Submission guidelines not found on site, but on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/openspeculativemarkets/permalink/9609181155811782
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 40,000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Reprints?: Yes ($50 flat)
Response: unknown
Description: Original horror stories to be used for all-ages podcast (i.e. keep it PG13). See submission link for monthly themes.


Wet Screams: A Monsterfucker Anthology (Little Ghosts Books)
https://www.littleghostsbooks.com/wetscreams
Payment: 7 cents a word
Story Length: up to 6,000 words
Deadline: April 14, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: By May 1, 2025
Description: Anthology of Monsterfucking Stories: Monstrous romance with high spice. Horror and erotica (intended to be risqué and fun).


Planet Scumm
https://www.planetscumm.space/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: May 7, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Previously unpublished short fiction that doesn’t lean heavily on genre tropes. Hard sci-fi, soft sci-fi, sci-fi that melts in your mouth-brain not your hand-brain. Speculative fiction, weird fiction, slipstream, glitterlit, analogpunk.



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

Translunar Travelers Lounge
https://translunartravelerslounge.com/submissions/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: April 15, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: by May 31, 2025
Description: Stories that are fun and have a speculative element to them. Swashbuckling adventure, deadly intrigue, and gleeful romance are some of the most obvious examples of what we’re looking for, but we won’t say no to more subtle or complicated topics.


Samhain Screams (edited by Greg Chapman and Cameron Trost)
https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/2025/01/anthology-announcement-samhain-screams.html
Payment: Flat pay of $50 AUD (converts to about $32 USD)
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: May 30, 2025
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Memorable, character-driven stories set on, or near, the last night of October. Give us ghosts, serial killers, rituals and monsters, heroes and villains, but most of all give us the true dark side of Halloween – and make it terrifying.


Trollbreath Magazine
https://magazine.trollbreath.com/submissions/
Payment: 4 cents a word (1/2 cent a word for reprints); $25 flat rate for poetry
Story Length: 1,500–7,500 words (prefer 4,000–5,000)
Deadline: Open between April 1–April 30, 2025
Reprints?: Yes (paid at 1/2 cent/ word)
Response: Within 60 days
Description: Non-themed speculative fiction, poetry, and non-fiction; from dark fantasy to hope punk to surrealism, and everything in between.