You know them from the office. See them at movie theaters, at restaurants and shopping malls. But when the sun goes down and the moon gets high in the sky, watch out, because the pizza delivery boy may be bringing something besides a large cheese and pepperoni. You might get the door closed, but grab your wolfs’ bane and silver trinkets.

This anthology is the follow up to Graveside Tales’ 2008 anthology The Beast Within. 2010 will see The Beast Unleashed.

We’re looking for stories that bring a new “twist” to the lycanthrope tale. The traditional lycanthrope stories are fine, but how many Romanian cursed, moor-bitten were-wolves can there be? Give us something original, Lycanthrope Steampunk, Lycanthrope Cyberpunk, Lycanthrope Gaslight. And remember there are more things that prowl by the light of the full moon. Don’t let wolves be the only outlet, not saying we won’t read them, but the more original the story the more likely it is to get more attention. Were-koalas, Were-ostriches, Were-seamonkies, nothing is out of bounds; just keep the ideas original and creative. Most importantly make sure The Beast is Unleashed.

What about new and unexplored realms of the beast. A world where they roam the land, day and night except during the cycle of the full moon when they’re vulnerable? Or an underwater realm where lycanthropes are only sea-beasts, the things legends are made of. Or alternate realities where lycanthropes are the predominate race Get your paws off you damn dirty wolf. Make it new, make it unique give it a new vantage point of the beast. Wolves may be traditional, think outside those boundaries.

What we’re not looking for, gore-porn, necrophilia, cruelty to animals or children, unless the stories demand it. And no hard-core porn please. Trapezes are fun in the circus, but not needed in a sex ritual between lycanthropes.

Stories should be in the 2,000 to 5,000 word range. Query for longer or shorter works. We’re not looking for novellas or for flash fiction.
Stories by electronic submission only. Files should be attached, not pasted into the body of the emails, in RTF or DOC format. Put your contact info in the email and on the first page of the story. Please also include bio and publishing history in the initial submission. Response time will be 2-3 weeks. New and original stories only, no reprints please. No simultaneous submissions please. If your story is chosen we’d buy FNAR in print and possibly e-book format. Reading period is from September 1st to December 31st or until filled. Publication is set for third quarter 2010.

Payment is $.01 per word and upon publication plus one copy of the
anthology. Additional copies can be purchased from Graveside Tales at a discounted rate.

Email submissions to: anthology@gravesidetales.com. Put TBW2 along with submissions title and word count in the subject line.

Want to get a good idea what we’re looking for pick up a copy of 2008’s The Beast Within available at Graveside Books, Amazon

Hey Everyone,

Let’s all give a hearty cheer for The Beast Within author Lee Battersby:  his story “Claws of Native Ghosts” has been announced as the WINNER of the 2008 Australian Shadows Award– Australia’s equivalent to the Stokers.

Check out the official announcement is here:
http://www..australianhorror.com/index.php?view=153

CONGRATULATIONS, LEE!!!

Read an interview and preview of Claws of Native Ghosts here

Closed to submissions until 2010

Novellas/Novels

What we are looking for:

We are looking for stories that are not only suspenseful with terrifying elements of dark atmosphere, but will also contain character driven and chilling plots. Supernatural horrors, especially anything from the Lycanthrope universe are preferred, although psychological suspense and killers on the loose can work if well handled and original and if the focus of the book remains horror and fear, not mystery. SciFi and Fantasy Horror is OK.

Manuscripts Length:

Novella: 20,000 – 35, 000 words
Short Novel: 35,000 – 60,000 words
Novel: 60,000 – 100,000 words
Epic Novel: 100,000 words plus

Anything longer please feel free to query.

Submissions:

Please email a synopsis and the first three chapters of your work as an email attachment.
Do not send complete manuscripts unless specifically requested.
Name, address, phone number, word count, and e-mail of author should be on the first page of the manuscript and a header for subsequent pages should contain the author’s name and title.
Please make sure you use Microsoft Word and save in .doc or .rtf format.
Your manuscript should be formatted in Courier Font size twelve.
Double-spaced and 1″ margins all around.
Space twice after any sentence-ending punctuation and after colons.
Include a brief bio, story publication history, and any other relevant information in the body of the email.

