Anthologies, Magazines, and Writing Contests

I’ve worked with only a handful of the presses and magazines listed below. Thus, this page is for informational purposes only and is not intended as an endorsement of any publisher included here. The list is updated on a semi-regular basis.

3LBE Magazine – Three-Lobed Burning Eye Magazine is a speculative fiction digital magazine published online and ebook (thrice per year) and print anthology. Each issue features four original stories (six per issue starting in 2025), some with audio readings. Submission windows are open three times during the year: January 1–16, May 1–16, September 1–16.

A Midnight Kind of Place – Scottish horror publisher focused on short stories.

Alienhead Press – Boutique publishing company in Miami providing books for readers of young adult, horror, romance, and women’s paranormal fiction.

Andromeda Spaceways Magazine – Australian online magazine of science fiction. Seeking submissions during certain times of the year.

Apex Magazine – Science fiction magazine open to submissions all year.

Ashton House  – Publishers of Tales of Horror magazine, a literary publication focusing on the horrific and the weird, and Ashton House magazine, a quarterly publication striving to publish the absolute best in contemporary genre fiction including horror, crime, adventure, fantasy and more.

Belanger Books – Detective publisher with a focus on Sherlock Holmes anthologies seeking submissions via open calls.

Berkeley Fiction Review – Forum for short fiction, published annually. We invite submissions of previously unpublished short stories from around the country and the world year-round. We offer a $25 payment for accepted stories and continue to offer a complimentary copy of the issue in which your story appears.

Bethlehem Writers Group – Sponsors an annual short story contest. Monetary prizes and a chance to be published in their annual anthology or online magazine.

Black Cat Weekly – Online magazine publishing science fiction, fantasy, suspense, and mystery.

Bourbon Penn Press – Online magazine seeking speculative stories. They are partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal.

Celestial Echo Press – Anthology publisher seeking submissions during certain times of the year. Themes vary from project to project.

Chicken Soup for the Soul  – Gathers true stories of life experiences via open calls throughout the year.

Clarkesworld – SF and Fantasy magazine open to submissions all year.

Corner Bar Magazine – Publishers of online speculative fiction, specifically fantasy and science fiction.

Dark Moon Books – Dark fiction publisher seeking submissions during certain times of the year.

The Deadlands – Monthly speculative fiction magazine publishing short stories, poems, and essays about the other realms, of the ends we face here, and the beginnings we find elsewhere.

Dreamforge Magazine – SF magazine seeking submissions during specific times of the year.

Eerie River Publishing – Small independent publishing house based in Ontario, Canada, committed to developing and releasing high-quality works in all of the dark genres. 

Electric Spec – Non-themed science fiction, fantasy, and the macabre, but also willing to push the limits of traditional forms of these genres.

Flame Tree Press – Trade fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. They publish globally in the English language, in print and ebook formats, with a focus on horror and the supernatural, crime and mystery thrillers, and science fiction and fantasy.

F(r)iction: A Fine Art and Literature Collection – For our print magazine, we accept short fiction, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry—regardless of genre, style, or origin. Experimental, nontraditional, and boundary-pushing literature is strongly encouraged. Show us your wildest and weirdest!

Galaxy’s Edge Magazine – Bi-monthly science fiction and fantasy magazine with new issues going live every January, March, May, July, September and November.

The Genre Society – Focusing on fiction and poetry, they seek to provide a space for new, unread writers to publish their weird, their creepy, their fantastical stories.

