Back in business, starting with two open calls in which I’m involved editorially. First one for imaginative stories of Folk Horror; the second one for strange detective mysteries which may or may not have a supernatural element…
Coming from Cathaven Press
OCCULT DETECTIVE MAGAZINE: FOLK HORROR SPECIAL #1
Edited by Dave Brzeski & John Linwood Grant
Submission Guidelines: We are looking for PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED stories – reprints to which you own the rights – which:
- Fit with the themes and tone generally considered Folk Horror, rural or urban
- Have some investigative element(s) in line with our regular ODM publications
As with our successful Mythos Specials, we may well take ONE or TWO new, unpublished stories to add spice, but competition for those very limited slots will be fierce.
Submission length: 5,000 – 10,000 words. In general, we quite like long stories which may get fewer outings elsewhere.
We hope for a broad selection of submissions, including Folk Horror from other than the UK and USA, and with a diverse range of protagonists/central characters and settings. Stories concerning LGBTQ+ and BIPOC characters welcome as usual.
Payment: Authors shall receive a reprint payment of £25 and a copy of the issue. Should we take any NEW material, this will be paid at our usual rate of £0.01/word, up to £50.00.
Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.
Send submissions in a word document that is double spaced, in Times New Roman, and in 12 point font to [email protected] with the subject line “FH – Title – Author”
Submission Deadline: Friday June 19th, 2026
Publication Date: Early Autumn 2026
Queries also to the above email address.
Coming from Belanger Books
THE DETECTIVE AND THE GHOST FINDER: THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES AND CARNACKI
Edited by John Linwood Grant
Sherlock Holmes once said, “No ghosts need apply”, adhering to scientific deduction over spiritualism. Carnacki, the Ghost Finder was an occult detective who used sophisticated technology to investigate supposed supernatural occurrences. Together, these two great detectives must solve crimes where the rational and irrational merge. Will they unmask charlatans or will they uncover demons in their midst? Will Holmes have to concede that sometimes, ghosts need apply?
Submission Guidelines: We are looking for NEW, UNPUBLISHED tales which must feel like traditional Holmes and Carnacki stories. The stories should have the canonical Holmes and Carnacki working together to solve a mystery, set in their natural late Victorian/Edwardian period.
Watson may or may not make an appearance, as may Dodgson and others of Carnacki’s circle. Remember, Carnacki’s stories had rationale endings just as often as those involving the supernatural. Both types of stories are acceptable for the anthology.
Submission length: 5,000 – 10,0000 words (it is okay to go over some).
Payment: Authors shall receive a payment of $100 and a paperback copy of the anthology.
Rights: Authors shall retain rights to their work. We only retain the rights to the story within the publication.
Authors are welcome to submit more than one story for the anthology.
Send submissions in a word document that is double spaced, in Times New Roman, and in 12 point font to [email protected] with the subject line ATTN: SUBMISSION FOR THE DETECTIVE AND THE GHOST FINDER
Submission Deadline: June 30th, 2026
Publication Date: Early Fall 2026
Queries also to the above email address.
LATEST FROM JOHN LINWOOD GRANT
IT’S HERE!! Ten years on, and my sixth collection is out now. Harrumble! This time, no core character throughout, no genre sections, just sixteen strange and weird fictions, many completely new, to divert and entertain…
“A hotel like no other on the North Sea Coast, and the witch-women who still ward the Kingdom of Elmet; an unnatural plague during the last days of Roman Emperor Severus Augustus, and the fate of Colonel Percy Fawcett, lost in the Brazilian jungle in 1925. A haunting French record and madness in the trenches of WWI, and a peculiar tale of A A Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood. Plus three old ladies who really don’t have time for cosmic horrors messing with their biscuits.”
Please do buy, review, point out how much this stops your table from wobbling, etc. Purchase link below.