Submissions
The submission window is August 1 through to April 1. (Note, I may close to subs if the book fills up before April 1).
Thank you for your interest in Shadows & Tall Trees.
From issue 6 onward, Shadows & Tall Trees is an annual trade-paperback and eBook anthology published in August.
Fiction Guidelines
I publish quiet, literary horror fiction. Fiction that is offbeat and eclectic; dark, bizarre and psychological. Stories both subtle and prosaic. Weird, strange tales. Ghost stories. Shadows & Tall Trees is a literary journal of the dark and fantastic, with mainstream sensibilities. I am seeking low-key, literary horror.
I am not interested in any of the familiar tropes of the genre, i.e., vampires, werewolves, and zombies, in any of their forms. Nor am I interested in urban fantasy, occult/paranormal detectives, or magick. I like my urban fiction gritty and real. The journal is not a home for fiction that conforms to the contemporary definitions of fantasy; mythic, mediaevalist, sword & sorcery, high fantasy, etc. No elves, dragons, or faeries.
Shadows & Tall Trees is not a venue for science fiction, or for poetry.
Authors that I enjoy include Robert Aickman, Charles Beaumont, Italo Calvino, Ramsey Campbell, Raymond Carver, Elizabeth Hand, Glen Hirshberg, Shirley Jackson, Kathe Koja, Thomas Ligotti, Haruki Murakami, Joyce Carol Oates, Flannery O’Connor, M. Rickert, Lisa Tuttle, to name a few.
Submissions are assumed to be original and previously unpublished. During reading periods I welcome submissions as an attachment via e-mail, in standard manuscript format, up to 7500 words. Please send submissions to undertowbooks (at) gmail.com.
Please do not query about reprints.
No simultaneous or multiple submissions, please. I shall endeavour to respond to submissions in a timely fashion. However, response times are likely to increase from the current 1 or 2 day turnaround time. If I like your submission, I may need to hold it for the duration of the reading period. I will, of course, send you a note should I want to hold the piece for further consideration.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted for publication are paid at 1-cent-per-word to a maximum of $50. Contributors will also receive 2 copies of the journal.
Please use the e-mail address or the contact form below to get in touch.
Non-fiction Guidelines
I am actively seeking original essays, criticism, and interviews with notable genre writers, artists, editors, critics, etc. Creative non-fiction should not exceed 2,500 words. Please query if you have something longer that you think might fit.
Unsolicited manuscripts accepted for publication are paid at 1-cent-per-word to a maximum of $50. Contributors will also receive 2 copies of the journal.
Please use the e-mail address or the contact form below to get in touch.
-Michael Kelly, Editor/Publisher