Blood Bath Literary Zine issue 3: HAUNTINGS
Where Blood Bath’s first two issues interrogated the corporeal, then the infernal, Blood Bath’s third issue looks to the metaphysical for explorations on terror, dread and the unknown. Submissions are now open for Blood Bath issue 3: HAUNTINGS
Hauntings are some of the most versatile and interesting stories in the horror lexicon. Haunted houses, poltergeists, haunted objects, personal hauntings; all are welcomed, the only criteria for written submissions being that there must be a ghost (or a character’s belief in a ghost) that is linked to an object, place or person. We very much encourage you to get creative on the definitions and implications of these criteria.
For visual art, the same criteria apply, but the restrictions are a little more flexible. Not every submission has to include the image of a ghost or haunted house, though we still want pieces that adhere to and complement the theme. If you’re not sure your art fits the brief, send it anyway.
Ghosts and hauntings have traditionally been used to exorcise our cultural and societal fears, and the ones that have the most lasting impacts are ones that address and challenge those in a deliberate way. Social issues like race, class, gender and mental health all have a place in horror and we want to read stories about them.
As always, we love a generous dose of weird with our horror, so if you can bring us to Hausu levels of madness, it will definitely be appreciated. We try to publish horror that pushes the margins of genre, so any genre defying/genre blending concoctions will also go down well.
There are plenty of excellent traditional Gothic ghost stories, so if you’re set on telling one, make something about it new or unexpected.
WE LOVE:
The quickest and best way to find out what we love is to buy a copy of our zine. Print and EPUB copies of both issues are available in our shop. Supporting small publishers helps them to continue existing, and we are forever grateful for your support.
As always, we are particularly interested in experimental and subversive forms, as well as contribution from women, people of colour, people living with disabilities and chronic illnesses, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people living at the intersection of these identities.
Horror has always been political, and BB is always searching for socially aware genre stories.
Speaking of genre, we are open to any and all; science fiction, fantasy, erotica…but it also must contain an element of horror.
For a more visual representation of what we love, check out our Instagram page @bloodbathzine.
WE DON’T LOVE:
Exploitative or otherwise offensive portrayals of harmful stereotypes or tropes.
Sexual violence just for the sake of it, or to create shock value. There are way more inventive ways to shock us.
Fan fiction; we don’t hate it, it’s just not for us. Any kind of copyrighted material is also not desirable.
If you are a white cis man thinking of submitting a story in which female characters suffer violence, rape or general mistreatment at the hands of male characters, portrayed in a leering or sexualized manner… perhaps consider not doing so. This does not mean you cannot submit if you’re a cis white man.
GUIDELINES:
The issue will be produced in EPUB and print format, so please send high quality A5 sized image files for visual art submissions. JPEG preferred, but please get in touch if you have any questions. Please contribute four image files per submission.
We accept short fiction from 50 to 2,500 words, flash fiction shorter than this as well as poetry (maximum 30 lines) are also encouraged and welcome. Please send a maximum of four poems and two prose pieces at a time. Please also submit all pieces you intend to submit at one time. You are welcome to submit visual art alongside written work.
Submissions must be submitted in .doc or .docx format, size 12 and double spaced via email along with a 50 word bio to Katy at bloodbathlitzine@hotmail.com. We do not accept previously published pieces.
Simultaneous submissions are okay, just let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
We will not consider submissions that do not follow our guidelines.
The deadline is midnight, GMT on August 1st, 2019. We will not under any circumstances accept any late submissions. Please consider time zone differences.
COPYRIGHT:
If we publish your work, we buy first print rights. They are returned to you 6 months after publication.
Contributors will be paid at a rate of £20 per 1,000 words for prose, £20 per 15 lines for poetry, and £20 per image for visual art.