Submission Window: January 1st – February 28th, 2026
Payment: 1p a word to a maximum of £50
Theme: Original horror short stories with music at their still-beating heart
Screams and Wails, to be published November 2026, will be an anthology of original horror short stories with music at their still-beating heart. Think cursed instruments; songs that drive the listener mad; zombie fans; haunted studios.
What we will love: anything with music or music culture as a predominant theme, but are particularly keen on alternative rock types such as rock, indie, metal, goth, prog, dub etc. We want the mood, style and trappings of music, which means fiction, aspiration, glamour, dirt and grit, but mostly fiction.
What we don’t want: anything that will land us with a lawsuit, thank you. No real music lyrics!
Reprints: no thank you, but happy to receive first English translations of stories that have been published in other languages, or first print rights to stories that have previously only been published as audio.
English language only.
Deadline: 28th February 2026
We will be publishing stories of 2-9000 words, that will be paid at 1p a word to a maximum of £50. Longer or shorter stories may be considered but will be a harder sell.
Submission window opens 1st January 2026, closes 28th February 2026 – send to [email protected]
Via: The Slab
