Guidelines For Horror Stories

So you fancy yourself a horror writer and would like to have your stories published at this web site. Well first the good news -

There is no charge to have your stories published here.

All writers retain the rights to their stories, and I have no problems with the stories being used elsewhere. I would recommend that you check with other web pages and publishers to make sure you can put any story they're displaying up here though. 

All web pages published here will have the date which will help prove that you wrote the story should you ever encounter problems in that area. Although I would suggest you also send  yourself a copy when you submit to me via email so that you'll also have proof in your own computer or on disc.

There will be no alterations in your writing whatsoever. What you send will be published word for word.

There are no rules concerning content in the story, although, the publisher of this page has the right to turn down any stories he does not deem worthy of putting up. (more on that later down on this page) So make certain that you realize this is a page dedicated to horror and not erotic porno fiction. And don't send me something that you stole from someone else either.

It is up to the writers whether or not they want links to their own emails to receive fan mail or criticisms from readers of this page.

Your stories can go up to 10,000 words. This page has a 50 meg capacity and I've decided to make it as interesting as possible.

A choice of having a .doc or .txt file download for those readers who would rather print the story on their printer at home, or read it later while not online, is up to the writers. Personally, I wouldn't suggest it. But if you'd like, it can be arranged.

And now for the bad news...

There are rules:

1. Science Fiction stories must have a creepy element to them. A good example would be the film, "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" or the works of Harlan Ellison & Ray Bradbury. Combining horror with other genres like romance, comedy, ect,... is fine. 

2. Science Fiction stories should take place on the planet earth. I will consider some that don't,  but it had better be well written and worth it. Do not send me a story like "Star Wars"  which was really nothing more than a western set in space.

3. All stories must be over 1,000 words and under 10,000. I'm not interested in publishing little tiny pamphlets of what happened to you as a 7 year old child while visiting a cave that's only 300 words. This is for stories and not excerpts from your diary. A story that is between 3,000 and 6,000 would be considered perfect, provided it follows the other guidelines issued.

4. Stories with overuse of foul language will have a tough time being considered. I have no problem with foul language, just don't over do it.

5. Extremely bad stories will not be put up here. I'm not going to waste my time defending worthless piles of crap to my readers. If your story starts with a sentence like this: 'Okay, so this guy gets his head cut off, right. And then they stab his parents.' Don't bother sending it.

6. Any stories using characters created by other well known writers will have a tough time being considered. So don't even bother if you're going to send me a story called, "Snow White Meets Clive Barker." If you wanna send me a story involving Clive Barker, fine, but leave fictional characters created by other writers out of your story. A story called, "Son Of Cujo" will only be accepted by me if it's sent by Stephen King himself.

7. Vampires and Werewolf stories are perfectly acceptable. But don't send me something in that genre that has been done to death. And don't re-write a story that is an obvious ripoff of "The Lost Boys" or "Fright Night" Make it different and interesting. Any story sent to me called, "An American Werewolf In Kokomo" probably won't even be read.

8. Please don't make your stories so grammatically incorrect that they're impossible to read. I won't refuse stories with a few errors here & there but don't send me something that looks like it was written by a 5 year old.

9. All stories must be written and sent to me via email either in the text of the email or an attached .txt file, .html file, or .doc file. I will not accept any other format. I prefer it be in the text box of the email or an attached .doc file if you can.

10. Please be patient in giving me time to put the story up. This is being done for free and will be done only at my leisure. And keep in mind that any ads that appear at the top of pages can not be removed by me. That's all a part of getting free web space.

11. Poetry and artwork will also be posted up here once I start getting some submissions in that area. All art must be submitted attached to email and in the form of .jpg files only. If you send in another format it will be converted to .jpg. Erotic poetry will be considered as long as it is not too vulgar and deals with horror. All art must  have a horror element as well.

 

To submit your stories via email send them to: huffman@clivebarker.net

NOTE - I have no problem putting up stories in other languages. Just be sure you can communicate with me in English about your desires concerning it's posting.