Horror stories wanted | 8 cents per word

COMPANY/PUBLICATION: GHOST LIGHTS

Deadline: 14 November 2025

We are very excited to announce a new call for submissions, which is now open! Please read through the details for submissions carefully before submitting your stories, and make sure to include your story title in the subject of your email.

GHOST LIGHTS
A New Collection of Horror Stories

We are delighted to open submissions for this new anthology in the annual series, edited by Mark Morris ("...one of the finest horror writers at work today" – Clive Barker)! Ghost Lights is the seventh book in Mark Morris’s ABC of Horror, and follows Fever Dreams, which is out now! Mark has once again approached an impressive range of authors, but we've reserved space for four new stories from the online submissions. This is a prestigious anthology and will be published worldwide in hardcover and paperback. The first book in the series, After Sundown, was nominated for both Shirley Jackson and British Fantasy awards, so we’re looking forward to finding more unthemed horror stories for this next collection.

A NOTE FROM EDITOR MARK MORRIS:

Halloween is upon us once more, which means it’s time for the submissions window for my 7th annual non-themed horror anthology from Flame Tree Press to be thrown wide open. Next year’s entry in the acclaimed ‘ABC of Horror’ series will be called Ghost Lights, and as ever, I’m looking for stories that are as disturbing, strange, and original as you can make them. I’m not averse to humour, and neither am I averse to horror tropes like zombies, vampires, and serial killers. But if you are going to write stories with such familiar, tried-and-trusted elements, then you need to find a new and unique way of presenting them. I want to be surprised and scared by your stories, and I want them to be populated by characters who are both believable and identifiable (even the evil ones). Your stories can be anything from 2,000-8,000 words, though the sweet spot is around the 4,000-5,000 word mark. You have two weeks to send me your very best work. Good luck!

Submit to: abchorror@flametreepublishing.com

FEES, COPYRIGHT AND OTHER TERMS:

• We pay Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence for each word for new stories. We will not accept reprints for consideration for this anthology.

• We would prefer to pay for the selected stories via PAYPAL because bank charges to the US and Canada, in particular, can be very high for all concerned.

• Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date (see our website flametreepublishing.com for details), although some may be paid earlier than that.

• Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.

• We will aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline.

• The anthology will be published worldwide, available online and to bookstores worldwide, in print and ebook formats.

GUIDELINES:

• Please only submit unpublished/original/new stories for consideration. Reprints will not be accepted for consideration.

• Submit your story to abchorror@flametreepublishing.com

• Stories using AI-generated text will not be accepted.

• Please submit in .doc, .docx or .rtf formats, double-spaced, with your name and email address in the footer or header of each page.

• Word count will most likely be successful between 3000 and 5000 words.

• This is an unthemed horror anthology, open to all sorts of horror content.

• If submitting a story that has recently been submitted to us for consideration to another anthology, please say this in the submission email.

• Multiple submissions are accepted.

• Deadline for submissions is Friday, 14th November 2025.

OTHER USEFUL TIPS FOR A MORE SUCCESSFUL SUBMISSION:

• Submissions must use the dedicated email address.

• The subject line of the email must be the story title.

• The file with the story must be attached to the email (.docx, .doc or .rtf format).

• The name of the file must match the name in the subject line.

• If submitting more than one story, please submit one story per email.

• The file name of the submission must be the story name only.

• Please just use spaces between words in the title (not _ or - ).

If the story name starts with A or The, please use it at the beginning of the file name.

Thank you, and good luck!

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CONTACT INFORMATION (please do not share the email address publicly):

Questions/submissions: abchorror@flametreepublishing.com

Website: https://www.flametreepublishing.com/

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