These are submission calls for speculative fiction: science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their sub-genres, including, but not limited to fairy tales, sword and sorcery, cozy fantasy, high fantasy, ghost stories, eldritch, slipstream, alternate history, steampunk, cyberpunk, post-apocalypse, soilpunk, solarpunk, and more. Many of them pay writers. Some of the calls are themed. Many, but not all, are open for submissions now.

Synthesized Sunsets
Synthesized Sunsets is “a magazine and podcast about speculative fiction, romantic art, and the evolution of popular culture. Every few months, the magazine will rebrand to reflect a new “season”, complete with an aesthetic theme.” You can read about them here. They have detailed guidelines, including, “We are looking for speculative fiction stories that preferably relate to this issue’s solar theme. By speculative fiction, we mean stories have some novel speculative idea about possible futures or alternate pasts. This idea may be scientific or technological, but it could also be philosophical, sociological, mythological, etc. While we hope to publish primarily sci-fi and fantasy, our definition will include works not normally considered within those genres. At the same time, just because a story has sci-fi aesthetics (e.g. spaceships and aliens) does not mean it is speculative fiction.” The theme for this season is the Sun, so while all stories may be accepted, on-theme stories are preferred.” Send stories up to 12,500 words (up to 5,000 preferred). They pay $50. Details here.

ELA
This new UK-based literary magazine wants stories “that subvert expectations, challenge tired tropes, and explore the beautiful complexity of human connection through fresh and unexpected lenses.” They celebrate “the cute, creepy, and peculiar.” You can read about them here. For their first issue, they want fiction submissions on the theme, Twisted Kingdom: “This is a warped reimagining of UK mythology. Forget everything you think you know about British folklore and start asking, What if..? What if Robin Hood stole from the poor to give to the rich? What if Merlin pulled the sword from the stone? What if Brigadoon was actually just a real place? … Take any piece of UK mythology and reimagine it completely. Give us something new, something unexpected, and something that subverts what we think we know. We’re excited to see how you all reinvent our culture and mythology, but give us a British Twist on another piece of mythos or tell us a story about your hometown’s version of a British Monster, and we’ll be just as ecstatic!” They want stories of 150-3,000 words, and the deadline is 1^st September 2025. Details here.

Uncanny Magazine
This award-winning magazine publishes speculative fiction and poetry. They are open for speculative poetry submissions until 26^th August, and for short speculative fiction submissions from 25^th August to 8^th September 2025. They pay $40/poem and $0.10/word for fiction. Details here. 

Inner Worlds Zine
They publish “Speculative stories about our inner lives”. They want “Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus. We are mainly interested in fiction, but we’re open to speculative memoir or creative non fiction, as long as it has speculative elements.” They have detailed guidelines. They also accept reprints. Submission is via a form. They’re open from October 1^st to 14^th for members of marginalised groups only and from October 15^th to 31^st for general submissions (from all writers). They pay £0.02/word for stories of 500-2,500 words. Details here.

Three-Lobed Burning Eye
“We publish stories 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. We want to see something new and different.” They encourage submissions from underrepresented voices. They pay $0.08/word for fiction of 500-7,499 words. Their next submission window is 1^st to 16^th September 2025. Details here.

Dragon Soul Press
They’re reading submissions of 3,000-20,000 words for various anthologies in all genres: Poisons & Potions (witch-themed stories, deadline – August 31^st); Holiday Spirit, (Christmas-themed stories, deadline – September 30^th); Fire & Ash (dragon-themed stories, deadline – October 31st), Forever yours (all love stories with a happily ever after; Valentine-themed preferred, but not required, deadline – November 30th); Fallen in Love (all romantic stories involving angels, nephilim, etc. Happy ever afters are not required, deadline – December 31st), Curse of the Sword (all fairytale retellings. No happily ever after required, deadline – December 31st, 2025), and more. They pay royalty share. Details here and here.

(And, Flame Tree regularly issues calls for themed anthologies; they’re currently open for an Africanfuturism anthology, deadline 2^nd November; they usually publish their submission calls here.)

Night Shades
“Generally, any kind of speculativefiction is fine, but it must have arecognizable speculative element. I like sci-fi best, but I also like horror and fantasy that’s light on magic. I also like slice of life or less plot-driven stories that create a world.” Please see their detailed guidelines, including hard sells. They want stories up to 500 words and pay $65. Details here.

