Category: short stories

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Silent Nightmares
This anthology of ‘dark holiday horrors’, which will be published this time next year, has a star name among its editorial lineup: Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club. Most of the contributions will be by invited writers, but there are few additional slots available.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline Open 1–31 December 2024
Find out more

Book Worms
The upcoming issue of this horror e-zine will feature space and science fiction horror stories, with horror being a crucial element.
Word count: Up to 1500 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 25 December 2024
Find out more

Plott Hound
It’s important that new publications cover a specific niche, and this e-zine certainly does: speculative fiction featuring animals.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1–15 December 2024
Find out more

The World of Vile Wonder
This anthology from historical-horror publisher The Scythian Wolf is subtitled ‘Horror Tales of the Scientific Revolution’. It may be a demanding theme (which is why I’m listing it now, well ahead of time), but I’d love to read the selected stories.
Word count: 5000–10,000 words
Payment: $75
Deadline: 1 January–28 February 2025
Find out more

Baffling
Throughout December, this magazine that specialises in ‘speculative fiction with a queer bent’ will be open to stories themed around ‘strange forms’ alongside unthemed submissions.
Word count: Up to 1200 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1–15 December 2024
Find out more

Dark Hearts
This anthology is the latest in the Triangulation series from Parsec Ink, and will contain speculative fiction about women who are anti-heroes. The editor’s preferences include ‘Women with a mastery of weapons or powers. Women in STEM or in disguise. Cyborgs. Hackers. Heists. Underdogs. Romance!’
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 30 March 2024
Find out more

Relics
This first anthology from Memento Mori Ink will feature stories about ‘ancient objects or seemingly mundane items which have the power to whisper to those who possess them’.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 1 June 2024
Find out more

Ricochet
I don’t see many new venues specialising in Western stories, so if that’s your thing, the arrival of this new magazine will be most welcome.
Word count: Up to 3000 words
Payment: $10
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Silk and Foxglove
Editor Z. K. Abraham will edit this anthology dedicated to another niche almost certainly not yet covered by any other venue: erotic eco-horror.
Word count: 1500–4000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 31 December 2024
Find out more

The Other Stories
This podcast of narrated horror, SF and thriller stories has more than 150,000 monthly listeners. Uncoming themes include heavy metal, tarot, Shakespeare, bleeding hearts and found footage.
Word count: Approx 2000 words
Payment: £15
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Cryptids, Kaiju & Corn
The editors at Middle West Press are seeking micro-fiction about monsters in the 21^st-century American Midwest.
Word count: Up to 300 words
Payment: None
Deadline: 3 March 2024
Find out more

The Welkin Mini
Can you create a compelling story in 100 words? Any genre is allowed, but still… only 100 words, yikes.
Word count: Up to 100 words
Payment: Various prizes from £10 to £50
Deadline: Open 1 December 2024–2 January 2025
Find out more

Just Keep Up
The editors of this rather blandly titled new publication are seeking science fiction and horror stories.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: $10
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Fever Dreams
The ABCs of Horror anthology series from respected author and editor Mark Morris is now up to its sixth volume. He’s seeking four horror stories from up-and-comers to be placed alongside commissioned stories from some of the greats of the genre.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 14 November 2024
Find out more

Vivid Worlds
This anthology from Best of British Science Fiction editor Donna Scott will feature solar punk stories – that is, SF/F stories focusing on hope for the future.
Word count: 2000–9000 words
Payment: 1 pence per word
Deadline: Open 24 November–15 December 2024
Find out more

Hexagon
This beautifully designed Canadian SF magazine has been restricting its open submission periods recently, so this is a relatively rare chance to impress them with your work.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 1 cent (CAD) per word
Deadline: Open 1–30 November 2024
Find out more

Once Upon a Moonless Night
The subtitle of this anthology is ‘Tales of Betrayal, Revenge, and Redemption’, which doesn’t necessarily indicate horror, and apparently all genres are welcome.
Word count: 250–15,000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Find out more

Aphrodite / Loki
Two more submission calls from ‘Myths, God and Immortals’ series from the prolific Flame Tree Press. Keen to write about Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, or Loki, the Norse trickster god? Get to it.
Word count: 3000–4000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 24 November 2024
Find out more here and here

Spoon Knife
While this publication from Autonomous Press is a literary magazine, it describes itself as ‘genre-bending’, so there’s room for us genre writers. The theme for the upcoming issue is ‘polarities’.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: $30 plus 1 cent per word
Deadline: 31 July 2025
Find out more

