Eric J. Guignard's Blog, page 12
February 8, 2022
DAY 15 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 15 OF 30: GENE O’NEILL
15. Gene O’Neill presents “Ring Rust”
14. H. Pueyopresents “Death Republic”
13. Scotty Milder presents “Giant and Child: A Fugue”
12. Lucy Taylor presents “If You Touch Me, I Can Cry”
11. Terry Dowling presents “The Key to Mabella”
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “Ring Rust,” a boxer finds that age and declining health aren’t the only things to fear in a fizzling career.
STORY EXCERPT:
Even though Sandoval remained confident, he was sweating heavily, as he came out for the referee’s instructions. A minute or so after the opening bell, he realized he might be in some serious trouble. Overall, he felt mentally and physically sluggish, moving in slow motion, like he was wading in energy-sucking, thick mud. His reaction time was definitely off; he was missing obvious openings, and not able to avoid punches, even the ones he saw coming—fortunately the guy’s punches weren’t really heavy.
Wiping his face after the first round and smearing Vaseline on the fresh cut scar, Mac asked, “What’s wrong Danny? You should be easily avoiding all of this bum’s punches, they’re telegraphed, man. And he’s left himself open for your left hook to the liver, two or three times now.”
Sandoval just shrugged, not able to respond verbally, having difficulty just catching his breath, much less talking.
“Maybe it’s just ring rust,” Mac said . . .
—Ring Rust by GENE O’NEILL
###
ABOUT: GENE O’NEILL
Gene O’Neill has seen about 200 of his stories and novellas published, several reprinted in France, Spain, and Russia. Some of these stories have been collected in Ghost Spirits, Computers & World Machines; The Grand Struggle; In Dark Corners; Dance of the Blue Lady; The Hitchhiking Effect; Lethal Birds; and Frozen Shadows and Other Chilling Stories. He has seen six novels published. Gene has been a Stoker finalist twelve times. In 2010 Taste of Tenderloin won the haunted house for Collection; in 2012 The Blue Heron won for Long Fiction. The fourth book in The Crime Files of Katy Green recently appeared from Dark Moon Books—A Stick of Doublemint. Independent Legions recently reprinted a novel, Lost Tribe. Entangled Soul & Other Stories, a collection collaboration with Chris Marrs was recently released by Omnium Gatherum. Gene and Gord Rollo have a collaborative novel about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Kiss of Death coming out soon from Thunderstorm Books in a limited hardback and trade paperback from Omnium Gatherum. Gene’s huge novel The White Plague will be out early next year from Silver Shamrock Publishing. He is currently working on two collaborations on other books with Gord Rollo and Michael Bailey.
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AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 7, 2022
DAY 14 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 14 OF 30: H. PUEYO
14. H. Pueyo presents “Death Republic”
13. Scotty Milder presents “Giant and Child: A Fugue”
12. Lucy Taylor presents “If You Touch Me, I Can Cry”
11. Terry Dowling presents “The Key to Mabella”
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “Death Republic,” a nation’s population finds itself apathetically losing the fear of death.
STORY EXCERPT:
We lost our fear of death on a day like any other. It might have been a Monday or a Thursday, or it might have been during the weekend—it doesn’t matter anymore, does it? Some say it started like a ball of yarn, as we slowly pulled the thread until all of us were tangled in it, tied by our necks and ankles and wrists, but I say it spread like a contagious disease.
How do you lose something so primal, so instinctive that even unicellular organisms can feel it? Easy: you don’t notice that it’s gone. You don’t think you ever needed it . . .
—Death Republic by H. PUEYO
###
ABOUT: H. PUEYO
H. Pueyo (@hachepueyo on Twitter) is an Argentine-Brazilian writer of comics and speculative fiction. She’s an Otherwise Fellow, and her work has appeared before in Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, The Dark, and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, among others. Find her online at www.hachepueyo.com.
###
AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html

February 6, 2022
DAY 13 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 13 OF 30: SCOTTY MILDER
13. Scotty Milder presents “Giant and Child: A Fugue”
12. Lucy Taylor presents “If You Touch Me, I Can Cry”
11. Terry Dowling presents “The Key to Mabella”
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “Giant and Child: A Fugue,” a teen girl frustrated with her life encounters a monstrous giant who seems just as lost as herself.
STORY EXCERPT:
giant sat cross-legged, straddling the center line of US-45 just north of the town of Mill Shoals, Illinois. It looked almost human, but the proportions were all wrong. Knees like stalagmites jutted skyward at weird angles. A scoliotic torso flared at the shoulders like a cobra’s hood, atop which sat a spindly neck and a misshapen plug that might have been a lump of burn tissue, or might have been a head. Nipples the size of boulders protruded from the loose skin of its narrow, concave chest and swayed there like swollen egg sacs.
