The Horror Tree Recent Markets, Articles, Interviews, and Fiction!

Flame Tree Press Is Re-Opening Submissions For ‘Anansi’

Deadline: June 23rd, 2024
Payment: 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints.
Theme: Stories featuring Anasi: a creator god, a trickster folk hero, a wily spider and a heroic symbol of resistance. More details below
Note: Reprints Welcome

We are very excited to re-open our call for submissions for this title! Please read through the details for submissions carefully before submitting your stories.

 Flame Tree are bringing you a brand new gorgeous hardcover series brimming with myths and short stories. 

Discover the mythology of humankind through its heroes, characters, gods and immortal figures. Myths, Gods & Immortals brings together the new and the ancient, familiar stories with a fresh and imaginative twist. Each book brings back to life a classic mythological or folkloric figure, with completely new stories alongside the original tales. New and emerging writers from open submissions reveal hidden themes, casting fresh perspectives on well-known stories, alongside specially commissioned text on the origins and the cultural background of the mythology. We’ve already closed submissions for the first two books in the series, Medusa and Odin, where stories are still under consideration. We’re now opening up submissions for the next two books, Circe and Anansi.

All previous submissions for Anansi are still under consideration and authors will be contacted in due course, within 4 months of the new deadline.

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Contest: Pulp Asylum Fiction Contest

Deadline: May 15th, 2024
Prize: $10 US (payable via PayPal only) plus a copy of Pulp Asylum’s first novella, When Harry Comes to Call
Theme: Rebirth/Renewal

Call for Submissions
Pulp Asylum Fiction Contest


I am looking for drabbles for this contest.  A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words, no more and no less.  Do not count the title or your byline, just the body of the text itself.  Entries not meeting the 100-word requirement will not be considered.  Keep the following guidelines in mind:

— The theme for this contest is rebirth/renewal.   Your entry should connect with this theme in some way.  For this contest,  I will be considering drabbles that fall into the following genres: crime, mystery, horror, suspense,  fantasy, science fiction, western, or just plain weird.

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Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Aliens Among Us

Writing Prompt Wednesdays: Found Footage

Welcome to “Writing Prompt Wednesdays,” a haven where your imagination can roam free in the realms of speculative fiction. As we embark on this weekly journey, it’s thrilling to think about the untold stories waiting to be penned in the domains of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Whether you’re a seasoned author or a budding wordsmith, these prompts are your gateway to unexplored worlds and untapped potentials.

Every Wednesday, we’ll serve up a fresh, thought-provoking prompt designed to ignite your creative spark and challenge your storytelling prowess. Think of these prompts as a key, unlocking the doors to uncharted territories where your creativity is the only limit. From eerie, shadow-laden corridors of Gothic horror to the farthest reaches of interstellar space, and the mystical depths of high fantasy, our prompts are a kaleidoscope of possibilities.

Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to approach these prompts. They are mere stepping stones, guiding you towards the vast landscapes of your imagination. Use them to break free from writer’s block, to experiment with new ideas, or simply as a fun exercise to keep your writing skills sharp.

This week’s writing prompt:

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Taking Submissions: Little Guts

Deadline: May 31st, 2024
Payment: 12c/word + contributors copy.
Theme: Gross and goopy horror

Edited by Lor Gislason, author of Inside Out, ⅓ of the Goop Troop and editor of Bound In Flesh: An Anthology of Trans Body Horror and Spectrum: An Autistic Horror Anthology.

THE IMPORTANT STUFF:
This is an OPEN CALL. There are no invited authors. It’s a free for all!

SUBMISSION PERIOD: April 1st to May 31st, 2024. Edits June-August.
Expected release date October.

PAY: 12c/word + contributors copy.

We will be taking PITCHES, and if accepted, your story should be 2-5k words.
Please send only 1 to 2 pitches MAX.

SEND PITCHES TO: [email protected]

THE GUTS:

Hey all! Lor here. Some of you might know me for my love of GROSS, GOOPY HORROR—which is exactly what this anthology aims to be! I’ll be looking for pitches that evoke FUN and DISGUST, like Peter Jackson’s Braindead, and the films of Frank Henelotter. Shows like Freaky Stories and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters. Like a pig in mud, we revel in the nasty and go, “hey, check this out! Made me want to barf!” Give me fluids! Guts and gore! Slime, ooze and GOOP!

