Our fifth anthology is now available. As always, it has been my honor and pleasure to work with both the authors in the anthology and those who submitted that I had to pass on. Thank you to everyone involved and to everyone who reads. Please don't forget to review the anthology on Amazon and ask you local library to pick up a copy.
Again, thank you all.
This year's submission window is closed and the acceptance/rejection letters have gone out. If you submitted and have not heard back from us, please check you spam folder and, if it's not there, let me know as soon as possible (through the email you submitted through.)
Thank you,
MK
On an unrelated note, my primary (unabridged) dictionary has broken its spine. I am both saddened and annoyed. The thing was practically brand new.
Update: My Good Lady Wife has pointed out to me that, since she got me that dictionary on our first Christmas together, it is not, in fact, "practically brand new" but instead "ancient and lucky to have made it this far with the way you treat it."
Sometimes I get sucked into the strangest projects...but, serious, this book is Mrs. Lee's memoir and, rather than explain about it, I can post a link where you can go watch her television interview and let her explain it.
https://www.newson6.com/story/665f0e652e783eaaae1a5b82/local-author-talks-about-her-new-memoir-being-raised-in-native-american-boarding-school
(For the month of March, we have been open only to submissions by repeat submitters in honor of their support and interest in the anthology. Starting today, we will be accepting submissions from everyone. Thank you.)
Strange Aeon: 2024 (Mythic Art) is a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. As always, I want good, solid stories in a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vein. I specifically say Lovecraftian rather than Cthulu because I’d like stories across the entire Mythos, including additions by the original group of Mythos authors like Robert Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. [1]. In fact, I’d like to use more stories that do not have specific Lovecraftian references and that move away from the traditional Lovecraft style and voice. Try to avoid pastiche and tell fresh new stories in your own settings. Style preference applies to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references. (You do not have to remove all profanity from your submission—I can read around it—but, if your story is accepted, you will be required to remove it from the final version.)
I’m not overly concerned about length. 5,000 to 10,000 words is preferable but I know that horror doesn’t always lend itself to a strict word count and I’ll look at any length. (I think the longest pieces that have been used have been just over 20,000 words and the shortest about 2,000.) I don’t care about submission formatting as long as it’s legible, clean copy. Electronically, I need the manuscript attached as an RTF, DOC, or DOCX file. Please submit to the email address mkeatonauthor (at) gmail (dot) com with the word Submission in the header.
Important Notes:
1] Authors new to working in the Mythos may find this a bit confusing. Let me be clear: do not use characters, creatures, book names, or anything else from modern authors. Modern authors are under copyright. Lovecraft and the other members of his original “circle” are largely under public domain. Please, do not accidentally infringe on anyone’s copyright. Always check first. In addition, gaming rules and supplements are also copyrighted works and should not be used. If in doubt, only use Lovecraft’s own work as a source just to be on the safe side. Better yet, create your own. This is always important when writing but especially in the murky pseudo-shared world of the Mythos where the lines are more difficult to see. If you questions have or concerns about this, a quick internet search should tell you what you need to know. (One exception is if you wish to include Cobalt Green milieu references. Any Cobalt Green tie-ins should be queried first but since I own the copyrights, I also have the leeway to grant usage rights. Nevertheless, I would still rather see your original ideas.)
3] To better clarify the type and style of story desired, I have placed here a copy of the introduction from the 2023 anthology.
We stand at the end of a long hallway that stretches back into the darkness of campfires and told tales. It has a million doors of style and theme, of preference and presentations, of historical trends and fads, and eternal truths of the human experience.
But it is not tonight’s destination.
There is also a staircase leading down into the basement of splatterpunk and softcore tentacle porn—prurient titillation disguised as literature. It is a desperate place, a place to hide and wallow. We keep this door locked.
No, we will find our sustenance elsewhere, behind this hidden panel and up the attic stairs. Be careful. The stairway is steep and uneven, deliberately so—for only the work of those nimble enough to climb them is acceptable for this rare gallery. Each step is a burden, an additional task imposed upon the wordsmith to elevate their work from the common horde. No excessive gore. No sex. Even the use of coarse language is restricted. Ours is a heady vintage indeed; only stories that survive on their core merits reside here. Make no mistake, they are not simplistic children’s tales. They are pure storytelling with no reliance on cheap props.
Mind the last two steps—they are perhaps the steepest. They represent two of the best copy editors in the business: She Who Must Not Be Named and She Who Should Have Been Obeyed.
