Bewildering Stories (BWS)

About

Bewildering Stories — known informally as “BwS” — is a weekly electronic publication featuring speculative fiction as well as non-fiction, namely poetry, articles, essays, reviews, and art.
What does “Bewildering” really mean? One thing it does not mean: “befuddling.” We do not like literature that is meaningless or self-contradictory or that asks the readers to do the writing for the author. What “Bewildering” does mean is “unconventional” and “thought-provoking.” Who would pay any attention to a title so conventional as “Unconventional Stories”? Our name puts our preference into practice.
What is “speculative fiction”? We have no hard and fast rule. Theoretically, it is not contemporary realism, but we’ve cheerfully published contemporary realism, too: it was sent to us, and we liked it. If your submission — whatever it may be — meets our guidelines, we’ll be glad to consider it.

Want more insight into the editors' preferences? Read our interview with the editor(s).

Country of Publication & Year Established

Canada

Established in 2002

Publication Medium & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Published 52 x per year

AI Policy

Unknown AI policy

629 members set this magazine as a Favorite.

Statistics Synopsis

Faster: Bewildering Stories's overall average response time is faster than most magazines.
More Approachable: Bewildering Stories's overall acceptance rate is higher than most magazines.
Less Responsive: Bewildering Stories's overall rate of non-response is higher than most magazines.

Learn more about our statistics

Collapse section Fiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General
Fantasy Open to all/most Subgenres
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres, including: Alternate History

Lengths:

Flash Fiction: Up to 1,000 words.
Short Story: 1,000 - 7,500 words.
Novelette: 7,500 - 9,000 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Experimental, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Nonfiction Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Interview: No specific word count limits known.
Review: No specific word count limits known.
Article: No specific word count limits known.
Essay: No specific word count limits known.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Experimental, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics including...
History: Biographies.
Literature/Books: General, Theory/Analysis/Criticism.
Memoir.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Genres:

General
Fantasy Open to all/most Subgenres
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres
Science Fiction Open to all/most Subgenres, including: Alternate History

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms. Excluding: Haiku (or related).

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Experimental, Literary, Mainstream.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Visual Art Open

Audience:

Open to a broad Audience.

Lengths:

Artwork: Unknown number of pieces.

Art Media:

Open to all/most Art Media.

Art Styles:

Open to all/most Art Styles.

Topics:

Open to all/most Topics.

Payment:

No monetary payment No monetary payment.

Submissions:

Method: Email.
Reprints: Reprints are allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Image.

Always check guidelines for details and restrictions. If you aren't familiar with these terms, see our glossary.

Recent cover image or website screenshot for Bewildering Stories

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Submission/Response
Correction/Update
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Social Platforms:
None known

For the Editor(s):
Request Interview
Duosuma Submission Manager
Link to Duotrope

Bewildering Stories Submission Statistics

The statistics in this section are compiled from submission reports sent to us through our submission tracker. They are not provided by the publication's editors/staff or by Duotrope's admins. Information in this section is updated a few times per day. Learn more about the statistics.

This project ranks among the 25 Most Approachable Fiction Publishers in our database.
This project ranks among the Most Personable Fiction Publishers in our database.

Filter:

Group by submission

Include outliers

Accuracy

We have received 44 reports from 40 different members within the past 12 months, not including pending responses (see below). The more responses reported, the more accurate the information.

Days Reported

0 min | 18.6 mean avg | 4.0 median | 153 max days (868.1 std dev)

Responses

84.09 %

Acceptances:

34.09 % of submissions accepted (14.4 avg. days per acceptance) | 37.50 % of submitters accepted

Rejections:

50.00 % (5.3 avg. days per rejection) | 81.8 % personal, 4.6 % form, 13.6 % unspecified | 2.3 % rewrite requests

Non-Responses

11.36 %

Lost/Returned:

Never Responded:

11.36 % (84.6 avg. days before reporting submissions as never responded)

Withdrawals

4.55 % (6.0 avg. days per withdrawal)

Pending

5 responses are pending (26 min | 139.3 mean avg | 143.5 median | 208 max days waiting | 1,504.2 std dev) from 4 different members

Other Information

The editors will try to make a decision within 28 days. (25.0 % of the responses reported to us for this listing have taken longer than 28 days.)
Do not query on the status of your submission before 28 days have passed.
Most submissions are acknowledged on the same day.
Most recent response reported was received on 15 Aug 2026.
Responses have been received for submissions sent as recently as 12 Aug 2026.
Date compiled: 05 Sep 2026 11:21 UTC (5 hours, 13 minutes ago).
View report of recent responses from this project

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Before Submitting

We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is correct. It is not unusual for publications to evolve or close without notice. We do our best to keep up, but it isn't always possible. Duotrope listings do not imply endorsement or recommendation of the project being listed. Before submitting, you should use your own judgment to determine whether the project meets your standards.

Always read the full guidelines provided by the publisher.
Try to read at least one previous publication to get a better idea of what the editor would like to see.
Unless the publisher's guidelines state otherwise, always use industry standard manuscript formatting.
Be professional, patient, and persistent.

Dates

Last Updated: 23 May 2026

We check their guidelines for changes every four weeks, and we audit the listing twice a year.