Finding a Home for Horror

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Horror is a lot of fun to write, but not always easy to find a home for. However, there are several small presses that feature the genre, and I thought I would highlight some of them for potential contributors. The houses below are all publishers that I have worked with personally and would definitely submit to again.

First of all, I’ll tout the house that I edit for, Horrified Press. Though we can be a little slow and the pay is based on sales, I think the product turned out is quite nice. I am actively looking for submissions for my specific imprint, Thirteen O’Clock. The following are the open calls for Horrified–and basic details of Thirteen’s calls. Our maximum word count is 5k. There are further specifications at the above link:

Twisted Time — What can go terribly wrong in the realm of Time Travel? No obvious Doctor Who fanfic, please. All of Time is at your fingertips. Let me see how time travel goes awry. 

Blood in the Cogs — A steampunk anthology! Terror in the time of Victoria! There was a lot going on during that long reign of hers. (Don’t send me ALL Jack the Ripper stories! Let me clarify–I don’t mind a mention of the Ripper, after all, he was the big news of the day. I just don’t want only stories about that one case. There were other horrors of the age…)

Dark Emporium — What is sold there? And what does it cost you? The Old Curiosity Shop you stumble into while exploring a new city; the frenetic mall with that odd shop in the bottom corner; the online venue swearing they can accommodate all your desires….the Dark Emporium takes many forms as it seeks your soul!
Chains –- Who’s chained, where are they, what are they, what are the chains holding down/stopping escaping/securing against robbers… Chains. We see them, we use them, now write about them. A good one to exercise your imaginations! [This one is almost full–one or two more stories at best.]
Horrified is also reading for the following call which I have nothing to do with:
KEK V’s CTHULHU —  Flash fiction, Poetry, Short Stories (2,000 6,000 words)
A god has risen. An elder god of chaos. A god that the Dark Land of Egypt once knew. A frog-headed abomination that dwells–where? In the gloom of the collective unconscious? In the crazy depths of the internet? In the minds of conspiracy theorists and muddle minded political fanatics? As insubstantial as a dream–or a nightmare. In a world increasingly fragmented, where right and left, atheism and religion, sanity and lunacy struggle for supremacy, who is the true manifestation of KEK?

Horrified specializes in anthologies, but if you have longer works to submit, you might try one of the following:

Mocha Memoirs Press

Zumaya Publications

 

For other short story markets, try

HorrorAddicts.net

The Horror Zine

Horror Tree

 

I also found this list in my research. It is a couple of years old now, so I suggest researching any market that you are interested in to make sure they are still in business and actively seeking submissions. And there is another list of magazines that accept horror here. Horror Tree also maintains a list of open calls.

Another place to look for markets actively seeking submissions is ralan.com. It lists all types of markets in an easy to use format. I’ve found many submission opportunities there.

These are by no means exhaustive lists. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments.