Weekly Posts from The Horror Tree for 12/24/21
Dec 25, 2021 3:54 am
Hi there,
Word of the week: Advent – The coming or arrival of something or someone that is important or worthy of note.
Happy holidays, readers! No matter what you celebrate, I hope this time of year brings you large mugs of tea, coffee, or cocoa, cozy socks, and pleasant memories. If you are looking for some horror to help you cope with the holidays, Andrew Fowlow has written “10 Indie Holiday Horror Reads,” an article on LitReactor with some books to help get you through the season. If you are more into watching than reading, check out this article on holiday horror films to help get you through. If you prefer more traditional fare, my family watches The Muppet Christmas Carol, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation every year. Maybe I’m sappy, but I firmly believe that The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best adaptation of A Christmas Carol ever made, and that is a mistletoe-covered hill I am willing to die on. Tag us on Twitter and let us know on Twitter what your favorite holiday movie is – horror, or otherwise.
As always, you can find me (Holley Cornetto) lurking on Twitter @HLCornetto. Now, onto the latest articles on writing from around the web.
Horror Tree / Trembling With Fear Update (This section updated by your fearless editor and chief, Stuart C.!):
First off, I'd like to wish everyone a huge happy holiday season!
Now, I won't put in too much this week. However, I did promise you updates while I'm in between classes and today I'd like to share one that I had been planning since May. We've updated our contact form! It still may take a few seconds to load, but it is a lot more interactive now and lets those who are submitting anything know exactly what we need which is leaps and bounds better than it used to be.
More to come!
Articles
Articles this week include help making a story “feel” like a story. For those of you who feel your fiction may be missing something, but you aren’t completely sure what, this article offers suggestions that you may find useful. LitReactor published an article titled “Writing Lessons Learned from 80s Horror Movies” that dissects tropes used in 80s horror films and how they are (or aren’t) applicable for modern writers. On the business side of writing, I’ve included two articles. The first is from Writer’s Digest, providing advice for writers from a literary agent. The last article for this week is “Nine Keys to Being Media Ready,” designed to help authors begin building a digital platform. Whether you are just starting out, or have sold several stories, having a media presence can be helpful. The tips in this article can give you a starting point, and goals for how and where to grow your online presence.
Craft:
Jane Friedman: What Makes a Story Feel Like a Story
General:
LitReactor: Writing Lessons Learned from 80s Horror Movies
Business:
Writer’s Digest: Agent Advice: Erin Clyburn of The Jennifer De Chiara Literary Agency
Writers in the Storm: Nine Keys to Being Media Ready
Free Fiction Roundup:
This week’s fiction round up includes a story by Megan Baffoe titled “Mourning Baba Yaga.” One of my favorite things about creating this weekly list is all of the new and emerging voices I read each week, and Baffoe is no exception. This tale is well told, and it captures a relationship between grandchild and grandparent in a lovely and poignant way. “The Burnt Floor” by Corey Farrenkopf is a touching and melancholy story of family love and sacrifices we make for the people we love. Farrenkopf’s prose brings to mind a more serious and bleaker version of George Saunders (of whom I am a huge fan, so I mean this as the highest compliment). Looking for a bit of holiday magic? Look no further than Jamie Lackey’s “A Little Good Magic.” This tale somehow managed to balance highly disturbing and heartwarming, which, I suppose, takes a little magic of its own to pull off. The last story this week comes from the new issue of Starward Shadows Quarterly. “Three Excerpts From the Ego,” by Kyle Miller is a thought-heavy piece, crafted with beautiful prose. Miller truly is a wordsmith. I was in awe of his ability to weave a story without ever sacrificing the beauty of his prose.
Now, on to the fiction:
“Mourning Baba Yaga” by Megan Baffoe. New Myths.
“The Burnt Floor” by Corey Farrenkopf. The Florida Review.
“A Little Good Magic” by Jamie Lackey. Flashpoint Science Fiction.
“Three Excerpts From the Ego” by Kyle Miller. Starward Shadows Quarterly.
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)
🗒️ Taking Submissions: There Used to Be a House Here
Deadline: May 31st, 2022 Payment: Charity anthology that pays: £25 Theme: Horror-themed fictional stories that simply feature a house that was once somewhere, but is no longer.
“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺, 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘜𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘉𝘦 𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘚𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘺.
” We are now officially open for submissions to our third anthology and our first charity anthology, titled There Used to Be a House Here.
This anthology is raising money in support of the UK-based charity, Shelter, which strives to tackle poor housing and homelessness across the country.
Our cover art will be finalised and uploaded to this page in the near future.
If this has piqued your interest, please scroll down for the full details!
What are We Looking For?...
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Terror in the Trench
Deadline: January 28th, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: Horror in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean From 1st November 2021, we’re taking submissions for the first three anthologies in the Dead Seas collection.
All three anthologies will have slightly different themes, but for all three we’re looking for aquatic or nautical horror stories – supernatural, realistic or altogether otherworldly – between 1,000-6,000 words (upper limit flexible).