Your story can feature dark themes and heavy topics, but have FUN with it. There are no restrictions. Content warnings will be made available when the book is published. All writers of any skill level or background are encouraged to submit!

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Taking Submissions: Imagitopia May 2024 Window

Submission Window: May 1st – 31st, 2024
Payment: 1 cent per word
Theme: Fantasy short stories up to 5,000 words
Note: REPRINT ONLY

IMAGITOPIA is a new fantasy fiction podcast and digital magazine produced by Android Press and featuring narrated fantasy fiction plus other fun stuff like author and editor interviews, news and events, and nerd-outs on fantasy tropes and other related topics. 

We currently accept submissions of previous published fantasy short stories for REPRINT ONLY to be narrated for the podcast. We’ll also publish in print here on the webzine. 

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An Interview With Chase Dearinger On His Debut Novel

 

In the desolate hills of Eastern Oklahoma, the residents of Seven Suns are haunted by more than their own personal dramas. Bones crawl from the earth, shape-shifting entities slip into different skins, and a theoretically impossible black cougar roams the countryside. Chase Dearinger intertwines the complicated lives of a pseudo-step-father, a troubled teen, and a reluctant sheriff as their stories come together to face This New Dark.

 

Chase Dearinger is an Oklahoma native who now lives in Kansas with his wife and two daughters. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in magazines around the country, including BayouThe Southampton ReviewShort Story America, and Heavy Feather Review. He currently serves as the Chief Editor of Emerald City, a quarterly online fiction magazine, and directs the Cow Creek Chapbook Prize, an annual poetry chapbook contest. He is a professor of creative writing and literature at Pittsburg State University. This New Dark is his first novel.

 

I sat down with Chase to talk about his writing process, reconciling literary and genre fiction, and the inherent horror of liminal spaces. 

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Taking Submissions: Cosmic Roots And Eldritch Shores May 2024 (Early Listing)

Submission Window: May 1st-2nd, 2024
Payment: 8 cents per word for original, 2 cents for reprints, For artwork: $10 for the non-exclusive right to use each image, for as long as the site is online.  If we publish a print collection we will pay a pro-rata share for each image used.
Theme: Well written original work in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form, and from around the world.
Note: Reprints welcome

 

 

Submissions Schedule

We have a new submissions schedule as of June 1, 2020:
The first and second day of every month, 12 am of the 1st to 12 am of the 3rd, E.S.T.
Only one submission per person.

For reading impaired individuals, our submissions manager and ‘forget password’ have a captcha compatible with screen readers.

We pay 8¢ per word for new fiction, 2¢ per word for fiction reprints, 2 – 6¢ per word for new fact-based work, 1- 4¢ per word for reprinted fact articles.
For new poetry, we pay $1 a line, reprints would be 50¢ a line, up to 40 lines. We’ll look at longer poems but that would be a hard sell, and words over 40 lines would be paid at 6¢ per word.

We began The Kepler Award to recognize and encourage writers of excellent science fiction and fantasy stories that creatively extrapolate on known science in constructive and exciting ways. You can learn about The Kepler Award here.

You can read a copy of our standard contract here.   It can be varied as needed to include the rights of translators, voice actors, etc.

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Unveiling Nightmares Is Open To Novelettes, Novellas, Novels, and Short Story Collections

Theme: Novelettes, Novellas, Novels, and Short Story Collections in the following genres: horror (all sub-genres including extreme/splatterpunk), romance, science fiction, erotica, poetry, and young adult fiction
Payment: 80% of royalties and a contributors copy

Welcome to Unveiling Nightmares.

At Unveiling Nightmares, we understand the craving for adventure, excitement, and thrills that our readers seek. Yearning to escape the mundane and delve into worlds teeming with mystery and intrigue.

Whether you have a novelette, novella, a gripping novel, or a collection of short stories, we’re eager to take a look.

We welcome works across a variety of genres, including horror (all sub-genres including extreme/splatterpunk), romance, science fiction, erotica, poetry, and young adult fiction. Whether your story sparks love, nightmares, adventure, passion, or discovery, we’re excited to explore its depths.

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