Word of the week: Gallimaufry: A hodgepodge, a jumble, or a confused medley
Hi readers! It’s Holley again, still filling in for Stuart. In case you missed last week’s newsletter, I’ll be filling in for a few weeks. I am a professor, a librarian, and a writer. If you want to get to know me better, I’m on Facebook and Twitter.
Horror Tree Update:
Our Calendar View is currently having an issue. We may know how to fix it but Stuart is busy traveling so it may take a few days (sorry!)
Trembling With Fear update:
Reminder - We've got all three of this year's editions now available in physical AND digital formats!
- Trembling With Fear: Year 4
- Trembling With Fear: More Tales From The Tree: Volume 3
- Trembling With Fear: Serial Killers: Volume 2
Here are the latest articles on writing from around the web! I’ve tried to sort these by category, so you can find articles of importance to whatever stage you are at in your writing journey.
On the business of writing:
Writer’s Digest: How to Make the Most of a Virtual Writing Workshop or Conference
On writing in general:
Writers in the Storm: 3 Steps to Make Time to Write
Live Write Thrive: 5 Common Mistakes Writers Make That Sabotage Their Success
On craft:
LitReactor: Storyville: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Scene Breaks
I’m excited to continue rounding up fantastic free online fiction to share with all of you. If you are looking for something new to read, or authors that perhaps you haven’t read before, check these out. These were the best of week for me:
Free Fiction Roundup:
“In the Garden of My Ancestors’ Statues” by Marissa Lingen. Kaleidotrope
“The Bee Queen” by Kristi Demeester. Three-Lobed Burning Eye
“Hot Blood, Cold Snow” by Jared Povanda. Wrongdoing Magazine
“Apology” by William Kitcher. 34 Orchard
If you post any writing content during the week and think it would be a good fit for us to feature, do reach out and let us know at contact@horrortree.com
Thank you Patreons! As always, the site's lifeblood is in your hands and we truly appreciate your support.
Looking To Help Horror Tree?
Here are the main things we're looking for:
- Advertising and either Site or Contest sponsorships!
- Someone to help create videos for social media (we have tools, but not time!)
- Article writers (articles, interviews, reviews, crowdsource compilations, etc.)
- Sharing guest posts with us or reaching out for us to be a blog tour host.
- The obvious one here is also to become one of our Patreons!
If you're interested in contributing and think you have something that would help out PLEASE don't shy away from contacting us! (contact@horrortree.com)
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Excerpts:
Click on the book covers for more information. Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page – there’s all sorts lurking in the deep. Got a book to launch, an event to promote or seeking extra work/support as a result of being hit economically by Covid or life in general? Get in...
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Deadline: August 20th, 2021 Payment: $200 and a contributor’s copy (as noted by their social media, not their call.) Theme: medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic Our latest anthology series is inspired by medieval grimoires, collections of ancient and/or obscure spells, alchemy, symbols, and all things odd and gnostic. We divide the book into thematic chapters based around the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air, with a fifth “ether” thrown in to catch the truly undefinable. Thus, although the elemental structure of the book should not determine the story, preference will be given to submissions that best fit and reflect the alchemical, elemental theme of the collection. For more specifics, take a look at the structure and content of our first grimoire anthology, Birthing Monsters, published to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Margaret Garner Links/Resources: http://library.cincymuseum.org/aag/bio/garner.html https://www.amazon.com/Speaks-Margaret-Garner-Mark-Reinhardt-ebook/dp/B005MX7DS2/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-3 https://ohiomemory.ohiohistory.org/archives/876 https://www.amazon.com/Gendered-Resistance-Slavery-Margaret-Studies/dp/0252079426/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=margaret+garner&qid=1622861440&sr=8-4 https://www.soapboxmedia.com/features/Margaret-Garner.aspx Write-Up: Human beings comprise earth’s only death cult. Since the beginning of recorded history, we have regarded our dead with love, reverence, fear, hatred, sorrow, awe. We have performed elaborate burial rights and sacred rituals. Despite the profound silence of the corpse, we seek to speak with the dead, see them, engage with them through mysticism and supernatural belief. We also hope, not for the finite decay of those which we love, but for its opposite: that they live on after death, and that we will, too. In the fatal knowledge of our own certain demise begins the very human quest to not simply prolong our earthly lives as long as possible, but to extend our existence into some as yet still imagined eternity. In Firbolg Publishing’s second grimoire collection, we bring together an eclectic mix of folklore, literature, anecdotes, artwork, letters and historical documents, and bizarre facts and...
