Submissions:
We want solid entertaining writing. That has to be clearly stated because we are open to gore, extreme horror, splatterpunk, and horror with sexual elements to it.
Sounds great?
Like anything too good to be true, there is a catch. We have some hard “Nos.” Before you go off about the freedom of expression, remember, this is a web ‘zine, not a government. We donate our time to it and if we’re not getting joy from reading your story we’re not going to publish it.
This website runs on our love of horror. We offer a token payment of $5 USD to support your drug habit, paid upon publication. However, you keep your rights –we don't want them.
The Stuff We Don’t Want to Read:
NO sex with children, NO sexualization of children, and NO child rape. If you’re writing a story about a child predator who gets what’s coming to him –great. But we don’t want to read about that predator coming on his victims.
We won’t publish anything supporting a racist, transphobic, or homophobic agenda, so don’t try it.
Sex and sensuality are fine, but we publish horror. We won’t publish a story that’s 90 percent lesbian vampires having explicit sex and 10 percent them ripping their victims to pieces. Go 50/50 on that and you've got our attention.
High-quality gory smut is fine. Like gore, sex has to serve a purpose. If you want to write a piece about a cowboy who discovers one of the prostitutes at the local brothel has a vagina that opens to another dimension filled with blood clot monsters and he can fit his entire body into it… Sure, that’s great. If you want to write a story about a couple of nymphomaniacs that explode killing people with their bone shrapnel every time they have sex, that’s fine too. We don’t publish erotica, we publish horror. A story that’s mostly sex with a horror twist at the end –sorry, M. Night, we didn’t read to the end.
We want horror. If you want a better understanding of what we’ll take, check out the short story collections Hot Blood or Love in Vein.
The same principle applies to science fiction/fantasy. We’ll read your sci-fi/fantasy story, but it better be horror first and a sci-fi/fantasy story second. Berserk: The Golden Age ARC III, The Advent is a perfect example of fantasy… that becomes horror.
For the love of Jack Ketchum, no purple prose.
You get a token payment, not by the word –so save your words and make each one count. RUN FOR THAT MONEY!
All work must be 100 percent original.
No stories written by AI —AI tends to infringe on copyrights and plagiarize.
Be wary of tropes. If you go down the path of vampires, zombies, werewolves, or serial killers, be original. If you think it’s super original, have your mom read it first and have her tell you it’s original. And if you shared your writing with your mom and it gets published by us, you’re a sicko.
Things You Must Do:
Know we might not read your entire story. We read as long as it’s interesting, error-free(ish), and fits this publication. If we didn’t get to the end it’s not getting published.
Establish your story is a horror story and that it’s got heart –and blood and guts. Using atmosphere is okay, but telling us about spooky settings isn’t what we want. Drive your story with pulp action. Descriptions of creaking floorboards or a tree filled with crows starring down the main character are typical dry horror. Mainstream publications are interested in that stuff… We’re here for the weird messy fun stuff.
Things have to happen. If we’re 500 words into your story and it’s just descriptions of gore or worse backstory and nothing has happened, we probably stopped reading it 100 words ago. Describe your character through their actions.
Your story must have characters. The people in your story aren’t there just to be fisted to death by a serial killer with forearms like Popeye. We need to connect with either your victims or your killer/s.
If we were looking for “classy” writing, we’d go work for The New Yorker. We want trashy, fun, pulp horror.
Make us gag in revolt, or laugh at slipping in guts, or cry at inhumanity…
Great writing evokes feelings.
Be a great writer.
Things We Try to Encourage:
Pro LGBTQIA or pro BIPOC themes and we encourage authors from diverse backgrounds to submit to us.
Word Count:
500 to 5,500 words.
Format:
- Write your name, address, phone number, and email address in the top left corner of page 1.
- Include the word count in the opposing corner.
- Font size: 12-point.
- Font: New Times Roman.
- Double-space.
- Send your stories in .rtf, .doc, or .docx file format.
- Absolutely NO .pdf files.
In Your Cover Letter:
- 1st sentence: “Story Title” is an XXXX-word long story.
- 2nd sentence: Just the setup. DO NOT TELL US HOW WE WILL LOVE IT.
- 2nd ¶ (optional): Writing credits –only if it makes you feel good. We don’t care. We want a great story. If we get crap, we’ll pass. Even if you think you’re famous, we’ll pass. If we get genius, we’ll publish it, even if you’re nobody –maybe more so.
Issue 3, Deadline:
We're open for subs as of April 1, 2024.
Closing May 1, 2024.
Where to Send:
carnagehousepublishing@gmail.com