The print edition of Welter is published annually in the spring, while the online journal is published regularly throughout the year. To get a sense of what they publish, you can read their online content for free.

To submit to Welter’s online journal, poets may send up to three poems. Authors of fiction or nonfiction may submit one story or essay, 2,500 words or fewer.

Welter is also holding a micro writing contest called “100 Words for $100.” Authors may submit one flash—fiction or nonfiction—or one micro poem, 100 words or fewer. Welter is especially interested in submissions that address the theme of “Home,” but they’ll consider writing on any theme. The winner of the contest will receive $100. It’s free to submit.

Welter reads submissions blind, which makes them a great venue for unpublished authors. All authors should take care to remove identifying information from submitted writing.

Welter accepts submissions online, not via email or by post. They only accept submissions that adhere to the guidelines they’ve posted online, so please read these guidelines in full before submitting.

If you’d like to learn more or submit to Welter, please visit their website here.

Bio: Ella Peary is the pen name for an author, editor, creative writing mentor, and submission consultant. Over the past five years, she’s written hundreds of articles for Authors Publish, and she’s also served as a copywriter and copy editor for a wide range of organizations and individuals. She is the author of The Quick Start Guide to Flash Fiction. She occasionally teaches a course on flash fiction. You can contact her at ellapeary@gmail.com.

Unnerving Magazine
This magazine accepts short story and poetry submissions of horror and suspense, generally leaning toward horror. Their guidelines say, “Sex, gore and violence are welcome in moderation. Action over emotion, every time.
Please no hard science fiction, sword and sorcery fantasy, romance, humor that isn’t sinister or literary works that venture so far into experimental that they become nonsense, no cop dramas unless hard boiled gumshoe, no fan fiction, no war stories, no stories where rape is the lead character’s motivator, and no blatant rip-offs. No Lovecraft characters, locations, or wording.” They also accept reprints.
Deadline: 31 October 2021
Length: 1,500-8,000 words for fiction, 12-100 lines for poetry
Pay: $0.03/word for fiction, $0.20/line for poetry
Details here.
(Also open now is Factor Four Magazine – they want flash speculative fiction, specifically science fiction, fantasy, supernatural, super hero, or any combination of these, and pay $0.11/word for stories up to 1,000 words.)

Kissing Dynamite
They are open for poetry microchap submissions, for print publication in 2022. They want submissions of poetry – previously published poems are acceptable as long as the collection as a whole has not appeared elsewhere (either digitally or in print). Visual images are acceptable. Manuscripts should not exceed 15 pages, inclusive of all content. They ask writers to pay what they can, if they can, though submissions need not be accompanied by payment.
Deadline: 31 October 2021
Length: Up to 15 pages, all-inclusive
Pay: $50
Details here.
(Submissions are also open for chapbook manuscripts from Dream Pop Press – the genres are poetry, speculative poetry, and hybrid work of 20-50 pages. They lean heavily toward more experimental, non-narrative work. Payment is $200, and the deadline is 31 October 2021.)

One Story
They accept literary fiction, and publish one story a month. “We are looking for stories that leave readers feeling satisfied and are strong enough to stand alone.” They do consider reprints, provided the story has been published in print format only, outside of North America. Apart from cash, accepted writers also get 25 contributor copies.
Deadline: 14 November 2021
Length: 3,000-8,000 words
Pay: $500
Details here (guidelines) and here (Submittable).
(Submissions are also open for two other opportunities: One Story’s Adina Talve-Goodman Fellowship, for an early-career writer of fiction who has not yet published a book and is not currently nor has ever been enrolled in an advanced degree program such as an MA or MFA in Creative Writing, English, or Literature, and has no plans to attend one in the 2022 calendar year; the prize is a stipend of $2,000 and entry into their July 2022 summer conference, free classes, mentorship, and manuscript review, and the deadline is 10^th October 2021. The One Teen Story contest is open, as well – they want stories of 2,000-4,500 words in any genre about the teen experience, from writers ages 13 to 19. The prize is $500, and the deadline is 19^th November 2021.)

New Southern Fugitives
They publish literary, mainstream, and experimental fiction, as well as essays, poetry, art, and book reviews.
Deadline: 30 November 2021
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction and nonfiction, up to three poems, up to 1,000 words for reviews
Pay: $15/page up to $105 for fiction and nonfiction, $40 per poem or book review or photo/art
Details here.

Protean
They publish fiction, poetry, and nonfiction – criticism, news analysis, essays, or film or book reviews. For nonfiction, they accept pitches as well as complete submissions. They publish work geared explicitly to the anti-capitalist left.  They accept submissions/pitches for online work on an ongoing basis, while calls are announced on their social media for print.
Deadline: Ongoing for online
Length: 1,500-4,500 words for nonfiction; 1,000-4,000 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: Starts at $175 for film and book reviews, at $200 for essays, at $100 for fiction; $30 for poetry
Details here.

Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She is the author of 182 Short Fiction Publishers. She can be reached here.

If you’re like us, the chill air has you reaching for the spookiest books on the shelf. And as the pumpkins, skeletons, and ghouls make their way out this October, you may even find them creeping into your own poems. We may not be able to gather round the fire for ghost stories just yet (ahem, Delta), but plenty of literary journals are running Halloween contests and special issues that promise a hair-raising good read. Take a peek below at our round-up of the scariest opportunities this autumn!

Tales From the Moonlit Path

This online pub hosts works of poetry and fiction, and they favor the dark, eerie, and speculative. Their Halloween contest is open until October 14, and slated to go live on October 28. And bonus—the contest winner earns $50!

Grimoire

This online zine creeps us out year-round! Grimoire has a cool, edgy vibe, and they run special sections like dead letters, seances, dreams, and spells. We’re in!

Coffin Bell

This online journal’s mission says it all: Dark times call for dark literature. And they don’t necessarily mean horror. Coffin Bell seeks everything from dystopian flash to waking nightmares to cursed verse . . . and they read year-round!

Aphelion

Aphelion Webzine publishes science-fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction and poetry. New issues come out monthly, so submissions are always open. As an added bonus, the site offers challenges to inspire your muse.

Eye to the Telescope

This quarterly online journal began publishing science-fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative poetry in 2011, under the auspices of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association. Submissions for the January issue are open now until December 15, and Eye to the Telescope pays its writers!

Strange Horizons

Strange Horizons is a weekly magazine of and about speculative fiction. They publish fiction, poetry, reviews, essay, interviews, roundtable discussions, and art, so this venue has many opportunities. The magazine defines speculative fiction as science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and all flavors of fantastika. Poetry submissions and nonfiction are open through October (fiction will open in November), and Strange Horizons pays!

Ghost City Review

This magazine doesn’t focus solely on things that go bump in the night, but we just had to include them in this list! Ghost City Review welcomes submissions of poems, short stories, flash fiction, personal essays, adventure narratives, journal entries, short plays, monologues, translations, photographs, oil paintings, watercolors, sculptures, dioramas . . . pretty much anything you can think of. Submissions are open on a rolling basis.

Unbroken

This online zine seeks prose poems, both traditional and innovative. They look for work that is dark and disquieting, fanciful and funny, surreal and surprising. They want stunning and unusual imagery, and language that compels. Submissions open November 1 for the January issue.

Haunted Waters Press

We love this journal’s aesthetic! They publish an annual issue in print and a steady stream of new content online throughout the year. Their 2021 issue is closed to submissions but fear not! HWP opens again on November 1.

Bio: Kallie Falandays runs Tell Tell Poetry. A poetry resource site helping secret poets publish their poems.  Their  Submission Course is currently open for registration.