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Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three. I Jane breathed deeply, trying to quell her nausea. Had her drink been spiked? Everything felt fuzzy and her brain was...
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A Love of Reading By Lauri Schoenfeld At a young age, I wondered if my mom was possessed. Her sudden burst of rage and anger directed toward me didn’t make sense. Sheer hatred lurked in her eyes, and I didn’t understand, but I wanted to. I believed that there was something good fighting within her. The only thing that made sense to me was that something took her, but she’d be back—one day. Like the movies, I wanted to find some special water, “holy water,” to get whatever was inside her out, and it would be all better. She’d be fine. I’d have my mom back, even though I never really had her at all. She haunted herself and couldn’t see past the image of what she used to be. Nighttime held monsters like it did for most children. I’d peer under my bed, close the closet shut and for good measure, check again to make sure it was closed tight. I covered my face and held my breath every time I heard a creak on the staircase slinking down to the basement because the monster was coming. This monster stayed for a while uninvited. Fear lingered most days for me, and I often wondered why people behaved the way they did. How does someone become so haunted, trapped, disturbed, and sad? I turned to two things to try and understand what I couldn’t comprehend. I’d talk for hours into my comb, having interviews with my bears and barbies about what they thought about this scenario. Talking it out helped me process and gain awareness at a young age of my surroundings and others and their surroundings. I also turned to books. There was a library right down my street, and I would walk there with my tote bag ready...
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Payment: $15 Theme: Vampires We love vampires. They’re our favorite horror monster and we’ve featured them in several of our previous publications. But we’re not done yet. And the Dead Shall Sleep No More is an anthology series about vampires. We’re looking for original works of short fiction to be published in the first volume. Submissions Word Limit: 6,000 words Compensation: flat $15 fee upon publication, plus a digital copy of the anthology. Format: We will accept short-form fiction any way you want to write it. This can include poetry, flash fiction or short stories. We’re particularly interested in the subversion of form. We don’t care about hard and fast rules, so don’t worry too much about formatting. If you feel its good, chances are that shines through in the writing. And we want to read it. Genre: Anything that’s dark, creepy, weird and just a little off-kilter. We’re open to genre fiction, particularly anything related to horror, science-fiction, speculative fiction or weird fiction. But we’re also interested in anything that twists or subverts these genres in some unexpected way. Publishing Rights: We claim First North American Serial Rights for all accepted submissions. After publication, rights revert back to the author. Submissions: Accepted on a rolling basis. We try to make submissions decisions within 3-4 weeks of receiving a piece. Via: Input Output Enterprises.
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Payment: $25 for personal essays and $5 per poem Theme: Honest experiences, very open-ended, read below You know that feeling when you have a lot to say about something and you just don’t know how to get it out but you know your words belong somewhere? We want to be a home to those projects. Whether you offer a short story you wrote about an anthropomorphized coffee maker falling in love in outer space, or that piece of prose poetry you’ve been working on about how your Amazon Prime orders increase significantly when you’re feeling depressed, or the zine you’re making about how the world seems like it’s on fire, we want to hear from you and help you share your story. Consider this a space to talk about your growth, your mental health, or a place for that bizarre piece of short fiction you think deserves to find a home. We are currently seeking non-fiction, fiction and poetry. In a time where the internet can be filled with listicles and a whole lot of repetitive nonsense, Talk Vomit aims, above all else, to be an honest space where writers of all identities, styles and experience levels are able to share and amplify their voices in what often feels like a world of endless gatekeeping. Currently, we are able to pay writers $25 for personal essays (we hope to add short stories to this as soon as possible), and $5 for poems, playlists and art. We have always been interested in being transparent. We know these amounts are not a lot. What we pay writers is based on the money we earn from our Patreon. Our goal continues to be to create a space where the internet feels fun again. This means supporting artists as best we can while we continue to grow. We are actively fundraising towards this goal. If you are interested in...
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If You’re a Horror Writer, You Should Know How Not to Lose Your Reader in 10 Pages Description: Discover how not to lose a reader when writing horror stories. The art of storytelling is easy if you follow its simple rules, but we often forget the principles that make up a good story, including a horror one. Learn more in our article! (Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash) The interest span of individuals has gone down drastically in recent years. There is a high requirement for instant gratification in almost any walk of life. For example, online slots have to grip users with the design and bonus features right from the start. The same goes with movies, books, and pretty much everything online. It leads to a conundrum for horror story writers, who are heavily dependent on two factors—choice of words and the imagination of readers—to keep anyone hooked to the story. The creator of a horror movie has various tools like music cues, editing, visual effects, and more. Yet, the choices are minimal for someone who has to put everything into words. Focusing on the Narrative One of the greatest horror story writers, R L Stine, was able to frighten a whole generation of readers by simply making sure that they cannot get into the head of the author. This can be done through excellent narration, which can almost give up the imaginary powers of the reader. It’s close to creating a movie on a scary situation. The narrative has to provide an accurate description of the elements in the frame. The writers can make sure that they focus on things that scare them the most, not to lose the reader. After having imagined or envisioned many horror situations, the narrator is probably to judge a situation that can...
