SEEKING HORROR
SHORT FORM
We publish an annual horror anthology (HALLOWEEN PARTY). Submissions are currently closed for our 2021 collection. Check back again in Summer 2021 for news about our 2021 collection.
LONG FORM
Are you a novelist? Gravelight Press is currently seeking submissions of full-length works for the 2021-2022 catalog.
The Details
Submissions for long-form fiction are always open.
Genre
Horror is all we do. We encourage you to think King, Seltzer, Blatty, Matheson, and Rice rather than Whannell or Ketchum).
Manuscript
Must be complete currently. Should be in its second (or later) draft. Digital Word files only. Length 40,000 (+) words.
Author requirements
Over 40 years of age and older. Significant social media following on Facebook or Instagram (300+ followers), or willingness to work to build a following pre-publication. Must have or create an author blog. Must have or create Goodreads and Amazon pages. A willingness and ability to work and communicate via email are essential.
Submission Guidelines
Authors only; no agents. Send a detailed synopsis of 500 words or less and the first 10-15 manuscript pages (12 point New Times Roman, double spaced), along with photo proof of ID to submit@gravelightpress.com.
Fees/payments
No fees for novel-length submissions. Payments of royalties and author copies.
Response time
Typically four to eight weeks.
What we like
Offbeat and surprising characters. Excellent grammar and punctuation (we are an editor and an English professor, after all). We also like a good Satanic story just as much as the next fellow. The Omen anyone? Rosemary’s Baby? Yum.
What we dislike
Torture against anyone, especially women, minorities, and animals. We know that there is violence in horror but please do not send us ten pages describing a victim’s intestines being torn asunder and consumed. We also prefer that not all victims be hot teen girls in nighties, if you get our drift. It’s time to progress a bit, horror. We’ve no interest in tales with religious overtones or divine intervention in which some deity saves everyone in the eleventh hour or learning that the lion on page 36 was actually Jesus.
For more specifics refer to the ground rules.
