16 Speculative Fiction Magazines Open for Submissions NOW - Paying Markets

Speculative fiction is near and dear to my heart, so I am always on the lookout for speculative fiction magazines open to submissions. All of these are paying markets, and none charge submission fees.

For over a hundred paying speculative fiction magazines accepting submissions see: Mega-List of Speculative Fiction Magazines Accepting Submissions

Happy submitting!

(Image by Susann Mielke from Pixabay)

Updated 8/18/22 

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And the Dead Shall Sleep No More. Genre: Short fiction, flash fiction, poetry about vampires. "Anything that's dark, creepy, weird and just a little off-kilter. We're open to genre fiction, particularly anything related to horror, science-fiction, speculative fiction or weird fiction. But we're also interested in anything that twists or subverts these genres in some unexpected way." Payment: $15. Deadline September 1, 2022.

Jay Henge: Phantom Thieves Sagacious Scoundrels. Genre: Speculative fiction. "Elusive and fantastic thieves and scoundrels of all genders and species who can be long gone before the victim even knows what happened. Show us what admirable trickery your scoundrels and robbers and smugglers have up their sleeves!" Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words. Length: Up to 15k words. Open until filled.

Jay Henge: The Nameless Songs of Zadok Allen. Genre: Speculative fiction. "What lurks in the deep? Who listens from the shadows? What sorts of abominable experiments are taking place at the mysterious ivy-covered university? We want your Lovecraftian tales. " Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words. Length: Up to 15k words. Open until filled.s!" Payment: $5 USD per 1000 words. Length: Up to 15k words. Open until filled. Reprints accepted.

Strange Horizons Genre: Poetry, art. Payment: $50 for poetry, $100 - $200 for art. No reprints. No simultaneous submissions. Note: Fiction will open on November 1.

StarShipSofa. Genre: Science Fiction (podcast). "From the soft, social science fiction to the weird pulpy stuff to the vigorous hard SF and YA adventure. We welcome all sub-genres and all variety of punks in all their colours. From high-octane action to quiet philosophical stories, we’re after it all.Science fiction is a rich and diverse genre, push it’s boundaries as far as you can go. We welcome translations and are very interested in stories that take place/written by authors outside the US/Anglo-sphere, as well as as alternative movements and styles. These include (but not limited to) “non-Western” science fiction, Chinese SF, Soviet speculative fiction, Afro-futurism, etc." Payment: $50 USD flat rate per story for nonexclusive, one time audio rights. Authors are paid for their stories on the 7th of the proceeding month. Accepts reprints.

Dark Moon Digest. Genre: Horror short stories, flash fiction, reviews, and columns. "We strongly encourage work written by authors typically unrepresented in publishing, such as women, people of color, LGBTQ, and those from non-Western cultures. Also, if the previous sentence pissed you off for some reason, then you definitely aren't the kind of author we wish to read. Fiction reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, Black Mirror, Tales from the Crypt, and Tales from the Darkside. We want stories with complex characters and ideas spun in ways nobody’s ever conceived. Make our brains hurt. Make our hearts explode with love and terror. Make us fear." Payment: $0.03 per word for original fiction/$0.01 per word for reprints. Note: Submittable will close every month once they reach 300 submissions, then reopen at the start of the next month. If you fail to locate any submission categories, check back again on the 1st. Accepts reprints. 

Etherea. Genre: Fantasy and science fiction short stories. Length: 2000 - 5000 words, but longer will be accepted. Etherea Magazine is an Australian publication, so payment will be made in Australian dollars, Payment: A$100 per story, regardless of length. They are also looking for flash fiction, from 500 to 1000 words. A flat rate of A$25 will be paid per story. Horror may be accepted in this section, however it must have an element of the supernatural.

Mithila Review is a journal of international science fiction and fantasy devoted to speculative writing, arts, and culture. "Along with original speculative fiction and poetry, we also publish reviews, interviews, discussions, and essays centered around stories, books, movies, television series, arts, comics, and other media, with speculative elements that explore the interstitial spaces of politics, identity, and culture and reflect the diverse (and often underrepresented) experiences, perspectives, and nuances of the world we live in today." Payment: $10 for original essays. (Open to nonfiction only)

Thirteen Podcast is an audio-drama/audio fiction podcast specializing in feature length (~ one hour) productions that are characterized by slow-burn, atmospheric stories, horror and ghost stories. Payment for stories 5,000 words and above is $50 and payment for stories under 5,000 words is $25.

Existential Hologram: A Science Fiction Anthology. Genre: Science Fiction, Virtual Reality, Simulation Theory. "What if everything we see, hear, taste and touch represents a minuscule fraction of the whole of existence? We want tales centered on the realities of reality – from the askew to the virtual (think Twilight Zone to The Matrix or Tron)." Word count: 2,000 to 14,000 words. Payment: Royalty split. Deadline: Open until filled.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Laugh – A Comedy Anthology. Genre: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Comedy, Satire "Space opera can often be a wonderous, cold and scientific place.  But it doesn’t have to be!  Ever hear of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? Galaxy Quest? The Adventures of Pluto Nash? Red Dwarf?" Word count: 2,000 to 8,000 words. Payment: Royalty split. Deadline: Open until filled.

Bards and Sages Quarterly. Genre: All speculative genres (horror, fantasy, science fiction, slipstream, steampunk, magical realism, etc) up to 5,000 words in length. Payment: $30 for original fiction; $15 for reprints.

The Were-Traveler. Genre: Fiction based on image. Theme: Curst & Twysted Tarot. Payment: $10 - $15.

Three-lobed Burning Eye. "Original speculative fiction: horror, fantasy, and science fiction. We're looking for short stories from across the big classifications and those shadowy places between: magical realism, fantastique, slipstream, interstitial, and the Weird. We will consider suspense or western, though we prefer it contain some speculative element. We like voices that are full of feeling, from literary to pulpy, with styles unique and flowing, but not too experimental. All labels aside, we want tales that expand genre, that value imagination in character, narrative, and plot. We want to see something new and different." Length: Short fiction 1000–7000 words, Flash fiction 500–1000 words, (2000–5000 preferred). Payment: $100 for short fiction, $30 for flash fiction; + 1 print annual. Deadline: Open now.

Space Horror Anthology. Genre: Stories with one horror trope and one sci-fi trope. Payment: $25. (Open until filled.)

Radon. Genre: Short stories and poetry containing elements of anarchism, transhumanism, dystopia, and/or science fiction. Payment: 1 cent per word for original work, half a cent per word for reprints.