These magazines/anthologies/outlets accept horror fiction – supernatural, folk, religious, feminist, psychological, sci-fi horror, slasher, YA, horror with a quirky slant, and many more. Many also accept other genres, like science fiction and fantasy. Some calls are themed, and some pay writers. Many, but not all, are open for submissions now.
The Phantom Pulse
“The Phantom Pulse is a biannual speculative fiction magazine. We seek the grey corners of humanity, dread that permeates the skin, and the bizarre.
We publish traditional horror, sci-fi horror, dark fantasy, and the weird. We have diverse reading tastes and are open to experimental forms and stories.” They pay $0.05/word for original stories up to 3,000 words, and pay $0.01/word for reprints up to 5,000 words. The deadline is 30th September 2026. Details here.
Crow & Cross Keys
“We are looking for beautifully-written poetry, flash fiction and short stories with a speculative edge. In the tradition of oral folk tales, we want work that sounds as good when read aloud as it reads on the page. Send us writing that sings.
We love the gothic, weird fiction, horror, folk and fairy tales. We love speculative fiction. We love literary fiction that feels speculative.” Details here.
Skummel
They accept flash and short fiction, as well as poetry. They charge for stories of 3,000-5,000 words, but not for shorter stories, including stories up to 3,000 words for their newsletter, Skummel Scaries. “We’re drawn to all forms of dark, unsettling, absurdist, and experimental literature.” They also accept reprints. Details here.
Apex Magazine
Apex Magazine is a digital dark science fiction and fantasy magazine. They want horror, science fiction, fantasy, and slipstream. “We want dark, beautiful, boundary-pushing speculative fiction — stories filled with marrow and heart, twisted and strange. We especially seek work from marginalized and under-represented writers.” They are open for fiction submissions during certain months. Submission is via their Moksha portal. They pay $0.08/word for stories up to 9,000 words, and the deadline is 30 September 2026; details here and here.
34 Orchard
They accept fiction (1,000-6,000 words) and poetry. “At 34 Orchard, we like dark, intense pieces that speak to a deeper truth. We’re not genre-specific; we just like scary, disturbing, unsettling, and sad.” Pay is $50. Their next reading period is 1st to 7th January 2027. Work sent outside the reading period will be deleted unread. Details here.
Imaginary Comma: Thirteen Podcast
This is a horror podcast. “Our audience comes to us for slow burn, atmospheric, character driven audio horror. They want to know the characters and see them grow and change just as much as they want a good scare. Stories that aren’t character driven probably won’t be a good fit. Stories with a first person central narrator and supporting characters work best for our format.” They want works of 2,500-7,000 words, and pay $50-75. Details here.
Kilter & Rammel Publishing: Fun in the Dark — Antiquities
They publish Fun in the Dark, “A mini anthology series of fabulously fun, deliciously dark short fiction.” They want stories on the Antiquities theme for this series: “We’re open to seeing work across various genres: submissions of horror, science fiction, fantasy, weird or bizarro fiction, crime/mystery etc. are all welcome. As long as your story fits the “antiquities” theme and the overall tone of the anthology — fun yet dark — we’d like to see it.” They pay £20 for stories of 2,000-5,000 words. The deadline is 31 October 2026. Details here.
Mysterion
They want science fiction, fantasy and horror stories that engage meaningfully with Christian themes, characters or cosmology. The stories need not teach a moral, or be close to an approved theological position, or be pro-Christian. They are especially interested in stories that show Christians from cultures beyond those of the United States, Canada, and Western Europe. (You can read more about what they are looking for here.) They also accept translations and reprints. They have two annual reading periods for fiction, January and July. Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 10,000 words. Art submissions are open year-round. Details here.
The Last Girls Club: The Witches’ Cosmo – Hive Collapse/Cascade Event
The Last Girls Club: The Witches’ Cosmo is a feminist horror magazine. Their upcoming theme is ‘Hive Collapse/Cascade Event’: “It’s that one event, one death, one birth that starts the whole thing imploding, collapsing or exploding. It’s the point of no return. The one storm we’re not coming back from, the one political standoff that ruins the air for centuries, that runoff or oil spill that finally poisons the water beyond hope.” They will open submissions for this theme on 1st October 2026, and close when they hit their submission cap. They want stories of up to 2,500 words, and they also accept poetry. Pay is $0.015/word for fiction, and $10 for poetry. Their submission portal will open during the reading period. Details here and here.