Fusion Fragment
This Canadian magazine wants science fiction or SF-tinged literary fiction. “Although any science fiction subgenre is fair game, our tastes lean towards slipstream, cyberpunk, post-apocalypse, and anything with a little taste of the bizarre. FF prefers character-driven stories, and often skews towards quiet, reflective pieces. If the primary tone of your story is one of high adventure or humour, it’s probably not the right fit for FF.” They pay CAD0.04/word up to CAD400 for stories of 2,000 to 15,000 words. Details here.

Neon & Smoke
Neon & Smoke is a new magazine; it is “a home for bold, voice-driven fiction with emotional weight and narrative fire.
We publish stories that don’t sit quietly—tales where the plot might thrill, chill, or make you laugh, but always reveals something deeper.” They pay $20 for fiction up to 1,000 words; they also accept poetry and art. Details here.  

Tractor Beam
They publish soilpunk fiction and graphic fiction. They have detailed guidelines, including, “For our upcoming issues, we’re specifically seeking stories exploring a positive future on Earth with an emphasis on soil and agriculture in the winter, the productive role of ice and snow in the seasons, frost and permafrost, future fashion and style, entertainment and culture, the ocean and soil under water, soil as tech, soil as the origin of life and anti-apocalyptic futures. Literal or abstract, near term or on distant horizons: worlds can take inspiration from innovations or alternative practices in earth and material science, regenerative agriculture, food, microbiology, and more.” They’re reading submissions for Issue 4. They pay $1,000 for stories up to 6,000 words. The deadline is 6^th October 2025. Details here and here.

Vellum Mortis
Vellum Mortis is a monthly ezine from Crystal Lake Publishing. They publish dark flash fiction on monthly themes. For September, the theme is The Unmaking. “Stories of unraveling—worlds, minds, bodies, or timelines.” Pay is $5 for stories up to 1,000 words, and the deadline is 10 September 2025. Details here (scroll down) and here. 

The Future Fire
The Future Fire is a project of Futurefire.net Publishing. Their tagline is, ‘Social Political & Speculative Cyberfiction’. They publish “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 pay $10-20 for fiction, poetry, and art. Details here.

Solarpunk
“Solarpunk Magazine publishes hopeful short stories and poetry that strive for a utopian ideal, that are set in futures where communities are optimistically struggling to solve or adapt to climate change, to create or maintain a world in which humanity, technology, and nature coexist in harmony rather than in conflict. We also publish solarpunk art as well as nonfiction that explores real world, contemporary topics and their intersection with the solarpunk movement for a better future.” They prefer stories of 1,500-3,000 words for 2025 (pays $.08 per word, $100 minimum), one poem ($40), and nonfiction of 1,000-2,000 words ($75) via their submission portal during their reading periods; the upcoming one is 1^st to 14^th October 2025. Details here.

Neon Hemlock Press
They publish queer speculative fiction; they’ll open for:
— novellas from all writers (science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural, slipstream, & weird, hybrid work, prefer works that explore some element of queer experience, 17,500–40,000 words)during October 15-30 2025, see here (scroll down);
— for Baffling Magazine from December 1-15, for science fiction, fantasy, and horror with a queer bent – unthemed as well as stories on the timefuckery theme, pays $0.08/word for stories up to 1,200 words;
— and they’re open till 31^st December 2025 for queer speculative fiction reprints from 2025, for We’re Here: The Best Queer Speculative Fiction 2025 (speculative stories published in 2025 under 17,500 words that implicitly or explicitly explore queerness and/or transness), details here (scroll down), here, and here.
See all of Neon Hemlock Press’s open calls here.

Samovar
This magazine is published by Strange Horizons, and they publish speculative works in translation. Samovar accepts original translated stories (up to 5,000 words), as well as reprints; they also accept poetry translations, interviews, and reviews. Pay is $0.08/word up to 3,750 words each, to the author and translator, for original translated fiction; $100 each for reprint translated fiction; and $40 each for poetry (see guidelines). Details here and here.

Sans. Press: No Gods No Masters Anthology
They publish themed anthologies. Currently they want fiction submissions that respond to the theme is No Gods No Masters and/or their cover art (see guidelines). “In great magical battles, or in a conflict between the smallest of creatures, reality is built by the echo of voices refusing to be silenced. While those in power might try to conduct the world under the rhythm of their wishes, again and again voices will rise in dissonance, claiming to be heard as they are. … we want to celebrate stories that live and die by the motto of fresh & weird; characters that refuse to be anything but themselves, and that will remake the worlds around them rather than be broken down. We are looking for revolutions that take any shape or form – individual, symbolic, magical, political, subjective – as long as they are motivated by the authentic pursuit of change.
No Gods No Masters is an anthology for the stories that are ready to get their hands dirty in the making of a newer, fairer world; it is for the characters that are driven not for the love of power but for solidarity, for genuine belief, and for a refusal to surrender to cynicism and despair.” And, “All genres of writing are welcome; more than any specific story or style, we want the emotional response the title and artwork evokes in you.” They will remain open for submissions until the deadline of 31^st August 2025, or until their submission cap is met, whichever is earlier. Submission is via a form on their website. Pay is €200 for stories up to 5,000 words. Details here.

