Submissions Open: The BRAVE NEW WEIRD Awards volume 2!

Art by Matt Blairstone

REMINDER: THIS IS FOR ELIGIBLE REPRINTS ONLY

Tenebrous Press presents the SECOND YEAR of the 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 VOLUME 2, showcasing the winners of the 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 is not eligible. We already think you're awesome, regardless.

Previous year’s winners are not eligible this year. Nominees are eligible.

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 31st of October 2022 and the 31st of October 2023 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, 2023. Send ARCS if necessary to get the submission in on time.

Response: 

as this is an award, there will not be any rejection notices. 

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. 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 link or as a .doc or .docx

ANYONE may submit up to five stories. Readers, editors, and the authors themselves are all welcome to submit

***UPDATE*** Anyone submitting on behalf of authors other than oneself is allowed to double the number of submissions. Due to increased interest and participation from editors and readers wanting to submit a wide range of authors, we’ve decided to update this rule and foster that spirit of support and community. ***UPDATE***

Electronic submissions only. Submit your work via our handy form here, using a new form for each story.

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.

Readers: Do your best to fill out all the data, but rest assured that we will look for whatever is missing. Please don’t feel discouraged from nominating works just because you don’t have all the info.

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!

***SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN.***

DEHISCENT by Ashley Deng is out now!

DEHISCENT by Ashley Deng

OUT NOW

“A fresh and delicious take on the haunted house…a breathtaking mosaic of powerful themes…Deng’s astonishing debut is a modern classic in the making."

• Kelsea Yu, author of Bound Feet

As the world’s climate swings rapidly between oppressively hot and freezing cold, the remnants of civilization huddle in small communities to scrape together what they can to survive.

All except the Zhu family.

Yi has lived in her ancestral house her entire life, sheltered and safe from the scarcity that plagues her community. Her family enjoys a secret life of running water, electricity, and an abundance of food.

But as Yi seeks a way to share their fortune, she learns the terrible secret of the Zhu house.

DEHISCENT is an Eco-Horror tale of a future that has practically arrived, and the humanity that lurks in the most inhuman of places.

“Decadent, textured, and atmospheric. A story of peril and privilege…centred on the sacrifice for abundance and the chasm between those who have, and those who do not, [all] unfolding within a strange living house.”

• Ai Jiang, Nebula finalist, author of LINGHUN

Cover and interior illustrations by IVYTEAS.

BUY DEHISCENT HERE.

Step into Danger Slater's HOUSE OF ROT, available now!

"HOUSE OF ROT is the gross, hilarious love child of Kurt Vonnegut and Junji Ito!"

• Max Booth III, author of We Need to Do Something and Maggots Screaming!

Cover art by Kate Blairstone.

Interior illustrations by Echo Echo.

The pink mold growing on the walls isn’t the worst thing about Elenya and Myles’ brand new fixer upper.

There’s also the inexplicable footsteps in the night; the sealed-over windows and doors; the neighbor that hears their screams but can’t be bothered to help.

Soon, there’s no leaving at all. No hope of cleaning. And that encroaching mold? It’s practically become a second skin.

Welcome to the House of Rot. You’re never getting out.

buy house of rot

“A poignant and revolting masterpiece of fungal horror that captures the millennial condition with heartbreaking precision. HOUSE OF ROT is a phenomenal read.”

Eve Harms, author of Transmuted

Coming September 12th: THE BLACK LORD by Colin Hinckley

“Combine Shirley Jackson’s haunted claustrophobia, Stephen King’s nail-biting plots, and the cosmic otherworld-horror of Stranger Things, and you get one wholly original Colin Hinckley. Spend a few hours in [his] mind, and I guarantee you’ll be drawing the curtains tight for weeks.”

• GennaRose Nethercott, author of Thistlefoot

Cover art by Matt Blairstone.

Interior illustrations by Echo Echo.

Eddie’s parents may be arguing about the disappearance of his infant brother Danny, but Eddie’s facing a terror all of his own. There’s a strange figure outside that claims it has Danny safe and sound—all Eddie needs to do to get his brother back is open that window. 

Eddie’s father is filled with guilt over his relationship with his own lost brother. His mother has been abandoned to navigate her grief and terror alone. And his grandmother carries a disturbing, all-too-relevant truth about their shared family history. 

As minutes tick by and hope for Danny grows ever smaller, the very fabric of their world disintegrates, welcoming eldritch terrors of unspeakable provenance to their doorstep. The family is losing a decades-long struggle against an entity that is not of this world, and its hunger threatens to swallow them whole.

About the Author:

Colin Hinckley grew up at the edge of the forest in rural Vermont where many of his most enduring nightmares were born. His work has appeared in Tales to Terrify, The Lindenwood Review, and more. He lives in North Hollywood, California with his fiance, Amanda, and his cat, Franklin.

THE BLACK LORD arrives September 12th.