Horrorsmith Publications Newsletter
Horrorsmith publishes full-length works in the horror, thriller, and young adult genres, and will open for themed anthologies in 2027. They are open now for short fiction in the horror and thriller genres for their newsletter. They pay $25 for stories of 2,000-10,000 words. Details here (scroll down).
PseudoPod
PseudoPod, from the Escape Artists’ suite of magazines, is a horror podcast and online magazine. They pay $0.08/word for original fiction. They recently closed for original fiction, and will open on 1st March 2027 for their annual Anthologies and Collections call — reprints of stories published/to be published in 2027 in anthologies and collections; see their general submission guidelines here and schedule here.
(Submissions are also open for their sibling magazine, the Cast of Wonders, which accepts YA speculative fiction, including horror; they pay $0.08/word for stories up to 6,000 words; query for reprints; the deadline is 30 September 2026; details here, here, and here.)
Dark Moon Rising Anthologies
They are open for several anthologies, including (but not limited to): –— Scream Queens: A Women in Horror Anthology (all female authors writing all genres of horror, strong female lead characters, microfiction to 5,000 words, deadline 1 January 2027);
— Scream Queenettes: A Women in Horror YA Anthology (all female authors writing all genres of horror, strong female lead characters, see YA rules, microfiction to 5,000 words, deadline 1 January 2027);
— Pitch Dark: A Dark Romance Anthology (“your morally gray, black, and pitch-black short stories. We want your SK’s, your stalkers, your no redemption arcs!”, pays $10 for originals of 5,000-10,000 words, deadline 1 December 2026);
— Venom and Velvet: A Dark Romantasy Anthology (“Give us your:
Fae, Shifters, Vampires, Gods, Demon/Devils, Mermaids/Sirens, Angels/Reapers, Guardian beasts, and other dark fantasy creatures. We want dark arcs, no redemption arcs, enemies to lovers, obsession, devotion, and desire”, pays $10 for originals of 5,000-10,000 words, deadline 1 December 2026);
— Nightmare on Horror Street: The Big Book of Terror Anthology (no theme; “We just want your best horror. The gore. The extreme. The splatter and the punk. Serial killers. Slashers. Stalkers. Ghosts. Vampires. Bumps in the night. Zombies. Everything!”, up to 5,000 words, open until filled); and
— The Beast Under Your Bed: YA Horror (“”The Beast Under Your Bed” specializes in child and teenage horror. Up to the pre-teen age for content and up to high school age for reading comprehension, the stories should be filled with enough horror to frighten them, but with an ending to keep them coming back for more. PG writing is a requirement”, 3,000-10,000 words, no deadline – ongoing project with multiple volumes).
See the Dark Moon Rising website for detailed guidelines and other themes they have listed. Details here.
The Ghastling
This is a print magazine. They publish “literary fiction and illustration devoted to psychological horror, folk horror, ghost stories and the macabre.” They pay £15. Their next open submission period will be in early 2027. Details here.
Cosmic Horror Monthly
They publish horror and weird fiction, and related nonfiction. They pay $0.03/word for stories up to 5,000 words. They have two regular reading periods, 1st to 7th January, and 1st to 7th July; and they issue special submission calls periodically. Details here.
Exquisite Death
They publish horror fiction, poetry, and music. “Exquisite Death is looking for the dark, the surreal, the atmospheric and macabre. Dark fantasy and horror only. No excessive gore or erotica.” Send stories up to 3,000 words. Details here.
Tales to Terrify
This podcast publishes “short horror, dark fantasy, and other disturbing fiction. … We encourage you to challenge the definition of horror. Standard tropes and monsters are welcome, but give us your own unique take. … Drag us deep into the unsettling atmosphere of a crumbling Gothic mansion. Show us the gritty, real-world horrors of evil people with dark intentions. Make our blood run cold and our breath catch in our throats as we’re hunted by ravenous creatures. Unhinge our minds with reality-bending, psychological horrors. Make us feel the pain and sorrow of a long-suffering spirit.” They do not pay for flash fiction up to 2,000 words, and they pay $0.02/word for longer stories. They also accept reprints. Watch for their next submission period. Details here.
The Dark
They want horror and dark fantasy fiction. “Don’t be afraid to experiment or to deviate from the ordinary; be different—try us with fiction that may fall out of “regular” categories. However, it is also important to understand that despite the name, The Dark is not a market for graphic, violent horror.” Pay is $0.05/word for stories of 2,000 to 6,000 words. They also accept reprints. Details here.
