Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
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Book Worms
Issue 8 of this online horror zine will feature cryptid horror based on monsters from folklore or your own imagination.
Word count: Up to 1500 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2025
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Memento Mori Ink
The editors of this new anthology are seeking stories about ‘ancient objects or seemingly mundane items that have the power to whisper to those who possess them.’ You’ll find the submission guidelines if you scroll through the onscreen PDF.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 1 June 2025
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Saturday Mourning Television
This excellent anthology title speaks for itself: the editors are seeking horror stories about Saturday-morning TV. (Of any decade.)
Word count: 1000–4000 words
Payment: $35
Deadline: 30 June 2025
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Other
This mysteriously-titled anthology from Bannister Press will feature fantasy short stories.
Word count: 2500–3500 words
Payment: 8 Canadian cents per word
Deadline: 13 August 2025
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Small Wonders
Here’s a handy evergreen market for SF and horror writers, as long as you tend to produce concise stories. They even accept reprints!
Word count: Up to 1000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: Ongoing
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Body Shots
The mantra of this publication is “Genre is a construct; genre does not exist.” So as long as you don’t admit you’re a writer of SFF or horror, you’re good to go.
Word count: 5000–7500 words
Payment: $150
Deadline: Ongoing
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Skull X Bones
Is it just me, or have we seen a lot of pirate-themed horror calls in recent months? This one seems fairly high profile, published by Zombies Need Brains and with some familiar names already attached.
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 30 June 2025
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Tableware
Not a magazine name that suggests it’d take SFF, horror or mystery stories, but the open submissions call is specified as ‘open-genre’, so it ought to be fine.
Word count: ‘Up to 15 pages’
Payment: $50
Deadline: 15 May 2025
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Protocolized
This magazine publishes SF ‘protocol fiction’, which is a new concept to me. The editors describe it as ‘fiction focused on both real and speculative protocols that explore regimes of strange new rules, and the dynamics of the worlds that grow on those protocols.’ Prospective contributors are asked to pitch their ideas before submitting.
Word count: 1500–2500 words
Payment: $750
Deadline: Ongoing
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The Lorelei Signal
This SF magazine specialises in stories featuring strong and complex female characters.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: $15
Deadline: 15 May 2025
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British Czech & Slovak Association
I’ve no idea how I came across this, but the British Czech & Slovak Association are running a writing contest with the theme of ‘Liberation’. Submissions from any nationality are permitted, but stories must relate to the links between Britain and the Czech and/or Slovak Republics.
Word count: Up to 2000 words
Payment: First prize £400, second prize £150
Deadline: 31 July 2025
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Hope in A Grimdark World
The editors of this new anthology seek stories that chime with today’s world: ‘gritty sci-fi in which the personal message is hopeful while the external world is dark.’
Word count: 2000–7000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 30 June 2025
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Hellbound Books
There are several upcoming anthologies listed on the Hellbound Books website, all accepting submissions. The ones that catch my eye are Pandemic and Outbreak Horror, Campfire Stories and Hellbound Highway (road trip horror).
Word count: Varying
Payment: $5–$15
Deadline: Various dates between June–August 2025
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Haiku Shack
This is certainly the month for writers of very short fiction! Despite the name, this new magazine also accepts microfiction alongside poetry.
Word count: Up to 100 words
Payment: None
Deadline: 30 June 2025
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Raconteur Press
There are lots of upcoming anthologies with open submissions listed on this publisher’s website, including Goblin Souk, Vice Noir and Artifact Origins.
Word count: 5000–8000 words
Payment: Royalties
Deadline: Various
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Good luck if you submit a story to any of these venues! And remember, you can sign up for my email newsletter for monthly open submission calls direct to your inbox.

Image from Wikimedia Commons.