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Open Call For Short Horror Submissions

12/13/2017

12 Comments

 
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Calling all authors—we've got a new collection of short horror in the works, and we want you! See below for details.

Deadline: March 1, 2018
Length: 5,000 to 8,000 words
Payment: $50 plus contributor's copy
​Submission Criteria
We are interested in short horror fiction about people who sneak into abandoned, forgotten, shunned, or cursed communities and survive to tell the tale. For example: Centralia, Pennsylvania—the mining town abandoned because of an uncontrollable underground coal fire; Love Canal—the New York neighborhood declared off-limits due to extreme environmental pollution; and Pripyat—the Ukrainian city evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster. The emphasis is on communities—a haunted house or other such localized place is not large enough to qualify.

The place in your story must not ever have existed in the real world (i.e., no stories about the vanished Roanoke Colony), but must be described as a place that could plausibly exist. For instance: Stephen King's fictional town of Derry.

Your story must be set in the present, told in first person after the fact, from the point of view of someone who visited that place and returned to tell the tale. Supernatural elements are permitted, but not required.

Your story's title must be the name of the place that is the subject of your story and the larger region in which it is located; for instance, "Derry, Maine."

The horror of your story should lie in the characters discovering the long-lost reasons why that community was abandoned in the first place.

Once your story is complete, please click the button immediately below and fill in our query form.
Submit Your Query
12 Comments
B. Smith
1/23/2018 08:44:33 am

Would you accept a story that takes place in a far off continent with a little bit of science-fiction?

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
1/23/2018 08:47:44 am

Perhaps. The setting has to be contemporary and the story has to sound plausible—in other words, don't go too crazy on the fantasy elements. When you're ready, submit your story and we'll give it a shot.

Reply
Melissa Winton
1/26/2018 06:33:29 pm

I have a couple questions:

1) Can the community be smaller than a town, similar to a large school campus with many buildings, including but not limited to living quarters, mess hall, recreational building, gymnasium, etc.?

2) Can the narrator be recalling the time he/she might’ve lived in such a place just before it was deserted?

Many thanks!

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
1/26/2018 09:32:02 pm

Hi there, Melissa:
To answer your questions, yes and yes.
Thanks!

Reply
Sarah Cannavo
2/1/2018 07:08:29 pm

I'm interested in submitting my story to this anthology and was wondering if there's any specific manuscript formatting you require for submissions (like double-spacing, page headers, anything like that)?

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
2/1/2018 07:49:37 pm

Hello Sarah! Please submit your manuscript:
- Double-spaced
- 12 pt Courier
- Left justified
- Your name and email at the top of first page

Thanks!

Reply
Joseph Smith
2/10/2018 04:34:46 pm

Are epistolary works being accepted for this anthology?

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
2/10/2018 05:07:54 pm

Yes, indeed!

Reply
William R Frohning
2/22/2018 01:02:11 am

If it's over 8000 words, it won't be accept right?

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
2/22/2018 06:53:19 am

We'll still take a look. The word count is more of a guide than a rule.

Reply
J. D. Sunderland
2/23/2018 07:23:25 am

Hello,

Quick question: I have two very different stories in mind and am currently unsure of which to choose.

One story involves a damaged character who escapes while a community is being abandoned and tries to piece together a narrative of what occured.

The second story involves someone who investigates the remains of a city abandoned and closed off in the wake of what the media suspects is a terror attack, although public opinion falls more to rumor and conspiracy than evidence.

The two ideas are connected, so I’m working on both, just not sure which would be the better fit or whether I should fill out the query form for both. Thank you!

Reply
Darkwater Syndicate
2/23/2018 07:27:09 am

Both—why not? :-)

Reply

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