August, 2021 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets

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

Mirror, Mirror: Modern Myths (anthology, edited by Kevin J. Anderson)
https://wordfirewestern.moksha.io/publication/2/3/submit
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: October 15, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: When you’re alone with your reflection, are you prepared for what you see? A prince in disguise? A monster revealed? An alien race? Mirrors can be truth-tellers, wish-granters, face-concealers, illusion-makers, even monster-summoners. Maybe the mirror shows an evil twin, or an echo of the life that should have been. Or a portal to another world. What happens when it shatters? Short stories (prose poems will also be considered), to include a mix of fantasy, science fiction, horror, magical, history, and romance elements. Classic or genre-bending, grim or whimsical, as long as it is new and fresh. Must be appropriate for a “PG-13” audience.


Dark Recesses Magazine
http://darkrecessespress.com/submissions/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 500–5,000 words
Deadline: Revolving submission periods. Current widow is Sept. 1–Nov. 30
Reprints?: No
Response: Up to 12 weeks
Description: Non-themed horror/dark fiction pieces


The Strand Magazine
https://strandmag.com/guidelines/
Payment: 6 cents a word for first 2,000 words, then diminishing scale thereafter
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: Intermittent. Currently open, but unknown when it will close.
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown.
Description: Short stories: Mysteries, detective stories, tales of terror and the supernatural, etc. Stories can be set in any time or place, provided they are well written, the plots interesting and well thought.


Pulp Literature
https://pulpliterature.com/submissions/submission-guidelines/
Payment: 5 cents a word for first 7,000 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: 3 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.


Daily Science Fiction
http://dailysciencefiction.com/submit
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: to 1,500 words (prefer less than 1,000)
Deadline: Continually open (EXCEPT during December 24, 2020–January 2, 2021)
Reprints?: No
Response Time: 1 month
Description: Speculative fiction, such as science fiction, fantasy, slipstream, etc. Daily publications.


Silence in the City (anthology)
https://www.foundershousepublishing.com/2021/07/silence-in-city-open-call-for.html
Payment: 6 cents a word
Story Length: 2,500–6,000 words
Deadline: September 15, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Silence in the City is an anthology of speculative tales asking what happens when a city—and all of modern civilization—is plunged into darkness.



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

Bloody Rock (anthology)
http://scarydairypress.com/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–5,000 words
Deadline: December 1, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Stories that combine a rock song theme and creepy horror into a tale that rocks readers to their bones! …Anthology draws inspiration from the terrifying tunes of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.


+Horror Library+ Volume 7 (anthology, published by Dark Moon Books)
http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Submissions.html
Payment: 2 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: September 5, 2021
Reprints?: No
Response: by October 5
Description: Non-themed horror short stories, with a preference toward tones such as: Imaginative and/or harrowing adventure; beauty of darkness; “quiet” horror; exploration through fears or discovery; original monsters and/or strange lands; life events turned slightly askew, etc.


Bards & Sages)
https://www.bardsandsages.com/contact_us/fiction_submission_guidelines
Payment: $30 flat
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Intermittent. Currently open, but unknown when it will close.
Reprints?: Yes
Response: 3 months or less
Description: A quarterly journal of speculative fiction; interested in all speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc.)

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ Appreciation Day VIII, Volume 7

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ appreciation Day VIII. The 7th volume in this anthology series is taking submissions NOW!!

Fans around the world have clamored for more, and Dark Moon Books is listening—The rebirth of HORROR LIBRARY is happening!

Volume 7 already has some stellar, unannounced names attached, but, as always, most stories are selected through a public open call.

At close of the eighth day (yesterday) since subs opened we’ve logged and acknowledged 446, an average of over 55 subs a day. The expectation is that by the end of open call, we’ll have received over 1,200!

But don’t let numbers deter you—write the best that you can, and send it in! Seeking non-themed horror (with a few hard rules, per guidelines) and a preference toward the quiet or weird horror rather than gore and violence.

Read more on Open Submissions for VOLUME 7, here! http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Submissions.html

 

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ Appreciation Day VII, Volume 6

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ appreciation Day VII ! The 6th volume in this anthology series originally released in April, 2017 by Cutting Block Books.

Packed with great stories and authors such as Jeffrey Ford, Bentley Little, John M. Floyd, Carole Johnstone, David Tallerman, JG Faherty, Edward M. Erdelac, and many others.

This was also my first volume of HORROR LIBRARY as editor! In 2016 I read over 1,095 submissions and culled the list down to 27 selections. For the current volume 7 submissions (currently open), I’m on track to beat that number.

After going out of print, the book was redesigned and rereleased last month (July, 2021) worldwide through Dark Moon Books!

Read more on VOLUME 6, here! http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_6.html

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ Appreciation Day VI, “The Best of Volumes 1–5“

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ appreciation Day VI ! “The Best of Volumes 1–5” in this anthology series originally released in May, 2015 by Cutting Block Press.

Then-editors of the HORROR LIBRARY selected 33 of what they considered the best representation of the volumes so far in the series (totaling nearly 150 original stories!)

After going out of print, the book was redesigned and rereleased last month (July, 2021) worldwide through Dark Moon Books!

Read more on "The Best of Volumes 1–5" here! http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_best.html

 

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ Appreciation Day V, Volume 5

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ appreciation Day V ! The fifth volume in this anthology series originally released in October, 2013 by Cutting Block Press.

With a good amount of returning authors and many new ones in this volume, building to an even higher level of storytelling and dark imagination, including mainstay Bentley Little, plus Jeff Strand, Ray Garton, Michael A. Arnzen, John F.D. Taff, Tracie McBride, Taylor Grant, Shane McKenzie, and others!

On a personal note, this volume also included my own story, which was one of my earliest acceptances as a writer, and had been selected out of 1,000+ submissions by the editors. I had just barely started sending work out for publication at this time, and knew hardly anyone, and decided to submit here, and was stunned at the acceptance. I still have my original email submitting on Sept. 3, 2011, and the acceptance coming on January 29, 2012. And now I’m carrying on the series for other authors!

After going out of print, the book was redesigned and rereleased last month (July, 2021) worldwide through Dark Moon Books!

Read more on VOLUME 5, here! http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_5.html

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ Appreciation Day IV, Volume 4

It’s +HORROR LIBRARY+ appreciation Day IV ! The fourth volume in this anthology series originally released in October, 2010 by Cutting Block Press.

So many great stories and authors in this book, with inclusions by Bentley Little, Hank Schwaeble, Tim Waggoner, JG Faherty, Jeff Strand, Lee Thomas, Nate Kenyon, Catherine Macleod, Erik Williams, and others.

After going out of print, the book was redesigned and rereleased last month (July, 2021) worldwide through Dark Moon Books!

Read more on VOLUME 4, here! http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_4.html