By S. Kalekar
These magazines and anthologies pay up to about $550 for fiction. Some of them also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. A few of the calls are themed. They are open now, or will soon open for submissions.
Opportunity Window: A Time Loop Anthology
This is a fiction anthology. “Stories MUST feature a time loop of some description as a central component (i.e. characters can’t simply talk about time loops once and then the plot is entirely focused on something else). You do not need to explain the time loop, but it must be present and affect the characters and the story.” About what a time loop is: “The time loop or temporal loop is a plot device in fiction whereby characters re-experience a span of time which is repeated, sometimes more than once, with some hope of breaking out of the cycle of repetition.” They welcome science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres. They also accept reprints and translations (see guidelines).
Deadline: 22nd October 2026
Length: 2,000-6,000 words for originals, up to 10,000 words for reprints
Pay: $200 for originals, $25 for reprints
Details here.
Mythaxis
This UK-based speculative fiction magazine usually opens for short submission periods. “We will reopen for submissions on 23rd October, 2026, with a particular interest in crime fiction and crime/spec-fic mashups for our end-of-year issue.”
Opens on: 23 October 2026
Length: 500–2,000 words for flash fiction, 2,000–5,000 words (prefer 2k–4k)
Pay: $0.01/word, up to $50
Details here.
Kaleidotrope
They have brief submission periods, and are open now. They want predominantly speculative fiction and poetry; “science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but also compelling work that blurs the lines between these and falls outside of neat genre categories.” And, “We have no minimum or maximum word count for fiction but strongly prefer stories over 250 words and under 10,000.” The deadline is for fiction and poetry; artwork is open on an ongoing basis.
Deadline: 24 October 2026
Length: See above
Pay: $0.01/word for fiction and $5 for poetry
Details here.
Banshee
Banshee,a journal of Irish and international literature, welcomes submissions from both Irish and international writers of any background. They publish fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; they are reading submissions for Issue 23 (spring/summer 2027).
Deadline: 31 October 2026
Length: Up to 1,000 words for flash fiction, up to 5,000 words for short fiction, up to 4 poems
Pay: €350 for a story/essay; €120 for flash fiction; €90 per poem
Details here.
Metastellar
This speculative fiction magazine pays for flash fiction and they have submission periods for those. “Meanwhile, we also accept reviews, essays, reprints, and book excerpts for non-paid publication at any time.”
Deadline: 31 October 2026 for flash fiction
Length: Up to 1,200 words
Pay: $0.08/word for flash fiction
Details here.
Wyldblood
They accept science fiction and fantasy stories only, and are open on the 1st of every month for submissions through 2026. They also say, “we are unlikely to publish fiction without a speculative element (science fiction or fantasy) and we’re not keen on horror, humour or high fantasy.” They also accept queries of non-fiction and art.
Reading period: 1 November 2026 (see guidelines)
Length: 500 to 5,000 words for short fiction, 16,000 to 40,000 words for novellas
Pay: £0.01/word for short fiction, £100 for novellas
Details here.
Ninth Letter
They want fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry on the Manifest theme for their online edition. “The theme for this issue is manifest. How phony is the magic trick that ends with something real? Some would have us believe that to quell our helplessness in the face of persistent global uncertainty, we need not fall prey to anxiety and our other self-soothing mechanisms masquerading as control. No, we need simply to manifest—what we will, we will to become, and we will become what we will to become, which helpfully eliminates the cumbersome sorting of cause, effect, and general accountability. It all seems a bit abstract.
We at Ninth Letter value positive thinking of course, but wish, with this issue, to bring us back down to Earth. For writers, to manifest gainfully requires not just will, but expert application of our trustiest of tools—concreteness, detail, specificity, and, their building block, the image. And so, for this issue, we invite you to return to our shared fundamentals: Manifest something real, out of words, using these tools. Show, don’t tell: Hold the rabbit by the ears, even though the hat was empty. Make us believe, in spite of ourselves.”
Deadline: 1 November 2026
Length: Up to 3,500 words for prose, up to 3 poems
Pay: $75 for prose, $25 per poem
Details here.
Flame Tree Anthologies
They are open for two fiction anthologies for their Beyond & Within series. Send original stories only; no reprints.
— Mythos & Meaning: “Throughout history, tales of fantastic fiends, eerie entities, brooding beasts, and maligned monsters have been effectively told using the epistolary narrative. … In the anthology Mythos & Meaning, a group of parapsychologists and anthropologists begin the data collection and analysis process for a grounded theory study into the collective consciousness associated with creatures and entities of myth and folklore. As part of their research, they pull together a final collection of accounts (the chosen stories) in order to develop their hypothesis that despite their diverse and rich cultural variants, the beasts themselves have some intrinsically tangible, but as yet undiscovered, influence on the human psyche.” Stories must be told through epistolary format. 3,000-5,000 words, deadline 1 November 2026.
