Overview
I’m the owner and editor of Cursed Morsels Press, specializing in weird, queer, often splattery horror with an anti-capitalist and anti-fascist spirit. Releases include Shredded: A Sports and Fitness Body Horror Anthology and Antifa Splatterpunk. In April 2023, the press will release Bitter Apples, a teacher horror anthology written by teachers, and in June 2023, we will release No Trouble at All, an anthology of polite horrors, co-edited with Alexis DuBon.
No Trouble at All submission call (March 2023)
Edited by Eric Raglin and Alexis DuBon for Cursed Morsels Press, No Trouble at All will feature stories of polite horror: horror disguised through polite faces/manners, horror allowed to exist when politeness comes at the cost of self-preservation, and any other interpretation of the theme. We love thought-provoking stories, complex characters, unapologetic weirdness, and bold narrative risk-taking. Absolutely no AI-generated stories.
We’ve received questions about whether this is a “Midwest nice” anthology. It is not, but your story can explore that aspect of polite horror if it speaks to you. Polite horror is all around us. Think about how power works. How those without it are expected to smile and accept injustice for fear of retribution. How those with power dress up ugly realities and make suffering palatable to prevent resistance. Polite horrors come from both sides of the weapon—the wielder and the wounded. They color our intimate, familial, professional, cultural, and political realities. Don’t feel limited to any particular environment. Take it somewhere close—a domestic partnership; or take it larger scale—Good Germans. Have fun, go nuts.
Note that some writers have specifically been invited to contribute. The anthology will be a mix of solicited stories and stories selected from the open call submission period. Submissions are open to all writers, but we especially encourage submissions from writers of marginalized groups.
The general open call for No Trouble at All stories will run until March 21st.
We are offering an extension to authors from marginalized backgrounds (broadly defined) through March 28th.
In light of recent legislation, we are offering an additional week for trans, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming authors, ending April 4th.
“No Trouble at All” will be published in both ebook and paperback on June 6th, 2023.
Stories should be between 2,000 and 4,500 words. Firm limit.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but withdraw your submission immediately if it gets accepted elsewhere.
No multiple submissions. No reprints.
OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS
We expect and encourage stories that deal with ugly topics; however, we will not tolerate stories that are bigoted in nature or pose oppressor as victim. Racist, queerphobic, misogynistic, antisemitic, or otherwise fascistic stories will be rejected.
Do not submit stories that involve violence against dogs or wolves.
If you’re retreading well-established tropes, make it fresh.
We’re fine with horror that has erotic elements, but emphasis should be on the horror.
Gore and extreme elements are fine. Just make sure they serve the story.
Don’t be moralizing.
FORMAT
Use standard manuscript format. With privacy and safety in mind, we do not require you to include a personal address, legal name, or deadname. Send a doc/docx attachment. Do not copy-paste your story into the body of the email or submit it in any other format. We won’t read it if you do.
Please send submission to politehorrors@gmail.com. Include your name, story title, and word count in the subject heading (e.g., Firstname Lastname— “Story Title” — #### Words”).
PAYMENT
$.05 USD per word via PayPal for a short story after contract signing and final edits, and a free e-book copy of the anthology following publication. We hope to raise this amount if we meet our Kickstarter stretch goals.
RIGHTS
Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print, and Electronic Rights for three months, and non-exclusive rights thereafter.
NOTE: We are caught up with all submissions sent through March 16th. If you have not yet received an email, your story is still under consideration.
Short story collection submission call (August 2023)
I’m looking for single-author horror collections with an emphasis on the Weird, queer, splattery, anti-capitalist, and/or anti-fascist. Your collection doesn’t need to have all of these elements, but I’d love to see at least a couple. Collection length should be between 40,000 and 60,000 words. Absolutely no AI-generated stories.
Interested in submitting a collection? Email a paragraph-long pitch to cursedmorsels [at] gmail [dot] com along with the first three stories (or 10K words) of the collection. If the pitch and stories seem like a good fit for Cursed Morsels Press, I’ll request the full manuscript.
The pitch and submission period will run from August 1st through the 7th, 2023. I will not consider any pitches and manuscripts submitted outside of that window.
PAYMENT
Advance: $300
Royalty Split: 50% writer / 50% publisher
RIGHTS
Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print, and Electronic Rights for two years and non-exclusive rights thereafter.
Evacuating Heaven: A Grindcore Horror Anthology (June 2024)
As a music genre, grindcore is angry, violent, anarchic, politically left, and dark-humored, with songs skewing on the shorter side—often less than a minute long. This anthology of grindcore horror will be exactly that: angry, violent, anarchic, politically left, and dark-humored. Every story will be fewer than 2,000 words. If you’re not familiar with grindcore music, don’t worry; you can still write a story that captures the qualities I described above. However, it doesn’t hurt to listen to some grindcore before writing and submitting something. Napalm Death, Pig Destroyer, Cloud Rat, and Thin are some of my personal favorites. Feel free to pay tribute to a specific grindcore band, album, or song in your story. It’s not a requirement—just a fun possibility.
The submission call will run from June 1st, 2024 through June 30th, 2024.
Stories should be fewer than 2,000 words. Firm limit.
Simultaneous submissions are allowed, but withdraw your submission immediately if it gets accepted elsewhere.
No multiple submissions. No reprints.
Absolutely no AI-generated stories.
This anthology will be published in both ebook and paperback on October 15th, 2024.
OTHER SUBMISSION CONSIDERATIONS
Stories that deal with bigotry are fine, but bigoted stories are not.
Don’t include direct lyrics from a song.
Don’t be moralizing.
Gore and extreme elements are fine. This is a grindcore horror anthology, after all.
FORMAT
Use standard manuscript format. With privacy and safety in mind, I do not require you to include a personal address, legal name, or deadname. Send a doc/docx attachment. Do not copy-paste your story into the body of the email or submit it in any other format. We won’t read it if you do.
Please send submission to cursedmorsels [at] gmail [dot] com. Include your name, story title, and word count in the subject heading (e.g., Firstname Lastname— “Story Title” — #### Words”).
PAYMENT
$.05 USD per word via PayPal or Wise for a short story after contract signing and final edits, and a free ebook and paperback copy of the anthology following publication.
RIGHTS
Exclusive First Worldwide Publication, Print, and Electronic Rights for three months, and non-exclusive rights thereafter.
Contact
If you’d like to contact me about Cursed Morsels Press, my email is cursedmorsels [at] gmail [dot] com.
Eric Raglin 