In these early days of the year with so many hours to each dark night, The Fiction Desk invites you to seek a home for your spooky scribblings by submitting an entry to their annual call for ghost stories.
They say: “’Ghost story’ can mean a lot of different things, from an encounter with an actual phantom to more unusual paranormal phenomena and unexplained events. All types are welcome, so feel free to experiment: we’re very unlikely to disqualify a story for stretching the definition of a “ghost”. Keep in mind that our general readership (and by extension our judge) may be more likely to respond well to psychological chills and unexplained mysteries than in-your-face gore.”
They pay £20 per thousand words for stories (eg £80 for a 4,000 word story, or £120 for a 6,000 word story). Contributors also receive two complimentary paperback copies. The stories they publish are also eligible to enter the Writer’s Award, a cash prize of £100 for the best story in each volume, as judged by the contributors.
Rules of this call for submissions
Entries should be between 1,000 and 20,000 words in length. The entry fee is £4 for each story submitted.
The deadline for entries is January 31st, 2021. To cover admin costs, submission fees are £4 per story. Stories should be submitted online.
You might find it helpful to take a look at their previous ghost story anthologies.
