Smart Search List of the Day

Fee-Free Horror Fiction

Smart Search is one of several search options for our members. It enables you to search for publishers and agents using the most common options and provides a short list of results that's curated and updated daily. This helps you find that gold nugget in the stream with as little effort as possible. Although you aren't a member yet, we are giving you a free preview of our Smart Search below. Read our Guide to Smart Search for more information about this feature.

Note: These are the results of a previous Smart Search List of the Day. Today's Smart Search is Paying Fee-Free Literary Fiction.

Instructions: Select at least one bolded (asterisk) option below and click Search. To include some lesser-known publishers, select "Include Wildcards."

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Today's Smart Search List of the Day is: Fee-Free Horror Fiction. Check back tomorrow for a new list.
Color Coding: Purple indicates a Wildcard, Green indicates a paying publication, and Blue is everything else.

Android Press Wildcard

Android Press is a small independent press that publishes science fiction, fantasy, light horror, and specializes in the various -punk subgenres. We love stories that are full of hope and optimism, as well as stories that hold up a mirror to our society, forcing us reexamine our past and our values in order to move forward and build a better future.
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Novella, Novel.
Payment: + Unknown advance. Unknown royalties.
Avg. Response: Slower than average responder. 172.5 days.

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Creepy Podcast

Dare to venture into the darkly captivating world of the Creepy podcast, where a haunting ensemble of narrators lend their chilling voices to guide you through the most unsettling corners of the unknown.
Genres: Horror.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: Semi-pro. Details: USD $0.02/word, with a max. of $100.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 18.0 days.
Acceptances: Approachable. 19.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Crooked Spine

A small horror magazine out of nowhere in particular. Four issues a year (or more), in paperback and on Kindle. Themed reading periods. We publish what scares us.
Genres: Horror.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: to Token to Semi-pro. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $20.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 9.3 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 5.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Crow & Cross Keys

Seeking the wonderful and the bizarre, the beautiful and dark… Crow & Cross Keys is a new, online literary journal that plucks fiction and poetry from skeletal trees and gives it a place to take root. We love writing that sings: strong, unexpected imagery; lyrical prose; and an afterimage that lasts long after the lights go out. Crow & Cross Keys seeks to be a haven for all things speculative. Give us your fairy tales and your fables, sneak a scary story under the mat…
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: No monetary payment.
Avg. Response: Average responder. 76.6 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 7.0% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Horrific Scribes Mature

Horrific Scribes is an expanding online archive of dark short fiction (and some poetry) by various authors who share the Horrific Scribblings imprint’s dedication to the provocative, scary, and strange. Most of the stories will have elements of horror, ranging from bloodless slow burns to raucous extreme romps, but related genres–dark fantasy, dark sci-fi, surrealist and other experimental writing with dark tendencies–are likely to appear…
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: to Token to Semi-pro. Details: USD $25 per story.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 8.7 days.
Acceptances: Average. 8.1% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Neon & Smoke

Neon & Smoke is a home for bold, voice-driven fiction with emotional weight and narrative fire. We publish stories that don’t sit quietly—tales where the plot might thrill, chill, or make you laugh, but always reveals something deeper. We crave characters who leap off the page, language that crackles, and stories that blur the line between genre and literary not for the sake of novelty, but it’s the most honest way to tell the truth…
Genres: Open to all/most genres, including: General, Horror, Suspense/Thriller.
Lengths: Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: to Semi-pro to Professional. Details: USD $20 flat payment.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 1.7 days.
Acceptances: Average. 8.1% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Not One of Us

Not One of Us is a hardcopy zine about people (or things) out of place in their surroundings, outsiders, social misfits, aliens in the sf sense—anyone excluded from society for whatever the reason. We want to explore “otherness” from every possible angle.
Genres: Open to all/most genres, including: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Short Story.
Payment: Token. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $0.0025/word, with a minimum of $5.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 13.7 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 4.2% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Perseid Prophecies

Perseid Prophecies is an independent quarterly speculative fiction magazine. Every issue features fiction from a broad range of science fiction and fantasy, including everything from hard SFF, weird fiction, sci-fi tinged horror, and more. Additionally, each issue offers a factual scientific article, unique cover art, and an editorial titled “Raye’s Rant.”
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Flash Fiction, Short Story, Novelette.
Payment: No monetary payment.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 45.1 days.
Acceptances: Average. 7.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Rotting Leaf Mag

Rotting Leaf Mag is an online magazine that publishes literature from the realms of the eco-horrific, the eco-surrealist, and the eco-weird.
Genres: General, Fantasy, Horror.
Lengths: Flash Fiction, Short Story.
Payment: Professional. Free copy(ies). Details: USD $0.06/word with $30 minimum.
Avg. Response: Faster than average responder. 13.3 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 3.7% of fiction submissions accepted.

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Space & Time Magazine

Founded in 1966 by Gordon Linzner, Space & Time is one of the oldest continuously published semi-pro speculative fiction magazines still in print. For nearly six decades, the magazine has championed science fiction, fantasy, horror, poetry, art, and the beautifully strange…
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction.
Lengths: Flash Fiction.
Payment: Semi-pro. Details: USD $0.01/word.
Avg. Response: Slower than average responder. 110.6 days.
Acceptances: Challenging. 5.2% of fiction submissions accepted.

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