Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found! There are tons to flag up this month.
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Weird Alchemy
This anthology from the well-respected Alchemy Press will contain weird stories, strange tales, dark fantasy and horror stories.
Word count: 3000–6000 words
Payment: 1 pence per word
Deadline: 22 July 2026
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Crooked Spine
An excellent title, and an excellent theme for the upcoming issue: ‘Folk horror and water’. In the words of the editors, stories may feature ‘rivers, bogs, baptisms, and what surfaces when the rain stops’.
Word count: 1500–3500 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: 29 July 2026
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Sweet Screams
This anthology with the strapline ‘A Taste of Darkness’ will feature stories themed around ‘sweetness, baking, cooking, desserts, and the unsettling things that can exist beneath comfort, nostalgia, celebration, or indulgence.’
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 15 August 2026
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Exquisite Undead
Have you written a vampire story? Specifically, a ‘lush, gorgeous, chilling, beautiful’ vampire story? Then send it on over to this anthology.
Word count: Up to 7000 words
Payment: $65
Deadline: 1 September 2026
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Space & Time
This long-running magazine is open to unusual SF flash fiction, ‘with a special love for genre-blending stories and poems that bring horror, science fiction, fantasy, and the strange into conversation.’
Word count: Up to 1000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 8 July 2026
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Villainess
This indie publisher is putting together an anthology of gentle and heartwarming fantasy tales.
Word count: 1500–4500 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: Open 21 July–6 August 2026
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Baneberry
You’ll have to act quickly on this one – this literary horror annual is open for submissions only for another few days.
Word count: 500–7000 words
Payment: $500
Deadline: 8 July 2026
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Ominous Thrill
This fiction podcast is seeking feminist and intersectional horror fiction, ideally in the first person to suit audio narration.
Word count: 2000–8000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 15 July 2026
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Tales from the Menu
Not one for the faint-hearted, but if you fancy a go at writing a story about cannibalism, this is probably a good home for it…
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: $3
Deadline: 31 July 2026
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Red Raven
This nicely designed upcoming British webzine will feature dark crime, weird fiction, and speculative horror short fiction.
Word count: 200–5000 words
Payment: £10
Deadline: Ongoing
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If Found, Return
According to its website, this brand new literary magazine will contain ‘experimental, ergodic, hypertext, epistolary, interactive, “found,” and un- fiction.’ Which is baffling yet appealing.
Word count: Up to 1200 words
Payment: $10 CAD
Deadline: Ongoing
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The Braag
I’ve always liked the look of this British micro-press, which produces individual micro-chapbooks of speculative and experimental fiction. Take a look?
Word count: 1500–2500 words
Payment: £15
Deadline: 31 July 2026
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Slapshots in Space & Magical Marathons
This ‘speculative sports’ anthology from Tyche Books will contain SF of all descriptions, with all stories focused on future sports, ideally with a humorous tone.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 31 August 2026
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AGAIN
This anthology from Sans Press is themed around time, cycles and patterns, and it accepts stories of all genres.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: €200
Deadline: 4 August 2026
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Nachtljocht Press
This new journal accepts all genres, but its editors seem to have a preference for strange fiction.
Word count: 3000–12,000 words
Payment: None
Deadline: 31 July 2026
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Die Laughing
Fancy having a try at horror comedy? But it must be genuinely funny and scary.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 15 July 2026
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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.