The perfect place to send your Midnight story 🖤

PseudoPod 🎙️@pseudopod.org · 6d ago

The portal opens tomorrow… are you ready? We want horror stories up to 6,000 words, including flash. Originals and reprints. We pay $0.08 per word. Simultaneous submissions are accepted so long as you keep us informed. More details on our website (below).

Great news! We’ve managed to shackle @eyelash93.bsky.social to Midnight Magazine as a preliminary judge. This September, Eilish will read every story submitted before passing the strongest contenders on to our September guest judge, Athena Law. We’re thrilled to have her dark instincts on board 🖤

All feedback from the Midnight Macabre Challenge has now been sent out. 🖤 We've been blown away by the positive response and all the kind words. It's been fantastic to hear that so many writers found it valuable. We can't wait to do it all again in September!

Votes for the September theme are rolling in. Here's a sneaky preview of the breakdown so far: 36%, 24%, 20%, 20%. Early entry is $8 (AUD). Sign up and cast your vote here: midnight-writers.com/midnight-mag...

Huge congrats, Sy! Well-earned! 👏

Sy Power@sypower.bsky.social · 2w ago

Made it onto the Midnight Writers longlist! 🥳 Many seriously incredible names on this list, very honored to be among them 🥰

Midnight Macabre, our first ever magazine issue, is available to read here: midnight-writers.com#midnight-mag...

My story "Jerry Was a Bare-Knuckle Fighter" was a finalist in @midnightwriters.bsky.social 's Midnight Magazine. Which is very cool. I'm trying to not let getting laid off right after I found out ruin it for me lol.

Pretty chuffed to say that it was me who was in the top 25 twice! Checkout my third-place story, "If you still had thoughts, you'd be glad you don't" in the inaugural issue of Midnight Magazine!

Midnight Writers@midnightwriters.bsky.social · 2w ago

ONE DAY to go, and here’s something I’ve been really excited to share: One person is in the Top 25 TWICE. Actually, 4 of the Top 25 are authors who subbed more than one story 👀

Massive congrats, Sarah! 🖤

Sarah K@svkenn.bsky.social · 2w ago

And I just got a shiny badge to go with my HM! 😊

MIDNIGHT MACABRE IS UP! Read it here: midnight-writers.com#midnight-mag... Congrats to all the winners! The standard of entries was so, so high, so if you didn't make it this time, you were (joint) 26th for sure 😉

ONE DAY to go, and here’s something I’ve been really excited to share: One person is in the Top 25 TWICE. Actually, 4 of the Top 25 are authors who subbed more than one story 👀

TWO DAYS to launch and what I love the most about this mag is the amount of people who have been involved in making it. The cover art is by @jjsilkwood.bsky.social (sneaky peek below)

With 3 days to go until our Midnight Macabre magazine - and contest results - here’s a cool fact: every story in the top 10 was one of the 18 stories that both judges said YES to 🔥

I am absolutely bursting to announce our guest judge for September - the incredibly talented Athena Law 🖤 All details here: midnight-writers.com#midnight-mag...

And the good news keeps coming... 🦴 Midnight Macabre Magazine is almost ready to emerge from the shadows. IT'S DROPPING THIS FRIDAY! 🖤

We had so much fun, we're doing it again!! The September contest/call is open for early birds. Grab your early bird entries here: midnight-writers.com#midnight-mag... Submission details are the same, but a fun addition - we're letting you choose the theme this time.

SQUEEEEEE!! 👏👏👏 We have a TOP 10! 🙌 We have a WINNER!!! 🏆

Eilish Forwells@eyelash93.bsky.social · 3w ago

We have a winner. So excited to see this one claim its midnight macabre crown! Keep an eye on @midnightwriters.bsky.social over the coming days for announcements.

It’s an amazing mix of stories at the top! We’ve got stories ranging from 500 words to 1200 words. In fact, SIX of our finalists come in under 1000 words. @eyelash93.bsky.social sure has her work cut out, but if there’s anyone we’d trust with dark fiction, it’s her. 🖤🖤🖤

I've finished reading all of the top stories handed over to me for @midnightwriters.bsky.social's Midnight Magazine. What a wonderfully disturbing stack of fiction. Now comes the butchery - cutting it down to the final Top 10. There will be casualties.

I’ve had a few people message me, worried they’ve spotted a typo, so let me lay your fears to rest — the dream behind Midnight Magazine is to celebrate great stories. We’re not here to punish errors and we can certainly read around typos (and I’ll fix any minor hiccups before it goes to print).🌙🖤

👏👏👏 congrats JJ!

J.J. Silkwood@jjsilkwood.bsky.social · last mo.

Guess what: I’m officially a published author… & I won Elegant Literature’s “Predator & Prey” contest! 🥳 My story, “The Mark Upon the Bread”, explores the effects of the early Scottish witch trials on a marriage. Free link in bio! Thank you @elegantliterature.bsky.social for uplifting new writers!

And the fun stuff (sing along!) 4 hermit crabs, 3 very black (comedy), 2 about gnomes and 1 cryptid erotica 🎵👏

Midnight Writers@midnightwriters.bsky.social · last mo.

We have dystopia, sci-fi, clones, AI, sacrifice, apocalypse, and at least three chilling medical horrors 🩸

We have dystopia, sci-fi, clones, AI, sacrifice, apocalypse, and at least three chilling medical horrors 🩸

Midnight Writers@midnightwriters.bsky.social · last mo.

And the following haunted objects: baseball bat, bones, bird cage, and gnomes.

And the following haunted objects: baseball bat, bones, bird cage, and gnomes.

Midnight Writers@midnightwriters.bsky.social · last mo.

We had the following killers: birds, lake monsters, killer roses, worms and noodles 🍜

We had the following killers: birds, lake monsters, killer roses, worms and noodles 🍜

Midnight Writers@midnightwriters.bsky.social · last mo.

I can share the prominent topics and themes. The biggest by far was murder - ghost returning, bones rising, people facing consequences, murderers and monsters. The others are monsters, witches, devils and spirits. 🧟‍♀️🪦

I can share the prominent topics and themes. The biggest by far was murder - ghost returning, bones rising, people facing consequences, murderers and monsters. The others are monsters, witches, devils and spirits. 🧟‍♀️🪦

🔥🔥WE HAVE A LONG LIST 🔥🔥 And what a list it is! The judges were unanimous on 18 stories. It was a hard fight for the remaining 7 spots. Congratulations everybody — we can’t wait to share it with you!

All the Macabre stories have now been read! The judges have risen to the challenge and selected the standouts. Today we’ll put the two lists together and find the top 25 🔥🔥🔥

I’ve dipped into the Macabre stories and WOW!! Dark! There’s skeletons, death, bones and… uhh… sweary giants, sexy cryptid giants, cursed gnomes and killer noodles! Amazing 👏👏👏🖤🖤🖤

The judges have started reading and their feedback so far is that the stories are goooood! One judge already has more stories marked for ’DEFINITELY YES’ than we can fit on the longlist… the standard is high ✨