Submissions

Submissions are currently closed. We expect to open again sometime in 2023.

We want quiet horror at Dread Imaginings. No slashers, no zombies, no vampires, no werewolves (though transformation tales interest us). Also, no ghost stories. This last one is a personal preference. There are many fine ghost stories and authors who write them; we just don’t want them here. Stories of dread don’t need to be supernatural in nature. Think Poe. Or, better yet, think Shirley Jackson (The Lottery, The Witch), Flannery O’Conner (A Good Man Is Hard to Find, Good Country People), Ursula K. LeGuin (The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas). Not necessarily horror fiction at all but fiction that gets under your skin. In the vein of Thomas Ligotti is always welcome. Science fiction is a hard sell.

We want new writers as well as established ones. We want voices from outside the U.S. and diverse voices from anywhere. We publish one story a month, and the collection of stories on our site should represent the full spectrum of human experiences.

We’ll accept stories from 1,500 to 4,000 words. This isn’t a hard rule, but don’t stray too far from these limits. Use Shunn formatting (doc/docx/pdf). We pay $.01 per word. No reprints. No multiple submissions. Simultaneous submissions are fine, but please let us know if your story is selected elsewhere. Authors retain all rights to their stories. We ask for first digital rights with no period of exclusivity and permission to keep the story on our site.

When submissions are open, the submit button will be available below. You do not need to include a cover letter, but provide a bio with any writing credits. Please use the file name format [Story Title-Full Name-Email] for your document.

Our response time should be within 30 – 90 days, and we respond to all submissions. If you haven’t heard back after six months, please inquire.