The giant was naked, and its skin—what could be seen past all the blood—was the pinkish white of a conch pearl . . .
—Giant and Child: A Fugue by SCOTTY MILDER
###
ABOUT: SCOTTY MILDER
Scotty Milder is a writer, filmmaker, and film educator living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He received his MFA in Screenwriting from Boston University, and his award-winning short films have screened at festivals around the world, including Cinequest, the Dead By Dawn Festival of Horror, HollyShorts, and the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon. His feature film Dead Billy is available to stream on Amazon.com and Google Play.
His short fiction has appeared or will appear in Dark Moon Digest, KZine, Lovecraftiana magazine, and anthologies from Dark Peninsula Press, Sinister Smile Press, Dark Ink Books, and others.
He teaches screenwriting and film production at Santa Fe Community College and the Seattle Film Institute. He is also the co-host of The Weirdest Thing history podcast with actor/theatre artist Amelia Ampuero.
You can find him online at www.scottymilder.com or www.facebook.com/scottymilderwrites.
###
AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 5, 2022
DAY 12 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 12 OF 30: LUCY TAYLOR
12. Lucy Taylor presents “If You Touch Me, I Can Cry”
11. Terry Dowling presents “The Key to Mabella”
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “If You Touch Me, I Can Cry,” an aging couple experience a world of infectious disease, global quarantine, and hysteria, when a deadly species of flower begins to bloom.
STORY EXCERPT:
During the longest year of their lives, the fruit trees blossomed and the abandoned gardens up and down Quail Run erupted in extravagant displays, as though in response to calamity, nature celebrated with renewed lushness and fecundity. The hollyhocks Pat had planted the year before exploded in rich violet and vermillion, lobelia and plumbago blanketed the meadow, and fields of sunflowers raised their dazzling faces on both sides of the dirt road that led away from the farmhouse. Such was the flamboyance of flora, with its implicit lie of abundance and good fortune, that Isaac found it painful to look upon. Better to gaze at a countryside barren and bereft, more in tune with his own inner landscape . . .
—If You Touch Me, I Can Cry by LUCY TAYLOR
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ABOUT: LUCY TAYLOR
Lucy Taylor is the Stoker-winning author of seven novels and more than a hundred and fifty short stories. Her most recent work is the horror-western Desolation, currently being translated into Italian and Russian, and short stories appearing in the anthologies Body Shocks, The Big Book of Blasphemy, and Brutal. She lives in the high desert outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, where tales of brujas, curanderos, and skinwalkers are part of the local lore.
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AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 4, 2022
DAY 11 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 11 OF 30: TERRY DOWLING
11. Terry Dowling presents “The Key to Mabella”
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “The Key to Mabella,” a cemetery groundskeeper discovers a mysterious vault key held by his predecessor and investigates what it unlocks.
STORY EXCERPT:
He located the Agostino key, fitted it, and felt the door release, swing outward. Another quick glance up and down Third Street and he stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him, suddenly uneasy at the thought of it being even partly closed. There was the safety release latch and the kick-down door stirrup for keeping it open, and he had taken the key from the lock (another of Arthur’s rules). No mere wind would ever close it unassisted, but . . .
On this unravelling day, the hesitation said it all.
Barry regarded the dry square interior with its sixteen niches in four lots of four, noted the seven caskets already in place, three on the back wall, four to the left, three with marble facings shutting them away. The rest stood empty, awaiting what time would bring . . .
—The Key to Mabella by TERRY DOWLING
###
ABOUT: TERRY DOWLING
Terry Dowling has been called “Australia’s finest writer of horror” by Locusmagazine, its “premier writer of dark fantasy” by All Hallows, and its “most acclaimed writer of the dark fantastic” by Cemetery Dance magazine. The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror series featured more horror stories by Terry in its 21-year run than by any other writer.
Dowling’s horror collections are Basic Black: Tales of Appropriate Fear (International Horror Guild Award winner for Best Collection 2007), Aurealis Award-winning An Intimate Knowledge of the Night, the World Fantasy Award nominated Blackwater Days, and The Night Shop: Tales for the Lonely Hours. Other publications include his debut novel, Clowns at Midnight, which London’s Guardian called “an exceptional work that bears comparison to John Fowles’s The Magus,” and The Complete Rynosseros in three volumes. His homepage can be found at www.terrydowling.com.
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AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 3, 2022
DAY 10 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 10 OF 30: CHRISTI NOGLE
10. Christi Nogle presents “The Apartment”
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “The Apartment,” a young woman moves to the city, only to find her dreams of a happy life manifest in unexpected ways.
STORY EXCERPT:
…It was just like in the movie scenes of young people viewing apartments in the city. The tiny space seemed large to us, those floors a marvel. The fireplace could not be used but would add atmosphere. The window looked out on horrors but brought in buckets of cheerful light.