No simultaneous submissions

Send submissions to: submissions@gravesidetales.com

Harvest Hill

CLOSED TO SUBMISSIONS

Graveside Tales is now open to submissions for an upcoming Halloween-themed anthology entitled Harvest Hill. We are seeking stories from 2,000 to 6,000 words. The pay rate is $.01 per word and a contributor’s copy. All rights of work revert to the author after two years from the publication date.
The set up:

Harvest Hill, a little town in East Tennessee, seems like an idyllic place most of the year. But it is not always so, and especially not on Halloween–every Halloween. From just after midnight of Oct. 30 until midnight Oct. 31, horrors break loose both big and small. And this has been happening as far back as the 1500s.

The treats we want:

• Place your story in Harvest Hill, TN. You can set it on any Halloween of any year from 1550 CE until the end of the 20th century.
• Horror is the essential genre here but the stories can include elements of crime, black humor, dark fantasy or even mild sci-fi. Sexual and gory situations are fine as long the plot justifies them. You may use standard Halloween images, but strive to execute them in new and amazing ways.
• We will be looking especially for strong three-dimensional characters, as well as unusual disturbing situations. Think about your setting and the characters in it–what are the hidden things that have been near the surface, just waiting for an unseen push to tear free? Tell us those stories.
• Do your research, but do not get bogged down in it. We will check your setting against general history as it is knowable, and so should you. Pay careful attention to the time line of Halloween itself, including its varying names and rituals.

The tricks we do not want:

• Do not reference other years unless it is directly relevant to your story. Confine stories to their particular year/Halloween.
• Do not send us stories in which Samhain is the Dark Lord of the Dead or some other god figure. This was never the case. Samhain simply refers to summer’s end.
• Do not send us stories in which Satan unleashes his evil on the populace while his worshippers conduct their rituals on his holy day, Halloween. This also was never the case. Halloween is a shortened form of All Hallow Even.
• Furthermore, since we are not publishing Chic tracts, no, the Devil did not make your characters do it. It is okay for you to exploit generally “demonic” forces. Do not, however, employ overtly stereotypical figures to engage in trite religious sermonizing.

Upon acceptance your story will become part of the anthology’s meta-narrative. This meta-narrative will involve a character or characters who will introduce each story; it will serve as an opening for the volume and have its own resolution as well. The editors will write the meta-narrative after choosing the stories for the volume.

Submissions:

Put “Halloween Anthology: your story title” in the subject line. Include the title and a paragraph setting up your story, a brief bio and publication history, and any other relevant information in the body of the e-mail.

E-mail submissions, as attachments only, to: halloween@gravesidetales.com

For all attachments, please make sure to:

• Save in Microsoft Word as .doc or .rtf.
• Use a Courier font, size 12.
• Double-space between lines.
• Position 1″ margins all around.
• Space twice after any sentence-ending punctuation and after colons.
• Underline instead of italicize.
• Indicate section breaks by a blank line, followed by # centered on a line, and then another blank line before beginning your next paragraph.

Name, address, phone number and e-mail of author should appear on the first page of the manuscript in the upper left corner. The word count should appear in the upper right corner. The header for subsequent pages should contain the author’s last name, key title word and page number.

If you are unfamiliar with proper manuscript format, please read and follow the article here: http://www.shunn.com/format/story.html. We will return unread any submissions that fail to follow the guidelines exactly. Authors can then reformat their stories and resubmit them, but they will go to the end of the reading line.

We are shooting for a reading time of four to six weeks for rejections. If we like your story you may not hear back from us right away, so please be patient. If you have not heard back from us within three days to acknowledge the receipt of your manuscript, please feel free to query us.

The submission period will run from March 1 until May 31, or until filled. We will be completing the table of contents from June through August. The release date for this anthology will be September/October 2008.

To learn more by reading an interview with the editors, visit DL Snell’s Market Scoops here: http://marketscoops.blogspot.com/. To visit the Harvest Hill section in the Graveside Tales forum, go here: http://gravesidetales.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=53&board=62.0.

No reprints.