Fall Short Story Contest

And You Press announces another short story contest? Yes.

The winners of this contest will be published in an upcoming anthology to be released in Fall 2025. Please see below for the prompt and rules for submission.

Edited by Courtney Umphress

Escape into the dark, mysterious world of gothic literature, where nothing is as it seems.

Amidst the gloomy atmosphere, haunted setting, and abundance of secrets that make up the gothic genre, one element sticks out in this anthology—can we trust the narrator?

In some way, the narrator should be unreliable or unexpected. Perhaps they are misleading the reader, or they might not even know they are being deceptive. Maybe they aren’t entirely human, or they just aren’t who everyone else thought they were. They could even behave in a way the reader doesn’t expect. Most importantly, in what way can a flawed narrator change the entire dynamic of a story?

Rules

  • Deadline to submit: June 20, 2025

  • No prior publishing experience necessary. However, please submit as close to ready-to-pub as possible. If chosen for publication, edits will be performed as needed, but please don’t submit your first draft.

  • Open internationally to writers 18 and older

  • Specs

    • Word Count: 3k to 10k

    • Target audience: age 18+

    • Limited cursing and gory descriptions

    • Combination of genres: stories can be in the historical, contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, etc. genres as long as they also contain gothic elements

    • Stories in gothic literature may include things like hostile or gloomy weather, supernatural beings or circumstances, mystery and suspense, and/or old buildings, houses, or castles.

  • Submission fee: $10 per story

    • You CAN submit more than one story, but only one may appear in the anthology.

    • All who submit will receive professional feedback.

  • Stories written using AI or suspected of being written using AI will be rejected.

Why am I paying a fee?

This is new business, and your fee will go toward the publication and marketing of these anthologies. To show my appreciation, you will receive professional feedback on your submission, even if you are not selected for the anthology.

Other FAQs (Updated 3/31/25)

Do you have a short story or novella but it doesn’t quite work for this anthology’s theme? Don’t forget that Attic Ebooks is open to submissions right now! Check it out!