“Cast Macabre is open to submissons for short length and flash fiction, and poetry. Stories longer than 4,000 words or so take over twenty minutes to read, which is about our limit, but if the story is good we may make an exception. Flash fiction (1000 words or less) will be read in our special flash episodes, you’ll be credited but won’t get the usual author bio and intro. We’ll still mention you in our newsletter though. Short, dark, poetry will be occasionally read as an appetiser before our main features in regular episodes.

Cast Macabre is a horror fiction podcast, but we don’t see horror as a genre, more as an effect. Your story should induce fear in the reader, or hold a light up to the darker sides of human nature. But if the story’s just a gratuitous description of violence with no point, or features a despicable character that doesn’t get his or her comeuppance, that’s not what we’re after. Horror stories should still be morally satisfying. Stories do not require a speculative or supernatural element, but we do like weird.

Writing Guidelines

We like a proper narrative structure and a unique prose style not laden with cliches and overworn idioms, but ultimately, you’re the writer, you know what works and what doesn’t, so we’ll trust your craft.

We accept reprints, as long as we’re allowed to use them. You may find that you can sell a story for more elsewhere first, so we encourage you to try that before coming here, but we most certainly do not value reprints more. The story is all that counts.”

For more info, go to Cast Macabre.

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