Submissions open for Brave New Weird volume 4

REMINDER: THIS IS FOR ELIGIBLE REPRINTS ONLY

Tenebrous Press presents the FOURTH (!!!) Annual Brave New Weird Awards—to reward and promote this unique blend of genres—and its accompanying anthology, Brave New Weird: the Best New Weird Horror of the Year, Vol. 4.

We define New Weird Horror as a subgenre focused on progress, creatively capturing themes and questions that bleed into fiction straight from the modern reader's life and future. It acts as a challenge to break new ground in terms of form and content and to engage with the unknown. Beyond that, New Weird Horror will be defined by the winning pieces themselves.

Buzzwords: speculative; eclectic; horror-centric but genre-blended; progressive and innovative in terms of content, social themes, form, or voice; concept-driven.

Does this sound like your writing? Submit your previously published work to the New Weird Horror Awards today!

Eligibility

Any previously published piece of short fiction under 7.499 words originally published in the English language within the eligibility period.

You may submit NARRATIVE poems only; poems will be judged on their storytelling.

Stories published in other languages are welcome if there is an English translation available, and the English translation falls under the eligibility period.

Any work published through Tenebrous Press is not eligible INCLUDING THE SKULL & LAUREL MAGAZINE. We already think you're awesome, regardless. Tenebrous staff are also not eligible.

THE PREVIOUS YEAR’S WINNERS (Volume Three, in this case) are NOT eligible; please do not submit. Anyone published in BRAVE NEW WEIRD before last year’s volume is eligible.

NOMINEES from previous years ARE eligible.

Eligibility period

Works published between the 31st of October 2024 and the 31st of October 2025 will be considered for BNW Vol. 4.

Simply: If it's published before Halloween this year, it competes for this year's award. If it's published after Halloween, it competes for next year's award.

Final submission deadline for this year's award: November 1st, 2025. Send ARCS if necessary to get the submission in on time.

Response

As this is an award, there will not be any rejection notices. Stories are submitted by editors, readers, reviewers; imagine sending rejection letters to someone who didn’t even submit their own work.

Instead, if we want to award & feature a story, we will reach out to the author. There will be a published shortlist, and the shortlisted works that don’t end up being featured will still be mentioned & advertised in the anthology.

Results

Selected authors will be asked to sign a non-exclusive contract allowing their reprint to be featured.

A reprint payment of $25 + one paperback copy + one award certificate will be given to the selected authors.

How to submit

ANYONE may submit. Readers, reviewers, editors, and the authors themselves are all welcome to submit.

Authors submitting on your own behalf: Submit a short story as a text document. Add the link if the story is available online. Authors, please submit ONLY YOUR ONE LIKELIEST STORY.

Editors, reviewers, and readers submitting on behalf of others: please submit up to THREE individual stories.

For full issues/full anthologies/full collections, type them into the relevant field of the form.

Electronic submissions only.

SUBMIT HERE.

Other rules

You may speak about this award, submitting to this award, and being shortlisted for this award, in any way you like.

If we missed anything, drop us an email or DM!

Meet the WEIRDOS: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner M. L. Krishnan

M. L. Krishnan originally hails from the coastal shores of Tamil Nadu, India. She has been awarded Fellowships and Residencies from Tin House, MacDowell, Millay Arts, and the Clarion West Writers Workshop. Her stories and essays have appeared, or are forthcoming, in Strange Horizons, Black Warrior Review, Diabolical Plots and elsewhere. Her work has been anthologized in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Afterlives: The Year’s Best Death Fiction, Wigleaf Top 50, Best Microfiction, Best Small Fictions and more. You can find her at: mlkrishnan.com.

Her BNW-winning story “Measurements Expressed as Units of Separation” originally appeared in The Crawling Moon: Queer Tales of Inescapable Dread (Neon Hemlock).

BRAVE NEW WEIRD is out now! You can order it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

Set in a remote South Indian college, "Measurements Expressed as Units of Separation” is a circuitous, queer love story about obsessions that fester, a snake, a long-forgotten prince, and a large body of water.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

I’m going to say it, because I’m terrible at it: staying off social media. The days I put a moratorium on relentless scrolling and actually commit to anything else that does not involve a screen, are the days where my brain breaks free from the incessant guilt-doom-guilt-doom-guilt-doom hamster wheelies. This is how I remember that I’m still a human person, and not an anxious swarm of wasps trapped in a meat suit. 

Gotta say, Guilt Doom Hamster Wheelies is a great band name.

Do you take naps?

I do, and I always feel less-rested and worse after taking a nap. 

Ah, a human after my own heart! “This isn’t making me feel better, but if I keep doing it I can at least learn to ignore how unpleasant it is.” It’s a can’t-lose-don’t-research-further solution.

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO.

I didn’t even have to think about this, my hands moved on their own. Only Lovers Left Alive x INXS. 

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?

When I was a kid, I rode an elevator at a construction site that was not completely installed. It was not connected to any source of power. I stepped into it with the ignorance and bravado of an average ten-year-old, pressed the button for the fourth floor, and it took me up to the fourth floor. I remember my parents panic-screaming as they ran up the (unfinished) stairs. I remember that I was too short for the stairs that were laid too far apart, and that’s why I stepped into the elevator in the first place. I remember being grounded for an entire month. I was fine. I took the partially-installed, disconnected elevator. It worked for me. 

