These magazines pay for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. They are a mix of literary and genre magazines. They’re open now, or will soon open for submissions.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye
They publish speculative fiction: including horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction. They want works “across the speculative genres, including all the shadows between and fluid mixtures thereof. We like narrative voices that are full of feeling, from literary to pulpy, with styles unique and flowing, but not too experimental. All labels aside, we want tales that value imagination in character, narrative, and plot.”
Deadline: 16^th January 2026
Length: 500-7,499 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.

Strange Horizons
Strange Horizons will open a short submission window for general speculative fiction (from all writers) in January. Their announcement says, “Strange Horizons will open to general fiction submissions on January 19th, 2026, at 3 p.m. UTC! This window will remain open for 48 hours, closing at 3 p.m. UTC on January 21st, 2026. There will be no submissions cap as there has been in previous years. All authors can submit to this window.” Other genres (like non-fiction, poetry) are open on an ongoing basis.
Reading period for general speculative fiction submissions: 19^th to 21^st January 2026 (see guidelines)
Length: Up to 10,000 words (up to 5,000 preferred)
Pay: $0.10/word
Details here, here, and here.

(– And, Adventitious, a new magazine, will open from 1^st to 5^th February 2026; ““Surprise” doesn’t only mean twists. We want stories that offer a sense of wonder through their language, characters, plots, or all of the above. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and all speculative/surreal will always be welcomed, but we’re also happy with stories that shock and delight right here on this plane of existence.” They pay $0.08/word for stories of micro to novelette length, up to 17,000 words; details here.)

Slush
They are reading fiction submissions for their first issue; short stories, micro and flash fiction as well as comics, prose poetry and other forms. Their About page says, “Slush is a new online literary journal dedicated to publishing fiction.
The journal seeks short stories, micro|flash fiction, prose poems and other hybrids that play with form to split and skew expectations.
We are searching for good stories, well told ~ stories that try something new and may not (necessarily) find a home elsewhere.”
Deadline: 1 February 2026 (11:59PM AEDT)
Length: Up to 5,000 words
Pay: AUD100
Details here.

(– And, Shenandoah will open for fiction submissions on 15^th January, and will close when a submission cap is reached. They read works up to 8,000 words, and they pay. Submissions are via Submittable. Details here.

— Short Story, Long, a Substack-based magazine, is open for fiction submissions, too. They pay $150 for stories of 2,000 to 8,000 words, though they prefer works of 3,000 to 5,500 words. The deadline is 31 January 2026; details here.)

The Phantom Pulse
This is a new speculative fiction magazine “of the grey corners of humanity, dread that permeates the skin, and the bizarre. Our pages are haunted by twisted longing, inevitable darkness, and quiet obsession. 
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 also accept reprints; please note, they do not accept reprint submissions for stories that were published within the last 12 months.
Deadline: 14 February 2026
Length: Up to 3,000 words for originals, up to 5,000 words for reprints
Pay: $0.03/word for originals, $0.01/word for reprints
Details here. 

(– Nightmare, which publishes horror and dark fantasy, will soon open for submissions as well, for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – they have a special submission period for BIPOC writers only, from 19^th to 25^th January, and will open for submissions from all writers from 25^th to 31^st January. They pay $0.08/word for fiction, and $40 for The Horror Lab nonfiction and poetry; details here and here.

–And Horrorsmith Publishing is open now short horror and thriller stories for publishing in their monthly subscriptions and newsletters; they pay $25 for stories of 3,000 to 10,000 words; details here – scroll down. They are open for this call on an ongoing basis.)

Southword
This is a print literary journal published twice a year by the Munster Literature Centre. Their reading period for poetry opened on 1^st January, and they will close end-January or when their submission cap is met, whichever is earlier.
Deadline: Until filled
Length: Up to 4 poems
Pay: €50 per poem
Details here and here.

(— And, Southword will open for fiction submissions on 1^st February, and stay open until filled – see the announcement here.

— Vast Chasm is also open now; this quarterly online journal publishes “bold work that explores the expansive human experience, including flash and short fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, and other nonconforming work.” They read year round, on a rolling basis. Send 1 poem, up to 1,200 words for flash prose, or up to 5,000 words for short stories / creative nonfiction / nonconforming work; they pay  $50; details here and here.)

---

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.