Submission Guidelines

Flashes In The Dark is looking for well-written short, horror fiction under 1,000 words. However, we are looking for real stories…not vignettes, jokes, or horrific descriptions. All stories should have a beginning, middle, and end. Just because they’re short, short stories, doesn’t mean that all the regular elements of a story shouldn’t be present: characterization, setting, conflict theme and a plot. That’s the joy – and the agony – of flash fiction, cramming all those elements into 1,000 words or less.

What’s Likely To Be Rejected:

Stories featuring animal brutality, badly written serial killer and child molester narratives, excessive gore for gore’s sake and pornographic sexuality won’t cut it for this market. PLEASE, NO STORIES THAT INVOLVE THE BRUTAL TORTURE OF WOMEN OR CHILDREN. THEY WILL BE IMMEDIATELY REJECTED.

What’s Likely To Be Accepted:

We love strong characters, morbid humor, unexpected plot twists, nail-biting suspense and stories that give you genuine chills after you read them. Any or all of the above will almost guarantee an acceptance letter in your inbox.

A Bit Of Advice:

We love the classics of the genre. Vampires, Werewolves, Zombies…bring ‘em on! But, put your own spin on it. Make it original. Even if it’s familiar plot, the story should have your own original twist on it. A writer’s strongest gift is his or her unique voice. Don’t be afraid to use yours!

Payment:

Sorry, but as of now, flashesinthedark.com is a non-paying market. As the website grows in popularity, we hope this will change.

Rights:

Lori Titus and FlashesInTheDark.com ask only the nonexclusive right to publish your work on the website. All other rights to the work belong to you. Reprints are welcome with disclosure of previous publication. You agree to take all responsibility that the work is your own and you still maintain the rights to it. FlashesInTheDark.com will not be held liable in the event of a “legal misunderstanding” or plagiarism. There will be a copyright notice included with the story. You may have your story removed at any time by sending written notice to darkloreatflashes@gmail.com and your work will be removed from the website shortly after receiving notice.

Editorial Options:

While we do not proofread every story 100% for grammatical and formatting errors, we do make an effort to correct any blatant mistakes that we see. We may make minor grammar changes that we feel will make your story better.

Simultaneous Submissions:

Simultaneous submissions are welcome at Flashes In The Dark, however you do so at your own risk. The writers maintain ALL rights to their stories, but bear in mind that some markets may be closed to you once you’ve had your story published elsewhere.

How To Submit:

Just E-mail submissions@flashesinthedark.com. Please make sure you include the following:

Subject line of your email should read: STORY NAME (all caps) By Author’s Name – Fiction Submission. Please follow this naming convention exactly or your submission could easily be missed.

The title and text of the story, of course, in the body of the E-mail. Please do not send e-mail attachments. They will go unread. Some notes about formatting: Please don’t indent your paragraphs. Make sure to put a hard return after each paragraph. And, be aware that while we try our best to preserve the writer’s original formatting, some things such as italics, might get lost in the translation to HTML.

Your full name and/or pen name.

A short bio and/or link to accompany your story.

The copyright year and holder information for the story. If not included, I’ll use the current year and the author’s name.

We respond to all submissions as quickly as possible.