These magazines and anthologies accept historical fiction. Most of them also accept fiction in other genres and a few also accept nonfiction and poetry. A few of them pay writers.
Killer Nashville Magazine
They publish works in any genre that incorporate “elements of mystery, thriller, suspense, and/or romance … We welcome literary, mainstream, commercial, and genre fiction, nonfiction, essays, reviews, poetry, and art.
Areas of fiction interest include short stories, flash fiction, poetry, excerpts, and encompass the following genres: action adventure, amateur sleuths, children’s, comedic P.I., comedy, cozies, crime action & adventure, crime caper, espionage, fantasy, gothic, hard-boiled, historicals, horror, international, investigators, juvenile, legal, medical, men’s adventure, mystery, noir, organized crime thrillers, paranormal, police procedural, political, private investigator, procedurals, psychological suspense, romantic suspense, science fiction, sea adventures, serious P.I., Southern Gothic, spy, standard British detectives, supernatural, suspense, terrorism, thriller, war & military, Western, women’s adventures, women sleuths, and YA.” Details here and here.
Infinity Wanderers
This magazine is “dedicated to promoting alternate history and the associated genres of Science Fiction, Steampunk, Historical Fiction and Fantasy. In addition we aim for between 1/3 and 1/2 real history, genealogy and biography, and writers of Historical features are welcome to submit.” They have detailed guidelines, please read them carefully. Send works up to 3,000 words. Details here.
Aôthen Magazine
They only accept works related to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome – fiction (up to 1,000 words), poetry, essays (opinion or otherwise), photography, art, classical translation extracts, and hybrid works. They pay $10. Columns are always open, other submissions were closed at the time of writing. Details here.
Little Leaf Literary Journal
They publish fiction and poetry. They want stories of up to 6,000 words – “literary fiction, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, and literary or contemporary fiction that includes elements of fantasy, mystery, sci-fi, and/or romance.” Watch for their next submission period. Details here.
The Greyhound Journal
This magazine only publishes historical fiction stories and poetry. “We are interested in Mandarin and English work with vivid historical setting. Featured publications are not themed. We admire writing exhibiting strong visual imagery and thorough historical knowledge.” They also accept reprints. They’re open for their digital ‘Featured’ section on an ongoing basis. Details here and here.
The Scythian Wolf: This World of Vile Wonder – Horror Tales of the Scientific Revolution
The Scythian Wolf is a publisher of historical horror fiction. They’re currently open for an anthology, This World of Vile Wonder – Horror Tales of the Scientific Revolution. “Story must be set between the years 1500 and 1700 ce
Any category of science from the period welcome
With setting and details, historical accuracy is vital
All subgenres of horror welcome” They want stories of 5,000 to 10,000 words, and pay $75. The deadline is 28 February 2025. Details here.
Literally Stories
Apart from historical fiction, they publish various other genres: crime/thriller/mystery, fantasy, general fiction, horror, humour, romance, and science fiction. They accept stories of 500 to 3,000 words. Details here.
Dragon Bone Journal
They want genre stories (100-3,000 words), as well as nonfiction and poetry. For fiction, “Accepted genres include but are not limited to: Romance, Fantasy, Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Contemporary, Sci-Fi, Dystopian, Western, Paranormal, Historical.” The deadline is 30 April 2025. Details here.
Lit Nerds
“We believe that good fiction doesn’t have to have an unhappy ending. We believe conflict can be resolved, characters can make good choices, and fiction that’s fun to read is just as important as fiction that reveals the dirty undersides of humanity.
Send us your happy endings, your good triumphing over evil, your stories where the dog doesn’t die. Romanticize everyday life until we have no idea how we never saw the magic ourselves. Make us laugh, give us hope, restore a little bit of our faith in humanity.
We don’t care what genre it is, whether it’s contemporary, set a thousand years ago, or takes place in another world entirely, as long as it’s well-written and enjoyable to read.” Send stories of 700-3,000 words. They also accept nonfiction and poetry. Details here.
Spoon Knife Anthology Series – Polarities
Their website says, “Our NeuroQueer Books imprint is for fiction, memoir, and other literary work, with a focus on themes of queerness and neurodivergence. This is the imprint under which we publish our annual genre-bending Spoon Knife literary anthology.” They want fiction, nonfiction, and poetry on the Polarities theme for their genre-bending anthology (volume 10 of the Spoon Knife anthology series), and the deadline for that is 31 July 2025. And, “In a given volume of Spoon Knife, you might find the theme explored in tales of magical realism, science fiction, absurdist satire, swords-and-sorcery, historical romance, and horror, not to mention creative nonfiction and poetry. We especially love stories that defy established genre categories or creatively blend genres.” They accept works up to 10,000 words, and pay $30, and $0.01/word. Details here.
Lọúnlọún
This call is only for “African writers, and those of African descent, home and abroad.” Their website says, “We are a literary journal focused on historical fiction based on historical events that have shaped and defined places and times in Africa and the experiences of those who lived through the events—or didn’t—no matter how minute. We’re interested in a car crash in 2004 published in the local newspapers as much as we are in the Rwandan and Biafran genocides of 1994 and 1967, respectively.
We are interested in speculative or factual tellings of African history centred on themes across Economics, Society & Politics, Gender & Feminism, Hope & Healing, Identity & Belonging, and War, Conflicts, & Disaster.” They only accept fiction (2,000-4,000 words), and the deadline is 2 March 2025. Details here.
Tamarind
This is a UK-based literary magazine. “We are open to fiction writing in almost any style or format, from short stories to free-form writing. Submissions can cover any number of genres and styles, from historical fiction, to slice-of-life stories, and speculative science-fiction. Our only requirement is that the pieces relate to science, scientists, or the interaction of science and society. We welcome stories that look creatively at science and the philosophy of science. … Submissions should be between 1,500 and 5,000 words long.” They also accept nonfiction and poetry. Works are published under a Creative Commons license (see guidelines). Details here.
The Wise Owl
This is an India-based literary magazine. Fiction (up to 1,500 words) “may include sub-genres like crime, fantasy, romance, science fiction, Westerns, inspirational, historical fiction, and horror. The submission may include one or more works of short fiction or excerpts of a longer work. Please ensure that the fiction pieces do not exceed 1500 words each.” They also accept nonfiction, poetry, reviews, interviews, and art. Details here.
The School Magazine
This is an Australian magazine for children. They publish fiction, articles, poetry, plays, and activities that have literary and academic merit, as well as comics and cartoons. For fiction, they say, “Stories can be realistic, fantastical or humorous genres with contemporary or historical settings. Stories should demonstrate clear, intriguing prose, originality of characters and fresh storylines. No longer than 1500 words (shorter stories are encouraged). Occasionally a longer story may be considered for serialisation.” Their website also says, “Please note: at the moment we are looking for very short stories, plays and nonfiction. We especially require material for our younger readers (Countdown and Blast Off).” They pay AUD0.50/word for fiction, articles and plays, and AUD55-230 for poetry. Details here and here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
