Good deals on used scifi, fantasy, and horror anthologies on Amazon

If you're not averse to buying used books, Amazon has a couple of good deals right now on best-of-the-year speculative anthologies. Prices include shipping.

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection, $6.33

- Very good condition, hardcover

- Edited by Gardner R. Dozois

- Includes Ursula K. Le Guin, Bruce Sterling, others

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Eighth Annual Collection, $6.34

- Good condition, hardcover

- Edited by Ellen Datlow

- Includes Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Stephen King, Jane Yolen, others

On a related note, Amazon is also selling a collection of H.G. Wells' tales, The Door in the Wall And Other Stories, for just $4.45 (paperback). All profits from this book support the  Freeriver Community Project.

Disclaimer: I may earn a commission on Amazon sales made from links in this post.

Call for submissions - anti-war haiku and tanka about the war in Ukraine

Haiku poet and editor Dimitar Anakiev is seeking submissions for an anthology of anti-war haiku and tanka about the ongoing war in Ukraine.

From Dimitar's Facebook post:

I invite poets who wrote anti-war haiku (or tanka) on the topic of the war in Ukraine - including related forms (rensaku, haibun, tanka prose) by September 30, 2024 at the latest, to send their works to

bg.gendai@gmail.com (subject: Ukraine)

.

lonely,

Russian tank calmly burns

in Ukraine.

       Dimitar Anakiev

According to Dimitar, this anthology is being created to help the Ukrainian people, rather than for commercial purposes. There are no payments to contributors, and no submission fees. Any money raised will go to "the people of Ukraine."

There are very few restrictions on submissions. Submit as many poems as you want; they can be published or unpublished. Poems should be sent to bg.gendai@gmail.com by 9/30/24.

Book review: Bits of the Dead, edited by Keith Gouveia

From the dark minds of 38 horror writers comes a collection of short zombie fiction, appropriately enough titled Bits of the Dead.  The anthology includes a tiny tale from each writer (most are less than two pages) tackling the subject of zombies from every angle.

Many of the writers included in this book are well-known and highly-respected authors.  Some of the numerous recognizable names include (in no particular order) Tim Waggoner, Kurt Newton, Steve Vernon, Piers Anthony, Charles Gramlich, and Marcie Lynn Tentchoff.  All of the stories come illustrated by Sean Simmans.

Most of the stories chosen by editor Keith Gouveia deserve to be included.  There are a few misses (as there will always be), but for the most part, this is an anthology of good, strong zombie stories.

Lee Thomas starts the anthology off with a three-paragraph-long story, "Tuesday."  While besieged by hungry zombies, a small group of survivors discovers that the two species are not quite as different as they thought.

Nate Southard's story, "Another Lonesome Day," brings one man's loneliness to a whole new level.  In "The Courting," Piers Anthony shows that even in a world full of zombies, there's no escaping sexual harassment.

One of the best stories of the lot is Drew Brown's "Run."  A father's love for his family is tested, and Brown paces the story perfectly for maximum effect.

Another stand-out story is Charles Gramlich's "Once Upon a Time with the Dead."  The story is action-packed, and you can almost see it playing out in your head as a movie.

Ed Dempster's "Carson's End" had a lot of potential, and the tone of the story made it interesting, but in the end it just failed to deliver.

Another story that I wouldn't have missed is "It's a Shame It Had to End Like This," by Michael Laimo.  The plot is interesting, and the story is well-written -- especially the action -- but the climax is told to the reader, rather than shown, and it's a bit of a letdown.

Overall, Bits of the Dead is a worthwhile collection of zombie flash fiction.  Horror fans will enjoy this book, especially those that are constantly on the go or prefer very short stories.  If you've read Bits of the Dead and are in search of another dark flash fiction anthology, try Book of Shadows from Brimstone Press.

Bits of the Dead is a 171-page paperback published by Coscom Entertainment and edited by Keith Gouveia.  The book is available online from AbeBooks and Amazon.

(Originally posted on Helium.com, June 2009)

Disclaimer: I earn a commission on Amazon sales made from links in this post.

Book review: Book of Shadows Volume One edited by Angela Challis

BOOK OF SHADOWS VOLUME ONE - Edited by Angela Challis

Book of Shadows Volume One is a superb collection of dark fantasy and horror culled from the archives of the Shadowed Realms online magazine. Angela Challis, editor of Shadowed Realms, presents a mixed bag of short stories that would probably haunt your dreams, if you could manage to fall asleep after reading them.