And here, at last, is our gallery. But a gallery of what? Of horror? Of dark fantasy? Of the simply weird? I honestly am not sure. There are labels aplenty—Lovecraftian, Cosmic, Quiet—but none of them truly seem to fit. Many of the labels imply desperation and nihilism, despair and surrender. These stories are certainly not of such lazy cowardice. A tale in which the participants whine until the monsters eat them all is no tale at all. Nor are these stories of the insignificance of man. Against the backdrop of the great expansive universe, man may be small, but he is not irrelevant. So what are these stories? What to call them?
If there must be a label, let it be Legacy. For that is what these exhibits are, the legacy of the pulps, of a time in storytelling when most genres of today did not exist and men told tales as wild as they dared, pushing the edges of their imaginations and crafting entirely new myths out of whole cloth. It was an ambitious time of ambitious writers. It was a time of writers like Lovecraft who melded science fiction with horror even as he told tales from the world of dreaming itself. Clark Ashton Smith, in rejecting the concept of the unnamable and indescribable horror, brought to bear the full arsenal of his descriptive skills honed by his work in painting and sculpture, giving us some of the most amazing vistas of lost worlds, dying lands, and mythic tales preserved in fiction. Robert Howard fused two-fisted action and cosmic horror to create heroes that live in the imagination to this day. And those are just the most commonly know names; there were legions of lesser lights, forgotten men, and followers through the ages.
Welcome, then, to my attic gallery of Legacy tales. Horror, myth-making, fantasy, weird—call them what you will—but I invite you to wonder at their ambition and marvel at their reach. Your time will not be wasted.
M. Keaton
The fourth year of the anthology series is available and looks good. As always, it has been my honor and pleasure to work with both the authors in the anthology and those who submitted that I had to pass on. Thank you to everyone involved and to everyone who reads. Please don't forget to review the anthology on Amazon and ask you local library to pick up a copy.
Again, thank you all.
To the best of my knowledge, all manuscripts submitted for this year's anthology have been reviewed and all submitters notified of the decisions regarding their submissions. If you have not, please notify me ASAP.
Thank you,
MK
I will be out of the office this week. If all goes well, the final contracts for the 2023 anthology will go out once I return.
Thank you,
MK
Because of scheduling issues, I'll be closing to submissions early.
Instead of April 30th, we will be closing to submissions on April 14th. If this change will cause a hardship or if you are working on a story and simply need more time, please send an email and let us know.
MK
Strange Aeon: 2023 (Wonder) is a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. As always, I want good, solid stories in a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vein. I specifically say Lovecraftian rather than Cthulu because I’d like stories across the entire Mythos, including additions by the original group of Mythos authors like Robert Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. [1]. In fact, I’d like to use more stories that do not have specific Lovecraftian references and that move away from the traditional Lovecraft style and voice. Try to avoid pastiche and tell fresh new stories in your own settings. Style preference applies to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references. (You do not have to remove all profanity from your submission—I can read around it—but, if your story is accepted, you will be required to remove it from the final version.)
I am especially interested in stories of mad science, monster-based horror, weird western, and stories that “peel the onion.” Indeed, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the need for these categories. Victoriana and Lovecraft era period pieces will have a much harder time finding acceptance.
The theme of this year’s anthology is wonder and I am specifically looking for stories that have a sense of grandeur and discovery. That being said, please send anything you consider a good story. Feel free to query for any questions. If you are planning to write a story especially for this anthology, by all means query the idea first.
For this anthology I’m asking for non-exclusive rights and will happily take reprints. Simply tell me the publication history so that I can give proper copyright acknowledgment. I will prioritize original stories over reprints and older, more obscure reprints over more recent ones. Simultaneous and multiple submissions are acceptable; please do so in a professional manner. For multiple submissions, feel free to send all submissions attached to a single email. If you are in doubt about a story or story idea, feel free to query.
Though I am not especially interested in non-fiction or poetry, I will consider it. At most, only one non-fiction piece and one work of (long) poetry will be used.
I’m not overly concerned about length. 5,000 to 10,000 words is preferable but I know that horror doesn’t always lend itself to a strict word count and I’ll look at any length. (I think the longest pieces that have been used have been just over 20,000 words and the shortest about 2,000.) I don’t care about submission formatting as long as it’s legible, clean copy. Electronically, I need the manuscript attached as an RTF, DOC, or DOCX file. Please submit to the email address mkeatonauthor (at) gmail (dot) com with the word Submission in the header.