This is someone else’s dream, I thought.
“Are you sure?” I said just as scripted. “All this, for this price?”
It didn’t seem fair. These were someone else’s hopes coming true (and this was a trap, too, a way for the city to keep me close), but still I flushed and stammered as I signed the papers. I mirrored back the real estate lady’s broad, wet, desperate smile.
Ruth looked on, triumphant.
—The Apartment by CHRISTI NOGLE
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ABOUT: CHRISTI NOGLE
Christi Nogle is the author of the novel Beulah from Cemetery Gates Media. You can find more of her recent work in Vastarien, Fusion Fragment, Underland Arcana, Mixtape: 1986 from The Dread Machine, What One Wouldn’t Do from Scott J. Moses, Humans Are the Problem from Weird Little Worlds, and Flame Tree Press’s Chilling Crime Stories. Christi is an active member of HWA and SFWA. Follow her at christinogle.com or on Twitter @christinogle.
###
AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 2, 2022
DAY 9 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 9 OF 30: BABA JIDE LOW
9. Baba Jide Low presents “Pretties / Serpent”
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “Pretties / Serpent,” a Nigerian secretary is transformed, both spiritually and physically, when she is hired at a new job by The Boss.
STORY EXCERPT:
You know, Floyd Eileen was once a church girl.
That good soul still wants to shine through her, which is why her skirts never rise above the knee, and her teeth are always minty fresh after she gets off her knees from praying to Him. She wears lipstick now that she works here, and she pays attention to the sunburn of her gold jewelry, the choke of her own scent.
Floyd is a Secretary to the Boss, who has a hundred and one Secretaries stalking the halls of the Office of Inflammations, long-limbed and supple, their fishnets lacerating like untethered tongues, their pastel and leather suits impeccable, choice jewelry sparkling and clinking small small.
The impact of their heels against the clean marble is like gunshots, as the ones not active with Him inside the Head Office laugh and scream with themselves . . .
—Pretties / Serpent by BABA JIDE LOW
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ABOUT: BABA JIDE LOW
Baba Jide Low is an experiment in Nigerian horror texts. They have no body, race, class, age, or gender. All they want to do with their non-existence is birth macabre tales for your delight. They will write a book, after they have written enough stories to satisfy a hunger. They currently dwell: @babajidelow.
###
AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


February 1, 2022
DAY 8 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
DAY 8 OF 30: KRISTI PETERSEN SCHOONOVER
8. Kristi Petersen Schoonover presents “February Thaw”
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “February Thaw,” a single mother trying to protect her young son from a strange father discovers that running away may cause worse implications.
STORY EXCERPT:
Sometimes, the best thing to do is run away.
I’d done it plenty of times. I quit the girls’ ice hockey team because my teammates were cruel, but ended up loving figure skating. I walked off the job at my parents’ truck stop and ended up getting one at the general store with less controlling bosses and a higher paycheck. I abandoned my used, broken-down snow trekker in a blizzard and lucked into a newer model for a song because the dealer’s son was sweet on me.
As a child in the frigid hell miles northeast of Yellowknife, I’d always dreamed of living in the palm treed warmth. So when Seth’s father—once I saw him for what he was and what kind of life we’d have to live—decided he’d stop at nothing to have the family he craved, it wasn’t difficult to run again . . .
—February Thaw by KRISTI PETERSEN SCHOONOVER
###
ABOUT: KRISTI PETERSEN SCHOONOVER
Kristi Petersen Schoonover knows a real ice road trucker, and she’ll forever treasure the video birthday greeting he sent her from Yellowknife—even though her favorite book as a child was The Penguin that Hated the Cold. Her stories have appeared in many magazines and anthologies, most recently in ForNever After and Wicked Creatures. She has work forthcoming in Gen-Xed, parABnormal, and Crow & Cross Keys, and her books include a story collection, The Shadows Behind. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College; she serves as co-host of the Dark Discussionspodcast, as founding editor of the dark literary journal 34 Orchard, and is a member of both the Horror Writers Association and New England Horror Writers. She lives with her husband, Nathan, in the Connecticut woods. Follow her adventures at www.kristipetersenschoonover.com.
###
AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


January 31, 2022
DAY 7 OF ANNOUNCING! Table of Contents for: +HORROR LIBRARY+ Volume 7
ANNOUNCING: I’m posting all contributors, one-a-day, to reveal the Table of Contents for +Horror Library+ Volume 7, to be published by Dark Moon Books on March 1, 2022!
DAY 7 OF 30: BENTLEY LITTLE
7. Bentley Little presents “In the Valley”
6. Rex Burrows presents “Skandalopetra”
5. Alex Woodroe presents “Abandon”
4. Cody Goodfellow presents “Hand of Glory”
3. Natalia Theodoridou presents “The Mouth”
2. Jo Kaplan presents “Her. House.”
1. Michael Harris Cohen presents “Never Better”
###
In “In the Valley,” a farm boy is haunted by a mysterious naked woman in the night, and discovers he’s not the only one she visits.
