Literary Magazines The Weird Reader

Eerie. Strange. Mysterious. Ghastly. Mind-bending. Whimsical. Grim. Peculiar. Suspenseful. Unsettling. Macabre. We went through a lot of the adjectives that describe the genre, but finally chose weird. Imagine a witch’s brew of The Twilight Zone, Arsenic and Old Lace, Over the Garden Wall, The Prestige, or anything by Ray Bradbury, Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha Christie, Tim Burton, or Edgar Allan Poe--all compiled into an annual literary journal. That’s The Weird Reader, and we want you to be a part of our second annual publication. We’re looking for short stories, flash fiction, art, photography, poetry, and nonfiction which stuns and thrills, inspires and terrifies, chills and startles. This is not a horror journal, nor is it intended only to scare, for there are so many other feelings that spring up from these weird creations. Your submission doesn’t need to be Halloween themed, though this is obviously welcomed, seeing as our publishing date is October 13th, and this whole project is inspired by the true spirit(s) of the season. Use that imagination and then give it a throttle, er...twist.
All submissions should be:
Sent to [email protected] no later than June 13, 2017
Sent with the type of submission in the subject line of the email (e.g. short story, photograph, digital art)
Clear of all identifying features (name, university, etc.) from contents of the file attachment. Your personal information should be included in a separate cover letter (in body of submission email)
Nonfiction submissions with names/places may remain unchanged
Appropriate for a wide range of audiences/age groups. All submitters are asked to edit/exclude any of the following content from their pieces:
Excessive gore
Explicit sexual content
Profanity
Any and all degree of severity of content will be accepted or rejected at the complete discretion of the editors
Accompanied by a cover letter including the following information:
Your name, location, and email address
Method of referral to The Weird Reader
Brief summary of submission (including word and/or page count)
If any, previous publications of pieces being submitted (including title of publication, link to publication, date, etc.)
Written submissions should be:
No longer than 4,500 words, with flash fiction no longer than 1000 words
Submitted as file attachment (.doc, .docx) in a 12-point, standard font with 1-inch margins
Art/Photography submissions should:
Be a minimum of 300 DPI and at least 8.5x11”
Be submitted as PDF in CMYK and the best quality image available
Include outlines for all fonts (for digital artwork/photos)
Contain a clear, high quality photo or scan of work (for traditional artwork)
As we only allow digital submissions, artists are responsible for photographing or scanning their own work
NOT contain work that copyrighted images or characters
Any submitters not following these guidelines will be asked to resubmit.
While we hope to be able to pay contributors in the future as we grow and improve, The Weird Reader is not yet able to provide a monetary reward for publication.
Any additional questions about submissions should be sent to [email protected].