The goal is a final book with ten to 15 stories averaging 5,000 to 10,000 words apiece. I will be accepting submissions no later than the end of April (or until the anthology is filled. If you are writing a story specifically for this anthology and are concerned about the “is filled,” feel free to query me in advance). I will update these guidelines and notify any already accepted authors if the date has to be pushed back. I plan to start making final decisions beginning in May. All submissions should have final confirmation of acceptance or rejection by the first week of May.
What's in it for the author? There will be a token payment of $20 and a compensatory copy for the author, or $35 for authors outside the USA. Contributors will get a bio to promote their own work. (I would like to avoid a specific word limit on bios; please respect the reader and the fact that every additional page raises the cover price. I reserve the right to edit bios for space.) Copyright will be retained by the author. Payment will be upon acceptance with comp copy to follow release of the anthology. If, due to unforeseen circumstances, the anthology is canceled, the author is, of course, to keep the $20. [2]
Important Notes:
1] Authors new to working in the Mythos may find this a bit confusing. Let me be clear: do not use characters, creatures, book names, or anything else from modern authors. Modern authors are under copyright. Lovecraft and the other members of his original “circle” are largely under public domain. Please, do not accidentally infringe on anyone’s copyright. Always check first. In addition, gaming rules and supplements are also copyrighted works and should not be used. If in doubt, only use Lovecraft’s own work as a source just to be on the safe side. Better yet, create your own. This is always important when writing but especially in the murky pseudo-shared world of the Mythos where the lines are more difficult to see. If you questions have or concerns about this, a quick internet search should tell you what you need to know. (One exception is if you wish to include Cobalt Green milieu references. Any Cobalt Green tie-ins should be queried first but since I own the copyrights, I also have the leeway to grant usage rights. Nevertheless, I would still rather see your original ideas.)
2] Since any publication, the first time, in any form, is by definition a use of First Rights, if you sell an unpublished work, even on a non-exclusive contract, then you have used your First Rights. And once First Rights (North American, World, Print, E-, or whatever other form they may be) are used, it's all reprints from there and most places are no longer interested. I would love to see your work, but I don’t want you to lose out on another market because of confusion about the rights. As noted earlier, I am interested in reprints for this project. One of the goals of this anthology is to help writers and readers in this specific genre interest discover each other. For this, reprints work very well.
Victoria Dalpe has been a repeat submitter to the Strange Aeon Anthologies and her story "City Planning" is in this year's presentation. It is now my pleasure to let you know that Clash Books is bringing out a single author collection of her work. The book is entitled Les Femmes Grotesque and is available for pre-order from the link below.
https://www.clashbooks.com/new-products-2/victoria-dalpe-les-femmes-grotesques-preorder
With blurbs by Gemma Files and Laird Barron, this book hardly needs my paltry comments but here goes: I liked it. I've been a fan of Ms. Dalpe since she sent me a copy of "Rig Rash" to read when I was putting together the first Strange Aeon anthology. And "Rig Rash" is in this collection; that alone makes the book worth the read. The stories range from cosmic horror to tales of creeping dread based in the human condition. There's a nice variety and balance and the collection is well-paced. Fair warning: like most horror fiction, the stories in the collection are "adult" but the gore and sexuality is in service of the story and appropriate, not merely to titillate the reader. I also read an e-version of the book so I can't speak to the quality of the printed volume. Clash has a history of putting out a decent product so that shouldn't be a concern.
All in all, it's a solid work reflective of Ms. Dalpe's style and, if you're looking for a dark, evocative read, worth acquiring for your collection. Pre-order today.
And has been since the end of October. I delayed announcing it because there was a typo in the first run that had to be fixed. (And that was after making even more corrections from the ARC. Some years go smoothly and other years make up for it.)
Yes, the third year of the anthology is out, pretty, polished, and, best of all, really good.
My apologies for the delays but, at this point, everyone who submitted to this year's anthology should have been notified one way or the other about their submission. If you have not, please contact me immediately.
Thank you.
I just wanted to let everyone know that it is likely that I will not get the rejection/acceptance letters out by the end of this week. I am experiencing a (hopefully minor) health problem that will probably preclude me working for the rest of the week.
Please know that your patience is appreciated.
MK
Yes, we're starting our third year. Thank you for your interest and support. The guidelines are below.