Speculative City
This magazine “embraces the motivations of speculative fiction and integrates them into a focus of setting: the city. Cities instinctively draw individuals aspiring to create communities. Speculative City endeavors to elevate the voices of these communities through literary works that explore the potentials of their lived experience through the frame of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism.” Pay is $20-55 for stories up to 5,500 words. Watch for their next submission period and theme. Details here.

Bourbon Penn
“We are looking for highly imaginative stories with a healthy dose of the odd.  Odd characters, odd experiences, odd realities. We’re looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal.” Pay is $0.04/word for stories of 2,000 – 7,500 words. Submissions reopen on 1^st September 2025. Details here.

Phano
This is a new magazine of science (no fantasy) and literary fiction and nonfiction. They want stories that provoke a sense of wonder, touch an emotional core, centers on well-developed characters, speculates eloquently on emergent topics, and more (see guidelines). They want works of 1,000-5,000 words, and pay $0.02/word. Details here and here.

Zooscape
This magazine publishes furry fantasy fiction. “All stories must be furry.  That means an anthropomorphic animal figure should be significantly featured in your story — it could be anthropomorphic in body or only intelligence. We’ll consider any type of furry fiction from secret life of animals to fox in Starbucks.  We love science-fiction with animal-like aliens and fantasy with talking dragons, unicorns, or witch familiars.” Pay is $0.08/word for stories up to 1,000 words, and $80 for longer (up to 10,000 words; query for longer). They also accept reprints. Their next submission period is 1^st to 28^th February 2026. Details here.

Factor Four Magazine
They want flash speculative fiction — science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these, of up to 1,000 words. Pay is $0.11/word. They also accept artwork. Details here.

StarShipSofa
They publish science fiction. “From the soft, social science fiction to the weird pulpy stuff to the vigorous hard SF and YA adventure. We welcome all sub-genres and all variety of punks in all their colours. From high-octane action to quiet philosophical stories, we’re after it all. Science fiction is a rich and diverse genre, push its boundaries as far as you can go.
We welcome translations and are very interested in stories that take place/written by authors outside the US/Anglo-sphere, as well as alternative movements and styles. These include (but not limited to) “non-Western” science fiction, Chinese SF, Soviet speculative fiction, Afro-futurism, etc. The exception is that the SF element must be the backbone of the story.” And, “Paid story length runs from 3,000 words up to 7,000 words. Most of the stories we accept are between 3500 and 5000 words.” Do not send fantasy or supernatural horror. They pay $50. Details here and here.

Hearth Stories
“Hearth Stories publishes slice-of-life stories with a focus on nature, forests, connection, family, romance/relationships, and comfort/kindness. We are primarily focusing on stories set in a pre-industrial-revolution time period (or a fantasy world resembling such), preferably not in city settings. We accept works from 1,000 words up to 10,000. However, the ideal length may be something in the 1,500-3,500 word range. We do not currently accept poetry or non-fiction. We will potentially accept literary fiction (i.e. non-speculative work) if it takes place before ~1825 or so, please let us know in your cover letter if you are submitting a story that is not speculative (this is a new type of submission for us and we want to gauge interest).” This is a vegan magazine (see guidelines). Pay is $0.01/word. The next submission period is 1^st to 30^th September 2025. Details here.

Tyche Books: Fascination Anthology
This is a fiction and poetry anthology from Tyche Books. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Imagine a tall figure in black robes wearing a mask that looks like a deer skull, antlers backlit by moonlight. Or perhaps it is not a mask and the shape beneath the robes something much more than human.
Imagine a thatch-roofed fairy tale cottage deep in a forest, with a lake of black water for a front lawn. Imagine what creatures the cottage’s occupant keeps trapped beneath the water, waiting to be called forth to do their bidding …. I want nature-fueled magic, witches and dark fae. Creepy cottages, haunted homesteads and bespelled woods.
Submit them to me that I might find myself enchanted and unsettled by them in equal measure”. Pay is CAD50 for stories up to 7,500 words, CAD20 for poetry; more if Kickstarter funding permits (see guidelines), and the deadline is 3 September 2025 (see guidelines). Details here and here.

