Blood Bath Litzine issue 1: Bodies

SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED

Blood Bath Litzine is open for submissions of short fiction and poetry on the theme of

BODIES

Bodies are sites of terror and desire; they can be politicised, policed and possessed, becoming either a haven of pleasure or a hellish prison of flesh. We want to read your weirdest, most innovative stories on BODIES.

THIS COULD BE:

Body horror; Gory existential dread. We want to feel uncomfortable inside; give us stories that leave a dark, greasy mark on your soul.

The body politic; oppressive control over bodies. Ideas surrounding body autonomy, dystopian regimes, AI and robotics, all welcome. The creepier the better.

Changing bodies; Violent possessions, Weird transformations. If it involves vagina dentata or an unexpected hunger for flesh, send it our way.

Body snatchers, visceral displays, personal hauntings; we’re into it.

Just to be clear these are not chapters or subheadings, just some ideas to get you going. We’re open to any and all types of horror, dark fantasy, speculative or science fiction, so don’t hold back.

WE LOVE:

Experimental poetry or prose; we’ll do our best to print your original language or innovative typography. If your piece does some especially experimental stuff, feel free to send it in PDF format.

Socially aware fiction. Stories that have something to say (or scream) about the modern world. Stories told through a feminist lens are always going to make us happy.

We particularly encourage submissions from people of colour, trans people, nonbinary people, women, and members of the LGBTQ community.

Genre fiction; though it has to contain an element of horror. We are interested in fantasy, science-fiction, erotica…as long as it has a dark edge.

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.

GUIDELINES: 

We accept short fiction from 100 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.

Submissions must be sent in .doc or .docx format, 12 point and Arial font via email to Katy at bloodbathlitzine@hotmail.com. Please include a 50 word author bio in the body of the email. We are happy to receive reprints, just let us know where your work was published previously. Simultaneous submissions are also ok, again, just let us know if your work is accepted somewhere else.

The deadline for issue 1 submissions is midnight, August 1st. 

COPYRIGHT:

If we publish your work, we buy first print rights. They are returned to you after 6 months.

Contributors will be paid, at a rate of £10 per 1,000 words for prose, and £10 per 15 lines for poetry.