By S. Kalekar
These magazines/anthologies pay up to about $1,300 for fiction. They are a mix of literary and genre magazines. Some also accept other genres, like non-fiction and poetry. They are open now, or will soon open for submissions.
Nightmare Magazine
Nightmare, which publishes horror and dark fantasy fiction, is now open for submissions. “We feature works spanning the broad spectrum of dark fiction, with an emphasis on fascinating characters and delicious prose. Our motto? Horror is for everyone!” They also accept poetry and non-fiction for The Horror Lab (“all nonfiction outside of “The Horror Lab” submissions are by invitation only, and all feature interviews are assigned in-house”), according to their guidelines.
Deadline: 31 January 2026
Length: 1,500-7,500 words (up to 5,000 words preferred) for fiction; up to 1,500 words for The Horror Lab non-fiction and poetry (see guidelines)
Pay: $0.08/word for prose, $40 per poem
Details here and here.
(– And, The Rumpus is open now for horror fiction up to 5,000 words for their Sunday Scaries series – “The current literary horror landscape is robust and more popular than ever. Have you been sitting on your own scary stories? We’re looking for original, unpublished work (this includes personal blogs and social media) that uses the genre to confront some of our biggest or most secret fears.” The Rumpus is also open for various other genres; see guidelines. They pay $100 for prose and $50 for poetry; details here and here.
— Also, Cosmic Horror Monthly will open briefly for aCL Moore tribute fiction call, from 1st to 7th March 2026; they pay $0.03/word for fiction up to 5,000 words; the submission link will be active during the submission period; details here.)
Inner Worlds Zine: Endings
This speculative fiction magazine is accepting submissions for its last issue; you can read more here. They accept “Science fiction, fantasy, or supernatural horror prose with a strong emotional or psychological focus. We are mainly interested in fiction, but we’re open to speculative memoir or creative non fiction, as long as it has speculative elements. … For our final issue we are looking for stories on the theme of endings. We’d like to read about loss, change, grief, relief, hope, and possibility.”
Deadline: 31st January 2026
Length: 500-2,500 words
Pay: £0.02/word
Details here and here.
Heartlines Spec
This Canadian magazine of speculative fiction and poetry wants work on long-term relationships; their goal us to publish at least 50% work from Canadian writers for each issue. “We’re looking for short fiction and poetry focused on long-term relationships: platonic, romantic, or familial. We don’t want the blaze of new love or the obsession of a new friend. We want pieces that show that comfort that develops when people know each other for years.
Give us deep space, dusty frontiers, or dreamy fantasy. We want stories and poetry with strong, confident relationships amid all the sci-fi/fantasy. While we are primarily looking for stories with happy endings (yeah, yeah), we also want endings that are earned. If things get a little teary or gory, that’s ok.
We are especially interested in stories featuring queer platonic relationships, ace/aro love stories, and polycules.”
Deadline: 31 January 2026
Length: 500-3,500 words for fiction; up to 5 poems
Pay: CAD0.08/word for fiction; CAD60/poem
Details here (guidelines) and here (submission portal)
Brink
Brink is a journal of cross-genre writing; they publish fiction, nonfiction, poetry (also video essays and cinepoetry), hybrid work, and translations. They want submissions on the Chaos theme. “We are interested in writing that presses boundaries by using more than one medium to tell a story; work that looks and feels different on the page. Additionally, we look for submissions that engage the issue’s theme and the notion of being on the brink.” Please see guidelines for details on the Chaos theme.
Deadline: 31 January 2026
Length: 3-5 poems, up to 3,000 words for prose
Pay: $25-100
Details here and here.
(Brink is also open for an unthemed and fee-based award for hybrid writing.)
Parsec Ink: 23rd Triangulation Anthology
This is a speculative fiction and poetry anthology, on the Bad Romance theme. “You know that friend who keeps falling for terrible people? That couple that not only fights all the time but makes each other a worse person, and they keep getting back together? Send us them.