Book Worms Horror Zine
They wantfiction, nonfiction, and poetry for their 12th issue; the theme is Occult Horror. “This Spooky Season, Book Worms Horror Zine is celebrating the kind of horror that truly gets under our skin: the things we’re not supposed to know.
Secret societies. Demonic cults. Government conspiracies. Forbidden rituals. A frat/sorority house with a hidden basement. A pajama party Ouija board game that goes horribly, horribly wrong. If there’s a secret—and something sinister lurking behind it—we want to hear about it.
We’re looking for stories that explore the fear of what’s hidden, what’s forbidden, and what might be waiting just beyond the veil of what we think we know.” Please note, submissions by all authors (barring those they have previously published) have to be mailed (see guidelines). Send stories of up to 1,500 words, poem of 20 lines or fewer; pay is $0.08/word for fiction and nonfiction, and $25 for poetry; the submission deadline is 1 October 2026 — must be received by this date; details here.
Dissections
This horror and dark fantasy journal publishes essays on 20th and 21st century horror and dark fantasy, including film, fiction and images. They also publish some short fiction, poetry and artwork. Send stories up to 5,000 words. Details here (scroll down).
Allegory
They publish fiction and nonfiction. “We’re looking for good, solid fiction. We specialize in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror genres. We will consider other genres, such as humor or general interest, provided that the work possesses an original, “quirky” slant.” Very short stories (under 500 words) or longer stories (over 5,000 words) are a hard sell. They also accept nonfiction. They pay $15. Details here.
Remains
This is a UK-based print magazine. Their About page says, “Remains is a colour print magazine edited by Andy Cox and illustrated by Richard Wagner, who previously worked together on Black Static and other publications. It contains new fiction ranging from short stories to novellas and various features.” You can see their published issues here. And, “Submissions of previously unpublished fiction are very welcome from everyone everywhere.” Details here.
Exploitation Media: Heartsick Anthology
This is a horror fiction anthology. “What lengths would you go for love? To protect a loved one? To make someone love you? Or would you do everything in your power to never feel it again? When does affection turn to obsession? The heart wants what it wants, but when does it want too much?
In Heartsick, we are looking for your short stories to answer those questions. The theme is LOVE: all the shapes it can take and all the ways it can go wrong. We welcome all horror and horror-adjacent works that address the topic. The more unique the better. It just has to address the horrors of LOVE.” They pay $3 for stories of 1,000-5,000 words, and the deadline is 31st October 2026, or until filled. Submission is via a form on their website. Details here.
The Horror Tree: Trembling With Fear
The Horror Tree is a wonderful resource for dark / horror fiction readers and writers. They also publish fiction, in a section called Trembling With Fear. They accept drabbles (exactly 100 words), the Unholy Trinity (three linked drabbles) short fiction (up to 1,500 words), and serialized fiction (up to 15,000 words – see guidelines). “We publish dark speculative fiction: horror, dark scifi, dark fantasy, and more. If it’s dark and speculative, we’d love to read it.” For short fiction, they also have various annual themed calls (reading on the Halloween theme till 13th October) and seasonal submission periods for unthemed short fiction (the upcoming Fall submission period is 1st to 15th October 2026). Drabbles, submissions to The Unholy Trinity, and serials are accepted on an ongoing basis. They can pay $5 for short fiction (see guidelines). Submission is via a form on their website; details here.
Reckoning
This magazine on environmental justice. They have issued a special flash fiction call: “For Reckoning’s next special issue, we are asking for environmental justice flash fiction of 1000 words or less. While we’ll take 1-1200 words, we strongly prefer things in the 500-1000 range. Outside of flash, what we specifically want are weird stories, dark stories, horror stories . . . and yet stories with some bit of hope to them, even if that hope is simply, We will persist, we will exist, we will endure. You can’t make the world a better place, after all, if you aren’t there to do the work.
We want you to take big swings. We want you to push boundaries of expectations and language.” They also have a reading list for inspiration on their guidelines page. Do not send reprints. Submission is via their Moksha portal. They’re also open for a few other genres. They pay $0.15/word for flash fiction, and the deadline is 31 October 2026. Details here (flash fiction guidelines), here (general guidelines / links to genre-specific guidelines), and here (submission portal).