Translunar Travelers Lounge
They want fun speculative fiction; stories must have elements of science fiction or fantasy. “A fun story, at its core, is one that works on the premise that things aren’t all bad; that ultimately, good wins out. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your story has to be silly or lighthearted (though it certainly can be). Joy can be made all the more powerful when juxtaposed against tragedy. In the end, though, there should be hope, and we want stories that are truly fun for as many different kinds of people as possible.
Swashbuckling adventure, deadly intrigue, and gleeful romance are some of the most obvious examples of what we’re looking for, but we won’t say no to more subtle or complicated topics, as long as they fit under the wider “fun” umbrella.” They pay $0.03/word for stories up to 5,000 words. The first week of their month-long reading period, which begins on 15^th September 2025, is reserved for writers of color. Details here.

Solstitia
They’re reading submissions on the Dragon Hoards theme for their fourth issue. The theme is preferred but not strictly enforced. “We accept all genres (yes, even literary fiction) and all submission types (fiction, non fiction, poetry, art). Word count 10,000 or less preferred.” They pay $50. The deadline is 1^st September 2025. Details here and here.

The Daily Tomorrow
This is a daily serial science fiction magazine. You can read more about them here; “The Daily Tomorrow is a 300-500 word daily newsletter, serializing the best new SF stories by the most exciting writers working today. One email a day, one story a week. All stories start on Sunday and end the following Saturday. We publish stories which are high-concept without being gimmicky, which are about science as well as about technology, which are populated by familiar people living under unfamiliar conditions. We publish fun stories, thinky stories, sad stories, and hopeful stories.” They want stories of 2,100-3,500 words, and pay $0.10/word. Details here.

Orion’s Belt
This is a speculative flash fiction and poetry magazine. Their website says, “We specialize in the strange and poignant and awe-inspiring, stories that have a cosmic scale and intimate personal stakes.” They have detailed guidelines, including preferences and hard sells. They publish one story and one poem per month. Pay is $0.08.word for stories up to 1,200 words. The deadline is 1 September 2025. Details here. 
 
Bowery Gothic
Bowery Gothic wants “stories—both real and imagined—that exist in that liminal space: between the seen and unseen; between entertainment and fear. We are excited by work that stands at the threshold and looks into the unknown. We are excited by the sublimity of terror. We are not interested in gore, violence, or perversion. Instead, send us literary work that transcends genre, that scares us and makes us think: Damn, that was fresh. … Find that sweet spot where literary work soars to an unexpected place or where the unexpected is beautifully told. Be it a tale about ghosts, aliens, monsters, alternate universes, dystopias, paranormal behaviors, etc.—whatever it is, make it your best.” The loose theme for their next issue is, The Uncanny Valley. Send stories of 500-5,000 words. They also accept poetry. The deadline is 15 September 2025. Details here.

Plott Hound 
This is an e-zine for speculative fiction and poetry starring animals. They pay $0.08/word for stories of 1,000-5,000 words (prefer 3,000-4,000 words), and $50 for poems. They also welcome translations. Their next submission period is 1^st to 15^th September 2025. Their submission portal will open during the reading period. Details here and here.

WolfSinger Publications Anthologies
They publish fiction anthologies; for the current anthology, the theme is, Search for the Any Key. “This will be mostly action/adventure, but can be placed in any time period, on other planets or any type of setting. All genres accepted and may contain humor, drama, romance, etc. Diverse characters welcome, human or otherwise. The catch – no traditional keys accepted. If the characters don’t find the key, that’s okay.” They pay $15 + royalty share for stories of 1,000-7,000 words, and the deadline is 29^th August 2025. 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.” Send stories up to 5,000 words. Details here.

Zoetic Press: Non-Binary Review
They publish speculative work – poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and art. They have themed calls. Their current/upcoming themes are: Erased from History (deadline 31^st August), Carnival (reading period 1-30 November 2025), Saying Goodbye to Yesterday (reading period 1-28 February 2026), and more. They pay $0.01/word for prose up to 3,000 words, and $10 for poetry. Details here and here.