I remember that elevator. I’m still in that elevator!

…we’re all still in that elevator. We always were. We always will be.

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out now!

You can order it here.

Meet the WEIRDOS: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Hannah Greer

Hannah Greer’s work has been featured in Solarpunk Magazine, Radon Journal, and elsewhere. She is a first reader for Fusion Fragment, hoards books, and competes in combat sports. She resides in North Carolina with her partner, a trio of cats, a small flock of pigeons, and several geckos. Find her on Bluesky or at hannahgreer.carrd.co.

Her BNW-winning story “To Be Human” originally appeared in PseudoPod.

BRAVE NEW WEIRD is out now! You can order it here.

***

Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story.

Growing organs for the wealthy means living like livestock. It means missing out on what it is to be human. But there are acts, rebellious acts, that offer a level of humanity otherwise unattainable. Are they worth it?

Yeah but to be fair, if we don’t let the wealthy sustain themselves with our organs, how will they live long enough to bestow upon us all that sweet sweet trickle-down wealth that they swear is on its way?

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis? 

It's not really a secret, but it is easy to forget that you need to take care of yourself. Turn off the news. Get yourself a sweet treat. Take a nap. Go to a rage room. Whatever taking care of yourself looks like for you. It can feel like we need to be on top of everything all the time, but with so much going on, that's not really possible. And that's okay. Do what you can, when you can. And when you can, maybe fuel all those messy emotions into a story! It helps me, but only when it's not quite so fresh.

You’re speaking my love language. “Costco-sized Box of Hostess Cupcakes + Napping in the Rage Room” and I’m swept away on an ocean breeze.

Speaking of… Do you take naps? 

Of course! It's the only way to get through the day!

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist (Citizen Kane x Metallica, f’rinstance). It doesn’t have to be your favorite, and don’t spend too much time overthinking it; now GO. 

Oh no, I don't really listen to music! Do I even know any artists? Hmm. Oh, quickly? Uh, Lilo and Stitch x Girl in Red

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)? 

Maybe when this big peking duck developed an unhealthy obsession with me. And by that, I mean unhealthy for me. He would chase me down and attack me on sight. I couldn't go outside in shorts for years because his bites could hurt! I also had to take care of him, which led to some other interesting animal encounters. Specifically, I regularly had beef with an opossum who would steal the duck food. We'd get into hissing matches from my ground-level bedroom window.

Okay yeah, granted, that’s Weird, but I’m still stuck back on “I don’t really listen to music”. Hearing you say that is officially the capital-W Weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. 

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out now!

You can order it here.

Meet the WEIRDOs: BRAVE NEW WEIRD Award Winner Angela Liu

Angela Liu is a Chinese-American writer/poet from NYC who writes about intergenerational trauma and weird things. She is a 2x Nebula Award finalist and has also been nominated for the Hugo, Astounding, Ignyte, and Rhysling Awards. She formerly researched mixed reality storytelling at Keio University in Japan. Her stories and poetry are published in Strange Horizons, Clarkesworld, The Dark, Interzone Digital, Lightspeed, khōréō, and Logic(s), among others. Check out more of her work at liu-angela.com or find her on Twitter/Instagram @liu_angela and on Bluesky @angelaliu.bsky.social.

Angela’s BNW-winning story, “A Contract of Ink and Skin,” originally appeared in Uncanny Magazine.

BRAVE NEW WEIRD is out now! You can order it here.

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Give us the elevator pitch of your BNW-winning story. 

Cursed tattoos. Body horror. Inexplicable creatures are in love with you. Inexplicable things want to be with you forever. 

Look, we all want love and companionship; sometimes cursed and inexplicable are just baked into that.

This world is friggin' Weird in a lot of ways right now, and many of those ways are not the fun kind. What secret tips can you share to help others navigate this mess on a daily basis?

Take long walks in nature. Try to cook something amazing you had at a restaurant. When the bad thoughts get too overwhelming, I try to play an instrument (or Tetris)—the precise finger movement and intense focus help stimulate/distract the brain in a good way.

Also, write a poem instead of a social media hot take. I've never regretted writing more poetry, but I have definitely regretted posting things on social media. 

I have nothing sarcastic to say; I love all these tips. 

Do you take naps?

No. I barely even sleep at night.

On the Tenebrous Discord board, we ask everyone to introduce themselves as a Film-meets-Music Artist

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind x Shiina Ringo 

What's the capital-W Weirdest thing that's ever happened to you (that you're comfortable sharing)?

I was once in a Tokyo McDonalds with a classmate around 3AM, waiting for the first train of the day when this old guy sleeping nearby suddenly woke up and scooted over to our table. He asked if I’d ever worked for the army. His voice was real low and serious. He proceeded to say the government had cloned me and sent me out to fight because they knew I could be a powerful fighter. 

“You could still lead them," he said and told me to seriously consider this.

Then he just left.

I smell a film franchise, and I’m sending thoughts and prayers that you get that sweet, sweet adaptation money.

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BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror + More, Vol. 3, is out now!

You can order it here.