Deadline: July 31st, 2017

Payment: 4 contributor’s copies

We’re looking for short stories and non-fiction articles for the Spooky Isles Book of Horror anthology, to be published later in 2017 in both paperback and digital formats. ANDREW GARVEY tells you want we want…

The Spooky Isles Book of Horror will be a collection of short fiction, paired with their real-life inspirations. Read on to discover how you can be part of this terrifying journey into the macabre!

We are after 2000 to 3000 words for short stories and 1000 words for non-fiction articles. We are quite flexible about word counts but please, no 14,000 word epics and no 200 word flash fiction.

What kind of horror are we looking for?

The Spooky Isles is concerned with British and Irish horror. You could send us the best wendigo or Chinese hopping vampire story ever written and it won’t be published. Keep it British and Irish. If you have a story you want to tell but aren’t certain it quite fits the guidelines, just email and enquire.

We want short stories paired with a non-fiction piece on the ‘real-life’ inspiration behind your story.

Real life here may not be the most helpful term but… let’s say you’ve sent us a short story on the myth of Herne the Hunter.

Your accompanying non-fiction article should discuss the origins of the legend, the basic facts or characteristics of it and a brief discussion of how you’ve been inspired by it or adapted it.

Basically, someone who has never heard of Herne should be able to read your article and get the basics of the story. Look at the articles on www.spookyisles.com for an idea of the kind of non-fiction we want – straightforward, accessible reads, basically – just a bit longer than we usually have online.

Actual real life historical events – if they’ve gone down in British or Irish folklore – are fine too. The obvious example here would be Jack the Ripper, the Pendle witches or Dick Turpin. But be careful, this is not a Jack the Ripper anthology. If you’re going to base your story on such an obvious/infamous figure it will need to be exceptionally good and/or original to stand out.

Remember, this is a horror anthology and our expected audience is an adult one. Your stories need to be horrifying, scary, disturbing, creepy etc. but we aren’t particularly looking for extreme gore, detailed sexual violence or anything that graphically victimises children and animals.

You must submit a short story and an accompanying article to be considered.

What is the deadline?

The deadline is Midnight, Monday 31st July 2017 UK time (but please try not to leave it to absolutely the last minute, eh?)

Please use the contact form on this page to send your submission.

Please send stories and articles together, in one attached document (any kind of Word .doc should be fine).

Use the contact form for any questions about what you’re thinking of submitting..

Payment and copyright information

Contributors will receive four copies of the paperback edition of The Spooky Isles Book of Horror for their efforts.

All work you submit, whether non-fiction or fiction must be your own. Your non-fiction pieces must be at least somewhat referenced. If you lean heavily on a particular source/s for your article then say so. You retain copyright of anything you send us and, once these books are published you are free to re-use your stories and/or articles in any way you see fit.

No fan fiction. No thinly disguised fan fiction, either. That includes characters/stories that have fallen into the public domain. Vampires are fine but only rooted in British/Irish folklore.

Multiple Submissions are fine. Just don’t try and swamp us with mediocre stories/articles in the hopes one sneaks through. Quality, not quantity is always your best option.

We’re not too fussy about formatting, just make sure your story and article are double-spaced, in a clear, legible font. Arial, Calibri and Helvetica make us happy. Oh, and don’t bother with italics, bold, underlining. Just keep everything nice and clean and clear.

Check your spelling and basic grammar too. Everyone makes mistakes now and again but repeated, blatantly obvious misspellings and shocking grammatical errors won’t help your case.

We will acknowledge all submissions. We will also try to give useful feedback if your work is not successful but please note, that may not be possible if we are overwhelmed with entries. It also may take some time. Please be patient.

Your work, if chosen, will be edited. We are more than happy to discuss revisions but please remember, the editor isn’t just thinking about your work, there are other authors to consider, too. If things seem to be taking a while, again, please be patient.

Thanks and good luck.

Note: Contact form is at the bottom of the link below!

Via: Spooky Isles.