Greetings boils, ghouls, and other creatures of the night!
Starting in December, 2021, we are open for submissions of flash fiction horror stories on a different theme each month. We will be seeking horror fiction of all forms and flavours to be published as part of a new and ongoing series from Night Terror Novels Publishing, titled The Theatre Phantasmagoria.
If this has piqued your interest, please scroll down for the full details!
What are We Looking For?
Each month, a new theme will be announced, and we will be accepting flash fiction submissions based around this theme. From these submissions, four stories will be chosen to be published each Friday of the subsequent month, and at the end of the year, these forty-eight (or more) pieces will appear in a similarly titled anthology. As always, if your story is blatantly racist or homophobic it will be instantly rejected. We also encourage submissions from female, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ authors, as weโre striving to offer a range of experiences and perspectives in this series.
Our current lineup for The Theatre Phantasmagoria, January to August, includes Mia Dalia, Paul Wilson, Angela Sylvaine, Yvonne Lang, Mark Robinson, James Van Pelt, D. Matthew Urban, Ali Seay, Alex Ebenstein, Nikki R. Leigh, Andrew Jackson, Safia Mlani, Michael H. Hanson, Matt Bliss, Megan Kiekel Anderson, Andrew Gehlsen, Samuel M. Hallam, J. L. Royce, Zary Fekete, David Burchell, Brandon Applegate, Darren Todd, Cormack Baldwin, Hadassah Shiradski, Monte Lin, Kacey Rayburn, Elle Vigilante, Brett Tharp, Sean Cahillane, A. R. Frederiksen, Lucy Zhang, Christopher Robertson, Eric Farrell, Miguel Gonรงalves, Drew Huff, Marisca Pichette, Nat Reiher, Alexander Hay, Eric Del Carlo, Scott J. Moses, Garrett Boatman, Malina Douglas, and T. Fox Dunham. If you want to see your name alongside these terrific writers, then send a piece our way!
The anthology will be edited, and the stories selected, by J.D. Keown. He can be found on both Instagram and Twitter @JDKAuthor, and we can be found on Instagram @nightterrornovels. All updates and announcements regarding this project will be posted on each of those accounts, so give us a follow if you want to get the latest news.
The twelfth window to submit will run from the 1st November, 2022 (1/11/2022) to the 30th November, 2022 (30/11/2022), with the selected stories debuting on our website throughout December.
DECEMBER’S THEME: HEAR THE SLAY BELLS RING.
For the twelfth and final window of this year’s Theatre Phantasmagoria, Night Terror Novels is seeking stories centered around wintertime and, by extension, the festive period. We’re eager to read everything that encompasses this wide theme, from murderous Santa Clauses and Christmas trees through to survival stories of facing against the extremes of winter weather. We’d love to see horror twists on gooey Hallmark-esque Christmas tales, fresh spins on seasonal classics … or wow us with gruesome originals that incorporate the best (and worst) elements of this time of year. As mentioned, this will be the last open call (of this year, at least!) for the Theatre Phantasmagoria, so do hit us with your very best shot!
For inspiration, we’d recommend checking out novels such as Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom, Dead of Winter by Kealan Patrick Burke, Hark! The Herald Angels Scream edited by Christopher Golden, NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, or Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer. For films, check out Black Christmas (1974), Gremlins (1984), Scrooged (1988), A Christmas Horror Story (2015) or Krampus (2015).
Each month, four (or more!) flash fiction pieces will be selected, making a total of forty-eight (again, or more!) stories to be featured in the final The Theatre Phatasmagoria anthology at the end of the year. See below for all relevant guidelines and details, and please read them carefully before submitting.
Title: The Theatre Phantasmagoria
Payment: Flat rate of ยฃ10 via PayPal upon acceptance, and a digital e-Book contributor copy upon release of the anthology.
Guidelines (please read carefully):
- .doc, .docx or .odt formats preferred. No .pdfs, please. See Shunn’s guidelines for reference on how your manuscript should look.
- Original work only, please. No reprints, no stories published elsewhere (such as on personal blogs, social medias, or other websites). Simultaneous submissions are more than welcome, but please inform us as soon as possible if your story is accepted elsewhere.
- The only rights Night Terror Novels Publishing are seeking is first print rights for our website, and the non-exclusive right to collect the stories into an anthology, published in 2023, and sold thereafter. No exclusivity is sought. Authors retain all rights to their works after publication.
Word Count: Anything up to 2,000 words.
Submissions Open: From 1st November, 2022 (1/11/2022).
Submissions Close: 30th November, 2022 (30/11/2022). We send out notifications of acceptance or rejection on a rolling basis throughout the window. The absolute latest you should receive a response by is the 20th of the next month. If you have not heard from us by then, please feel free to chase us up via the email address below.
Anticipated Release Date: Stories will be published on the first, second, third, and fourth Fridays of the subsequent month. The compiled anthology will be aiming for a January, 2023 release.
Please send all submissions in an attached document to our email address, ntnflashfiction@gmail.com, with the following subject line:
[your name] โ [story title] โ [approx. word count]
(an example email: FF Submission: My Name โ My Story โ 1,000 words)
In the body of the email, please also include a brief third-person author bio, ideally three to four sentences long, which may include up to two links to either your social media accounts or personal websites.
And that’s pretty much it. We cannot wait to read your submissions, and best of luck to you all!
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2 replies on “The Theatre Phantasmagoria, December WindowโOpen for Submissions!”
[…] With The Theatre Phantasmagoria, a new theme is announced each month, and by the end of said month, four (or more) stories are selected from our call for submissions to be featured here on the site in a Friday post. These pieces will also be published in a โwrap-upโ anthology sometime in 2023, showcasing all of the original works that debut here at the Night Terror Novels website throughout the year. If you’re an author yourself and this has piqued your interest, please find details regarding the flash fiction theme for our latest submission window here. […]
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[…] With The Theatre Phantasmagoria, a new theme is announced each month, and by the end of said month, four (or more) stories are selected from our call for submissions to be featured here on the site in a Friday post. These pieces will also be published in a โwrap-upโ anthology sometime in 2023, showcasing all of the original works that debut here at the Night Terror Novels website throughout the year. If you’re an author yourself and this has piqued your interest, please find details regarding the flash fiction theme for our latest submission window here. […]
LikeLike