Taking Submissions: Puzzling Anthology

Deadline: January 31st, 2024 Payment: $25 USD Theme: Speculative mysteries that include Puzzles. Riddles. Cyphers. Codes that need cracked and ticking clocks that build tension. Puzzles. Riddles. Cyphers. Codes that need cracked and ticking clocks that build tension. Unreliable narrators, secret notes shared in the dark, characters who are in for the surprise of their lives. We want to read your twisty, speculative mysteries. We’re looking for stories that surprise us with a well-drawn plot twist, so please make sure those twists make sense in the context of the story. We are not looking for twists that come from nowhere, but rather ones that click into place when we think back on the previous details in the narrative. We prefer stories set in a rural backdrop with the intimate feeling of a small town. Stories set in a city aren’t an automatic rejection, but they will need to feature the familiarity and closeness of a more rural setting. All stories must feature a speculative element, whether it’s magic or monsters or anything in between. All subgenres of speculative fiction are welcome, although military/political/alien-based sci-fi will be a harder sell. We will judge all stories by their own merits though, so if you think you have something that fits, we want to read it. A note on horror: we are not looking for gratuitous violence, grimdark, or gothic romanticism. All stories must be previously unpublished (this includes your own website/blog). We will not accept any stories featuring bigotry, hateful language, or sexual assault of any kind. This is an anthology for adults so some sex/violence/profanity is fine, as long as it directly pertains to the story and isn’t used solely for shock value. We do want our mothers to read this, so any sex should be fade-to-black rather than overly descriptive....
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