Glen Must Die!
This is unique-sounding anthology – stories about the member of a group who, in the editor’s words: are ‘good people, we like them, we’re friends, and the way we communicate our love is by endlessly tormenting them’. And in each story Glen must die, of course.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 1 January 2025
Find out more

Springtime Fair
The editors of this anthology from Hearth Stories are seeking stories centred around a craft, recipe, or ritual – examples include crochet, cooking, yoga. Furthermore, each story should be accompanied by a tutorial, lesson, pattern or recipe.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 20 January 2024
Find out more

Latin American Shared Stories
Another call from Flame Tree Press, this time in their Beyond & Within series. This anthology of speculative stories by authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora will be edited by V. Castro.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 15 December 2024
Find out more

Our Dust Earth
There’s some complexity to this submission call from Air and Nothingness Press, as stories must be themed around a mini-RPG which is explained at length on the website.
Word count: 1000–3000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1 November – 31 December 2024
Find out more

JayHenge Publishing
There are a couple of ongoing open calls from this publisher at the moment: The Apparatus Almanac, featuring stories of ‘Gizmology & Technomancy’, and Masque & Maelstrom, which has the subtitle ‘The Reluctant Exhumation of Edgar Allan Poe’.
Word count: Up to 12,000 words
Payment: $5 per 1000 words
Deadline: Open until filled
Find out more

Liminal Tales
This podcast run by Three Coin Theatre will feature readings of subtle horror stories, performed either by actors or the author themselves.
Word count: Up to 2500 words
Payment: £10
Deadline: Unclear, but the show will be recorded in January 2025
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

You, Human
This anthology published by Written Backwards and edited by Michael Bailey and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is the second volume containing dark SF stories riffing on Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics – this time applying equivalent laws to humanity. The first volume, published in 2016, did well in awards season, so places in this book will be hard fought.
Word count: 7500–15,000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Solarpunk Conflicts
While its editors define Solarpunk as being about ‘change and unity’, the stories in this anthology will concern issues of conflict related to the concept.
Word count: 2500–8500 words
Payment: 5 cents (CAD) per word
Deadline: 1 November 2024
Find out more

Nature Futures
Many SF writers will already know about this opportunity, but I think it’s worth flagging for those who haven’t come across it. Each issue of the very respected magazine Nature contains a piece of very short SF fiction, and some of the best-known SF authors have been featured over the years. As you can imagine, there’s a lot of competition for available slots!
Word count: 850–950 words
Payment: £85
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Morgana le Fay / Achilles
Two more calls from the excellent and prolific Flame Tree Press: the shadowy Arthurian sorceress Morgana le Fay, and flawed Trojan warrior Achilles.
Word count: Around 3000–4000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 22 September 2024
Find out more here and here

Dreamforge
Utopian SF seems to be the genre of the moment, as I keep seeing more and more short story calls crop up. Throughout September, Dreamforge magazine is accepting submissions on the theme of ‘Each and Other’.
Word count: Up to 7000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Tales of Folk Horror
This anthology of folk-horror stories from Red Cape Publishing is open only to British residents or people with a strong link to the British Isles.
Word count: 4000–8000 words
Payment: £20
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Unréal
Stories submitted for this SF anthology must take place in and be indelibly linked to Montréal. While Canadian and Indigenous writers are preferred, anyone can submit.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 12 cents (CAD) per word
Deadline: 15 November 2024
Find out more

Hundred Word Horror
Can you write an effective horror story in under 100 words? If you’re up to the challenge, this contest may be for you.
Word count: Up to 100 words
Payment: $100 first prize, $25 runners-up
Deadline: Open 15–30 September 2024
Find out more

Strange New Moons
This anthology of werewolf stories from French Press Publishing already has contributions secured from Tim Lebbon and Simon Clark, so if you make the cut you’ll be in good company.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Bright Mirror
The editors from Oddity Prodigy Productions are seeking utopian SF, listing influences such as Star Trek, The Fifth Element, Arrival and Contact.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: $10
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Santa Rage
If the title didn’t tip you off, the subtitle of this anthology is ‘12 Tales of Murder and Mayhem’. Stories must be based on the idea that one night, while out making deliveries, Santa snaps thanks to the holiday stress and goes on a killing spree.
Word count: Around 3000–5000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Train Tales / Aliens Among Us
The titles of these two upcoming anthologies for Fahrenheit Books are fairly self-explanatory, I think! Stories from all genres are accepted.
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: 30 November 2024
Find out more

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.

