Submission Sunday 3.23.25: Special Horror Edition

Where to submit your horror stories and tips on how best to write them

Happy Sunday, writers! I hope the words have been flowing and the submissions have been received with appreciation.

I’ve had horror on the brain this week. On Monday, Alta published my review of Stephen Graham Jones’s latest novel, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter. Have you read Jones yet?

One of the enjoyments of reading a Stephen Graham Jones novel is discovering which narrative strands—some that would be recognized as “literary,” some as “genre”—will be woven together in the book. Whether it’s Mongrels’ werewolf tale and family saga, The Only Good Indians’ supernatural revenge tour and basketball tourney, or the Indian Lake trilogy’s slasher epic, horror seminar, and female bildungsroman, Jones crafts story strata that surprise and satisfy. In his latest, The Buffalo Hunter Hunter, a deep dive into historical fiction inspired by the 1870 brutal massacre of a Pikuni Blackfeet camp by U.S. soldiers in Montana, there are more layers than ever, “about monsters and history, ghosts and justice.”

I love how the horror genre can be used to convey all kinds of ideas using the metaphors of fear that we are familiar with and those that have yet to cross our minds. At its best, it also defies genre expectations.

All of Stephen Graham Jones’s books expose the false dichotomy between genre and literary fiction. Will a typical narrative from the author involve someone dying in a horrific way that will haunt your dreams? Sure. Will readers also encounter the profound themes and evocative prose of the best American literature? They will—and to fear the gore is to miss out on the revelation.

So I thought it might be fun this week to gather some resources for any among us who may want to write and publish horror stories. We’ll start with the best places to submit and then we’ll get a little crafty.