What we’re looking for:

You, dear writer, are submitting to the Advanced Horror Writing assignment, “A terrifying twist on horror genre tropes.”

Please note that while we use the word “terrifying”, we recognize this prompt lends itself to comedy. Whether you have a take that’s dark, comedic, or darkly comedic, we want to see it.

We’re looking for interesting (maybe even a little obscure) tropes here. Do you have an interesting take on any of the following tropes?

*Characters split up instead of staying together

*Characters go to investigate a sound instead of leaving the house

*A couple who dooms their fate by engaging in sexual activity

*A creepy member of a sleepy town who warns the road trippers of a dangerous location

While all of these are fair game, they should not by any means be taken as prompts. Feel free to interpret the phrase “horror genre trope” as your imagination/creativity sees fit.

Please DO NOT submit:

*A story about a final girl unless it’s a very unique take on this trope

*A story about a book that summons an evil entity unless it’s a very unique take on this trope

*A story involving S.A., animal harm, or child abuse, unless these aspects are not explicit and serve the story in some meaningful way

*Erotica (Erotica writers: We see you and we love you, but this is not the anthology for you.)

Guidelines:

Please use the Submission Form below. For security reasons, we will not accept emails with attachments. If we select your story, we will reach out via email to request a .DOCX document.

Stories should be no longer than 5,000 words. If it’s slightly over, we may still consider the piece.

Please include the genre horror trope of your choosing somewhere in the title of your piece (this does not mean the title must only list the trope).

Please contact info@madaxemedia.com ONLY IF you have trouble with the form. Please do not use this email to follow up or resubmit. All queries will be responded to (pinky promise).

Simultaneous Submissions:

Feel free to submit your story anywhere else; however, if your story is selected for publication with us, we ask that you withdraw your submission from other parties. In addition, should another party confirm your story has been selected for publication, we ask that you withdraw your submission from Mad Axe Media as soon as possible.

Rights:

We ask for Exclusive First Worldwide Publication and Electronic Rights for six months, and non-exclusive rights thereafter. Audiobook format will have non-exclusive rights for as long as there is a demand for the audiobook.

We are aiming to include at least twelve stories at this time, though we may consider more based on the strength of the submissions.

Publication is expected for August 2024, though this is subject to change.

But you REALLY want to know about money, right?

Please bear in mind that Mad Axe Media is a new press (established in 2023). It is our aim to at the very least compensate writers in the form of a personal copy of the full anthology. Pending a successful crowdfunding campaign, we will announce plans to compensate authors $0.005/word for their selected work, though this is not a guarantee.

Will be considered unsolicited submissions and deleted without notification to sender.