We want stories or poetry about trashfire, toxic relationships, with a speculative element.” All stories must “contain a failed romance. Your protagonists may succeed at everything but love” and contain a speculative (science fiction or fantasy) element. They do not want stories with graphic trauma or abuse. They also accept reprints of both fiction and poetry
Deadline: 31 January 2026
Length: Up to 5,000 words for fiction, up to 60 lines for poetry
Pay: $0.03/word for original fiction, 25 cents per line for original poetry
Details here.
The Fiddlehead
This well-regarded Canadian magazine is open to submissions by Canadian writers only, of fiction, non-fiction and poetry during this reading period.
Deadline: 31 January 2026 (Canadians only)
Length: Up to 6,000 words for prose, up to 6 poems
Pay: CAD65/page
Details here and here.
(– FIYAH is also open for submissions, for unthemed Black speculative fiction and poetry. They feature stories by and about Black people of the African Diaspora. This definition is globally inclusive (Black anywhere in the world) and also applies to mixed/biracial and Afro-appended people. Send short fiction 2,000 – 7,000 words and novelettes up to 15,000 words; send up to 1,000 words for poetry. They pay $0.08/word for fiction, $50 for poetry. The deadline is 31 January 2026. Details here.
— Another magazine accepting submissions from a limited demographic is Slush. This is a new magazine and they are reading fiction submissions from Australian writers only for their first issue; short stories, micro and flash fiction as well as comics, prose poetry and other forms. “The journal seeks short stories, micro|flash fiction, prose poems and other hybrids that play with form to split and skew expectations.” They pay AUD100 for stories up to 5,000 words. The deadline is 1 February 2026, 11:59PM AEDT; details here.
— And, the Acquired Tastes Anthology, a project by Roxanne Gay, wants submissions from young writers; they are looking for short fiction or essays from young adults, ages 15-21, for “an anthology celebrating unlikeable characters: how we create them, how we understand them, how we love them and how they enrage us, and why they are so necessary to our stories” – please see the guidelines for details. They pay $1,000 for works up to 5,000 words, and the deadline is 2nd February 2026. Details here – see the relevant category.
— Also, The Malahat Review opened submissions for Canadian writers only on 1st January, and the deadline for those is 30th June 2026. They accept fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and translations, and pay CAD70/page. There is no fee for Canadian writers for regular submissions. They are also currently open for international submissions for a novella prize, and will open during the second half of February for regular international submissions – both of these have a fee attached. Details here and here.)
Electric Lit: The Commuter and Recommended Reading
Electric Lit has opened general submissions for The Commuter (where they publish short prose, poetry, and graphic narrative) and Recommended Reading (where they publish longer fiction) sections. Both will remain open until 1st February, or until they reach a submission cap, whichever is earlier.
Deadline: 1 February 2026, or until filled
Length: Up to 1,500 words for prose or 4-6 poems for The Commuter (see guidelines), fiction of 2,000-10,000 words for Recommended Reading
Pay: $100 for The Commuter; $300 for Recommended Reading
Details here.
The First Line Journal
They want fiction (any genre) and poetry that begins with pre-set first lines, one for each quarterly issue. For nonfiction, they want critical articles about your favorite first line from a literary work.
For fiction and poetry, the first lines are:
Spring: ‘I flipped through the notebook and found half-finished poems, some drawings, and ______________. [Fill in the blank.]’ Due date: February 1, 2026
Summer: ‘The summer between [his/her/their] junior and senior years, Alex worked as a server at Wharf Mountain.’ Due date: May 1, 2026
Fall: ‘The line of people stretched all the way around the block.’ Due date: August 1, 2026
Winter: ‘Lawrence was the last to arrive.’ Due date: November 1, 2026
They also accept 4-part stories (or 5-part, if also ending with the last-line prompt from The Last Line Journal – ‘It was after midnight when we finally made it home.’ – see guidelines) from writers who want to use all the 4 (or 5) prompts, but all of these must be submitted by the 1 February 2026 deadline.
