Friday, February 27, 2026

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!


Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Release Day Today for HORROR LIBRARY, VOLUME 9!

Perpetually working through the kinks of publishing, but today is Publication day for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ VOLUME 9 through Dark Moon Books!

So absolutely proud of this anthology, perhaps the best one in the series so far!!!
https://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_9.html

Table of Contents:

Introduction to +Horror Library+ Volume 9 by Eric J. Guignard
“Afterimage” by R. E. Rule
“Baghdad, 1259” by
Tanvir Ahmed
“Found You” by
Poppy Z. Brite
“Third-Floor Windows” by LH Michael
“The Second Candlestick” by
Nigel Brown
“False Witness” by
Charlie Hughes
“Eyes Without Their Lids” by
Jo Kaplan
“Dumb Insolence” by
J. L. Rifkin
“The Edge of the Earth” by
Iain Rowan
“Before His Time” by
Bentley Little
“The Luckiest Man” by
Gina Easton
“Accounting for Eternity” by
Charles Wilkinson
“Jane” by
Garick Cooke
“In the Evening Red” by
Brian Evenson
“Elizabeth by the Pea Patch” by
J. Edward Gregal
“Head Over Heels” by
Ana Nelson
“I Don’t Wanna Go to Mexico No More, More, More” by Gabriela Santiago
“The Drowning Kind” by Jennifer Lesh Fleck
“The Hearing Booth” by
Tom Johnstone
“The Seller of Cast-off Destinies” by
Michael Kelly
“It Moves On” by
Colin Leonard
“Dear Good, Kind Soul” by
Delilah S. Dawson
“Mask Off” by
KC Grifant
“Kernel of the Flesh” by
Dare Segun Falowo
“A Deeper Nothing” by
Dexter McLeod
“Headlights” by
Mercedes M. Yardley
“I Send You a Kiss” by
Rex Burrows
“You Know How This Will End” by
Nicholas Jay
“Absolute Power” by
Henry Herz
“Merlin’s Vicious Trick” by Trevor James Zaple
+Horror Library+ Presents: Special Guest-Artist’s Gallery of Michael A. Livolsi

Published February 3, 2026 by Dark Moon Books
With Cover art by Alexander Nazolkin
Format: Available in TRADE PAPERBACK and EBOOK

The +Horror Library+ anthologies are internationally praised as a groundbreaking source of contemporary horror short fiction stories—relevant to the moment and stunning in impact—from leading authors of the macabre and darkly imaginative.

Filled with Fears and Fantasy. Death and Dark Dreams. Monsters and Mayhem. Literary Vision and Wonder. Each volume of the +Horror Library+ series is packed with heart-pounding thrills and creepy contemplations as to what truly lurks among the shadows of the world(s) we live in.

Shamble no longer through the banal humdrum of normalcy, but ENTER THE HORROR LIBRARY!


“Excellent stories of the highest caliber.” —Dread Central

“Uniformly well-crafted and original.” —Rue Morgue Magazine

“Impactful tales that throw the rules of both reality and genre fiction out the window.” —Fearnet (Chiller TV)






Monday, December 29, 2025

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.

Monday, December 22, 2025

DAY 6 OF 6 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 9

I’m so excited for this!

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting contributors in blocks of five, in order of Table of Contents, for the line-up of next year’s anthology volume, +Horror Library+ Volume 9, to be published by Dark Moon Books on February 3, 2026!

DAY 6 OF 6 (sixth block of five):

“Headlights” by Mercedes M. Yardley

“I Send You a Kiss” by Rex Burrows

“You Know How This Will End” by Nicholas Jay

“Absolute Power” by Henry Herz

“Merlin’s Vicious Trick” by Trevor James Zaple



Sunday, December 21, 2025

DAY 5 OF 6 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 9

I’m so excited for this!


ANNOUNCING: I’m posting contributors in blocks of five, in order of Table of Contents, for the line-up of next year’s anthology volume, +Horror Library+ Volume 9, to be published by Dark Moon Books on February 3, 2026!

DAY 5 OF 6 (fifth block of five):

“It Moves On” by Colin Leonard

“Dear Good, Kind Soul” by Delilah S. Dawson

“Mask Off” by KC Grifant

“Kernel of the Flesh” by Dare Segun Falowo

“A Deeper Nothing” by Dexter McLeod



Saturday, December 20, 2025

DAY 4 OF 6 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 9

I’m so excited for this!

ANNOUNCING: I’m posting contributors in blocks of five, in order of Table of Contents, for the line-up of next year’s anthology volume, +Horror Library+ Volume 9, to be published by Dark Moon Books on February 3, 2026!

DAY 4 OF 6 (fourth block of five):

“Head Over Heels” by Ana Nelson

“I Don’t Wanna Go to Mexico No More, More, More” by Gabriela Santiago

“The Drowning Kind” by Jennifer Lesh Fleck

“The Hearing Booth” by Tom Johnstone

“The Seller of Cast-off Destinies” by Michael Kelly