Finding a place for your short horror story can be difficult. That’s frustrating when you’ve put a lot of time and energy into it. I made a list of (mostly) horror magazines that pay for short horror stories.
I didn’t include horror podcast markets. You can find a separate list of horror podcasts here:
Apex Magazine
Apex Magazine is a bimonthly e-zine for dark fiction, fantasy, and horror with an edge. Read an issue of the magazine to find out what they are looking for. You can subscribe via their website or buy separate issues via Weightless Books, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple Books, and Google Play. Payment for short stories up to 7500 words is $0,8 cents/word. The minimum is $50. They also have a story podcast. If they podcast your story, an additional payment is $0,1 per word. You can read the submission guidelines at https://apex-magazine.com/submissions/.
Ghost Light – The Magazine of Terror
Ghostlight Magazine is open for horror stories and dark poetry once a year. Elements of dark SciFi, satire, or dark fantasy are allowed. No slasher stories, sword & sorcery, space opera, or Fan fiction. They accept stories from new and established authors for the yearly edition of the magazine. The anthologies are available via Amazon. They accept stories and poetry between March 1 and September 1. Read the submission guidelines at https://glahw.com/ghostlight-the-magazine-of-terror/ghostlight-guidelines/.
Lamplight Magazine
Lamplight is a quarterly magazine for dark fantasy and unsettling stories. Submission guidelines are visible when the magazine is open for submissions. You can buy issues of the magazine via Kindle, Smashwords, Nook, iBooks, and Kobo. Check http://lamplightmagazine.com to see if they are open for submissions. You can also listen to stories via the Lamplight Radio Play: http://lamplightmagazine.com/radioplay/.
Nightmare Magazine
Nightmare Magazine is a monthly magazine. Magazine subscriptions are available via the website. Ebook editions of the magazine are available via their website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Weightless Books, and Kobo. They podcast two stories of every new edition of the magazine. They open twice a year for story submissions, usually in September and March. They accept horror stories between 1500 – 7500 words. Sometimes they accept flash fiction and poetry. Payment for stories is 8 cents per word. They pay $40 for a poem. Check the website to find out when they are open to submissions. You can read the submission guidelines at https://adamant.moksha.io/publication/nightmare/guidelines.
The Dark Magazine
The Dark Magazine is a monthly online magazine. You can buy the magazine via Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Weightless Books. They seek original horror and dark fantasy stories between 2000 – 6000 words. They pay 6 cents per word. Read their guidelines at https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/submission-guidelines/.
The Deadlands
The deadlands is an online magazine. Subscriptions are available via their website. They are looking for speculative fiction about death and stories of the afterlife. No vampires, zombies, demons, or apocalypse stories. Read their guidelines well to get an idea of what they are looking for or read some stories on the website. They accept stories up to 5000 words. The payment is 10 cents per word. Read the guidelines here: https://thedeadlands.com/guidelines/.
The Maul Magazine
This is a new magazine. The first issue was published recently. Their audience will be younger readers. They accept horror and speculative fiction between 100 and 3000 words. The editors are looking for stories that are a mix of genres. For example, fantasy mixed with horror. You can read the stories of the first issue on the website. Their payment is 8 cents per word for original pieces and 2 cents per word for reprints. You can find their submission guidelines at https://themaulmag.com/submissions/.
Three-Lobed Burning Eye
Three-Lobed Burning eye is a speculative fiction magazine and it’s published thrice per year. They want horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories between 1001 – 7500 words. No extreme horror. Flash fiction: under 1000 words. Read a few issues of the magazine to get an idea of what they are looking for. They pay $100 for a short story, $30 for flash fiction; plus one print copy of the anthology. You can find the submission guidelines here: https://www.3lobedmag.com/submissions.html.
Weird Horror Magazine
Weird Horror Magazine is published twice a year. They are open to submissions in March and September. They are seeking horror stories and weird fiction between 500 – 6000 words. No extreme horror. The payment is 1,5 cent per word with a minimum of $25. Read their submission guidelines at https://undertowpublications.com/weird-horror-magazine. You can buy issues at https://undertowpublications.com.
Image by Infinite-creations on Pixabay