Escape Artists Magazines
They publish speculative fiction in an audio and online format. Their magazines for various genres are:
— Cast of Wonders (for young adult speculative fiction – open till 31^st August for writers under 20 years, and from 1^st to 14^th September 2025 for all writers), see their guidelines here, schedule here, and submission portal here;
— Escape Pod (for science fiction – scheduled to reopen in September 2025), see their guidelines here and here, schedule here, and submission portal here;
— PodCastle (for fantasy – reading period 1^st to 30^th November 2025), see their guidelines here, schedule here, and submission portal here;
— PseudoPod (for horror – they recently closed for submissions), see their guidelines here and schedule here;
— CatsCast (for speculative fiction about cats – occasional open reading periods, see their guidelines here).
All the Escape Artists magazines pay $0.08/word for fiction, and also accept reprints.

Reckoning
They publish speculative work on environmental justice, and for their 10^th issue, they’re reading submissions broadly around the Communication theme. “What brought us to this? How do those of us who grasp the direness of our situation—as a species, as a global community—convey or fail to convey that to others? These are dauntingly complex questions, and it’s clear the familiar solutions fall catastrophically short. Show us new answers, new framings. Reach for the weird tools, the neglected ones.” They want art, poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction … in particular from Indigenous, Black, Brown, queer, trans, disabled, neurodivergent and/or otherwise marginalized writers and artists. They pay $0.10/word for up to 15,000 words for prose, and $50 per poem. The deadline is 22 September 2025. Details here and here.

Old Moon
This is a fiction and poetry magazine. They have detailed guidelines, including, “Old Moon publishes character-focused, weird sword-and-sorcery: stories dark and tragic, set in a secondary or historical-paranormal (“our” reality, but with a twist, if you will) world, with a focus on rounded characters undergoing some sort of conflict, resolved (though not always successfully!) by the might of their main or mind.
We love stories that combine that sense of action and adventure with well-rounded characters who make us question our own realities and perceptions. We love to see the gothic, the baroque, the eldritch, and we love to see it hit with an axe.” They accept 1,000-10,000 words for fiction. They pay $0.08/word for fiction, and $50/poem. Watch for their next submission period. Details here.

Tasavvur
This is a magazine for South Asian speculative fiction and non-fiction; you can read about them here. They accept fiction during their reading periods, and non-fiction pitches on an ongoing basis. Writers of South Asian origin or association (broadly defined — including diaspora, mixed heritage, or meaningful cultural affiliation), and non–South Asian writers whose speculative fiction stories are deeply rooted in South Asian themes or settings, can submit here. They want all forms of speculative fiction – fantasy, sci-fi, horror, magical realism, mythpunk, weird fiction, or anything genre-bending. Pay is $0.03/word for fiction up to 5,000 words, and $100 for commissioned nonfiction. The deadline is 31^st August 2025. Details here, here (guidelines and submission period), and here.

Manawaker 100 word project
Manawaker is a speculative fiction publisher. “The 100 Word Project is an ongoing project focused on 100 word storieswhich will be published as a monthly, themed online journal and in a yearly print anthology. Each month (except for June and December) will bring a new prompt, and in the first half of the next month nine of the submitted drabbles for that prompt will be posted in the public-facing section of the Manawaker Patreon … At the end of the year, the ten stories from each of the ten prompts will be assembled into the next volume of the 100 x 100 series to be published as a print, digital, and audio book.” They pay $1. Details here. 
(Manawaker is also open for Home Constellations: A sci-fi anthology of unconventional bonds, for which they pay, deadline 30^th September 2025; details here. They also have a flash fiction podcast, details here.)

Starspun
This magazine publishes fantasy stories for children, middle graders, young adults. “Stories must be fantasy (adventure, sword and sorcery, literary, high, etc.) and set in a different world. We do not accept urban fantasy. Dark fantasy is welcome but a hard sell.” They also welcome submissions from writers under the age of 18. Send works of up to 6,000 words. They are also reading submissions for a special Halloween themed call, for which they want stories up to 600 words. Details here.  

Augur and Tales & Feathers Magazines
Augur Magazine, as well as its sibling magazine Tales & Feathers, are reading submissions for Issue 9. Augur publishes sci-fi, fantasy, dreamy realism, and more, as well as speculative poetry; and Tales & Feathers publishes cozy and slice of life fantasy. While both magazines are open for general submissions (i.e. from all writers) till 31^st August, they also have extended submission windows for marginalized creators; Augur will remain open to submissions from trans, disabled, and/or BIPOC creators and creators residing in Canada/Turtle Island until September 15th, and Tales & Feathers will remain open to submissions from all trans, disabled, and/or BIPOC creators until September 15th, 2025. Also, Augur has separate submission categories for Canadian and international writers, please be sure to submit in the correct one. Send fiction up to 5,000 words for Augur; and for Tales & Feathers, up to 2,500 words. Pay is $0.14 cents (CAD) per word for short fiction (800+ words), $112.00 per flash fiction piece (800 words and under) for both magazines and CAD100 for poetry. Details here (guidelines for both magazines), here (submissions for Augur), and here (submissions for Tales & Feathers).