There are some fantastically exciting opportunities for writers this month! The first couple end within the next couple of days, though, so you’ll need to work fast if they’re of interest to you…

Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Roots of My Fears
This anthology of ‘ancestral horror’ will be edited by Gemma Amor and published by Titan Books. It already boasts a lineup including Ramsey Campbell, Premee Mohamed and Adam Nevill among other high-profile authors, but there’s room for a single story from this open submissions period – which ends very soon!
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 4 August 2024
Find out more

Motives Unknown
This is an exciting opportunity, if you fit the bill! Fantastic indie publisher Dead Ink, in partnership with literary agencies Curtis Brown and C&W, is seeking stories for a new crime anthology. But to qualify, you must be writer in (or with strong ties to) the north of England, and you must also be unagented. If that’s you, act quickly – the deadline is very soon!
Word count: Up to 1000–6000 words
Payment: Unspecified fee, plus a consultation with a literary agent
Deadline: 5 August 2024
Find out more

This Way Lies Madness
Editors Lee Murray and Dave Jeffery are seeking dark fiction about ‘monstrous manifestations of trauma and guilt, paranoia and persecution, anxiety, addiction, and crippling terror’ for this anthology to be published by Flame Tree.
Word count: Around 2000–4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 13 October 2024
Find out more

Uncanny
Uncanny is one of the very best SF/F fiction websites around, with its stories frequently winning big awards – and it rarely opens for submissions, so get to it!
Word count: 750-10,000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: Open 5 August–2 September 2024
Find out more

Dinesh Allirajah Prize for Short Fiction
This high-profile contest is free to enter, and this year’s theme is ‘The Unspoken’. Shortlisted stories will feature in an ebook anthology published by the excellent Comma Press.
Word count: 2000–7500 words
Payment: £500 prize, and publication for shortlisted authors
Deadline: 22 September 2024
Find out more

Gwyllion
This well-designed zine, which has reached its ninth issue, features science fiction and fantasy by writers with links to Wales.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: £15
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Saros
This brand-new speculative fiction magazine will have an emphasis on literary SF and stories with ‘a touch of the bizarre’.
Word count: 2000–15,000 words
Payment: $40
Deadline: Open 5–18 August 2024
Find out more

Apparition Lit
This quarterly magazine accepts speculative fiction based on a specific theme which changes each issue – the upcoming prompt is the word HARBINGER.
Word count: 1000–5000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: Open 15–31 August 2024
Find out more

Flunk
This Australian online zine is up to its fifth issue, and is seeking SF/F and horror stories.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: $50 AUD
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Bookworms Horror Zine
In the words of the editors: ‘We generally enjoy “fun”, “80s style” horror reminiscent of the zine’s old-school vibe, but we’ve also been blown away by fresh voices that take the genre in a new direction.’
Word count: Up to 1500 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 1 September 2024
Find out more

Rabid Otter
The editors at Riverfolk Publishing are currently putting together an anthology of technology-based horror.
Word count: 6000–10,000 words
Payment: $100
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Black Cat Weekly
It’s nice to see more crime-fiction venues popping up recently. Unlike most, Black Cat is explicitly open to speculative mysteries alongside classic styles.
Word count: Around 1500–15,000 words
Payment: From $15–$50
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Starspawn: A Miskatonic Mystery
This anthology is not only linked to HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, it’s actually linked to an in-development indie video game. That means stories need to relate to very particular worldbuilding detailed on the submissions page.
Word count: 2500–7500 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 15 September 2024
Find out more

Gods & Services
This anthology will contain stories that adhere to a very specific prompt about a flea-market shop that sells gods.
Word count: 3000–10,000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 30 August 2024
Find out more

Tales Untold: Underdogs of Society
The editors of this anthology are seeking stories about societal underdogs that promote diversity, representation and inclusion and which also include ‘a unique twist/climax’.
Word count: 3000–8000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Punk Goes Horror
This anthology from Truborn Press is described as ‘A Mixtape of Musically Inspired Goth-Rock-Horror Bangers’ – each story should reference a single punk song, which should also be its title.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1–25 August 2024
Find out more

