***Submissions are closed***
We’re currently looking for previously unpublished horror stories, 3-6k words, for a location-themed anthology to be released September 2020.
The theme is: local lore or location-based oddities. Write something dark into a setting you’ve experienced — it could be a place you’ve lived, or even just somewhere you’ve visited on a vacation. Is there a landmark in your town that you can write a nightmare into? Have you ever legend tripped somewhere and thought, well, that cave, mausoleum, torture tree was neat, but I wish there was more to the story?
If so, you’re welcome to send us (1) submission at cemeterygatesmedia@gmail.com in DOC or RTF form. Deadline August 1, 2020. However, we’ll begin reading and accepting stories well before August, so the window may close earlier.
Paying .05/word per accepted submission for First Rights Publishing, and asking that you don’t republish your story until August 1, 2021.
In our fifth year of publishing we’re looking to expand our reach into 21st Century folklore, urban legends, and the space between creepypasta and literary horror. We will favor stories that name real locations one can visit in person. Our tales often give brief histories for locations. For examples of what we’re looking for, see Other Voices, Other Tombs; At the Cemetery Gates: Year One and Volume 2; or Corpse Cold: New American Folklore
-Joe Sullivan, Editor
Cemetery Gates Media 
Hi, do you accept stories
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yes!
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Hi,
Which format does the manuscript have to follow?
Is this one fine?
https://www.shunn.net/format/classic/
If not, please tell.
Thanks
Ashwin
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yes, that’s fine
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Hi. Do you send a confirmation email when you receive a submission? Thanks.
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no, but we did receive your story on Mar 21.
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Hey. Are you still accepting?
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Yes, likely until Aug 1st.
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Hi! I sent a story your way in February (“The Thing Underneath”). Are you doing rolling acceptances and rejections, or will authors find out their story’s fate after the August deadline?
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If your story hasn’t been rejected it’s likely been read once and is under consideration. Most likely you’ll hear from us in July or August, unless you withdraw your story.
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Is there any wiggle room on the word count? Lower?
Thanks,
Donna
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Some
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Do you accept sim subs, or multiple subs from the same author?
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One sub, please. Simultaneous subs are fine
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I saw the question about word count, above…is there any wiggle room on the high end? I’ve finished my draft and it’s (just!) below the upper limit, but if it’s possible to go slightly over, that will affect my revision decisions…thanks so much for your time!
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You’re welcome to submit any story between 2500-6500 words
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Hi. Can the location be outside of the US?
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Yes!
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Hurrah! Thank you for replying so promptly!
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Hello! Do you anticipate you will close submissions before August 1st? I am working on a submission and will rush it if there is a chance to miss an early cut off. Otherwise, I’ll take more time in revision.
Also, I wanted to thank you for this anthology. I’ve had such fun working on this story. It’s inspired me to dig into old family skeletons and take a road trip back to old haunts. Whether or not I’m selected, I’m grateful for that. I hope editing is going well and that you’re having a great day.
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Open until Aug 1
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Thank you so much! Looking forward to submitting.
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For a real location-a real haunted location even-would you like a link, or a brief synopsis in the cover email? Or will you be googlemapping them yourself?
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Synopsis in email is preferred
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can people in the UK enter?
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yes!
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Hi, would you be likely to accept anything that’s less than 3000 words? I’m working on something I’d like to submit, but I think it’s going to be quite short
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You’re welcome to sub it if it’s over 2k words. We’re not going to put something under 2k in the book at this point
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Are acceptances (or, sad face, rejections) still rolling? I saw a wave of happy people on Twitter and was just curious as I haven’t heard anything yet. Looks like it is shaping up to be a great book!
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Yes, throughout August we’ll still be reading submissions and plan on getting back to everyone in the next couple weeks. There were enough great stories for two volumes, unfortunately we are budgeted for one book.
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Is the deadline 11:59 PM EST on August 1st or midnight? Can you tell I’m the last minute type?
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I’ll likely begin deleting subs when I get up Saturday morning. So, send it Friday night and I’ll take a look at it.
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Sorry for the confusion. So do submissions actually end sometime this evening, July 31st?
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Yes
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Oh man, I really hope I made the deadline! But whatever, I really enjoyed writing that, and I’ll be very interested to read the anthology when it comes out.
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Hi Joe, I sent a story back in March, somewhat over the maximum word count as we discussed at the time. The month of publication approacheth imminently. Should I assume it’s rejected? Thanks, Tom.
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Yeah, I still plan on sending out notices, was just waiting to see if I’d get back some stories from invitations before I closed out the TOC.
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Thanks.
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Hi –
If we haven’t heard back yet, is it safe to assume it’s a rejection and we’re free to submit to other markets?
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Yes, began sending rejections over the weekend. Best wishes in finding a market for your story.
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Submission grinder lists twenty submissions still unresolved. Will there be a few more accepted or will you be sending out rejections?
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The Places book has already been published. We received over 1k subs and we don’t pull from our spam folder, and some stories were deleted outright for not following our guidelines. Anyone is welcome to message us about getting a rejection notice on their story if they haven’t received one yet.
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