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Updated 2007-05-25
As of now, Fear and Trembling is open for submissions!
Fear and Trembling showcases horror and dark fiction at their best. We’re not interested in stories that rely on the tired old tricks of shock value, gore, and profanity. We’re also not looking for the same old plot constructs we’ve all seen a million times. We want atmosphere. We want hair-raising conflict. We want to get to know characters—real, multi-dimensional people we are able to care about—who just happen to be facing horrifying realities. We want to face those realities with them, to hang on through the twists and frights of the plot and to root for them all the way.
We should note that our editors have a particular fondness for speculative or darkly fantastic horror, but we are willing to read horror/suspense that lacks a speculative element—if it can be presented skillfully, and without extreme blood and gore.
Because we seek to please a wide audience of sophisticated readers, we choose not to offer stories whose sole purpose is to offend or shock. While our stories may be frightening and may include harrowing scenes, stories we present to our readers will not offend traditional Christian values. Under no circumstances will we consider works that include R-rated language, disturbing violence, or graphic sexuality.
What our stories must include, in order of importance to the editors, are: engaging characters, interesting situations, emotional relationships, and satisfying resolutions.
The Basics:
Poetry: We pay $5 for works of poetry that have a horror/suspense feel. We will consider reprints, but we’re more interested in original works. Follow standard manuscript guidelines. Please do not send more than three poems for consideration at a time, and each of the three must be submitted on a separate form.
Fiction: We pay $5 for works of horror and dark fiction. We will consider reprints, but we are more interested in original fiction. Follow standard manuscript guidelines. Please do not send more than one story for consideration at a time.
We are most interested is in works under 3000 words, though we will consider exceptional works of greater length. Avoid the trite, the clichéd, and the obvious. We're not interested in gore for gore's sake. Don't waste your time submitting anything pornographic or exploitative.
We hope to raise our rates in the near future, as we court readers with your fantastic and terrifying stories and poems. Send us your best, and help us to develop an audience for you.
Articles, Interviews, and Essays
While F&T cannot afford to pay for articles, interviews, and essays, we would gladly take a look at any that an author might wish to submit for the possibility of publication. The only pay would be exposure. Articles, interviews, and essays must be of interest to an audience of Christian readers who enjoy the horror genre of literature. This might include movie reviews, book reviews, author interviews, and the like.
A Few Formatting Requirements
We basically want well-crafted works that follow standard rules of English usage. However, our needs as a web magazine present a few special formatting requirements. Please consult the formatting instructions that are provided on our submission form closely. Also, please incorporate the following as you prepare your submission.
- Express the em-dash as two hyphens without spaces before or after. The em dash--the mark indicating an abrupt change of thought--can be indicated many ways. Two hyphens without spaces (as exampled in the previous sentence) is your preferred method.
- Please put only one space between sentences. This differs from "old school" rules, but reflects the standard of the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Ed.
- Please double space between paragraphs. (See this page as an example.) HTML, the coding of the Internet, naturally lends itself to this type formatting. Your works will be best represented if you follow this practice.
- To indicate a section break or scene change we look for a single "#" on a line unto itself. Since you are double spacing between paragraphs, you will have the end of the first scene, a blank line, the "#," another blank line, then the beginning of the following scene.
- We are generally expecting US implementation of quotes and punctuation. Therefore, periods and commas will be INSIDE the quote and other marks outside.
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Submission Process -- ALL Submissions
No simultaneous submissions. If we accept your submission, we expect to be able to publish it. If you have submitted elsewhere, wait for a response before submitting here.
We obtain:
- Non-exclusive Electronic Publication Rights, for publication in the English language. (Internet format)
We have no word length requirements. However, for fiction we are looking for short stories. Submissions over 4000 words are considered very long--our highest interest in works under 3000 words.
Editorial Process
A pool of editors will review your submissions. Most likely, you will get some remarks about your manuscript in an email, if declined. We do not promise to read the whole thing. For example, if the grammar is prohibitively flawed, we might just remark on a couple of paragraphs and send it to you by email. We will note clearly if we want you to revise and resubmit.
Liking something is in the eye of the beholder, so just because we don't like it, does not mean it is bad!
Publication Process
Fear and Trembling Internet magazine features rolling content. About twice a week, a new work is added to the contents and the oldest feature rotates off.
Submissions will generally be in the contents from between four to six weeks. Once submissions have rotated out of contents, they become part of our archives. The archives will be a searchable list of all works that have appeared in Fear and Trembling. Authors may request that works be removed from archives by contacting the editor.
Submitting
We accept ONLY on-line submissions. The process is fairly easy.
Submission from the stand-alone system:
- You will be required to provide and confirm a valid email address.
- You will set up a submission tool password to protect your submission account.
- You can reach the submission tools by clicking here or using the link below.
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