Laughing Man Press: Smitten Land Magazine – The Plagues
The theme is ‘The Plagues’. They want fiction with religious horror and biblical plagues for this issue of their magazine. They pay $10 for stories of 2,000-10,000 words, and the deadline is 30 September 2026; details here.
(They’re also reading submissions for a fiction anthology, celebrating two years of religious horror; the deadline is 31st December 2026. See The Smitten Land Anthology on their guidelines page for details.)
Black Anchor Publishing: Yuletide – A Horror Anthology
This is a fiction anthology. “Black Anchor Publishing is seeking short horror fiction for a winter anthology to be released for the 2026 holiday season.
We are looking for the darker side of the longest nights of the year. Christmas, the solstice, the deep of winter, the gathering, the feast and the celebration, all of it turned cold and blackened. We want the dread that lives under the tinsel, the thing waiting past the firelight, the old fear of a sun that might not come back.
What we do not want is the tired stuff. No slasher Santa. No killer Krampus. No evil elves. … Give us something quieter, older, stranger. Reach for the folk horror, the ghost story told at the hearth, the empty chair at the table, the carol heard where no one is singing, the guest who should not be there, the tradition no one remembers, but everyone still performs. Surprise us with the horror the season has always carried underneath.
All winter and holiday sub-genres are welcome, including Yuletide, folk, ghost, maritime winter, psychological, weird, and other seasonal horror, so long as the work is literary, atmospheric, and genuinely unsettling.” They pay $0.01/word for stories of 1,500-2,500 words, and the deadline is 30 September 2026; details here.
Bloodlust Magazine
“Bloodlust is looking for anything and everything under the umbrella of dark romance, gothic fantasy, taboo, creepy, and erotica. Anything that invokes the feeling of forbidden passion and horror is what we aim to publish. But don’t be afraid to submit a piece if you’re unsure about the theme—anything unconventional will be happily reviewed and considered. This is a creative space for all types of emotional depths. We accept poetry, prose, short fiction (1000-2000 words), as well as visual art, including photography and stills.” Details here.
The Dread Literary Review
“The Dread Literary Review is an independent online literary magazine focused on displaying poems and fictions crafted around the themes of horror, mystery, and speculation.” You can read about them here. The Dread Literary Review is always open for submissions for weekly features. We publish poetry, flash fiction (under 1k words) and short fiction (up to 5k words). They also occasionally have themed issue calls; the call for their summer themed issue closed recently. Details here.
Bag of Bones Press Anthology
“We’re looking for dark stories (500-4k words) for our next charity anthology, which will be entitled STUCK.
Please interpret this theme however you like. Write us a quiet, moody piece or an action-packed, powerful, character-driven story. Make it humorous or as dark as the night. Send us your best speculative, horror, dark fantasy or dark sci-fi story. We are not the market for violent, bloody, racist, ableist, homophobic, or masochistic fiction. And no poetry please, only short fiction.” They pay 5 pence a word, and the deadline is 31 January 2027. Details here.
Flame Tree Fiction Anthology
Flame Tree wants fiction submissions for a new anthology in their Beyond & Within series. “The anthology of supernatural and speculative fiction is titled Knock on Wood: Tales of Superstition … From knocking on wood for luck to not walking under ladders, and from black cats and broken mirrors to the number 13 – people are fascinated by superstitions. This anthology will explore not only the well-known ones but also the little-known and various traditions globally connected with this phenomenon. Straddling genres like fantasy and horror, even SF, the scope for stories is massive”. They do not want reprints for this anthology. They pay $0.08/word for stories of 2,000-4,000 words, and the deadline is 27 September 2026; details here.
(Flame Tree is also open for other anthologies; see all of Flame Tree’s open calls here.)
Schlock! Webzine
This webzine is “dedicated to short stories, flash fiction, serialised novels and novellas within the genres of science fiction, fantasy and horror. We publish new and old works of pulp sword and sorcery, urban fantasy, dark fantasy and gothic horror.” Details here.
The Future Fire
They want “beautiful and useful fiction and poetry that focuses on the social-political elements of imaginary, futuristic, fantastic, horrifying, surreal or otherwise speculative universes. We are particularly interested in feminist, queer, postcolonial and ecological themes, and writing by under-represented voices (but nobody is required to self-identify, publicly or privately, as any identity).” They also accept translations. They consider stories up to 17,500 words, and pay $10-20 for fiction; details here and here.
