Deep Cut publishes literary horror — dark fiction with teeth and an interior life. We pay professional rates for original short stories, and we read in quarterly windows.
What we want
Stories that cut deep and keep cutting after the last line. Quiet horror, folk horror, body horror, the weird, the gothic, grief wearing a ghost story's clothes — the mode matters less than the wound. We care about sentences. We care about people. The fear should come from somewhere true.
Send us the story another market called beautifully written, but too dark — or too literary for our readers. That one.
What we don't want
Horror is transgressive and we don't flinch easily. But we have no use for cruelty without consequence: nothing that sexualizes minors, no sexual violence staged for titillation, no screeds wearing a story's skin. Gore is welcome when it means something.
We publish original fiction only — work that hasn't appeared anywhere before, in print or online, including personal sites, blogs, and social media. We also don't consider poetry, novel excerpts, or work in translation at this time.
The terms
- Length
- 1,500–6,000 words. Firm on both ends.
- Pay
- 8¢ per word (USD), paid on acceptance
- Rights
- First World Electronic, 90-day exclusivity
- Response
- Within 30 days of the window closing
In plain English: we buy First World Electronic Rights with ninety days of exclusivity from publication, plus a nonexclusive option to reprint your story in a future Best of Deep Cut anthology — paid separately, at a flat fee, if we exercise it. You keep your copyright. If we haven't published your story within twelve months of acceptance, all rights revert to you. The full contract is short and written to be read.
How to submit
Submissions are open only during our reading windows, and the window is currently closed. The form reopens on the next date below — sign up free to hear the moment it does. Submitting is free, and always will be.
Format your manuscript in Shunn standard manuscript format and attach it as .docx, .doc, or .rtf. Anonymize the file — your name should appear nowhere in the manuscript, title only; we read blind, and your name and contact belong in the form, not the story. Keep the cover letter brief: title, word count, and a line or two of publication history. No publication history is a perfectly good publication history.
Policies
Simultaneous submissions are welcome — we won't hold your story hostage. If it's accepted elsewhere, withdraw it promptly through the portal.
One story per window. Send your best. If we pass, we'd genuinely like to see another next window.
Every word by a human. We do not consider fiction that is generated, drafted, or revised by AI tools, in whole or in part. Submitting it will get the submission rejected and the author barred from future windows. We screen.
Every submission gets an answer. If you haven't heard from us within sixty days of a window closing, query at [email protected] with "Query" and your title in the subject line.
Reading windows
We read four times a year. The portal opens at 00:00 and closes at 23:59 Eastern on these dates:
- September 1 – 30, 2026 · first window
- December 1 – 31, 2026
- March 1 – 31, 2027
- June 1 – 30, 2027
Windows may close early if submission volume demands it; subscribers hear first. Sign up free for window announcements.
Deep Cut Press is committed to publishing writers from every background, and we especially welcome work from voices historically pushed to the margins of horror. The slush is read blind to credentials — the story is the credential.