OPEN CALLS
NO AI WILL BE TOLERATED IN ANY SUBMISSIONS.
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Extremities: Choose Your Own Death​
Adult / Extreme Horror Series
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Theme:
Extremities: Choose Your Own Death is akin to Goosebumps in that every book will be part of an anthology series. There is no connected universe, only the “Choose Your Own Adventure” (CYOA) formula that must be followed. This is a queer adult horror series, YA entries will not be considered.
What I want:
Extreme, splatter, body horror, horrormance. I am definitely leaning more towards the extreme in this one. All entries MUST be queer-focused. This means having a line-up of authentic queer characters (not side-characters) as the protagonists and/or villains. I want slashers, cults, eco-horror, curses, supernatural… anything, really, but be original. Please don’t give me fanfic or a story I’ve read a million times before. Be creative, be bold, and be unapologetic for being queer.
You can have as many paths as you like, just don’t make it confusing. Ultimately, CYOA books worked because they were fun, risky, punchy, and easy to follow.
I want your best editing. You don’t have to get something professionally edited before submission, just do it to the absolute best of your ability. Don’t write or edit with AI. Don’t know how to edit? Learn. Don’t waste my time, please. I want to support queer indie authors who give a shit about their work and who put the effort in.
What I will not accept:
Rape, bestiality, pedophilia. Anything derogatory to the queer community will clearly not be accepted. I will also not accept retold fairytales or anything clearly derivative. No fucking AI.
Novella length: 30K–40K words (no exceptions)
Submission window: June 1, 2025–December 1, 2025
Looking to publish from January 2026. ***If the series is popular, I would love to make this an ongoing thing. Let’s see how it goes first, though.***
Submission guidelines: Submit entry as [TITLE] + [Your Name] + Extremities. For formatting etc., see general submissions.
Fearmoji: Queer Emoji Horror
ANTHOLOGY
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Theme:
Emojis carry a lot of weight in contemporary societies drenched by social media interactions. This theme is very open, but must feature emojis as the primary driving force of the narrative. Give me sentient emojis, cursed emojis, a secret combination of emojis that unlocks a demon, a serial killer whose signature is the love heart reaction, disaffected youths whose use of the shrug emoji comes back to haunt them, a coder with an emoji axe to grind… The potential here is limitless.
What I want:
Adult queer horror body horror. I will also accept horrormance, splatterpunk, and extreme. As long as your story revolves around emojis (any emoji, I don’t care), has the body horror element, and is queer, I am in. I want believable, authentic characters, and crazy fucking scenarios.
Please edit to the best of your ability before submission. I edit everything anyway, but help out and make things are easy for me as you can.
What I will not accept:
No rape, bestiality or pedophilia. No gender or sexuality-based phobia unless you’re doing revenge horror or something where it’s actually needed. Vampires and werewolves are done to death now, so if you are doing that, make it really unique.
Important information, please read:
Word Count: 4000–7500 (anything outside this range won’t be read and won’t be considered).
Submissions open: May 1, 2025
Submission deadline: August 1, 2025 (don’t worry about timezones, please. If your calendar says August 1, it’s August 1).
Expected publication: December 2025
Payment: $25 USD + paperback + ebook
Submission email: slashichorrorpress@gmail.com
In your submission email, just title it as: Fearmoji Sub + [Pen name] + [Title]
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A note about queerness—
Slashic publishes queer horror, not horror that has a secondary character on page 10 somewhere who may or may not be queer. This press exists to elevate and make visible queer creators, queer voices, and queer stories. If you aren’t queer or don’t have a queer story to tell, please look to the many many many other publishing opportunities you are afforded. Anything not queer won’t be read and won’t be responded to, simply because I don’t have that sort of time anymore.
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Do not self-reject. I do that enough for all of us. Let’s assume you’re an amazing author with a great story to tell. I want to read it. If I reject it, it’s not because it’s shit, it may just not be what I’m looking for.
Have I missed something? Please just ask me.