V.S. Pritchett Short Story Prize
This contest is in a different league to most of the venues I tend to list, as it’s organised by the Royal Society of Literature and is very, very prestigious.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: £1000 prize
Deadline: 13 September 2024
Find out more

Story Unlikely
This well-presented online zine seeks stories of all genres – the editors state ‘We like stories that cross genres, experiment, and push the boundaries of literature’.
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word up to 2500 words, $200 max
Deadline: 29 September 2024
Find out more

Abyss & Apex
Ordinarily this pro SF market is open only for a week in August and in February, but it’s currently open for midwinter holiday stories, until the issue is filled – there’s no indication how many stories that involves, so send your work quick!
Word count: Up to 10,000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open until filled
Find out more

Little Red Flags
This interesting-sounding anthology has the subtitle Stories of Cults, Cons and Control and will feature stories about fanaticism and ‘monsters who hide in plain sight’. The editors’ preferences tend towards ‘fast-paced and dark psychological and suspense thrillers’.
Word count: 1000–4000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1–16 August 2024
Find out more

Close My Eyes Forever
A surprising pairing, this one – an anthology of crime fiction inspired by heavy metal hits. Each story must be based on a single heavy metal song.
Word count: Around 3000–5000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 31 August 2024
Find out more

Dolls in the Attic
The horror stories in this anthology will form a sort of shared world, as the prompt specifies that each story should relate to a specific porcelain doll from a fictional Lady Hawthorne’s collection. I like the sound of this one, though it’s a tricky brief.
Word count: 5000–10,000 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: 31 July 2024
Find out more

Sally Port
A new online zine specialising in fantasy fiction from mid-grade to YA to adult. Upcoming themes include ‘Opening the door, entering into the new’, ‘Worlds of opportunity’ and ‘Sudden turns’.
Word count: Varies according to intended reader age
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Stories to Take To Your Grave
The Undertaker Books editors are on the lookout for stories about ‘souls wandering the earth after being separated from their body’, which will feature first in their newsletter, then in a hardback book.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: 15 July 2024
Find out more

If There’s Anyone Left
This publication will feature flash SF stories written by people of color, the LGBTQ2S+ community, members of marginalized genders, and disabled and neurodiverse people.
Word count: Up to 1000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 15 July 2024
Find out more

21 Futures
The editors of this anthology are seeking stories that respond to the prompt ‘financial fallout’.
Word count: Up to 3000 words
Payment: Various prizes from $100 to $1000
Deadline: 31 August 2024
Find out more

Evergreen: Tales of Winter Shadows
Speculation Publications is currently accepting winter-flavoured tales for its annual Yule anthology.
Word count: 2000–7000 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: Open 4 July–6 September 2024
Find out more

Hellbound Books’ Anthology of Creature Features
There are several submission calls from this publisher in the upcoming months, but I thought this one would be likely to appeal to some of you – classic tales of animals on the attack!
Word count: 4000–10,000 words
Payment: $5
Deadline: 30 August 2024
Find out more

Weird Lit Magazine
I find this magazine’s long list of accepted styles very pleasing: ‘absurdist, ambiguous, avant garde, bleak, dark, deadpan, existential, grotesque, hopeful, horror, humorous, literary, speculative, supernatural, transgressive, weird’.
Word count: Up to 3000 words
Payment: No payment
Deadline: Open 15 July–31 August 2024
Find out more

Sinister Soup
This new podcast/online zine from Grendel Press will feature dark fantasy, dark sci-fi, horror and dark romance stories.
Word count: 1000–4000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: Ongoing, until filled
Find out more

In The Gallows Wake
Is it just me, or has pirate horror been cropping up a lot lately? If you’ve been writing such things, here’s another anthology seeking tales of ‘the heart of darkness on the high seas’.
Word count: 4000–6000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 1 August 2024
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Atlas of Deep Ones
There are plenty of Lovecraftian anthologies out there, but this one sounds a little different, as the editors are seeking stories based in far-flung locations or historical periods – examples include Roman, Viking or Bronze Age settings.
Word count: 500–6000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 30 July 2024
Find out more

Intergalactic Rejects
This Kickstarted anthology features a high-profile roster of writers, including Samuel R. Delany and Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and with an essay by Robert Silverberg. The premise is SFF stories that have been rejected from multiple markets.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 12 June–12 July 2024
Find out more