Many genre notables make an appearance or two in this book, including Poppy Z. Brite, Robert Hood, Aurelio Rico Lopez III, Mikal Trimm, Justin Stanchfield and Stephen Dedman, among others. Kurt Newton and Greg Beatty each contribute three short stories, and Shane Jiraiya Cummings provides the darkly hypnotic cover art, in addition to one of the more unique tales, "Stealing Fire."

Sprinkled in with the 37 (yep -- 37!) flash fiction stories are six longer pieces, which complement the shorter works effectively. After racing through a few two- or three-page stories, a longer tale lurks just around the corner, ready to slow you down and let you catch your breath before plunging on.

Greg Beatty leads off the collection by showing just how disturbing a typo can be in "How to Write Flesh Fiction," and "Is It Wrong?" will make you look at imaginary friends in a whole new light. His stories all have a comic undercurrent running through them. At the end of a story, you'll catch yourself laughing and immediately wonder if that means you have issues. It probably does.

Charles Richard Laing (a name familiar to Whispers of Wickedness readers) contributes "Asking Questions," a romantic tale about a loving husband desperate to find his missing wife and children. Well, that might be putting a tiny bit of spin on it. It starts dark and quickly sinks into depravity. A must-read for any parent.

In "Still Born," one of the best stories of the bunch, Mikal Trimm lifts the curtain and shows just how deep a mother's love runs. The story is tightly written with a gut-punch ending that will twist your sense of morality into a pretzel.

"The Empty Child" by Richard Harland and "Seed and Soil" by Josh Rountree were two well-written stories that failed to hold my interest. There were no flaws with plot or characterization; I just didn't find myself drawn in at all.

"Ad Infinitum" is a nightmare rollercoaster, one of the longer stories, impressively sustained by Gary Kemble from beginning to end with constant tension and a steadily increasing sense of impending doom.

"Doubled," a one-page short by veteran Eric Marin, is a fun little tale with an interesting premise.

Anyone who considers themselves a horror writer should read the last story in the book, "The Reading" by Kurt Newton. On some level, whether consciously or not, you may find it to be about you.

Book of Shadows does not contain a single poorly-written story, which for a collection of 43 yarns is no small feat. The stories range in subject matter from intelligent blimps and killer ducks to talking wolves and virgin sacrifices, with just about everything in between. And, of course, there's a zombie story.

Angela Challis presents an excellent variety of themes, plots, and atmospheres in Book of Shadows. This is the first time I've read anything she edited, and if I were to compare this book to food (which I tend to do) I would say it goes down smooth and fills you up, though it does have a strong kick to it. This book was labeled Volume One, but unfortunately Brimstone Press never continued the series.

Book of Shadows Volume One was edited by Angela Challis and published as a 235-page trade paperback by Brimstone Press in 2006. There don't appear to be any copies available online (except a used copy from AbeBooks for $59.95) but there are some libraries in Australia and New Zealand that stock it.

(Originally published on the Whispers of Wickedness web site, March 2007. Minor edits.)

Got a werewolf story?

Wyldblood Press is currently seeking werewolf stories for an upcoming print and e-book anthology. This is a paying market; accepted stories will be bought at a rate of £0.01 per word. (As of today, that's 1.3 cents per word in the US.)

Simultaneous submissions are fine, but only send one story at a time. Unsolicited reprints are only considered from writers who have written for Wyldblood in the past. Reprints are paid at half the rate of unpublished work.

The last day to submit is 10/31. Be sure to check out the publisher's preferences -- especially if you plan to submit humor or high fantasy. Stories should be between 2,500 and 10,000 words.

Four paying speculative fiction markets

The following speculative fiction markets are all open now,  or opening soon.  And, they all pay.

- Freeze Frame Fiction
(courtesy of the Flash Fiction Flash newsletter)

Freeze Frame Fiction is looking for flash fiction up to 1000 words.  They pay $10 per story, and will accept simultaneous submissions (though no reprints).  The guidelines state that "stories involving vampires, zombies, or werecreatures" might be fighting an uphill battle here.

Submit via Submittable by July 31st.

- Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores

(courtesy of Published to Death)

Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores publishes "well written original stories in science fiction, fantasy, myth, legend, fairy tales, and eldritch" and prefer shorter pieces over longer ones.  Pays 6 cents/word for unpublished fiction; 2 cents/word for reprints.

They open for submissions four times a year, for one week at a time.  The next submission window is June 21st to June 28th.

- Changelings & Fairy Rings: An Anthology of Nature Spirits & Elemental Creatures

Three Drops Press is putting together "a themed anthology in honour of the Good Folk."  The book will be pocket-sized, so the editors are looking for poems 40 lines or less and flash fiction 500 words or fewer.  Previously published submissions are allowed; simultaneous ones are not.  Payment is £3.50 UK ($5.00 US) and a PDF copy of the anthology. 