100% of the profits from these anthologies will be going to The Shark Trust, supporting the protection and conservation of sharks and sea life.
For more information, please visithttps://www.sharktrust.org/ Our submissions process is 50% invite and 50% open, meaning there are 5-6 slots available through open submission for each anthology.But don’t fear!If you submit to one anthology and we like your story, but feel it could be a better fit for another (whether that’s another of these three, or one later in the year), then we’ll email you and see if you’d consider that slot instead....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Snafu: Dead or Alive (Early Listing)
Submission Window: January 1st – March 31st, 2022 Payment: AU5c/word Theme: Weird Western action horror AU5c/word / 2k-10k words Opens Jan 1st 2022/ Closes March 31st 2022 (in your time zone) Fantasy, Horror, or Science Fiction Theme – Weird Western action horror.
WHAT WE WANT ACTION-BASED horror, themed within conflict in the wild, wild West.
Think Bone Tomahawk, Ravenous, Westworld, Cowboys & Aliens and The Burrowers for films, and Dead in the West by Joe Lansdale, Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry, Skin Medicine by Tim Curran, and The Crossings by Jack Ketchum for writings… anything that can be considered a high-action monster story set within an obviously Western theme.
For level of unnatural creature we will give priority to, think Dog Soldiers or Aliens in oldie times.
We want lots of monster goodness and lots of action....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Welkin Magazine January Window 2022 (Early Listing)
Submission Window: January 1st – 31st, 2022 Payment: 1 cent per word Theme: Genre-bending and tropes typically excluded from mainstream literary magazines Fiction submissions should be sent to submissions@welkinmag.com with the title of your story in the subject line.
In your email, please include a short cover letter outlining past publication credits if any, a brief bio if desired, a word count, and which of our magazines you wish to be considered for.
The story should be attached to the email as a word document or other common word processing file.
Stories should be in standard manuscript format.
We accept simultaneous submissions to other journals, but if your story is accepted elsewhere, please alert us immediately.
Please only submit one story at a time for consideration....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Elegant Literature Magazine – December 2021 Theme
Deadline: December 31st, 2021 Payment: 10 cents per word Theme: Merry Magic and the color red Note: Membership (free) is required to submit to the magazine.
There is also a monthly $20,000 contest however a monthly paid membership is required to submit to it.
Theme Info: Write a story involving magic, merriment, and the color red.
Is magic real?
Perhaps, if you know where to look....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Deep In The Woods
Deadline: January 31st, 2022 Payment: Stories between 4,000 – 8,000 words will be considered for payment of $25.00 USD.
Stories between 2,000 – 3,000 words will be considered for payment of $10.00 USD Theme: Horror in the woods Be it day or night, the forest hides its secrets from our eyes.
Whether you find yourself alone or with others, its innocence can be deceiving, and its inhabitants deadly.
What horrors await within the wooded land where nature reigns supreme?
Be creative!...
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Otoroshi Journal 2022 Spring Issue (Early Listing)
Submission Window: January 1st-31st, 2022 Payment: $1 per accepted piece Theme: horrorku, horror themed tanka, haibun, see below for details The Submission may include any or all of the following: · Up to seven (7) horrorku or horror tanka [we will rarely publish 5/7/5(7/7)] · Up to three (3) haibun [title + prose + haiku/tanka — no more than 100 words] · Up to five (5) pieces of cover art All submissions must be original, unpublished work that is not under consideration by a print or web-based journal.
Posts in closed, critique-oriented groups and social media sites are acceptable for submission, but public posts on forums such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are not.
By submitting a piece to us, you are guaranteeing that it is your original work and not under consideration or published anywhere else in the world.
E-mail submission is required.
Type poems into the body of the e-mail; no attachments of poetry will be opened....
🗒️ Setting Self Doubt on Fire: Help! I’m Self-Sabotaging!
Help!
I’m Self-Sabotaging!
Hi all, I’m back, even though 2021 is nearly over (or over, depending on when you read this post).
Yes, I’m like the guest who turns up five minutes before the end of a party and shouts, ‘Let’s dance, baby!
’.
So, where have I been?
Sadly, not Narnia.
I’ve been drowning in a huge to-do list while not getting much done at all.
Yeah, 2021 sure didn’t go to plan....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Adi Magazine
Deadline: January 15th, 2022 Payment: For full-length stories, 2,500 words or more, payment is $500.For flash fiction, under 1,000 words, payment is $200.Theme: Short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics Adi is seeking new short fiction for our winter 2022 issue.
Send us your work!
We’re looking for short stories that examine lives impacted by policy and politics.
This should be interpreted expansively and imaginatively....
🗒️ Taking Submissions: Dose of Dread January 2022 (Early Listing)
Submission Window: January 1st-31st, 2022 Payment: $10 Theme: Un-themed, general horror flash fiction.
Preference to dread-inducing stories.
Submissions OPEN (Monthly, 1st – 15th).
Un-themed, general horror flash fiction.
Preference to dread-inducing stories.
Length: 500 – 1,000 words....
Enjoy,
Horror Tree