Kaidankai
“Kaidankai is a weekly podcast and online outlet for tales of the supernatural. We are a celebration of the genre in all of its forms–from poetry to personal experience, from romance to horror. It is the diversity of interpretation of the supernatural that excites us, so experiment and send us your tale(s). If it is selected, your story will be read on the podcast and posted on the Kaidankai.
The kaidankai is based on an activity from Edo period Japan, when 100 people would gather in a room with 100 candles to tell their creepy tales. After each tale, a candle would be blown out. As the room grew darker, the tales grew more ominous. When the last tale was told…well, that’s just too terrifying to talk about.” Send stories of 1,000-3,000 words. Details here and here.
(Also: “This December, the Kaidankai is hosting a contest around the theme: What Walks With Us in the Dark Days of Winter? The winner will be nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and there will be small gifts for the runners up.” Send stories of 1,000-2,500 words for this contest; the deadline is 15th October 2026; details here.)
Dead Fish Books: Two anthologies
Dead Fish Books wants speculative fiction (science fiction, fantasy, horror) of 2,000-6,000 words for two anthologies: Did I leave the Gas On: Tales of Coming Home and Screw Dem Space Horses: Equine Stories Across Space and Time. They pay $5 + royalties, and the deadline is 1 December 2026 for both anthologies. Details here.
Harriet’s House
They want horror fiction of 1,200-5,000 words from writers of the Black Diaspora only. “We are interested in but not limited to: gothic horror, speculative horror, supernatural horror, body horror, psychological drama and survival horror.” Details here.
Waxen
They accept short fiction, poetry, and art. “We are interested in the weird, the occult, the surreal, and the horrific.
We love experimentation.” They pay $50 for stories up to 5,000 words. They are open through the year with cut-off dates for issues; their upcoming deadline is 15th December 2026. Details here.
Small Wonders
They publish speculative fiction; “We’re looking for speculative fiction with elements not of this world: fantasy, science fiction, horror. Our very favorite stories are those that don’t rely on a twist or gotcha ending. We love stories with big feelings, and don’t necessarily mind set pieces with very little plot.” They pay $0.10/word for original stories up to 1,000 words. During some reading periods they are open for original fiction and at other times, for reprints; details here.
Crooked Spine
This new horror magazine is open for their 4th issue till 5th October 2026, and the theme is What You Worship: “What You Worship is seeking horror about devotion and the price it demands. Familiar cults, religions, and ancient gods are welcome when the work finds something unexpected inside them; however, what you worship can mean a lover, a body, a career, money, fame, tradition, technology, grief, etc. Give us rituals, offerings, obsession, obedience, doubt, conversion, blasphemy, and sacrifices that cannot be taken back. We are drawn to character-driven horror, a strong atmosphere, and creative theme interpretations.” They pay $20 for fiction of 1,500-3,500 words, and $5 for poetry. Submission is via a form. See their submission calendar here. Details here.
Night Shade Books: Best Horror of the Year
This is a reprint anthology of horror fiction and poetry that was published in 2026, edited by Ellen Datlow. “I edit The Best Horror of the Year for (Night Shade Books) and am currently reading for the nineteenth volume, covering material published in 2026.
Addendum: I never want to see manuscripts. Never. If I ask for a hard copy that means the collection/magazine/anthology/chapbook/whatever. NOT YOUR MS.
… I am looking for stories and poetry from all branches of horror: supernatural, uncanny, sf horror, psychological, dark crime, terror tales, or anything else that might qualify.
This is an all reprint anthology, so I’ll only consider material published in 2026. Deadline is December 1st 2026. … If a book or magazine is coming out after my deadline, I will look at galleys.” Details here.
Horrific Scribblings
They publish transgressive dark fiction, and they accept drabbles (exactly 100 words) as well as flash fiction (or Horrific Flashes, up to 1,000 words), and longer stories of 1,500-5,000 words. “We want dark, transgressive fiction, mostly horror (all subgenres, bloodless to extreme, nothing off limits as long as you really have a good story not driven by hate, e.g. racism, homophobia, etc.) but also the horror-adjacent, e.g. dark fantasy, dark sci-fi, and surreal and experimental work with dark edges.” They pay $10 for flash and $25 for short stories. Submit via their relevant forms. Details here (drabbles and flash) and here (short stories).
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.