The submission deadline is June 1st.

- Lamplight

LampLight is a digital magazine for literary dark fiction.  The editors want "stories that are dark, literary; we are looking for the creepy, the weird and the unsettling."  Previously published stories will be considered, as long as they are not available for free somewhere else online.  Simultaneous submissions are also accepted.  Writers are paid 3 cents/word -- 1 cent/word for reprints -- up to a maximum of $150.

Submit via Submittable by June 15th.

Dwarf Stars, train haiku anthology

Nominations are currently being taken for the 2018 Dwarf Stars Award.  You can submit your own poems or those of others -- speculative poems 10 lines or less published in 2017.  This year's editor is
Deborah P. Kolodji.

The deadline for nominations is May 15th.  SFPA members will receive the Dwarf Stars anthology in July, and voting will close on August 31st.

In non-speculative news, Jacquie Pearce is collecting haiku, tanka, rengay and haibun about trains for an upcoming anthology.  Submit published or unpublished poems by email.  Payment is one contributor's copy.  The submission deadline is June 30th.

Two speculative fiction markets

Below are two speculative fiction markets that are currently seeking submissions.

Apex Magazine is a name that should be familiar to speculative writers.  Regularly edited by Jason Sizemore, the August 2018 issue will have a guest editor Sheree Renée Thomas.  Sheree is looking for "short stories that explore the heavenly cosmos and unveil mysteries, tales that reimagine Zodiacal archetypes and/or throw them on their heads."

Submit unpublished fiction, 1500 to 5000 words, by email.  It may come as a nice surprise to speculative poets that Sheree will also be considering poems for this issue.  Payment for accepted works is 6 cents/word (for fiction) or $5/poem.  The full guidelines for this "special Zodiac-themed issue" can be found on the issue's call for submissions page.  To be considered for this issue, all work must be submitted by May 1st.

*    *    *

The second market listing comes courtesy of Published to Death.  Third Flatiron Publishing is reading submissions for an anthology titled Galileo's Theme Park.  The anthology is centered around the themes of "Space opera, SF, physics."  Check out the publisher's guidelines before submitting (by email).  Stories should be between 1500 and 3000 words, unless you're submitting a short humor piece -- in that case, aim for 600 words.

Like Apex, Third Flatiron pays the SFWA professional rate of 6 cents/word.  The submission period closes on April 15th.

Popcorn Press horror anthology call for submissions

Popcorn Press is accepting submissions for a new horror anthology with a werewolf theme.  Poems and horror fiction don't have to revolve around werewolves, though.  Previously published works will be considered (but no simultaneous submissions).  Haiku and other short forms are welcome.  There will be payment, but the amount depends on how well their Kickstarter project does.  Deadline for submissions is October 23rd.

Zen of the Dead horror anthology call for submissions

Popcorn Press is publishing another horror anthology for Halloween, this one titled Zen of the Dead.  Submissions are open until October 23rd, for both short fiction and poetry.  Payment is $1 or more, depending on how much space your accepted piece fills, plus a copy of the e-book.

This looks like a cool anthology.  Check out the Kickstarter page for all the details.  Click on the "Contact Me" link to contact the editor and get the email address where submissions should be sent.

New cancer anthology call for submissions

Rhonda Parrish, editor of Niteblade, is editing a new speculative anthology on the theme of cancer.  Fiction and poetry can be submitted through June 30th.  Payment for accepted submissions will be $10 plus a share of the book's royalties.  You can read the full guidelines at RhondaParrish.com.

Some August writing contests

Here are a few contests (and one anthology) with deadlines in August:

- Ligonier Valley Writers Flash Fiction Contest: There is no entry fee for this contest, but stories must be set in a cemetery or similar location, and the words "twenty-five," "anniversary," and "silver" must be used in the story. Entries should be emailed and must be 1003 words or less. The contest deadline is August 14th.

- Halloween Short Story Contest: This contest, put on by Water Forest Press Books, Skyline Publications, and Night Wind Publishing, is for unpublished horror or fantasy stories, any length. The winner will have a collection of his or her short stories published, and will receive 10 copies of the book. There is a $10 entry fee for each story. The deadline is August 15th.

- Uncle John's Flush Fiction anthology: The editors of this collection are looking for short stories (1000 words or less) that can be read in the bathroom. There is no genre requirement, and humor is welcome. Simultaneous submissions and reprints will both be considered. Payment for accepted stories will be $50 and two copies of the anthology. All entries must be postmarked by August 31st.

