BHF Books of Horror is seeking you - and your children!

[darrell]

After a productive year with four new collections out during 2021, me and the BHF Books team have slowed down a little. But we do have a 'by kids, for kids' spinoff in progress - anyone between the ages of 5-15 is invited to send in horror stories of 500-1000 words, or contribute artwork suitable for A4 size repro. Several excellent tales and pics have already come in.

Plus, I've just announced our new 'grown-ups' volume, planned for September. Submissions welcome. Here are the details/specs:

Announcing - THE ATE-th BHF BOOK OF HORROR STORIES

Inviting submissions for the next volume in the popular series of paperback anthologies.

Publication is planned for early September, so please send your submitted work before August 8th. Unfortunately we cannot offer payment - as usual all our proceeds will go to charitable causes.

We are seeking horror stories of between 1500 and 5000 words (strict), which should be on a theme of 'cannibalism', preferably of the 'eating human flesh' variety rather than any fancy interpretation of the term, though I'm all for metaphor or social comment if you want to be clever about it. Bear in mind that your story is more likely to be selected if it is about somebody chowing down on somebody else's fried kidneys or sautéed brains, however.

Completed work to be emailed to editor Darrell Buxton at [e-mail]

Artists and illustrators will also be needed to provide specific story-related black-and-white visuals, to be discussed as the project takes shape. This could get messy!

There will be a limited number of story slots, so there is a chance that not all of the submissions will make the grade during the selection process. With only one main series book planned for 2022, competition is going to be fierce. So try to make your story stand out from the pack. That said, your editor likes 'the basics'. Especially on this particular theme (and me a vegetarian...)

Stories should contain original characters of your own creation, rather than meta-style borrowing of established figures in existing fiction, as occasionally featured in our previous books.

Seeking a proper 'Pan Books of Horror' nasty vibe for this one.