Strange Aeon: 2022 (Hopeful Monsters) is a continuation of the Strange Aeon anthology series. As always, I want good, solid stories in a cosmic horror/Lovecraftian vein. I specifically say Lovecraftian rather than Cthulu because I’d like stories across the entire Mythos, including additions by the original group of Mythos authors like Robert Howard and Clark Ashton Smith. [1]. In fact, I’d like to use more stories that do not have specific Lovecraftian references and that move away from the traditional Lovecraft style and voice. Try to avoid pastiche and tell fresh new stories in your own settings. Style preference applies to gore and sex as well: think early Weird Tales, no excessive language or explicit sexual references.
I am especially interested in stories of mad science, monster-based horror, weird western, and stories that “peel the onion.” Indeed, I cannot emphasize strongly enough the need for these categories. Victoriana and Lovecraft era period pieces will have a much harder time finding acceptance.
This year’s anthology is slanted more towards stories showing protagonists “fighting the good fight” in the face of implacable horror and fewer stories that are mood based rather than plot driven. That being said, please send anything you consider a good story. Feel free to query for any questions. If you are planning to write a story especially for this anthology, by all means query the idea first.
For this anthology I’m asking for non-exclusive rights and will happily take reprints. Simply tell me the publication history so that I can give proper copyright acknowledgement. Simultaneous and multiple submissions are acceptable; please do so in a professional manner. If you are in doubt about a story or story idea, feel free to query.
Though I am not especially interested in non-fiction or poetry, I will consider it. At most, only one non-fiction piece and one work of (long) poetry will be used.
I’m not overly concerned about length. 5,000 to 10,000 words is preferable but I know that horror doesn’t always lend itself to a strict word count and I’ll look at any length. (I think the longest pieces that have been used have been just over 20,000 words and the shortest about 2,000.) I don’t care about submission formatting as long as it’s legible, clean copy. Electronically, I need the manuscript attached as an RTF, DOC, or DOCX file. Please submit to the email address mkeatonauthor (at) gmail (dot) com with the word Submission in the header.
The goal is a final book with ten to 15 stories averaging 5,000 to 10,000 words apiece. I will be accepting submissions no later than the end of June (or until the anthology is filled. If you are writing a story specifically for this anthology and are concerned about the “is filled,” feel free to query me in advance). I will update these guidelines and notify any already accepted authors if the date has to be pushed back. I plan to start making final decisions beginning in mid-June. All submissions should have final confirmation of acceptance or rejection by the first week of July.
What's in it for the author? There will be a token payment of $20 and a compensatory copy for the author, or $35 for authors outside the USA. Contributors will get a bio to promote their own work. (I would like to avoid a specific word limit on bios; please respect the reader and the fact that every additional page raises the cover price. I reserve the right to edit bios for space.) Copyright will be retained by the author. Payment will be upon acceptance with comp copy to follow release of the anthology. If, due to unforeseen circumstances, the anthology is cancelled, the author is, of course, to keep the $20. [2]
Important Notes:
1] Authors new to working in the Mythos may find this a bit confusing. Let me be clear: do not use characters, creatures, book names, or anything else from modern authors. Modern authors are under copyright. Lovecraft and the other members of his original “circle” are largely under public domain. Please, do not accidentally infringe on anyone’s copyright. Always check first. In addition, gaming rules and supplements are also copyrighted works and should not be used. If in doubt, only use Lovecraft’s own work as a source just to be on the safe side. Better yet, create your own. This is always important when writing but especially in the murky pseudo-shared world of the Mythos where the lines are more difficult to see. If you questions have or concerns about this, a quick internet search should tell you what you need to know. (One exception is if you wish to include Cobalt Green milieu references. Any Cobalt Green tie-ins should be queried first but since I own the copyrights, I also have the leeway to grant usage rights. Nevertheless, I would still rather see your original ideas.)
2] Since any publication, the first time, in any form, is by definition a use of First Rights, if you sell an unpublished work, even on a non-exclusive contract, then you have used your First Rights. And once First Rights (North American, World, Print, E-, or whatever other form they may be) are used, it's all reprints from there and most places are no longer interested. I would love to see your work, but I don’t want you to lose out on another market because of confusion about the rights. As noted earlier, I am interested in reprints for this project. One of the goals of this anthology is to help writers and readers in this specific genre interest discover each other. For this, reprints work very well.
The 2021 edition of the Strange Aeon anthology, in all its purple Lovecraftian glory, is officially available.
I just finished okaying the proofs and making all the ordering arrangements. I still have to get the comp copies off to the contributors and review copies to marketing but if you're chomping at the bit for the new anthology (and why wouldn't you be?), it is available in time for you to order a hard copy or twelve for Halloween.
MK
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