Leviathan
This sounds like a rich theme: industrial horror. But rather than necessarily stories of workplace or factory horror, the editors are looking for weird tales set in the Victorian period.
Word count: 3000–6000 words
Payment: $125–$200
Deadline: 30 September 2024
Find out more

Sengkang Sci-Fi Quarterly
This Singaporean zine is seeking English-language SF stories, and the editors refer to authors such as Ted Chiang, Jorge Luis Borges and Begum Rokeya as touchstones.
Word count: 1000–10,000 words
Payment: 5 cents (SGD) per word
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

GabaGhoul
A puzzling title, perhaps, but the subtitle A Mafia Horror Anthology clarifies things: it’s a collection of Mafia horror stories.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 31 July 2024
Find out more

Black Cat Tales
No trickery here. As you’d expect, this call is for stories containing black cats. Most genres are accepted.
Word count: 500–3500 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 15 July 2024
Find out more

Zombies in the New Normal
Editor D.L. Russell is putting together an anthology of ‘real world based zombie horror’ – that is, zombie stories with an emphasis on realism.
Word count: 3000–12,000 words
Payment: $100
Deadline: 1 August 2024
Find out more

Children of the Blind Owl
This exciting-sounding anthology will feature Middle Eastern horror. Surprisingly, while the editors would appreciate writers from the Middle East, the call is open to writers from any country.
Word count: 3000–6000 words
Payment: $150–$250
Deadline: 31 August 2024
Find out more

Too Bad, You Died
This anthology will feature horror and SF stories with only one stipulation: your own death must feature in it.
Word count: 2000–4000 words
Payment: £20
Deadline: 31 July 2024
Find out more

Even Cozier Cosmic
Like its predecessor The Cozy Cosmic, this anthology will feature stories of ‘cozy cosmic horror that illuminate the elegance and grace and compassion that persists against the vast background of unrelenting emptiness’.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 30 June 2024
Find out more

Statue
This new magazine has a very broad remit, covering all genres and without many clues as to the editors’ preferences.
Word count: 1000–6000 words
Payment: £80 per 1000 words
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Altitude Press
The current flash fiction anthology from this press will feature stories in any genre, but all of them about dogs.
Word count: 1500–2000 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: 1 July 2024
Find out more

Twisted Laughs
This anthology from Exploding Head Fiction will feature dark humour (or rather humor, as it’s a US publication). Stories must be funny, and must be scary.
Word count: Up to 2500 words
Payment: $15
Deadline: 15 July 2024
Find out more

High Tower Magazine
This new magazine will feature ‘superversive fiction’, i.e. the opposite of subversive fiction. The editors define this as ‘inspiring fiction that builds up civilization rather than tears down’, with examples including JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis.
Word count: 500–10,000 words
Payment: $10
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Trollbreath
This new magazine will feature ‘dark fantasy to hope punk to surrealism, and everything in between’ (quite a complex calculation, that ‘in between’ part). Its name and title font are very much in its favour.
Word count: 1500–7500 words
Payment: 4 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

The Orange & Bee
This new zine specialises in fairy tales, either reimagining existing ones or ‘unique creation[s] waiting to be added to the rich tradition of the continually evolving literary canon.’
Word count: Up to 4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Imagine 2200
This is a short story contest rather than a magazine, with the subtitle Climate Fiction for Future Ancestors. Judges Omar El Akkad and Annalee Newitz will assess stories of any genre ‘imagining futures of abundance, adaptation, reform, and hope’. Unlike many contests of this sort, it’s free to enter.
Word count: 2500–5000 words
Payment: $3000 first prize, with 12 winners in total
Deadline: 24 June 2024
Find out more

Little Guts
This anthology from Little Ghosts Books will feature ‘gross, goopy horror’ that ‘evoke fun and disgust’, which is… possible… I suppose. Unusually, they request pitches rather than completed stories.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 12 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Rhapsody of the Spheres
This anthology from Third Flatiron will feature hopepunk speculative fiction stories – that is, SF stories that the editors feel ‘would make us happy right now’.
Word count: 1500–3000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 19 May – 1 June 2024
Find out more

Terrific Tomorrows
Positive SF seems to be more and more popular. The editors of this anthology are seeking family-friendly SF stories ‘with positive visions of the future, stories that leave the reader excited about the possibilities ahead.’
Word count: Up to 3000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Witchcraft in Your Lips
This anthology from Lethe Press will contain only three or four novellas, all themed around ‘lesbian-themed folk magic and witchcraft’.
Word count: 20,000–30,000 words
Payment: $750
Deadline: Not stated
Find out more