- The Annual Harold G. Henderson Awards for Best Unpublished Haiku: Sponsored by the Haiku Society of America, this contest is open to both members and non-members. Up to 10 haiku may be submitted on index cards. The entry fee is $1/haiku for HSA members, $2/haiku for non-members. Three prizes will be awarded -- $150, $100, and $50 -- and winning poems will be published in Frogpond. All poems must be submitted by August 31st.

The HSA also has two other contests with similar guidelines and the August 31st deadline: the Annual Gerald Brady Memorial Awards for Best Unpublished Senryu, and the HSA Contest for Best Unpublished Haibun. Guidelines for both contests can be viewed on the same page as the Harold G. Henderson contest guidelines.

Some open markets

Writer and editor Mark Crittenden is currently reading for a vampire fiction anthology titled Their Dark Masters. Submissions are open until January 15th for stories 4000-7000 words long, and all contributors will receive a copy of the book.

Ghostlight will be closing to submissions August 31st, so if you plan on submitting anything to that one, hurry. Ghostlight pays $5 per story and $4 per poem.

Basement Stories is currently open and looking for submissions. They pay a penny a word for fiction and $10 per poem, and they'll accept both simultaneous submissions and reprints.

If you need to buy anything from the Writer's Digest online store, you can get free shipping on your order until August 31st. Use the coupon code WDS161 when you check out.

a horror contest & the new Apex

Dark Moon Books is holding a fiction contest to fill its newest anthology, MONSTERS! The editors want monster stories 2000-6000 words long that have not been published in print. (Online publication is OK as long as you still hold the copyright.) The entry fee is $5 per story, and the three top prizes are $100, $50, and $25. Selected stories will be chosen for publication in the anthology, and any writer whose story is included will get a contributor's copy. The submission deadline is April 10th.

The February issue of Apex Magazine is now live... read all the stories and vote for your favorite. And if that's not enough speculative fiction for you, check out Charles Gramlich's science fiction/horror story "Hunter's Moon" from October's Beat to a Pulp.

some market news & a haiku contest

Unfortunately, two great magazines have decided to close up shop recently. The Shantytown Anomaly will be taking a hiatus after issue #8, which should be in the mail now. Shantytown is a really cool speculative poetry journal, and hopefully it will be back sometime soon.

Small haiku journal Wisteria is also going on hiatus. The magazine's last issue for now will be the January issue.

All pending submissions for both journals are being released back to their respective owners.

Mark Crittenden, writer, poet, and artist, is guest-editing Lame Goat Press's new horror anthology, Howl: Dark Tales of the Feral and Infernal. The anthology is for stories "about the struggle between man and the animal-beasts of myth and legend." Submit scary stories between 1000 and 4000 words. There is no payment for selected stories, but it sounds like a cool anthology to be a part of. Deadline is March 15th, 2010.

The Pennsylvania Poetry Society's annual poetry contest is currently running. There are 16 different categories, and #9 is the "Haiku, Senryu, Tanka Award." Entry fees are $2 per poem, and the deadline is January 15th, 2010. There are two prizes for the category -- $30 and $20. For full guidelines, see the PDF file on the PPS's website.

As a side note, I had to add word verification to the comments page, in order to stop all the spam messages (which got to be over 200, and which I'm still in the process of deleting). I know it's a pain -- sorry.

Five speculative anthologies

Pill Hill Press is going to be pretty busy these next few months, reading for all these anthologies:

- The Four Horsemen: This anthology will be broken up into four different themes -- conquest, war, famine, and death. (Specify which section your story pertains to when you submit.) Payment is 1 cent per word plus a copy for stories 500-5000 words long. Deadline is December 31st.

- Quest for Atlantis: For this anthology, submit Atlantis-themed stories written in the third person, 1000-10,000 words long. Payment is 1 cent per word (up to $50) plus a contributor's copy. Deadline is February 28th, 2010.

- Love Kills: This anthology will be filled by means of a contest. The top three winners will receive $125, $50, or $25, and anyone whose story is chosen for publication will be mailed a copy of the anthology. The editors are looking for "SCARY stories, written in third person, featuring the theme LOVE KILLS: MY BLOODY VALENTINE." They want stories 2000-6000 words long. Contest deadline is January 15th, 2010.

Read the full Pill Hill Press submission guidelines before submitting to any of these anthologies or contests.

Northern Frights Publishing is also open for anthology submissions. They are currently reading for two science fiction anthologies, War of the Worlds: Front Lines and Timelines: Stories Inspired by HG Wells' The Time Machine. General guidelines for both anthologies are the same -- stories up to 8000 words will be accepted, with unpublished stories being preferred. Payment is 1 cent per word, up to $50, plus a contributor copy. Deadline for both anthologies is December 31st.

