5 Horror Publishers Accepting Submissions Directly from Writers - No Agent Required

Updated 2/5/23

Now is the time to put that plastic skeleton back on your lawn (or you can always use the real one you've got stashed in your basement), and dig out that horror story you wrote but never submitted anywhere.

Also see: 4 Horror and Dark Fiction Publishers Accepting Unsolicited Manuscripts

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Bell Bridge Books / BelleBooks, Inc.

BB is looking for dark, gritty, serious urban fantasy & horror. Vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night on the mean streets of contemporary life. "A book we've currently bought is an epic series about a clan of vampires. (Right, epic means the series spans centuries. You can never trust guidelines.) Read Laurell K. Hamilton, Robin McKinley (Sunshine), Patricia Briggs, Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, etc."

Advance: Yes

Simultaneous submissions: No

Formats: Print and ebooks

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Black Bed Sheet Books

Black Bed Sheet Books specializes in publishing fiction of a dark nature: Horror, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Suspense, Young Adult, Contemporary, Thriller. Accepting novels, novellas, short story collections. Black Bed Sheet Books has published over 80 authors.

Advance: No information

Formats: Print and ebooks

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By Light Unseen Media

"By Light Unseen Media is currently seeking outstanding and unique manuscripts in the area of vampire fiction and non-fiction. Authors are asked to query before submitting manuscripts. Unsolicited manuscripts will not be considered."

Advance: $200

Formats: Print (POD) and ebooks

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Cosmic Egg

Cosmic Egg is an imprint of John Hunt Publishers, a mid-list house located in the UK. The publisher offers traditional publishing deals as well as co-operative publishing for authors. The parent company publishes a total of 300 titles per year with global sales and a focus on physical stores. Worldwide distribution.

Cosmic Egg imprint publishes speculative fiction: Vampires, Werewolves. Dragons and Faeries or Angels and Demons, Fantasy (including magical realism and spiritual fantasy), Metaphysical Cosmology, Horror or Science Fiction (including Steampunk).

Advance: None. Royalties are 10% of net.

Formats: Print and ebooks

Note: Authors are expected to help with marketing, which is not unusual for small houses. However, it has recently come to my attention that in some cases authors may be required to pay for publishing their books. While John Hunt is not a vanity press, requiring authors to pay publishing costs under any circumstances is not acceptable for legitimate publishers.

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Dark Hall Press

Dark Hall Press, a division of New Street Communications, LLC, was launched on October 31, 2011, "The Dark Hall list includes works of supernatural and non-supernatural horror, as well as cross-genre pollinations (sci-fi/horror, fantasy/horror, noir/horror, etc.) and experimental works."

Formats: Print and Kindle

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Severed Press

"Established in 2008 Severed Press is a leading independent publisher of horror and science fiction. Publishing trade paperbacks and E-Books. Severed Press has earned a reputation for excellence, quality and commitment to new and established authors alike. We are proud of the diversity of our authors and aim in continuing to build strong relationships worldwide. Authors include seasoned masters of horrors such as Tim Curran, Mark Tufo and Jake Bible to best selling newcomers David Achord and Joseph Talluto."

Severed Press is currently accepting novel submissions in the following categories: Apocalypse/Survival Horror, Dark Humour, Sci-Fi Horror, Anything out of the ordinary.

Advance: None. Pays royalties.

Note: Promotion and marketing for novels locally in Australia.