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Deadline: November 15th, 2021 Payment: 15GBP Theme: Cults If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. (Vol 74.) Cults II; deadline 15th November 2021 !!!NEW SUBMISSION PROCESS!!! SUBMIT YOUR STORIES USING THIS FORM If, this form isn’t working, then please email your submission to keztheeditor@gmail.com as a last resort. But please let us know why as we’re hoping to use the form going forward. Title your email with the following syntax: SUBMISSION | STORY TITLE | THEME | WORDCOUNT (e.g. SUBMISSION | THE MARTIAN | SPACE | 1,982) It is important that your story complies with our Submission Guidelines. Any stories found not to be in compliance will be immediately discarded. Click HERE for details If you think you’ve got what it takes to terrify, scar and haunt our audience of 10,000 daily listeners, then we want your stories! If accepted, we’ll get our fantastic narration team to lend their voices, our editor will sprinkle some magic pixie dust on the track, and you could have your story heard by thousands of listeners each week. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO DO: • Stories must be 2,000 (10% tolerance +/-) • Save stories in a Word document – Times New Roman font, size 12 • Include a 1-2 sentence log line for your story at the end of the document • Ensure that your name and an email address are somewhere on the document • Stories must fit an upcoming theme • By submitting your story to us, you...
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Deadline: August 31st, 2021 Payment: $5 Theme: eco-horror Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw With ravine, shriek’d against his creed — Tennyson, In Memoriam A.H.H A group of explorers stumble upon a new species of plant in the depths of the rainforest. A fracking operation unwittingly releases a malevolent force from underground. A tainted water supply leads to bizarre behaviour in a small town. We’re looking for punchy, eye-catching flash fiction and poetry that tackles the subject of eco-horror. Plants, animals, weather phenomena… It’s time for Mother Nature to fight back. Length: Flash fiction up to 1,500 words. Poetry of up to 50 lines. Author Compensation: $5 (USD) per piece plus one digital copy of the anthology. Publication: E-book and paperback. Deadline: August 31st, 2021 Rights: We request first worldwide and digital rights for three months following publication. Thereafter all rights revert to the author. All copyright remains with the author. We accept simultaneous submissions but no reprints please. Multiple submissions not accepted. All responses will be sent after the deadline. If your story is accepted elsewhere please let us know as soon as you can. Email your submission as a Word document to info@ghostorchidpress.com with “Chlorophobia [Story Title] [Author Name]” in the subject line. In case of publication please include an author bio in third person of approx. 50 words, including any links you’d like to share. Please see our Submission Guidelines for more information on formatting. Via: Ghost Orchid Press.
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Disclosure: Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you. Title: Night of the MannequinsAuthor: Stephen Graham JonesGenre: HorrorPublisher:...
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Deadline: September 1st, 2021 Payment: $10 Theme: Magical or fantasy stories set in Texas We’re accepting short stories for a new anthology, TexArcana! Basically, we’re looking for magical or fantasy stories set in Texas, any time period. Stories should be from 1,000 to 10,000 words. We’re looking for a sort of PG13 vibe, so no ultra-violence, no erotica, and no pro-confederate stories. We can’t pay very much, but we can offer a token payment of $10 for accepted stories. We will consider reprints, but only if you own all the rights, and please let us know where the story was previously published. You can email submissions as to lunarianpressbooks@gmail.com—please use doc, docx, or rtf files please. We prefer stories in Standard Manuscript format (see William Shunn), and welcome submissions from authors of all races, genders, ages, and sexual orientations. Submissions are due by September 1, 2021. Via: Lunarian Press.