STORY EXCERPT:
…On a leany homemade shelf on the wall next to his gun rack was what looked like a line of little dolls, and I moved closer to get a better look. I saw that they was made out of dried up animal parts, chicken guts mostly, all twisted and tied together with hair and fishing line. He’d put little clothes on them. Pants and shirts and even hats.
They looked like our neighbors, the other farmers and ranchers.
“Made ’em myself,” Blum said proudly as he come through the door.
I just nodded cuz I didn’t know what else to do.
“Gonna display ’em.”
“At the fair?”
“No. I’m settin’ me up a museum.”
I nodded like what he said made sense. He was doing that staring thing again.
“Wanna see it?”
—In the Valley by BENTLEY LITTLE
###
ABOUT: BENTLEY LITTLE
Bentley Little is a Luddite with no access to the internet, which means that he still believes in such outmoded concepts as facts, truth, justice, and democracy. Oh, and science. He still believes in science.
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AVAILABLE HERE!:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Horror-Library-7-Eric-Guignard/dp/1949491390/
Publisher’s Page: http://www.darkmoonbooks.com/Horror_Library_7.html


January 30, 2022
January, 2022 Dark Fiction Short Story Markets
HWA L.A.: January, 2022
New or Reopening Market Listings/ Notes
At Minimum Pro-Paying (5 cents+ per word)
http://uncannymagazine.com/submissions
Payment: 10 cents a word
Story Length: 750–1,500 words
Deadline: Open between March 14, 2022–March 21, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: One month
Description: Passionate, diverse SF/F fiction and poetry... intricate, experimental stories and poems with gorgeous prose, verve, and imagination that elicit strong emotions and challenge beliefs.
https://darkmattermagazine.com/submission-guidelines/human-monsters-anthology/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words
Deadline: Open between February 15–March 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: 30–45 days
Description: Monsters in human skin: Twisty-turny, dark, psychological, thrilling, dangerous, menacing, gothic, strange, ugly, murderous, messed-up tales of people doing awful, no-good, very bad things to one another. (Noting related to cosmic, paranormal, science fiction, cryptid/creature, or supernatural, etc.).
https://impulsivewalrusbooks.com/2021/06/call-for-submissions-cthulu-fhcon/
Payment: At present, a guarantee of 3 cents a word, but with Kickstarted funding, expecting to go to 8 cents/word (presumption of success, based on their other projects).
Story Length: 2,000–6,000 words
Deadline: April 15, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror or humorous tales of a mysterious riverside 1980s-built hotel (built secretly as an alter to Cthulhu) where is being held a fan convention! What sort of story happens within the hotel is entirely up to the author—but some sort of interaction between the Lovecraftian-style Old God in the river and the convention must be a focal part of the story.
Seize The Press Magazine
https://www.seizethepress.com/submissions/
Payment: British 6 pence a word (abt. 8 cents a word US)
Story Length: up to 2,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Dark speculative fiction and anticapitalist sci-fi, fantasy and horror pop culture analysis. Neon, dragons and gore. Bleak science fiction, dark fantasy and horror (No moralizing, No happy endings).
The Arcanist
https://thearcanist.io/sa-call-for-submissions-244f646d25a4/
Payment:10 cents a word
Story Length: flash fiction up to 1,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: 1–2 months
Description: Engaging science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories (and associated sub-genres) that are flash fiction. Focus on originality and strong/ interesting characters.
https://www.infiniteworldsmagazine.com/submissions-faqs
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: 1,500–5,000 words
Deadline: ongoing
Reprints?: No
Response: up to 90 days (beyond that is “assumption” of rejection)
Description: Unthemed, new science fiction and horror.
***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”
https://ericraglin.com/2021/12/16/shredded-a-sports-and-fitness-body-horror-anthology/
Payment: 3 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–4,500 words
Deadline: Open between March 1–March 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: By April 15
Description: Stories of body horror in sports and fitness: grotesque, strange, frightening, and thought-provoking stories—ones with complex characters, unapologetic weirdness, and horror that takes bold narrative risks.
https://cohesionpress.com/snafu-submissions/
Payment:Australian 5 cents a word (abt. 3-1/2 cents a word US)
Story Length: 2,000–10,000 words
Deadline: March 31, 2022
Reprints?: No
Response: estimate 3–4 months
Description: Action-based horror, themed within conflict in the wild, wild West. EX: soldiers/cavalry, bandit gangs (or bandidos, for south of the border), sheriffs, private security for gold claims. We want lots of monster goodness and lots of action.