Skull and Laurel
Tenebrous Press has an excellent track record in publishing New Weird fiction. Now it’s publishing a magazine along similar lines. They’d like to see stories that are ‘dark and Weird with a capital W’.
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

The Robots Were Right
This anthology from Weird Little Worlds is subtitled Tales of Unstoppable Technology. The editors are looking for stories that wouldn’t be out of place on Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone.
Word count: 500–5000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Arkham Institutions
Do you write Lovecraftian cosmic horror? If so, this upcoming anthology from Dragon’s Roost Press should be of interest. The angle is that stories should be based around aspects of government and business in Lovecraft’s fictional town of Arkham.
Word count: 3000–5000 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 30 June 2024
Find out more

Other
This anthology from Bannister Press will exclusively feature fantasy fiction by writers who identify as women, and the focus will be on ‘what it means to be on the outside looking in, or comfortably or uncomfortably out of step with the world(s) at large.’
Word count: Up to 3500 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 1 June 2024
Find out more

Shivering Timbers!
Fun! Pirate-themed horror! Though it wouldn’t necessarily be fun to meet a zombie pirate. Most likely it would be fairly traumatic.
Word count: 2000–7000 words
Payment: £20
Deadline: 1 June 2024
Find out more

Bite / Soul / Howl
Graveside Press is putting together three anthologies. Bite is for vampire stories, Soul for ghostliness and Howl will contain werewolves and shape-changers. There’s also an unthemed horror magazine, Tiny Terrors.
Word count: 2000–6000 words (2000–12,000 words for Tiny Terrors)
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Circe / Anansi
The next two titles in the Myths, Gods & Immortals series from the excellent Flame Tree Publishing will feature stories about Circe and Anansi, respectively.
Word count: 3000–4000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: 23 June 2024
Find out more

Heartlines
This is interestingly different: a magazine themed around ‘long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial.’ It sounds like all SFF subgenres are welcome… but it’s only open to writers with a link to Canada.
Word count: 1000–3500 words
Payment: 8 cents (CAD) per word
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Weird Wide Web
Another contest, and despite the title the judges will accept horror, SF and fantasy – and reprints are welcomed.
Word count: 1000–4000 words
Payment: $75 first prize
Deadline: 1 June 2024
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Cursed Cooking
Alongside actual recipes, this anthology will contain stories of food-based horror. (But note that, reasonably enough, its editors state that cannibalism is a hard sell.)
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 30 April 2024
Find out more

khōréō
This very well-designed online zine features SFF and horror stories with a speculative element. Its editors are particularly partial to tales about migration.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: Open 15 April – 15 May 2024
Find out more

Eat the Rich
In the words of the editors: ‘Eat the Rich is a speculative fiction anthology of billionaires being eaten. That’s it, full stop. Give us carnivores, cannibals, kaiju, cryptids, and, of course, capitalist comeuppance.’ They say other, ruder, things too.
Word count: Up to 8000 words
Payment: 5 cents per word
Deadline: 30 April 2024
Find out more

Long Division
This anthology has the subtitle Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners. Well-respected editorsDoug Murano and Michael Bailey are on the lookout for ‘stories of transgression, of the mechanisms behind what’s fraying the bonds that bind us.’
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: Open 1 May 2024, with 500 submissions permitted in total
Find out more

Nonbinary Review
The new issue of this online zine will feature stories related to the theme of heredity.
Word count: 1000–3000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: 1 May 2024
Find out more

Don’t Ask, Ghosts Tell
This is quite a specific call for submissions, but the book that results from it ought to be interesting. Editors Vince A. Liaguno and Sirrah Medeiros are seeking horror stories loosely related to military service, by writers who identify as LGBTQ+.
Word count: Up to 2000–5000 words
Payment: 3 cents per word
Deadline: 30 April 2024
Find out more

Stories to Take To Your Grave
Have you written or would you like to write a mortuary-themed horror story? Then send it here!
Word count: 3000–6000 words
Payment: $20
Deadline: 30 April 2024
Find out more

100-Foot Crow
I mean, that’s some title, isn’t it? This new zine will publish 100-word horror stories with a speculative element.
Word count: Exactly 100 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: Open 15 April – 15 May 2024
Find out more

