Call for submissions
The darker side of the longest nights of the year.
Black Anchor Publishing is seeking short horror fiction for a winter anthology to be released for the 2026 holiday season.
We are looking for the darker side of the longest nights of the year. Christmas, the solstice, the deep of winter, the gathering, the feast and the celebration, all of it turned cold and blackened. We want the dread that lives under the tinsel, the thing waiting past the firelight, the old fear of a sun that might not come back.
What we do not want is the tired stuff. No slasher Santa. No killer Krampus. No evil elves. Those stories have been told to death, and we are steering hard away from them. Give us something quieter, older, stranger. Reach for the folk horror, the ghost story told at the hearth, the empty chair at the table, the carol heard where no one is singing, the guest who should not be there, the tradition no one remembers, but everyone still performs. Surprise us with the horror the season has always carried underneath.
All winter and holiday sub-genres are welcome, including Yuletide, folk, ghost, maritime winter, psychological, weird, and other seasonal horror, so long as the work is literary, atmospheric, and genuinely unsettling.
New writers are welcome here.
Emerging and previously unpublished writers are strongly encouraged to submit. Prior publication credits are not required and will not be given preference over the strength of the work itself.
Never submitted before? Submit anyway. You do not need an agent, a publishing history, a writing degree, or a list of previous credits. We are interested in the story on the page.
What We Want
- Original horror short fiction, 1,500 to 2,500 words
- Winter, holiday, solstice, or celebration horror
- Previously unpublished work only
- One submission per author
- No simultaneous submissions
You may withdraw your submission at any time before acceptance by notifying us by email.
Dates
- Opens
- Tuesday, August 11, 2026
- Closes
- September 30, 2026
- Target publication
- Late November 2026, just after Thanksgiving
Payment and rights
$0.01 USD per word for each accepted manuscript plus one digital contributor copy. Copyright stays with the writer.
Every accepted manuscript will be paid $0.01 USD per word. On publication, every contributor will also receive one digital ebook copy of Yuletide: A Black Winter. No physical print contributor copy is included.
Black Anchor Publishing asks only for first publication rights and a six-month period of exclusivity from the anthology's publication date. You retain the copyright of your story at all times. After that period, exclusivity ends and you are free to reprint, collect, sell, or license the work elsewhere. Black Anchor Publishing retains only the continuing right to distribute the story as part of Yuletide: A Black Winter.
Contributors may also be invited to submit to future Black Anchor anthology projects.
Manuscript Delivery
Complete the submission record below first. Then email your story as a .docx attachment in standard manuscript format to curator@blackanchorpublishing.com.
- Include your name, story title, and word count on the manuscript.
- Use YULETIDE: Story Title as the email subject line.
- Do not upload the manuscript through this website form.
We read everything ourselves. Stories must be the original work of the submitting author. Generative AI-produced fiction is not eligible. We are looking for real writers with real winter in their bones.
Curated by Edward Rooke for Black Anchor Publishing.