Mystic Mind
This is a science fiction and fantasy entertainment magazine. They are looking for sci-fi and fantasy themed short stories (up to 5,000 words, pays $5), artwork, photography, 2-page comics, and serialized role-playing adventure stories centered in the genre of modern pulp. Details 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. 

The Orange & Bee
This Australian Substack-based magazine “publishes original and contemporary short stories, poems, and essays that explore, expand on, and subvert the rich traditions of international folklore, with a strong focus on fairy tales (though we also sometimes dabble in other forms of folklore, such as fables, myths, and legends).” They do not want work for children. Pay is $0.08/word for prose up to 4,000 words, and $50 for poetry. Their next submission period is 1^st to 14^th October 2025 (see guidelines). Details here and here. 

The Big Book of Quantum Fiction
They want fiction (100-10,000 words), poetry, and art. “What is quantum fiction? What makes it tick? Envision a world where the past, present and future co-exist. Where anything we perceive can be argued to have existence, as a part of ourselves. Plot, dialogue, character development and story line become twisted in unexplained ways, hinting of parallel realities. Dreams and imagination become real.
We are looking for work which may be within one or more standard genres, but containing one or more “quantum” elements. These quantum elements should not be literal — people don’t run about with “quantum rayguns” blasting each other, or fall into a particle accelerator, or shrink into a tiny universe like Ant-man. Rather, consider a regular story with a few strange, unexplained “differences.” Perhaps with cause and effect subtly twisted in ways which profoundly affect things.” They pay $24, and the deadline is 30 September 2025. Details here.

Hollow Oak Press
They will now publish monthly flash fiction (1,000-1,500 words), and this feature is called Acorns. “Each month, we’ll feature a new piece of flash fiction on our blog. … All stories must feature a speculative element, whether it’s magic or monsters or anything in between. It can be as subtle as a hint of the unexpected in the real world, or as pervasive as secondary world fantasy. All subgenres of speculative fiction are welcome, although military/political/alien-based sci-fi will be a harder sell. We will judge all stories by their own merits though, so if you think you have something that fits, we want to read it. Some tips: We generally prefer character-driven stories that evoke emotion. We like intimate, rural settings. We prefer clean prose that makes every single word count.” They pay $5. Details here.

Bindweed Christmas Ghost Horror Anthology
Bindweed wants stories for a Christmas ghost horror anthology. “We’re looking for ghost stories of up to 3000 words set during the festive season. They can be sad, sinister, funny, or even have some paranormal romance. Think supernatural horror, rather than slasher (although, if the slasher ends in a few ghosts out seeking revenge, that might work…)”. The deadline is 1^st October 2025. Details here.

Homunculi
They publish speculative fiction and poetry from students, researchers, and professionals in the STEM fields. This includes, but is not limited to, high school students, undergraduates, graduate students, educators and STEM communicators, academics, industry professionals, as well as physicians, nurses, and other medical workers. Details here.

Shacklebound Books: Happily Never After Anthology
This is an anthology of dark fairytale drabbles, stories of exactly 100 words. Stories must be inspired by fairy tales. “I’m mostly interested in stories in the fantasy genre but if you can make a sci-fi fairytale work then send it my way. Stories must be dark. No “happy ever afters.” The anthology is open until filled. Details here (scroll down).

Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores
They publish fiction (science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch, in written, podcast, video, and/or graphic story form), as well as non-fiction and poetry. They accept both serious and humorous work. They also accept reprints. Their submission period is the 1st-2nd of every month (see guidelines). They have detailed guidelines, please read them carefully. They accept anywhere from 1,000 words and up for fiction (see guidelines). Pay is $0.08/word for fiction, $0.02-0.08/word for nonfiction, $1/line for poetry. Details here.

Rogue Planet Press: Lovecraftiana—the Magazine of Eldritch Horror
They want stories / poetry / articles / artwork relating to Lovecraftian themes. Query for stories longer than 10,000 words. Details here. (Rogue Planet Press also publishes Schlock! Webzine.)

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