14 Publishers Accepting Dark Fiction and Horror - No Agent Required

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Updated 2/14/24

Here are fifteen publishers accepting dark fiction, horror, urban fantasy, military horror, and anything that goes bump in the night - including vampires. None require an agent, and all are traditional publishers.

Some of these publishers have been in business for a long time and have a great track record. Others are start-ups. Read their websites, look at the covers of the books they publish (do you like the art?), check out their authors on Amazon - in short, investigate before you submit your work. And be sure to read submission requirements carefully and follow them to the letter.

You can find additional speculative fiction publishers (including some horror) here: Publishers Accepting Unagented Manuscripts. All of these are traditional publishers. (No vanity presses.)

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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. Read guidelines here.

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. Read guidelines here.

Chaosium Fiction. Currently, the Chaosium fiction line primarily features works centered on the Cthulhu Mythos. "We will consider original novels, anthologies, single-author collections, and non-fiction. Our target length for book releases is 90,000 to 100,000 words, though we will consider longer or shorter works if the content is compelling. We will consider reprints." Chaosium is a professional fiction market, offering advances, royalties, and, for short fiction, a word rate in line with HWA and SFWA guidelines. Read guidelines here. Has submission periods.

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: It has come to my attention that in some cases authors are expected to pay for some or all of publishing costs. Legitimate publishers do not require authors to pay for publishing their books under any circumstances. Read guidelines here.

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. Read guidelines here.

Dead Sky Publishing is on the lookout for fiction, noir fiction, thriller, mystery, gothic fiction, dark magical realism, literary horror, science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction stories. Dead Sky Publishing accepts novel, novella, creative samples and/or story/series proposals for comics, graphic novels, art books and photography books. Please read guidelines here.

Flame Tree Press, an imprint of Flame Tree Publishing, specializes in speculative fiction, including horror. Flame Tree sells through all major wholesalers, retailers, and online outlets. In addition, foreign language co-editions and translation rights are sold to publishers in many countries around the world, including France, Germany, China and Brazil. They publish simultaneous hardcover, paperback and ebook editions to the trade market, online and retail stores, and library markets and pay industry standard royalties. Advances are modest. Read guidelines here.

Grinning Skull Press publishes novels, novellas, and anthologies. Terms: 50/50 split on royalties. Read full guidelines here. No simultaneous submissions.

Hellbound Books wants Horror, Bizarro, Erotic Horror, and Dark Erotica. They publish novels (60,000 to 120,000+ words), novellas (30,000 to 60,000 words), and anthologies. Royalties are 25% of net. Read full guidelines here.

Madness Heart Press is a home for all dark literature. They publish horror novels, chapbooks, poetry, novellas, short story collections. They are also interested in non-fiction, plays, and any number of forms of storytelling. "So long as they are dark, and twisted, we are interested. We are interested in all manner of sub-genre as well. Erotic, Extreme, Splatter, Bizarre, Serial Killers, Sci-Fi. We hate to say it over and over again, but if your story is dark, we may be interested in it no matter what genre or format it comes in." Has submission periods. Read guidelines here.

The Parliament House publishes Urban fantasy, Supernatural thriller, Paranormal romance, Dark fantasy, Horror and paranormal fiction with an emphasis on uplifting marginalized voices and unconventional narratives. "We strive to inscribe magic onto every page and to capture our passionate readership with the enduring power of storytelling. Our mission is not only to offer readers fantastical escapes, to make the impossible possible, but to share stories that are thought-provoking, evocative, and speak to the complexities of our lived reality." Read their submission guidelines. Check site for open submission periods.

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. Please read full submission guidelines here.

Tartarus is a small British independent press founded in 1990. They specialize in collectible hardback limited editions of literary supernatural/strange/horror fiction. They also publish paperbacks and ebooks. Tartarus has been the recipient of four World Fantasy Awards, and in 2010 received a "Stoker" from the Horror Writers Association. Submissions: Tartarus is looking for short story collections and novels of between 75,000 and 120,000 words. They are not interested in high fantasy, violent horror or young adult fiction. Electronic submissions should be sent to rosalieparker@btinternet.com as a Word or rtf attachment. Please send a synopsis or first two or three chapters/stories when first getting in contact. Please read full guidelines here. Has submission periods.

Tenebrous Press publishes New Weird Horror. They accept submissions of novels, novellas, and projects that fall under the graphic novel/comics umbrella, or other outside the box approaches to New Weird Horror. They are seeking work that starts at 20,000 words. They have no fixed upper limit. They ask for: “World English first rights in print, electronic, and ebook, and a three-year exclusivity period. All copyright belongs to the author”. They try to respond to all submissions within three months. Read full submission guidelines HERE. Has submission periods.