ONE SUBMISSION ONLY
Please send us your best story!
Unsettling Settings
The sixth 2026 Dead Birds Publishing anthology will bring to life the darkest atmospheres, haunted locations, and unsettling settings. We want short stories about environments that come alive in the most horrific of ways. Environmentities, if you will.
What We’re Looking For
The story should have a dark environmental setting, where the setting itself plays a significant role. It’s not enough for your character to wander through a graveyard. The tombstones need to significantly affect the characters and story!
While we prefer a good horror story, writing can include magical realism, science fiction, fantasy, or even satire. Just make sure it fits a horror anthology.
If you’re not familiar with Dead Birds Publishing, please have a look at our most recent collection, Supernatural Parables, to get a sense of what we’re after.
Examples of Environmentities
- The Haunting of Hill House (the house)
- The Graveyard Book (the graveyard)
- 13 Ghosts (the house)
- Storm of the Century (the snow storm)
- The Shining (the hotel)
- The Mummy (the pyramid / city of death)
What We’re Not Looking For
We don’t accept fanfic; any characters or settings featured in your work must be your own original creations.
We will not consider any political stories.
We may accept work that has been previously published as long as the author has regained all rights. Include previously published details when submitting.
Absolutely no AI. Anyone caught submitting AI written material will be banned from our wickedly fun publication for life.
Editors
This anthology will be edited by authors A.M. Symes and Jayne Carlson.
Timeline
The deadline for submissions is April 30th, 2026.
Contributors will be notified of acceptance or rejection by the end of June 2026.
The anthology will be published late fall of 2026.
Submission Format
Each story should have a word count in the short story range: 2,000 – 6,000. We’re not going to toss out anything below or above that count, but this is the range of our target audience.
Send submissions in the form of Word documents (either .doc or .docx files). We recommend following
William Shunn formatting.
Submission Process
Email your submission to
submissions@deadbirdspublishing.com. The subject line of your email should be your last name plus the words “Dead Birds Publishing Submission-Setting.”
In your email, please include your name, pen name (if applicable), if the story has been previously published, and acknowledgement that we will ask for three years exclusivity. Feel free to say hello or tell us a joke, too. We are real people reading these emails!
Our editorial process for accepted submissions includes a close copy-edit. We will approve all edits with you before publication.
Payment
Payment for accepted submissions will be royalties. To date, each Dead Birds Publishing anthology has been able to pay horror-industry standards for a short story!
Authors will also have the option of purchasing additional copies at a discounted publisher rate.
