PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED WORKS ONLY.
art by Matt Blairstone
Tenebrous Press presents the inaugural Brave New Weird Awards—to reward and further this unique blend of genres—and its accompanying Brave New Weird: the Best New Weird Horror of the Year anthology series, showcasing the winners of each year, care of editor Alex Woodroe.
We define New Weird Horror as a Horror 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!
Disclaimer:
Tenebrous is a young press looking to have fun in the world of Horror and build a community of like-minded peers. We’re not claiming this award will wow your dream agent or single-handedly sell your book. It’s a way to showcase reprints that we love in a genre that we care about, and get them into the hands of more readers—no fuss, no lobbying, no hidden costs.
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.
Reprints of stories originally published before the eligibility period are not eligible.
Any work published through Tenebrous Press, or independently edited by Alex Woodroe or Matt Blairstone, is not eligible. We already think you're awesome, regardless.
If you are unsure of the genre of your story, as long as it’s dark, speculative, and eligible, send it in.
Eligibility period:
Works published between the 1st of November 2021 and the 31st of October 2022 will be considered for the Best New Weird Horror of 2022.
Simply: If it's published before Halloween, 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, 2022. Send ARCS if necessary to get the submission in on time.
Response:
We will not send out rejections for this project.
Instead, if we want to award & feature your story, we will reach out to you. 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. Final decisions will be made before the end of the year.
Results:
Selected authors will be asked to sign a non-exclusive contract allowing their reprint to be featured.
A reprint payment of $25 + two paperback copies + one award certificate will be given to the selected authors.
How to submit:
Submit individual short stories as a .doc or .docx
Each author may submit up to five of their short stories. Each publisher may submit up to five of their published short stories. Electronic submissions only. Submit your work via our handy form here, using a new form for each story (FORM WILL OPEN OCTOBER 1st).
Authors: Be sure your contract stipulates you are allowed to participate in Best Of anthologies, or ask permission from your publisher BEFORE submitting.
Publishers/editors: Be sure your authors give you permission to submit their work before submitting.
Other rules:
You may speak about this award, submitting to this award, and being shortlisted for this award, in any way you like.
You may have multiple submissions of the same author/publisher; up to five (see above).
If we missed anything, drop us a line or DM!