— Art is Horror: “Horror in art has historically served as a reflection of societal fears and anxieties evolving from medieval depictions of hell and plague to modern surrealism and psychological dread. Art in fiction has evoked the dangers of obsession with superficial aesthetics at the expense of life and soul (think Poe’s ‘The Oval Portrait’ and Wilde’s The Portrait of Dorian Gray). With Art is Horror, we want to show that art is never harmless decoration. Your story can grapple with questions such as: What did it cost to create this? How much cruelty do we forgive in the name of genius when it comes to the artists who create what we love? Who owns art? Who gets used to make it? How does art change people? How do we consume it, and how does art consume us? What happens when art reveals truths we want hidden? What happens when the well is dry? Through the lens of horror, this anthology will remind us that while art can preserve beauty, it can also trap, distort, or devour.” 2,000-4,000 words, deadline 15 November 2026.
Deadlines: See above
Length: See above
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Sci Phi Journal
They want Campbellian hard science fiction, fictional nonfiction, and speculative philosophy. They also accept translations.
Deadline: 5 November 2026 for fiction
Length: Up to 2,000 words for fiction
Pay: €0.03/word for original fiction and €0.01/word for translations; no payment for non-fiction
Details here and here.
PodCastle
is an online and audio fantasy fiction magazine, and part of the Escape Artists suite of magazines. They are open for a special call, on the Undercity Magic theme: “The City asks for much and gives little, so how do people make a life for themselves with their backs against the wall? For this special edition of Podcastle, we invite writers to give us their takes on the strange, the fantastical, the arcane ways and myths of how people make the impossible possible. We are interested in tales featuring both human and nonhuman characters encountering the challenges of a city; the wily, the shrewd, the schemers, the devious, and those who do not survive in The City at all despite their best efforts. … There are many stories set in western cities, and we are keen on expanding our perspectives to include reckonings with urbanity and the idea of “modernity” in places where imperial and colonial interests overwhelmingly define the city and its hardness.” They particularly want to hear from writers of the global majority.
Deadline: 13 November 2026
Length: 2,000-6,000 words, can consider up to 7,000 words for reprints
Pay: $0.08/word for original stories of 2,000-6,000 words, $100 for reprints
Details here (schedule) and here (theme guidelines and submission portal)
(They will open for general / unthemed fantasy submissions on 1st November 2026.)
IHRAM Press
IHRAM (International Human Rights Art Movement) Press’s literary magazine is a “platform for creative activists at risk to speak up about urgent social-justice issues in their environments, providing readers with their unique perspectives on issues of human rights.” They want fiction, non-fiction, and poetry on the theme of Language, Censorship, and Translation. “We are seeking firsthand experiences, factual retellings of stories from the author’s life, and personal reflections exploring the relationship between language, identity, expression, and power. … We are particularly interested in work that considers how language shapes the way we understand ourselves and others, and what happens when people are denied, constrained, misunderstood, or unable to use their own voice.” They have several suggested topics for this theme, and also accept translations.
Deadline: 15 November 2026
Length: Up to 2,500 words for prose, up to 5 poems
Pay: $50
Details here.
Wyvern Magazine
They want sword-and-sorcery / heroic fantasy, that crosses over with horror, and have detailed guidelines. For fiction, they want you to send them the first 3 pages, and will get back to you if they want the full story (see ‘How to Submit’). They also accept non-fiction articles and reviews of anything sword-and-sorcery related, which can be submitted in their entirety. You can read this story (from the upcoming Issue 0) to see what kind of work they are interested in.
Deadline: Open now
Length: 1,000-12,000 words for fiction, up to 3,000 words for non-fiction
Pay: $0.01/word for fiction up to $50; $10 for non-fiction
Details here.
Bourbon Penn
They recently reopened for submissions, and have detailed guidelines, including: “We are looking for highly imaginative stories with a healthy dose of the odd. … We’re looking for genre / speculative stories and are quite partial to slipstream, cross-genre, magic realism, absurdist, and the surreal.”
Deadline: Open now
Length: 2,000-7,500 words
Pay: $0.05/word
Details here and here
The Momentist
“The Momentist is an online literary and arts magazine publishing translated and original-language fiction, poetry, interviews, literary and art criticism, and featuring artworks by established and emerging artists.” They are Ireland-based and are accepting submissions for their Winter issue, Momentist 4.As with all magazines, please read their previous issues to see the work they’ve published, to judge if yours is a good fit. “All calls and entries will be handled through our submissions page (signup required, but all data is strictly private).” And for fiction, send submissions that are a minimum of 1,000 words; “There’s no definite word limit, but common sense prevails. We will consider extracts from longer works in progress.” They accept submissions as well as pitches for both non-fiction and translations.
Deadline: Open now
Length: Minimum 1,000 words for fiction, up to 1,500 words for non-fiction, up to 5 poems
Pay: €500 for prose, €100 / poem
Details here (scroll down)
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.