Harvest Hill Submission Guidelines

[Zombie Zak]

Heh.  They could be DEAD Ruskies.    

Mmmmmm.  That could be tasty.

 

[MyLeftEye]

I have a question for the editors: The guidelines state previous Halloweens cannot be used, that everything must happen on one Halloween. Does that mean the story must begin and end in one day? I have a story brewing, but it'll need to start a month or two before October 31st (so my corpse can become worm fodder!).   

[Michael J. Hultquist]

Good question. The stories need to take place on Halloween Day/Night, although you have your choice of years. I don't see any reason why we can't have a story that starts earlier, though, that ends on Halloween with something terrible/interesting, but the majority of the action should probably take place on Halloween.

The idea is that something happens in Harvest Hill every Halloween, something horrible. The chosen stories will be a sampling of those years.

Mike H.

[Michael J. Hultquist]

This is great news. I've personally spent a good deal of time in that area of Tennessee, so I'm surprised to see this. What an interesting concept. I'm curious as to why this specific area was chosen? Anyone from there? Anyone know the story behind that?

Graveside's really ushering out a lot of really interesting product for us horror fans and writers.

Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?   

Actually, it might most come down to the title.  We liked Harvest Hill as the town name so much, we wanted to go with it.  Then we wanted to pick somewhere to set this town down, and we all were sort of thinking lower Midwest or upper South.  We thought about Kansas, for instance, but the thing about Kansas--not so many hills.     The geography of Tennessee, on the other hand, seemed to be hilly enough not only to fit what we needed, but also to leave room for more varied setting options for the writers.

I think one of our people--is it you, Mike?--has relatives in Tennessee.  I am from Georgia, and living for the moment in Michigan, so I drive through Tennessee a couple of times per year.

I think the Tennessee location gives us some opportunity to get some nice Southern Gothic characters and situations and dialogue in there too.  One caveat:  while I'd like to see some weird Southern humour, I hope we don't see too much in the way of caricature going on.  We want characters not stereotypes.

But there might be more to that location.  Indeed, much more, since East Tennessee's history goes back even further than what we have planned for this anthology.  If everything works out with this volume, you might see a whole lot more of Harvest Hill and its tangled history.       

Yeah, my Dad lives down in TN, but we're originally from IL. He loves it down there. There is some pretty country. I'll have to stop in at Harvest Hill next time I'm down that way. Help!

Mike H.

[MyLeftEye]

Good question. The stories need to take place on Halloween Day/Night, although you have your choice of years. I don't see any reason why we can't have a story that starts earlier, though, that ends on Halloween with something terrible/interesting, but the majority of the action should probably take place on Halloween.

The idea is that something happens in Harvest Hill every Halloween, something horrible. The chosen stories will be a sampling of those years.

Mike H.

Right, that means there's space enough for me to work in. Thanks, Mike.

[JodiLee]

Is Harvest Hill a) a real place and b) anywhere near Thunderhead Mountain, or Rocky Top? Just trying to coordinate the story..

[Michael J. Hultquist]

Hey, Jodi:

Harvest Hill is only real in terms of our story universe. We're treating it like a real place, but it's not found on any "real" map. In terms of what cities/landmarks it might be near, I know we purposely left that vague. We knew that would be one of our challenges. If we receive a story that references Nashville and another that references the Smoky Mountains, we'll either have to drop one or suggest a more generic edit. I don't think we'll have a big problem, though.

Another quick note: After some more discussion, we've decided to read stories in the 2K to 6K range, leaning toward longer fiction. Didn't want to exclude some killer stories that fell short in terms of word length but not quality.

Mike H.

[JodiLee]

Thanks, Mike!

That'll work for me..   

[Michael J. Hultquist]

We had another question this morning about the town of HARVEST HILL, whether or not it is a fictional town or real town. Just wanted to reiterate:

HARVEST HILL is a fictional town. We've been encouraging authors to keep things as generic as possible in terms of names and locations so that stories do not contradict each other, but that does not mean you can't reference a street name or two for the sake of authenticity. If we find a great story that contradicts another, we'll most likely request a quick edit (perhaps to ask something like, "would you mind changing MAIN Street to OAK Street" or something of the like"). Other than that, you are free to roam.

Have fun!

Mike H.

[KentuckyWriter]

Welp, ya got my submission.  Now to sit back and wait for the rejections to roll in.  Hmm, I wonder if there's any whiskey left...

J.C. Tabler

[Graveside Tales - Dale]

Hi KentuckyWriter and welcome to the Graveside  .  Where the                                all night

~Dale 

[Nathaniel]

Man, I wish I had the time to whip something up for this Antho. Welcome, J.C.

[KentuckyWriter]

Man, I wish I had the time to whip something up for this Antho. Welcome, J.C.

Whipping something up was easy...whipping up something good, that's a tall order that my time constraints won't allow.  But I'd kick myself if I didn't submit something, anything, to this.  Plus, it gave me an excuse not to help my wife out around the house for a week.

J.C. Tabler

[Cate_Gardner]

Congrats Kentucky on submitting so darn quick... And Good Luck.

[Michael J. Hultquist]

Welcome to GST, J.C. I look forward to reading your work.

Mike H.