Impressions
The first volume of this new anthology series from Emberletter Press will feature dark speculative fiction.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 8 cents per word
Deadline: Open 15–30 April 2024
Find out more

foofaraw
This new zine will feature SFF and experimental stories. The list of influences is encouraging, including Cory Doctorow, Haruki Murakami and McSweeney’s.
Word count: 250–2500 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: Ongoing
Find out more

Nightmares of Strangers
Despite the quite specific-sounding title, this annual anthology from TouchPoint Press accepts unthemed horror stories.
Word count: 3000–7000 words
Payment: $50
Deadline: 31 May 2024
Find out more

Back Into The Ground
In contrast, this generic-sounding anthology is actually veryspecific – only horror stories inspired by the Pacific Northwest are wanted.
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: $40
Deadline: Open until filled
Find out more

Costs of Living
Whisper House Press seeks ‘carefully constructed horror stories with a focus on the oft-unclear distinction between a scary-enough reality and our less-or-more-frightening imagination, both in personal and social realms’ – which covers quite a lot of ground, really.
Word count: 500 to 4000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: Unspecified
Find out more

New Edge Sword & Sorcery
A slightly confusing pitch, this one: the editors of this magazine are seeking a single 850-word short story to be printed on a sticker in the upcoming issue. I think.
Word count: As close to 850 words as possible
Payment: $70
Deadline: 1 May 2024
Find out more

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.

Here’s this month’s list of the most interesting open submissions calls for writers I’ve found!
Sign up for my email newsletter if you want advance notice of open calls like these.

Grimm Retold
This sounds brilliant: an anthology of horror and dark fantasy stories retelling Grimms’ fairy tales. Pay close attention to the guidelines – the editors provide a list of valid fairy tales from the Grimm ‘extended universe’ (a term I’ve just invented, but which totally should be a thing).
Word count: 2000–8000 words
Payment: $25
Deadline: 19 April 2024
Find out more

Weird Horror
This terrific and prestigious magazine from Undertow Publications doesn’t open for submissions often – if you have a weird and horrific at the ready, now’s your chance.
Word count: 500–5000 words
Payment: 2 cents per word
Deadline: 15 March 2024
Find out more

Body Shots
A new literary journal with impressively broad preferences: ‘from Carver-esque to Lynchian, Hemingway-esque to Burroughsian, traditional to postmodern, realist to magical realist, genre to non-genre’.
Word count: Up to 7500 words
Payment: Ranging from $35 to $150
Deadline: Open until issue is filled
Find out more

Monstrous
The next issue of this magazine will contain time-travel horror stories, which is an intriguing mix.
Word count: 1000–1500 words
Payment: 6 cents per word
Deadline: 15 March 2024
Find out more

The Stygian Zine
Issues of this new magazine will be published by The Stygian Society twice a year and, judging by the name, will feature pretty dark and gloomy tales.
Word count: Up to 2500 words
Payment: $20 CAD
Deadline: 1 May 2024 for current issue
Find out more

Creature Features
The first volume in this new anthology series will feature tales of lycanthropy, i.e. werewolves.
Word count: 3000–8000 words
Payment: £20
Deadline: 1 April 2024
Find out more

Nordic Horror
Another brilliant concept, and a book I’d like to read when it’s published: this anthology will feature weird tales set in the Nordic Region.
Word count: 3000–6000 words
Payment: Likely between $125 and $200
Deadline: 31 March 2024
Find out more

Worlds of Possibility
Whereas most anthologies in my monthly roundups tend to contain dark fiction, Editor Julia Rios is on the lookout for stories ‘that leave the reader feeling hopeful, peaceful, or happy’.
Word count: Up to 5000 words
Payment: 10 cents per word
Deadline: 23 March 2024
Find out more

Boreal
This anthology, subtitled ‘an anthology of Taiga Horror’, will contain stories set in the wild, dark woods of Norway, Scandinavia, Iceland, Canada, Russia and Japan.
Word count: 2000–5000 words
Payment: 1 cent per word
Deadline: Open 15 March – 1 April 2024
Find out more

Cold
Death’s Head Press is putting together an anthology of cold or wintry horror short stories.
Word count: 2500–10,000 words
Payment: 4 cents per word
Deadline: 31 March 2024
Find out more

Hellbound Books’ Anthology of Horror
The editors of this anthology are seeking horror stories with no set theme.
Word count: 2500–8000 words
Payment: $5
Deadline: 1 June 2024
Find out more

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.