We are a "4theluv" market, exposure only. No monetary or any other compensation for either the ezine or the print magazine.

Contact information HERE

Submissions for FICTION are TEMPORARILY CLOSED

Submissions for POETRY are TEMPORARILY CLOSED

Submissions for ART are OPEN.

SUBMISSIONS FOR FICTION AND POETRY WILL REOPEN ON FEBRUARY 27, 2025.

All submitters must provide a photograph and a bio.

All submissions to The Horror Zine are subject to editing, but we work closely with the authors during the editing process. Nothing is published without the author's pre-approval and consent. Remember, even Stephen King has editors.

IMPORTANT:

The Horror Zine does not accept any material that contains adult or sexually explicit content; abuse or harming of women or children; any rape scenes; serial killers; slasher; gore for gore's sake, or splatterpunk. We do not accept any religious or political themes. We do not accept any submissions written in Olde English, Victorian, or 19th Century styles. We do not accept any submissions told in a diary or letter or journal format, written in numbered chapters, told as memories, or told entirely as dialogue (someone recounting past events). We do not accept any submissions created with the use of, or any assistance from, Artificial Intelligence (AI). We do not accept fan fiction.

FICTION: OPEN

Email your story as an RTF or Word doc attachment. If you want to know how to convert Google Docs to Word for free, go HERE

PLEASE DO NOT LOCK YOUR DOCUMENT OR SET IT FOR TRACK CHANGES. Only one space after each period is preferred. All must be single spaced, Times New Roman, font 12. No paragraph indentions. Instead, please use an empty line inbetween paragraphs.

The word count needs to be between 1,900 words to 4,000 words. No Flash Fiction at this time.

What We Are Looking For:

Original short stories that are creative and fresh. I am seeking not only horror, but mystery, suspense, science fiction, speculative, and most of all, good character development.

I am also looking for Hitchcock-type endings, Twilight Zone-type weirdness, and/or something deliciously twisted. A surprising ending is a plus. I am also looking for good ghost stories, monster stories, vampires, but something exciting and new is even better.

And! Remember the legends....vampires are killed by stakes, werewolves by silver bullets, and zombies by a shot to the head. If you are going outside the box on any of these, make it believable for readers who are used to the status quo of legends.

The best story you can submit has a buildup of suspense, and then contains an unexpected and surprising ending, no matter what the subject.

Here are some general guidelines to writing short stories: 

1) start with action
2) briefly familiarize the reader with your protagonist; make him/her likable or at least relatable
3) provide an obstacle for your protagonist
4) describe how your protagonist overcomes, or at least deals with, the obstacle
5) a chase scene might be desirable but not essential
6) give the reader hints as to the ending
7) provide a completely different ending than your hints

It is also important to balance the amount of dialogue to the amount of action. Too much dialogue and you are "telling" the story instead of "showing" the story.

POETRY: CLOSED

Please do not center-align your poems. Please left-align them.

We like rhymed poetry; however, if you rhyme it, don't do it rigidly. In other words, do not focus on the rhyme instead of the content or else the poetry will sound forced. Free-form is also good and we like that as well. All poetry must be deliciously dark. Show some emotion.

We are looking for amazing and beautifully descriptive prose, yes, but we also want the poem to touch its readers; we want the reader to say, "Yes, I can relate," or "I understand," or "I've felt that way too" when he or she reads your work. Humor is also appreciated as long as it doesn’t miss the mark.

For your poetry submissions, be sure to send at least five poems. We want to choose the best three out of the bunch for publication on The Horror Zine.

The poetry should be in font 12 Times New Roman, single spaced, no indentions preferred.

ART: OPEN

We are only accepting pen-and-ink, watercolor, acrylic, oil and felt-pen works. We are not accepting anything created with Artifical Intelligence (AI).

We are looking for works that make the viewer want to study your piece. We accept all types of art: dark, mysterious art, surreal, yes; but also things of beauty. Your work does not have to be horror themed.

We do not accept portraits of famous people or characters.

Please email me a link to your art gallery so that I can review your work.

Disclaimer:

For published pieces we take First Electronic Publishing Rights. Bear in mind that some print magazines will not publish pieces that have been published on the web, so for all intents and purposes, if your work is published by us on the internet, it might be marketed to print magazines as a reprint, which can limit the number of markets that will accept it, and can reduce the pay rate it can receive. It is up to you, the author, to decide if publishing your work on our web site, giving up your First Publishing Rights for no payment other than exposure, is what you want to do.

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