Deadlines: 1 February 2026 for the Spring issue, and for 4-part (or 5-part) stories; later for other issues (see above)
Length: 300-5,000 words for fiction; 500-800 words for nonfiction
Pay: $25-50 for fiction, $25 for nonfiction, $10 for poetry (less postage fee for international contributors – see guidelines)
Details here.
Adventitious
This is a new magazine. They will open for a brief submission period, from 1st to 5th February 2026, and plan to publish bi-monthly. You can read about their name (one of the meanings of the word ‘adventitious’ is “Unexpected in origin; something that appears from elsewhere and refuses to leave quietly), and the magazine, here. And, ““Surprise” doesn’t only mean twists. We want stories that offer a sense of wonder through their language, characters, plots, or all of the above. Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and all speculative/surreal will always be welcomed, but we’re also happy with stories that shock and delight right here on this plane of existence.” They will accept stories from micro to novelette length. They also accept reprints.
Reading period: 1st to 5th February 2026
Length: Flash fiction up to 1,000 words; fiction of 1,000-6,000 words; novelettes of 6,000-17,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word for originals
Details here.
Abyss & Apex
They will open a brief reading period for speculative fiction, during the first week of February. They want “speculative and imaginative fiction … with special attention to character-driven stories that examine the depths and heights of emotion and motivation from a broad variety of cultural and social perspectives. A&A wants to publish powerful stories that resonate in our minds and hearts long after a first reading, stories that make us want to read them again and again. We look for the unique: stories that stand out in a genre that pushes the envelope of unusual. We take special delight in detailed world-building: we like slipstream, YA, hypertext fiction, dark fantasy, science fiction puzzle stories, magical realism, hard science fiction, soft science fiction, science fantasy, urban fantasy, military science fiction, ghost stories, space opera, cyberpunk, steampunk . . . there is very little we will not look at, although we have a severe allergy to zombies, elves, retold fairy tales, sports, westerns, werewolves, vampires, and gratuitous sex and violence.” They do not want horror, or political stories. All work must have a speculative element. Do not send poetry during this submission window.
Reading period: 1st to 7th February 2026
Length: Up to 10,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
The Suburban Review
The Suburban Review is an Australian literary magazine, and they want submissions of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry on the Aftermath theme. “So, tell us… where to from here?
Whether you’re starting from scratch or back to your old tricks, we want writing that honours the past, tends to the present, and shapes the future. Show us non-fiction that sticks around to pick up the pieces and artwork so indelible it defies a clean slate. Send us twist-y comics, ghost stories and poetry tender enough to soothe a comedown… or inspire a comeback.” They also accept comics and art.
Deadline: 8 February 2026 (5 p.m. AEDT)
Length: 500-2,500 words for fiction, 1,250-2,000 words for nonfiction, up to 3 poems
Pay: Up to AUD450 for fiction, up to AUD550 for poetry, AUD400 for nonfiction
Details here and here.
Flame Tree: Vampires
This is a fiction anthology of vampirism in all its forms. “Vampire-like creatures appear in almost every culture in some form: from ancient civilisations such as the Romans, Greeks, Hebrew and Mesopotamia, to the walking, blood-drinking corpses of mediaeval Europe and the Transylvanian tale of Vlad the Impaler, which of course gave rise to Bram Stoker’s Dracula. This anthology will include tales that reflect both these older legends and also the current view of modern-day vampires – as evoked in films such as Sinners and 30 Days of Night, as well as in literature such as Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, the American Vampire comic series, George R.R. Martin’s Fevre Dream and Anne Rice’s Interview With a Vampire just to name a few.” They do not want reprints.
Deadline: 15 February 2026
Length: 2,000-4,000 words
Pay: $0.08/word
Details here.
Bio: S. Kalekar is the pseudonym of a regular contributor to this magazine. She can be reached here.