• n?-Lovecraft horror anthology

    by
    ajfrench
    Published on 03-22-2011 10:07 AM
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    Hey guys . . .

    I?m pleased to introduce another fine Static Movement anthology that I will be editing. This one is entitled ?The Shadow of the Unknown? and it will feature Lovecraftian horror stories. This is not a market for Cthulhu Mythos although I will tolerate a teensy bit of elder god name-dropping. But not much. I am more interested in Lovecraft-inspired stories and other types of metaphysical horror. Think Thomas Ligotti, Joe S. Pulver, Jay Lake, Simon Strantzas, and Laird Barron. These are n?-Lovecraft horror writers who have taken Grandpa Theobald?s style and ideas to the next level. This new level, in my opinion, is much more enigmatic and metaphysical in nature. These are stories where reality is never quite what it appears to be, and usually it?s discovered that one?s reality is often horrific, delirious, and dreamlike. The narratives of these stories have a very subjective and often claustrophobic feel (like Lovecraft), and so when the weird stuff starts happening you sometimes don?t know if it?s in the narrator?s mind or if it?s really real. Weird Tale and New Weird are also welcome, but I am specifically seeking the kind of Lovecraftian fiction mentioned above.

    I prefer stories around 4000 words, though I will look at longer and shorter lengths, but no flash. Keep cursing, sex, and gore to a minimum unless it?s essential to the plot. A focus on atmosphere and mood will take precedence over shock tactics. Total word count for the book will be roughly 70,000 ? 80,000.

    Please send your submissions to me at lovecraftantho@gmail.com Attach your story as an rtf file. Please also use the standard formatting as set forth by Chris of Static Movement: single-spaced, no spaces between paragraphs, and half-inch tab indentations. No single quotation marks for dialogue (curly quotes). One space after periods instead of two. Open until filled. Response time: 2 weeks. Reprints accepted. If not formatted correctly, stories will not be read. Proofread carefully and give me your very best. I will be sending copies of the book to various Best Of compendiums after everything is said and done.

    This is a ?for the love anthology? so there is no payment or copy, but there will be some descent exposure.

    A.J. French

    Writers:

    I?ve got another quick word about the fortheluv aspect of this anthology. As is totally understandable, I?ve seen some posts around the forums from writers expressing their concern and reluctance to submit because of no compensation. I totally understand, but I would just like to say that I have no intention of exploiting the hard work of writers. The publisher cannot afford contributor?s copies, nor payment for the writers, and I?m not permitted to pay my contributors because it would be unfair to the contributors of the other anthologies put out by the publisher. However, I can promise a quality product (in terms of editing, book quality, and story selection) that will be produced under a professional attitude. What I can do for the writers is promise them advertisement for the book in at least one pro-market magazine (which I will pay for myself), along with a blurb from an established author, and tentatively an introduction from an established author as well. I?ll have a story in the book too, so in a sense I?m in the same boat as all of you, and I want the best for my story. I?ll also purchase print copies and send them to Datlow and some book reviewers. This is not a statement to try and entice stories out of you, but I just don?t want writers feeling taken advantage of by submitting here. Payment for this will come, not in the form of a copy, but as ambitious hard work on the part of the editor. Thank you for your time.

    A.J. French

    PS: This is will be the last fortheluv anthology I will be bugging you guys about, for I just recently agreed to edit my next anthology project under a publisher who can afford to supply the contributor's with copies. I'm very excited about that. But until then, I've got to make this one the best it can be first.
    This article was originally published in forum thread: n?-Lovecraft horror anthology started by ajfrench View original post
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