Macabre Magazine: Special Edition: Winter Holiday Ghost Stories Gold Star Program Gold Star Free Tip Jar Option

Most English-speaking people are all extremely familiar with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, the classic tale of ghosts threatening a lonely, rich old man into being a better human being. Did you know about all the other Ghost Stories that Dickens wrote, many of them published for Christmas? Peter Hanning collected them in an anthology, first published in 1982 entitled "The Complete Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens."

Did you know that other beloved classics of stage and screen started as Christmas Ghost Stories, such as The Woman in Black? Or that Vallancourt has published five anthologies of them so far?

Winter is just the time for gathering around the fire to ward off the chill. We celebrate making it through another journey around the sun in part by remembering everyone who didn’t. For so many of us, it is a time of celebration and meeting old friends. For others, it is a reminder that our family isn’t present, or a reminder of other old wounds.

Macabre Magazine wants to continue this tradition of holiday chills and thrills. We want you to submit your original Christmas or Winter Holiday themed Ghost Stories, to be published digitalls as a special December issue. What lessons might modern Marleys have to teach us? What unfinished business ties them to this mortal realm, though their coil has been shuffled off?

We are particularly interested in non-traditional ghosts and other winter holidays. Does your family celebrate Las Posadas, Diwali, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, the Solstice, or the Festivus for the Rest of Us? What Ghosts might haunt that gathering? Is your annual office Christmas party full of spirits other than the spiked punch bowl? How does Christmas feel in the Southern hemisphere?

Submissions must include a ghost; be set in or around a winter holiday; and conform to all other submission guidelines below. While we are interested in diverse stories, we do not have the capacity to accept submissions in languages other than English at this time.

What We Publish

• Flash Fiction: 500–1,500 words
• Short Fiction: 1,500–5,000 words
• Long Shot Fiction: 5,000 to 10,000

We welcome all subgenres of horror, provided the work demonstrates control of craft, narrative cohesion, and an authentic voice.

Formatting

Professional presentation matters. A well-formatted manuscript signals to our editors that you take your craft seriously. We strongly encourage industry-standard submission practices, such as the Shunn Manuscript Format (omit identifying information; see Blind Review below).

Checklist for formatting:

• Emphasis: Italics, not underlining
• Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt, black
• Indentation: 0.5 inch
• Justification: Left margin only (ragged right)
• Spacing: Double-spaced (do not insert additional spaces after sentences or paragraphs)
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides
• Headers: Keyword from title + page number, upper right (not on first page)
• Smart quotes: On, but proofread carefully
• Title: Centered, halfway down the first page
• Word count: Upper right of first page, rounded to the nearest hundred
• File type: .docx only (no PDF or plain text files)

These formatting guidelines are not optional. Submissions that do not conform may be returned for correction. If a corrected file is not received within one (1) week, the submission will be rejected without consideration.

If you need assistance, refer to the Shunn Manuscript Format guidelines (ignore the identifying information section) or use Reedsy’s manuscript preparation video as a reference.

Blind Review Process

All fiction submissions are reviewed under a strict blind evaluation policy. No member of the editorial or review staff has access to contributor identities prior to a final decision of acceptance or declination.

Important: To preserve the integrity of our blind review process, all identifying information—including your name, email address, and any personal details—must be removed from both the manuscript and file name before submission. Failure to comply will result in immediate disqualification of the piece.

Our reading team includes professionals and scholars with advanced degrees in English, psychology, sociology, and related disciplines, as well as experienced writers and editors within the horror community. This structure ensures every submission is evaluated on the basis of craft, originality, and emotional impact alone.

We believe this approach represents the truest form of diversity, equity, and inclusion—one that eliminates bias by considering only the quality of the work itself.

Multiple & Simultaneous Submissions

• Multiple Submissions: Up to two (2) manuscripts per submission are allowed. Review times may increase accordingly.
• Simultaneous Submissions: NOT permitted.

Reprints Policy

We do not accept reprints. This includes any work previously published in print, online, or self-published platforms such as blogs, newsletters, Medium, Substack, or Patreon.

Generative AI Policy

Macabre Magazine publishes only original, human-authored work. Any form of generative AI use is prohibited.

This includes the use of AI tools for:

• Ideation or prompt generation
• Outlining or story structuring
• Drafting or dialogue generation
• Revision or rewording
• AI-assisted editing or grammar/style optimization beyond standard word processors

Any submission found to contain or derive from AI-generated content will be immediately rejected and permanently barred from future consideration.

Horror must come from the human imagination—imperfect, inspired, and alive.

Review Timeline

We will publish this special issue on December 13th, 2026. Submissions will be open until October 1st. We will assess special issue submissions on a rolling basis during the submission period.

We aim to respond within eight (8) weeks. Some submissions may require up to ninety (90) days. If you have not received a decision (acceptance, rejection, or request for revision) after this period, you may inquire through our contact form.

Payment and Contributor Benefits

At present, Macabre Magazine does not offer monetary payment. As the publication grows, it is our long-term commitment to provide fair compensation to contributors.

Contributors whose work appears in the digital or print edition may receive a complimentary digital copy of the issue in which their work appears.

Rights

By submitting your work to Macabre Magazine, you agree to grant the following rights upon acceptance:

• Exclusive First Serial Rights: Six (6) months, in English, following publication. During this time, the contributor agrees not to publish the work elsewhere.
• Perpetual Archival Rights: Non-exclusive rights permitting Macabre Magazine to retain, display, and preserve the work in its digital archives, anthologies, or affiliated platforms.
• Promotional Rights: Perpetual right to reproduce excerpts, images, or media from the work for marketing, publicity, or review purposes that promote the contributor and their work.
• Anthology Inclusion Rights: Right to republish accepted works in future anthologies, special editions, or collected volumes, with full contributor credit.
• Audio Rights: Right to produce, publish, and distribute audio adaptations or narrations of accepted works on our official media platforms.
• Audio-Visual Rights: Right to adapt, feature, or incorporate accepted works within multimedia formats exclusively for promotional, editorial, or archive purposes (such as videos or visual showcases). For clarity, the contributor retains all film, television, dramatic, and theatrical rights to the work.
• Award and Nomination Rights: Right to nominate accepted works for consideration in literary and artistic awards, prizes, or external anthologies (including, but not limited to, the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, or the Bram Stoker Awards).

After the six-month exclusivity period, all other rights revert to the author. Copyright remains with the creator at all times.

Final Notes

Submission of fiction to Macabre Magazine constitutes acknowledgment and acceptance of these guidelines in full. The editorial board reserves the right to amend these policies as necessary without prior notice; however, no such revision shall retroactively alter the rights of works already accepted for publication.