Horror anthology Submission Guidelines:
Caretaker Press is very proud to announce the 2024 publication of our debut horror anthology, Back Into The Ground. Well, proud isn’t exactly the word for how we feel. Bringing this out excites and thrills us. We’re also a little scared!
All that said, here we are.
What We’re Looking For In This Horror Anthology:
We enjoy a broad array of horror storytelling in all forms. For the purposes of Back Into The Ground we seek spooky stories inspired by place, specifically, our home, the Pacific Northwest. Towering trees and rough seas crashing under gray skies strike us as the ideal settings for a scary story. We define place-inspired horror loosely, so bring us your best work and we’ll talk about fit. Translation: challenge us, please. Do we like vampires, zombies, werewolves and other familiar creatures? Yes… just as long as they’re done right.
What we don’t like, under any circumstances, are stories that are mean spirited, vengeful, exploitative, sexist, etc… Be nice, write well, and tell a story that keeps us up nights in the right way.
AI Policy:
Back Into The Ground Anthology does not accept submissions of any kind that were written, developed or assisted by tools such as ChatGPT. We would consider publishing and reading stories dealing with the repercussions of AI. We would prefer that those stories be written by you, a human being. Any attempt to submit AI-aided work may result in being permanently banned from our magazine.
Submission Standards:
We want original, unpublished work. By unpublished, we mean work that has never seen the light of day in another anthology, magazine, your site or social media.
Please submit one story in the form of a .DOC, .DOCX or .RTF format attached to an email.
Email to: caretakerpress@gmail.com
By acceptance, we are acquiring exclusive World Rights to your story for the period of one year.
We do not accept reprints.
We accept simultaneous submissions . Do us a favor though. If your story ends up getting published elsewhere, please let us know so we can offer you a hearty congratulations as well as remove your tale from consideration in this horror anthology.
Please include a third person bio in your email. Include your publishing credits, if you have them and your connection to the Pacific Northwest.
Back Into The Ground Anthology welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, and military status.
Compensation:
$40.00 per story. Payment due upon publication.
Word Count:
Up to 7,500 words
Anything longer, please query the editors before sending the manuscript.
Editors Of This Horror Anthology:
James Strayer & Erick Mertz
In past lives, James Strayer has been an assistant to Gus Van Sant, an experimental record label drone, and a video production company co-owner. Through each of these incarnations, the through line was always that of being a massive fan of horror in all mediums. Always a reader, the pandemic caused him to put down his phone and pick up a book, time and time again which further emphasized the need for good words on a page.
Erick Mertz is a writer/editor from Oregon City, Oregon. He writes a series of Pacific Northwest based paranormal mystery stories called The Strange Air, available on Amazon and Patreon. His favorite horror author is Stephen King. If he had to pick a favorite horror movie, it would be “The Thing”. Publishing a horror anthology like “Back Into The Ground” fulfills a lifelong dream of being a part of the horror community.
Sounds great! What is the deadline for submission?
We’re going to be open until we’re full!
Hi Erick! Just wondering how close your submissions are to being full now? I’d love to write a story, though would struggle to make the deadline if subs close in a week or so etc. Any clarity around the deadline would be much appreciated! Such a great idea for an anthology.
We have not put a cap on submissions yet, so stay tuned. Send us the story!
If good enough, would you accept a 500 word story?
We’re definitely into short content, send it our way!
Are you still open?
Best
Sarah
Are you including British Columbia in your definition of Pacofic Northwest?
If not full by April – do you want to be inclusion my monthly blog posting of open calls?
British Columbia, definitely PNW!
We’d love that, Angelique, thank you!
Hi there, would you be accepting short stories from writers outside the Pacific Northwest?
Yes! From writers all over the world with the hope that the story connects to the PNW in some way.
Send it to us!
My closest connection to the Pacific Northwest is that I lived in Alberta for a short period of time and visited the Rockies. My genre is gothic horror with my latest novel, Blood Mansion, published in Oct 2023. I have ideas for a story that takes place in the Rockies. Would I and my story qualify?
Thanks for contacting us!
We’re interested in stories inspired by the Pacific Northwest. That means, if you took a trip anywhere near here and were inspired by the landscape, send us the story you wrote about it.
Hello, would you accept the story of a Brazilian?
Absolutely! Just so long as the story is inspired by or feels like something based in the PNW!
Quick question about rights. The web page says “By acceptance, we are acquiring exclusive World Rights to your story.” Are you saying you want exclusive rights forever, or for a specific amount of time? Thank you.
Thank you for pointing that out! We’re adjusting that to exclusive rights for one year.
I hope that helps!
Thank you! It helps!
Hello, I was wondering if you were going to send out rejections as well as acceptance?
Thank you
Absolutely, yes. We haven’t even started reading yet, so it may be a while before we say yes… or no.
I’ve completed a first draft and hope to have the revised work sent to you by Monday, April 15th (hoping the quota isn’t filled yet), thanks.
Looking forward to reading it!
Hi Ericck. Any specific formatting requirements for submissions? Font, formatting, indents, etc.
Thank you.
Nothing specific. Just give it to us in whatever way you’ve got it!
Thank you, and submitted!
Has the anthology been filled yet? Or are there still openings?
Sent it along. We’re closing submissions soon, but you still have time.
Is there still time? I only recently found out about this and I’m editing like mad to get a story out to you.
Sent it along. We’re closing submissions soon, but you still have time.
I should have this story ready to go by May 20th! Do you think that will be too late?
Works for us!
Will you be sending rejections or are you only sending acceptances?
We will be sending out both acceptance letter and rejections.
I hope I am not too late. I am just putting the finishing touches on a unique horror story that takes place in the BC Rockies. I plan on sending it tonight.
Oh no! I just finished editing my story and went to submit when I saw you had just closed. Is there a place I can subscribe to get updates on when you might be open again?
Are you still taking submissions for this anthology?
Your Guys closed message changed! I hope everything is going well for your project!
Going great! We’re looking at getting preliminary decisions up this weekend and moving forward.
Is this project still underway? I submitted in March and have not heard anything back.
I am also curious if it’s still open!
We are briefly re-opening for submissions. Send us your story!
We’re sending out decisions this weekend. Thank you for bearing with us!
Just saw a comment on Instagram from the Portland Horror Film Festival that you’re still taking submissions. Is that true?
Many thanks to Gwen! We are briefly re-opening for submissions. Send us a story!
Decisions both yea and na? I hadn’t received either and submitted my story on 4/15/2024. Thank you
I do have something I’m working on. Happy to submit soon if you’re open to it. Sorry for the delay.
Hi Erik,
if we submitted during the original submission period and haven’t heard back from you should we assume that’s a rejection?
Cheers!
Morgan
I have the same question, I am hesitate to submit it to other places because this would be perfect for it.
Thank you.