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Payment: $25 Theme: They strive to be anti-imperialist, anti-fascist, anti-queerphobic, anti-transphobic, anti-ableist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist. Note: Read the examples on their website before submitting POETRY ♥ Send us up to five poems per submission. ♥ Use 12 point, Times New Roman font. ♥ Include all pieces in a single .docx file. FLASH FICTION ♥ Send us up to three pieces (<1,000 words each) per submission. ♥ There is no minimum word count, but we especially like 400-plus. ♥ Use 12 point, Times New Roman font, and double space. ♥ Include all pieces in a single .docx file. SUBMISSION EMAILS ♥ Send to groupchatreview@gmail.com ♥ Subject line: Poetry/Flash Submission: Piece/Document Title by Your Name ♥ Feel free to address the editors by name and say something human! ♥ Include a third-person bio (25-100 words) in the body of the email. OTHER STUFF ♥ We pay $25 dollars for each published submission. ♥ We will try to respond within thirty days. If you have not heard back from by then, feel free to query by email. ♥ If we pass on your piece(s), please wait at least two weeks before resubmitting. ♥ Absolutely no racism, misogyny, ableism, homophobia, queerphobia, transphobia, fat-phobia, or xenophobia in any submission. ♥ Group Chat Review acquires first serial rights, as well as exclusive publishing rights for six months after publication (with exceptions for anthologies). ♥ Simultaneous submissions are great, but if your piece is accepted elsewhere before we respond (congratulations!), please notify us immediately, as we do not accept previously published work. Via: Group Chat Review.
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Disclosure: Our reviews may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through the links in this article we may receive a small commission or referral fee. This happens without any additional cost to you. Title: SentinelAuthor: Drew SterlingGenre: HorrorPublisher: Eerie River...
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The Horror Tree Presents- an interview with J. Ashley-Smith By Ruschelle Dillon Ruschelle: I’m thrilled to welcome dark horror author J. Ashley-Smith to my scary little branch of the Horror Tree. His newest offering, Ariadne, I Love You, is making herself pretty for her Meerkat Press debut in July. Authors plan their upcoming works ‘coming out’ parties so it gets the recognition it deserves. What do you have planned so your newfound fan can follow the journey? J. Ashley-Smith: Thank you, Ruschelle. I’m stoked to be here. Ariadne, I Love You launches on 20 July, and we’ve got a whole bunch of great stuff lined up to celebrate. Meerkat Press has been working tirelessly to arrange a sweet blog tour, and I’ll be stopping by some friendly sites to say hi, answer questions, talk about the book, share a guest post or two, and for certain there will be a playlist in there as well. You can hook into the tour on the Meerkat website. I’ve got my fingers crossed that there will also be a real, live, in-person book launch at some point in the year as well (Australia only, at this stage). Ruschelle: You were a musician in your past life. A bass player! Let’s be honest, once a musician always a musician. How did your experience as a musician inspire your novella Ariadne, I Love You? What experiences from you being a musician made their way into your novelette? J. Ashley-Smith: Yes, for my sins. I was in a band at uni that got signed not long after, which carved my twenties into a very particular shape. There’s a kind of all-excluding hunger that anyone who’s ever aspired to success in a band will recognise. You live for it. The music itself is a world, and...
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Submission Window: August 1st through 7th, 2021 Payment: $100 Theme: Anti-fascist splatterpunk stories Note: This extended period is for women and non-binary writers This summer, I’ll be editing ANTIFA SPLATTERPUNK, an anthology dedicated to–you guessed it–anti-fascist splatterpunk stories. In addition to pure splatterpunk, I’m also open to extreme horror with weird, bizarro, historical, or science fiction elements. Just keep it anti-fascist. The anthology is open to all writers, but I would especially like submissions from antifascist writers of marginalized groups. Note that some writers have specifically been invited to contribute. The anthology will be a mix of solicited stories and stories selected from the open call submission period. Stories should be between 2,000 and 4,500 words. Multiple submissions are not allowed. Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but withdraw your submission immediately if it gets accepted elsewhere. No reprints. Open for submissions July 1st, 2021 – July 31st, 2021. I will announce accepted submissions by August 31st, 2021. Anthology will be published as both an electronic and print book in winter 2021. OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS If you’re retreading old ground and well-established tropes, make it fresh. I’m fine with horror that has erotic elements, but emphasis should be on the horror. Yes, make it anti-fascist, but don’t be moralizing. I want nuance. Stories that deal with bigotry are fine, but bigoted stories are not. I don’t want stories with graphic depictions of sexual violence. This is a splatterpunk anthology, so gore and extreme elements are encouraged, but make sure they serve story, character, and theme. FORMAT Use standard manuscript format. Send a doc/docx attachment. Do not copy-paste your story into the body of the email or submit it in any other format. We won’t read it if you do. Please send submission to antifasplatterpunk@gmail.com. Include your name, story title, and word count...
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