UPDATE: Through the holiday season, the "Holiday Deals" section on the sidebar (between "Market News" and "Current Contests") will highlight cheap prices and good online deals for anything related to haiku, horror, reading, or writing.

28 Blackbirds, an Ezra Pound anthology contest

J. Bruce Fuller's haiku series, "28 Blackbirds at the End of the World," appeared in Scifaikuest last year and was subsequently nominated for a Rhysling Award. Now, Bandersnatch Books has decided to make it into a chapbook -- and rightly so -- which should be available sometime in November. Any fans of haiku or speculative poetry should check it out.

Bandersnatch Books is also currently seeking submissions for a new anthology, themed around variations on Ezra Pound's famous haiku-like poem, "In the Station of the Metro." They are looking for "something 100% original that touches the spirit of the original poem, albeit in a haunted/ghostly context." This sounds like a pretty cool anthology to be a part of. Payment is 25 cents per line plus a contributor's copy, and submissions will remain open until the anthology is filled (which might not take very long).

For those looking for places to submit haiku, here are links to submission guidelines for some online haiku journals (all non-paying):

- Chrysanthemum
- The Heron's Nest
- Notes from the Gean
- Simply Haiku
- Roadrunner Haiku Journal
- Shamrock Haiku Journal
- Sketchbook
- Riverbed Haiku

Two contests

A horror fiction contest and a poetry contest:

- The 1st Annual Dark Moon Anthology Short Story Contest: Dark Moon Books is holding this contest in order to fill their zombie anthology, A Collection of Zombie Short Stories. The editors want only zombie stories, between 2000 and 6000 words. Stories can have appeared online, but not in print. The three prizes are $100, $50, and $25. Other stories selected for inclusion will receive contributor's copies. The submission deadline is January 1st, 2010.

- Bay Area Poets Coalition Annual Contest: This yearly poetry contest has three categories -- Mini (up to 15 lines), Midi (up to 25 lines), and Maxi (up to 35 lines). Entries must be unpublished and accompanied by an entry fee of $2 per poem. Three prizes will be awarded -- $50, $35, and $20. The deadline is November 15th, 2009.

Also, I came across this review the other day of Bits and Pieces. The reviewer spelled my name wrong, but he or she seemed to like the chapbook, so I won't complain. (Copies of Bits and Pieces are still available from The Genre Mall and Spec House of Poetry.)

two anthologies, other news

Sam's Dot Publishing is currently working on a new anthology, Side Show 2: Tales of the Big Top and the Bizarre. (Thanks to Mark Crittenden for mentioning this one -- he'll be doing the cover art.) For this anthology, submit circus/carnival/midway-themed speculative stories between 1500 and 5000 words. Payment will be $12 plus a copy for unpublished stories, or $7 plus a copy for reprints. There is no set deadline, but they're hoping to publish by January or February, so get those stories in soon. You can find the full guidelines in the August issue of Expressions (scroll about 4/5 of the way to the bottom, or just search for "side show").

For fantasy writers, Fight On! magazine is hosting a fiction contest to fill their new anthology, titled Weird Enclaves and Black Pits. They want all sorts of fantasy stories (up to 10,000 words) and there is no fee to enter. Selected stories will appear in the anthology (with contributor's copies being sent out) and three lucky winners will also receive $100, $60, or $30. The deadline for this one is October 31st.

In other news, Goblin Fruit will be opening to submissions tomorrow (October 9th) while Inch will be temporarily closing to subs October 15th.

two fiction anthologies

Autumn always seems to be anthology season for some reason, and this year is no exception. Here are two fiction anthologies, both of which will accept speculative stories:

- The Midnight Diner: This anthology, now in its third year, is "a hardboiled genre anthology with a Christian slant." That doesn't mean preachy bible stories, however -- one of their past topics was "Jesus vs. Cthulhu." Only submit unpublished stories (10,000 words or fewer). Simultaneous submissions are accepted. Payment is a contributor's copy, but three stories will receive Editor's Choice awards, which appear to be $100 each. (The wording is vague, and it could be taken to mean that all three winners will split the $100.) The deadline for submissions is December 1st.

- Terror Tales from Crib to Crypt: This Lilley Press anthology will focus on novella-length horror stories (20,000 to 25,000 words) that "incorporate or mirror the cover design in an obvious way." (The cover design was posted on the website, but appears to have been temporarily taken down.) Only electronic submissions will be accepted. Payment is not specified, but the guidelines say that royalties will be split between the writers. The deadline for this one is also December 1st.