End of year market deadlines for horror writers

AN IRREGULAR MARKETS SERIES

Here are 22 writing markets and publishing/production opportunities for our Seattle chapter horror folks, in case you're looking for new homes for your work. These listings are for shortform work only (poetry, stories, essays, articles, reviews, comics/graphic narratives, animations).

It's essential that you tailor your submission to each publication by reading and following their guidelines. Always check to make sure they are still open for submissions, as deadlines may close early if they receive more work than they need.

KEY:

1. Markets listed below are in deadline order and may have previously appeared in our Discord or were sourced and/or shared by our members.

2. Note: Not all markets are paid markets, but it can be useful for writers at every level to amass several publication credits (paid or not) in order to break into paying—or higher paying—markets.

3. Only non-fee markets and contests are listed.

4. This irregular posting of potential markets is in no way considered exhaustive. You can also find places to send your work using Chill Subs, Duotrope, HorrorTree, New Pages, Submission Grinder, Submittable, and other places.

5. If you find calls for submissions elsewhere while doing your own research that you think would appeal to our members, feel free to post in the Discord or share at hwaseattle@gmail.com.

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Market listing includes indication of paying market (💲), potential inquiries needed ( ? ) publication name, THEME (if available), deadline, type of work sought, payment offered (USD unless otherwise indicated), special notices, and link.

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• ? The Horror Zine. Deadline: Uncertain/until full.  Looking for short stories, flash fiction, poetry. No payment but they promote your work in social media. A popular "for the love" market. https://www.thehorrorzine.com/Submission%20Guidelines.html

  
  

• Folklore Review. Theme: "Winter Solstice/Dead of Winter." Deadline: Nov 28, 2025.  Looking for short stories, flash fiction, poetry, nonfiction. No payment but they promote your work in social media. Work must be inspired by folklore. https://folklorereview.submittable.com/submit
  

• 💲Inkd Publishing. Noncorporeal IV: Phantom Dusk Anthology. Theme: "Ghosts, haunts, and spirits." Deadline: Nov 30, 2025.  Looking for short stories. Pays $10 + D2D royalty share. Encourages less traditional horror and more spooky, suspense, thriller, or speculative vibes. https://inkdpub.com/submissions/

• 💲Zoetic Press. NonBinary Review. Theme: "Carnival." Deadline: Nov 30, 2025. Looking for short fiction, poetry. Pays .01/word for prose, $10 per poem. Accepts reprints. https://www.zoeticpress.com/submit
  

• 💲Eternal Haunted Summer. The Good Neighbors Anthology. Theme: "The Fae," as seen from pagan/polytheistic/witchy/mythological point of view. Deadline: Dec 1, 2025.  Looking for short fiction, nonfiction, poetry. Pays $5 per piece. Dedicated to deities and pagan themes; accepts any genre provided the Deities/heroes within are treated respectfully. https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/about/

  
  

• 💲Eldritch Cat Press. Theme: "The Lantern Keepers." Deadline: Dec 1, 2025.  Looking for short fiction. Pays $10 per story. Submissions must feature a light, a path, and a guide of some kind.  https://eldritchcatpress.com/current-submissions/

  
  

• Weird Lit. Deadline: Dec 1, 2025. Looking for short fiction. Not a paying market. Dark and weird; encourages non-realist narratives and settings.  https://www.weirdlitmag.com/submit

  
  

• 💲Anomaly.  Deadline: Dec 7, 2025.  Looking for flash-length dark sci-fi and technology/space horror that's "dark and disruptive." Pays .08 per word. Looking to build future anthologies collecting their stories outside Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/posts/124086163?collection=1379866
  

• 💲Trembling With Fear. Theme: "Christmas." Deadline: Dec 7, 2025.  Looking for short fiction, drabbles. Pays $5 per story. Drabbles are considered "donations" to the site. https://horrortree.com/submissions/#themed-calls

  
  

• ? Golgonooza Collective. Brand-new weird fiction market. Deadline: Dec 14, 2025.  Looking for short stories and poetry." Payment unpublished; inquire within Looking for "the speculative, the horrible and marvelous, the numinous, and the strange." https://golgonoozacollective.com/pages/submit

• 💲Black Hare Press.  Deadline: Opens Dec 1; closes Dec 31.  Looking for novelettes and novellas. Pays $20 for works 5-10k in length; $30 for works 10-17k in length; $50 for works 17-50k. Dark stories in any genre; nothing over 50k. https://blackharepress.com/blogs/open-calls/short-reads-novelettes-novellas
  

• 💲Hidden Hand Books.  Deadline: Opens Dec 1; closes Dec 31.  Book length manuscripts, including short story collections. Payment not published; inquire first. "We want new shocking writing that is different from mainstream prose and poetry."  https://hiddenhandbooks.com/submissions

• 💲Baffling Magazine. Theme: "Timefuckery." Deadline: Opens Dec 1; closes Dec 15.  Looking for flash fiction. Pays .08 per word. Also open to unthemed submissions; welcomes horror with a queer bent. https://www.bafflingmag.com/submissions
  

• 💲Speck. Theme: "The Craft." Deadline: Dec 21.  Looking for fiction and poetry. Pays between $5-15 per work depending upon length. Witchcraft, spacecraft, any rumination on the concept of "-craft." https://speckmag.com/submit
  

• 💲Stygian Lepus Magazine.  Deadline: Opens Dec 1; closes Dec 25.  Looking for fiction and poetry. Pays $5. Work that pokes at the shadows. https://www.stygianlepus.com/submissions/

• 💲Black Beacon Books. Theme: "The Black Beacon Book of Horror 2." Deadline: Dec 31.  Looking for short fiction. Pays $30 for original stories and $10 for reprints + one contributor's copy. Does not send rejection emails. https://blackbeaconbooks.blogspot.com/p/submissions.html

  
  

• 💲DBS Press. "Van Helsing." Deadline: Dec 31.  Looking for short fiction and poetry. Pays .05/word + contributor's copies. Reprints considered if they are 10+ years old (compensation = $55). https://www.dbspress.com/submissions

• 💲Iron Faerie Publishing. Hawthorn & Ash series: "Mistletoe and Vine." Deadline: Dec 31.  Looking for fantasy, speculative, and horror short fiction. Pays .01/word. Australian-based; does NOT accept simultaneous submissions. https://ironfaeriepublishing.com/hawthorn-ash/

  
  

• 💲Kilter & Rammel. Fun in the Dark mini anthology; theme: "Transformations." Deadline: Dec 31.  Looking for short fiction. Pays £20 +contributor's copies. British-based. https://kilterandrammel.com/about/
  

• 💲The Dark. Theme: NA. Deadline: Rolling.  Looking for short fiction. Pays $.05/word for up to 6k words for unpublished work; $.01/word for up to 6k words for reprints. Does not want graphic, violent horror. https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/

  
  

• 💲Polymorphic. Theme: NA. Deadline: Rolling.  Looking for short fiction. Pays $30CAD per story. Accepted works are paired with artists for illustrations. https://polymorphicmagazine.com/submissions/
  

• ? Villain Era. Theme: Vendettas, grudges, villainy. Deadline: Rolling.  Looking for short fiction and poetry. Payment unclear; inquire before submission. "A literary magazine of revenge." https://villaineralit.com/submission-guidelines/