We’re still looking for two or three more thoughtful and gripping tales to round out the anthology — send us your best. Remember, it’s all about the supernatural and uncanny in the bright light of day!

• Rob E. Boley — Companion — Every trip I’ve ever taken, I think I’m going to meet someone, find a companion who sees all I have to offer, but it never seems to happen.
  
• Scott Brendells — Ataraxia — They stood until they died, leaving their loved ones to watch their slow but steady deterioration.
  
• Rebecca Fraser — Uncle Alec’s Gargoyle — It winked at me once, Uncle Alec’s gargoyle.
  
• J.H. Heluk — The Wish Man and the Worm — The worm in Georgia’s mouth slipped when he yanked her head back.
• Harper Hull — Daddy Long Legs — “Saw him clear as day, striding across those top branches with those spindly legs like he was on the sidewalk. It was the morning that Ella – that your momma – my Ella, the morning she died.”
• Davin Ireland — Carrington Cove — There was little love lost between the professional fossil hunters who scoured Dorset’s Jurassic Coast.
• Lorna D. Keach — Fiddleback — Fever and chills were one thing, but “I think something’s wrong with this bite, Walt,” she’d said.
• Scott Lininger — The Woman in the Ditch — At the very bottom of the thirty feet of ditch there was a fancy car, completely upside-down, with its hood smashed through the ice that covered the creek.
• Chad McKee — In Lieu of Flowers — The shock of discovering you had missed the last breaths of your wife by a mere handful of days after six years in exile weighed on a man.
• Gregory Miller — Miss Riley’s Lot — How ’bout when my big brother Chris took me up on Still Creek Hill during hunting season and let me watch while he and his buds shot a woman?
• John Jasper Owens — And the Crowd Goes Wild — “I believe,” I told Bellows, “we are witnessing the end times.”  Bellows shrugged. “That’s gonna play hell with residuals.”
• Aaron Polson — Sea of Green, Sea of Gold — The rocky nature of those  hills had protected the Konza from pioneers and farmers, and now the government guaranteed protection by making it a national preserve, a piece of land lost in time.
• Mark Rigney — Customs — The wait begins, and this time it is more than a little unnerving because we have been separated from our passports, the little booklets that legitimize us, make us official and human and real.
• Daniel R. Robichaud — Down Where the Blue Bonnets Grow — Instinct made me train the rifle on the bare patch.  If the earth itself sat up, I could take a head shot.
• Trent Roman — The Heat Has Fangs — This is one heck of a heat wave, and it doesn’t show sign of breaking anytime soon, either. But not the worse I’ve seen, no sir.
• E. C. Seaman — Sands of Time — The Grey Lady saw it all. Every argument, every drama; from childishly scraped knees to first boyfriends and broken hearts.
• Adam Walter — The Infatuate — Though the two of them knew nothing of each other, they shared the most improbable secret, and no one looking at them — now, in this place — could ever hope to guess it.

The theme is “supernatural terror that occurs in the light of day” — we’re looking for stories that are original in concept and solidly plotted, with coherent internal story logic and unusual or striking settings and/or characters. Stories that capture a sense of the unheimlich will be especially appreciated. We don’t want dreams, hallucinations, visions, virtual realities, or non-supernatural horror of any sort.

So, if you’ve been hesitating about submitting one of your works, or if you just finished a story that sounds like it might be exactly what we’re looking for, there’s still time — send it in!  Historical, fantasy, contemporary, steampunk or science-fiction — any genre is fine, as long as the plot revolves around Day Terrors.

I’m looking forward to reading your work!

The stories we’ve accepted so far vary quite a bit in theme, setting, and style. A few things they all share, however, is a tightly written narrative, a distinctive voice, and an unexpected take on our theme of horror-by-daylight.

The following is a list of the stories we’ve accepted to date, in no particular order.  It’s not a table of contents.