Gravelight Press – Horror publisher seeking submissions via open calls from writers 40 years of age and older. 
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Graveside Press – A horror imprint managed by members of the publishing teams that brought you Paper Angel Press, Water Dragon Publishing, Unruly Voices, and Cupid’s Arrow Publishing.
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Grendel Press – Accepts short story submissions that fit into our chosen genres of Dark Fantasy, Horror, and Romance.
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Hawkshaw Press – Mystery and detective fiction publisher seeking submissions via open calls from writers 40 years of age and older. 
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Inklings Press – Small e-publisher focused on fantasy, sci-fi, horror, mystery and alternative history.
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Interzone Magazine – Interzone is a European zine publishing fiction and non-fiction from all over the planet.
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Jay Henge Publishing – Publishers of novels and anthologies with occasional open calls for submissions.
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Kangas Kahn Publishing – An offshoot of Kangas Kahn films. They publish primarily horror and books about or involving Halloween, for now.
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Lagrange Books – Fiction and nonfiction publisher seeking submissions via open calls.
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Mysterion  – Ezine of Christian-themed speculative fiction edited and published by the husband and wife team of Donald S. Crankshaw and Kristin Janz.
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Neo-opsis SF Magazine – Canadian SF magazine seeking submissions during specific times of the year.
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Nowhere Magazine – Travel magazine that sponsors various contests throughout the year.
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Other Words Ink – Publisher and author services company with occasional open calls for anthologies.
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Oddity Prodigy Productions – Speculative fiction publisher seeking submissions via open calls. Click on their Projects menu to see current opportunities.
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Off-Limits Press -Queer-owned boutique press specializing exclusively in contemporary horror fiction.
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Orison Books – Publishers of spiritual and literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Orison Books seeks to be broad, inclusive, and open to perspectives spanning the spectrum of spiritual and religious thought, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation. They hold three annual contests: The Orison Prizes in Poetry & Fiction, The Orison Chapbook Prize, and The Best Spiritual Literature Awards.
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Out of this World Press – Science fiction publisher seeking submissions via open calls from writers 40 years of age and older. 
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Parallel Universe Publications – Small press specializing in  fantasy, horror, and SF.  Famous for their series of sword and sorcery anthologies.
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PseudoPod– Podcasting site with occasional open submission periods for short fiction. If your story is accepted, their narrators will  read it on their podcast. They pay authors professional rates for original fiction and reach more people every week than any other short fiction horror market.
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Residential Aliens – Publisher of speculative fiction magazines and books with occasional open calls. An imprint of Tule Fog Press.
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Sequestrum – Journal of short prose and poetry. We publish concise, evocative writing that couldn’t exist in any other form, yet reminds us of the breadth and scope of longer works.
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Sinister Smile Press – Horror publisher seeking submissions via open calls. 
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Space & Time Magazine – Publishers of SF, horror, and fantasy. Submissions are open January 15-31 and July 15-31 each calendar year.
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Speculative City –  Online magazine that seeks submissions at various times throughout the year.
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TulipTree Publishing, LLC – Since 2015, TulipTree’s  mantra has been its mission: to tell stories that need to be Told. TulipTree Review is a print literary journal featuring fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. In addition to the annual Stories That Need to Be Told contest anthology of winners, TulipTree publishes fundraising books that benefit a variety of worthy causes.
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Uncanny Magazine – A magazine of SF and Fantasy with occasional open calls for submissions.
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Uncharted – Uncharted Magazine publishes Thriller/Mystery Short Stories from fiction writers of any background or experience. We are rolling horror stories into this category!
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Utopia Science Fiction Magazine – open to submissions for various themed and non-themed issues of their magazine throughout the year.
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Weird Horror Magazine – A home for the strange, the macabre, the eerie, the esoteric, the fabulist, and the gothic. Seeking horror and weird fiction from 500 to 6,000 words, firm.
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Weird Tales Magazine – Speculative fiction magazine publishing strange and bizarre tales via open calls at specific times of the year.
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Worldstone Publishing – Science Fiction and Fantasy publishers known for their annual Summer of Sci-Fi anthologies.
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Write or Die Magazine – Accepting short stories, essays, and author interviews. No submission fee during the first week of the month. There is a $3 fee per submission for the rest of the month. Response time is approximately six months.
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Zombies Need Brains, LLC  – Speculative fiction publisher seeking submissions via open calls.