Circus of the Damned

This project is believed to be defunct. (June 2014)

About

What we want is quite simple. We want the type of stories that will make the reader cringe, shiver, and wonder why they hadn't come up with it. We want your depraved, your insane, your neurotic, your schizoid, your paranoid, your fearful, your weak. We want to see the good guy suffer. We want to see the good guy turn bad. We want to see the good guy lose, but only after we've invested all of our hope into him. There's no such thing as a "soft landing." We want stories that tear at our psyche and make us bleed. Lovecraftian horror, Stoker's regal depravity, Rice's indifference, Johnathan L. Howard's German necromancy, and much more. We want pulp fiction, realism, surrealism; insanity served to us on a dinner plate. (Did I mention pulp fiction? We kind of like that.) We want to walk through the Uncanny Valley on our way to the Valley of the Shadow of Death, riding the Jersey Devil while Mephistopheles whispers sweet nothings in our ear. And then we want you to kill our mother in front of us and top the whole thing off by banishing us to eternal nothingness. And remember, Connor McManus once said: "We're like 7/11, we aren't always doing business but we're always open." Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Circus of the Damned.

Country of Publication

United States

Publication Media & Frequency

Electronic Publication Electronic Publication: Unknown publication frequency
Print Publication Print Publication: Unknown publication frequency

Collapse section Fiction Believed Defunct

Audience:

Unknown

Genres:

Open to all/most Genres, including:
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Short Story: 1,000 - 3,500 words.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Dark, Pulp, Realist, Surrealist.

Topics:

None found.

Payment:

No monetary payment Royalties No monetary payment. Royalties.
Note: We list broad pay categories rather than payment specifics. Check with the publisher for details.

Submissions:

Method: Postal.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

Collapse section Poetry Believed Defunct

Audience:

Unknown

Genres:

Open to all/most Genres, including:
Horror Open to all/most Subgenres

Lengths:

Poem: No line limits known.

Poetry Forms:

Open to all/most Forms.

Styles:

Open to all/most Styles, including: Dark, Pulp, Realist, Surrealist.

Topics:

None found.

Payment:

No monetary payment Royalties No monetary payment. Royalties.
Note: We list broad pay categories rather than payment specifics. Check with the publisher for details.

Submissions:

Method: Postal.
Reprints: Reprints are NOT allowed.
Simultaneous submissions: Unknown.
Media: Text.

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

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Circus of the Damned Submission Statistics

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This listing is inactive and does not have any submission reports for the past 12 months.

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Dates

Last Updated: 22 May 2026