• J.H. Heluk — The Wish Man and the Worm — A child’s fears may assume disturbing face. A bizarre tale of surreal horror.
• John Jasper Owens — And the Crowd Goes Wild — Being successful may be scary. An action-filled story of the future.
• Mark Rigney — Customs — Getting stuck in more than one way. A claustrophobically disturbing tale of travel.
• Trent Roman — The Heat Has Fangs — Your enemy may be closer than you think. A chatty but weird reminiscence of times past.
• Scott Brendells — Ataraxia — Nowhere left to go. A quiet tragedy set in a grim future.
• Davin Ireland — Carrington Cove — Utter, dark, and inescapable despair. A storm-tossed narrative of obsession.
• Aaron Polson — Sea of Green, Sea of Gold — The beautiful and sunny can be deadly. High-noon horror.
• E. C. Seaman — Sands of Time — Scary things may be not bad, after all. An understated and wistful reflection on life.
• Rob E. Boley — Companion — The stories we tell ourselves can be misleading. A horrifying tale of dependence.
• Gregory Miller  — Miss Riley’s Lot — Longevity can be scary. A disturbing urban legend.
• Chad McKee — In Lieu of Flowers — Revenge is a dish best served cold. More so when cold flesh is the instrument.
• Daniel R. Robichaud — Down Where the Blue Bonnets Grow — Where cruelty meets its peer, and horror meets SciFi.
• Lorna D. Keach —  Fiddleback — Never underestimate the little ones. A surrealistic tale of guilt and retribution.

We’re still accepting submissions, so don’t hesitate to send us your most original, standout stories of 2,500-5,000 words. Remember — we’re looking for supernatural/monstrous horror that takes place in the bright light of day!

The stories we’ve accepted so far vary quite a bit in theme, setting, and style. A few things they all share, however, is a tightly written narrative, a distinctive voice, and an unexpected take on our theme of horror-by-daylight.

The following is a list of the stories we’ve accepted to date, in no particular order.  It’s not a table of contents.

• J.H. Heluk — The Wish Man and the Worm — A child’s fears may assume disturbing face. A bizarre tale of surreal horror.
• John Jasper Owens — And the Crowd Goes Wild — Being successful may be scary. An action-filled story of the future.
  
• Mark Rigney — Customs — Getting stuck in more than one way. A claustrophobically disturbing tale of travel.
• Trent Roman — The Heat Has Fangs — Your enemy may be closer than you think. A chatty but weird reminiscence of times past.
  
• Scott Brendells — Ataraxia — Nowhere left to go. A quiet tragedy set in a grim future.
  
• Davin Ireland — Carrington Cove — Utter, dark, and inescapable despair. A storm-tossed narrative of obsession.
  
• Aaron Polson — Sea of Green, Sea of Gold — The beautiful and sunny can be deadly. High-noon horror.
  
• E. C. Hudson — Sands of Time — Scary things may be not bad, after all. An understated and wistful reflection on life.
• Rob E. Boley — Companion — The stories we tell ourselves can be misleading. A horrifying tale of dependence.
• Gregory Miller  — Miss Riley’s Lot — Longevity can be scary. A disturbing urban legend.

We’re still accepting submissions, so don’t hesitate to send us your most original, standout stories of 2,500-5,000 words. Remember — we’re looking for supernatural/monstrous horror that takes place in the bright light of day!

Acceptance notes have started to go out, but we are still reading and still have quite a few positions open. This means that we are keeping many excellent stories in our (not so) short list and will defer final decisions on many of them until we have only a few slots left. That also means that if you haven’t heard back from us your story is more likely than not resting in that pile (well, electronic pile, anyway). Please be patient with us; we read and reread and have a hard time rejecting many of the excellent stories that we receive (but we keep a stiff upper lip and reject them).

Final decisions will mostly hinge on how well the story fits with our theme and blends with its peers, and a rejection (unless otherwise stated) doesn’t mean that the story isn’t amazing.

So hurry up with that great story that begs to be included in “Day Terrors”, before it’s too late.

Dru and Kfir

And then there is the matter of standard manuscript format. Your story is processed and the file is saved separately from the e-mail with which it arrived. If you don’t put your name and contact information on the first page we may never know how to get back to you (yes, we can search through the pile of e-mails and try to pair the title with a message, but probably won’t have the time to do it).

And please do provide a word count on the first page. I know that we can use MSWord to recount it for us, but we receive many submissions and want to give each story the time it deserves, so any little added hurdle makes our life more difficult. Besides, that’s standard manuscript format. And yes, also a simple courtesy toward the editor who reads your work.

Cover Art by Michal Luzzatto