Nightmare Magazine
https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/nightmare/
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 7,500 words (generally prefer 5,000 words or less)
Deadline: August 24–August 31, 2026 (*Technically, closed in September, but making aware immediately now, as great market and open rarely during the year)
Reprints?: No
Response: within 30 days
Description: Exceptional non-themed horror short stories.
https://cursedmorsels.com/submission-calls/
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 2,000–5,000 words
Deadline: September 1– September 14, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror and/or Weird Fiction stories about “Food systems”; i.e. infrastructure involved in the growth, production, distribution, marketing, sale, consumption, and disposal of food. For this project, writers are welcome to write about present-day food systems, historical food systems, or food systems for worlds that have never existed.
Radiant Dawn: A Queer Hopepunk Anthology
https://littledistrictbooks.com/pages/radiant-dawn-a-queer-hopepunk-anthology
Payment: 5 cents a word
Story Length: 2,500–10,000 words
Deadline: October 15, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: Unknown
Description: Hopepunk stories of optimism, community, and kindness overcoming the odds (of oppressive systems); i.e. a glass is half-full kind of vibe.TWO SEPARATE ANTHOLOGIES: Romantic Fantasy from Flame Tree Publishing
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/romantic-fantasy-call-for-submissions
Payment: 8 cents a word (6 cents/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Deadline: September 13, 20206
Reprints?: Yes
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadline1. Fae & Fire: The world of fae is the perfect bewitching setting for matters of the heart. These mysterious beings can be trickster figures, ruthless and immortal, morally dubious or harmoniously good. They can take a range of forms, and we encourage originality and creativity in imagining how their magic unfolds. Drawing on ancient folklore or reflecting the modern world, we welcome stories that explore the politics and power surrounding fae courts, hidden forest realms, or other fantasy lands beyond human laws. Combined with fire, whether that’s through elemental magic, dragons, precious objects forged in flame, slow-burn romance or intense passion, we’re looking for stories turning up the heat with high stakes!2. Of Love Forbidden: Supernatural lore forges together lands, courts and families. It is in place to tighten generations and is knitted together by legend and tradition. If mistreated, it threatens to unravel entire realms. Forbidden love is the trickiest of all, and these compelling stories will explore the heart’s desires set against the backdrop of complicated politics and societal expectations. Where alliances are everything, these flawed romances play out before fae, mortals and beasts. When the head and heart battle one another, one must seal their fate: either keeping peace and harmony or severing deep bonds that could threaten to tear apart worlds… all in the name of love
(AND ONE MORE FROM FLAME TREE PUBLISHING:)
Pandora (Part of the Greek Gods/Mythology Series)
Payment: 8 cents a word (6 cents/ word for reprints)
Story Length: 2,000–4,000 words (soft range)
Reprints?: Yes
Response: within 4 months of the submission deadlinePandora: Forever identified with the box – or more accurately, jar – that unleashed all the horrors in the world, Pandora is the archetypal first woman of Greek myth. According to Hesiod, she was the ‘beautiful evil’ that set the precedent for all women to follow. Pandora was devised by Zeus (in punishment on mortals for the gift of fire by Prometheus), molded from clay by Hephaestus and endowed with gifts from other gods. She herself was presented as a gift – and a curse. Variously interpreted through the ages as an act of mild naivety, insatiable curiosity, or malicious intent, Pandora’s opening of the jar and the nature of its contents have often reflected attitudes and beliefs of the times. We’re looking for stories that give voice to the character of Pandora, explore wider events, motives and consequences, or imagine alternative settings and modern equivalents.
https://blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-gothic/pandora-call-for-submissions
Deadline: October 4, 2026TWO SEPARATE ANTHOLOGIES from Air and Nothingness Press
https://www.aanpress.com/submissions.html
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 2,000 words
Deadline: Open between September 1– September 30, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: November 1, 20261. Endings: Submissions comprising the last 15 minutes of the action/SF/fantasy story/film/book: the hero fights the dragon, the last ship departs the dying planet, the last desperate gambit of the remaining members of the team to defeat the final foe. Start your story mid-action if you like.2. Are You Everything Alright: Human rights, gender rights, immigrant rights, disability rights, climate rights, work rights. We are looking for stories about apocalypse issues, but those where people on the side of decency come out on top and those opposed have a very bad day. We’d like to see hopeful endings. This theme is subject to interpretation.
https://wordfirewestern.moksha.io/publication/superheroes-super-problems/guidelines
Payment: 8 cents a word
Story Length: up to 5,000 words
Deadline: Open September 1 – October 15, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: December, 2026
Description: Being super means dealing with super problems, as well as mundane ones. Superheroes, Super Problems is an original anthology exploring the balance between the extraordinary responsibility of being a superhero and the ordinary struggles of human existence…and the limitations of Spandex… As you create your own superheroes, we not only want to know their powers, but how they juggle life. Show us that the only superpower that matters is humanity. Open to a wide variety of genres, from science fiction to horror and from fantasy to romance, as long as there is a superhero integral to the story. The main character doesn’t have to possess powers, and could even be the super villain. Humor is welcome, as are darker themes, but please keep your stories appropriate for a PG-13 audience. (Original characters only.)***Non-PRO-Paying Market, but Eric J. Guignard’s “Pick of the Month”
https://terrorcorepublishing.com/pages/submit
Payment: $25 flat rate
Story Length: 4,000–6,000 words
Deadline: December 1, 2026
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown
Description: Horror short fiction related to an pet-store type of animal. NOTE: This is to be a shared-world project. See website for additional guidelines, such as taking place at a certain pet store location in 1977.
Payment: $100 flat rate
Story Length: up to 12,500 words
Deadline: unknown. Listed “Currently Open until further notice”
Reprints?: No
Response: unknown (online stats lists an average of 40 days)
Description: Speculative fiction stories: may be scientific or technological, but it could also be philosophical, sociological, mythological, etc., related to a theme (see website for theme); stories about “what could be” or “what could have been”.
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