Literary horror. Sweetness and rot.
Honeythief is the sister imprint of Edge & Busby Press, publishing literary horror where the strange is real and the monsters are still human. Supernatural, paranormal, uncanny, folk, gothic. We're not looking for the strange as spectacle; we're looking for what it reveals in people. Everything we take holds to the Edge & Busby standard: character-driven, built at the sentence level. The honey draws you in… You know the rest.
Open Submissions
We're reading novels, novellas, and short story collections.
What We Want
We're drawn to books where the strange is real and the monsters are still human. Houses with long memories. The dead with unfinished business. Old rites still practiced at the edge of town. Possession as a family matter. Folk horror where the village is the threat and the god is only the excuse. We want the impossible written with restraint and precision, and the kind of fear that comes from watching people meet something they can't explain away.
Touchstones, for the kind of work we read in:
- Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House
- Andy Davidson, The Boatman's Daughter
- Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mexican Gothic
- Paul Tremblay, A Head Full of Ghosts
- Toni Morrison, Beloved
What We Don't Want
If the strange could be cut and the story would survive, it isn't the right fit. We're not the home for monster-as-spectacle, splatter, hard science fiction, epic or secondary-world fantasy, urban fantasy adventure, or romance. The supernatural shouldn't be set dressing for an action plot; it should be the thing your characters can't live around.
We are currently not accepting poetry, nonfiction, screenplays, YA, or anthologies.
Guidelines
Word count:
Novels and Novellas: 20,000 to 120,000 words.
Story collections: 45,000 to 90,000 words total.
What to send:
The complete manuscript.
Formatting requirements:
- 12pt Times New Roman
- Double-spaced throughout
- First line of each paragraph indented
- Story title and page number in the top-right header of every page
- Submitted as a .docx file
Include a brief cover letter in the form field that introduces you and your book.
Stories containing sexual assault require a content warning at submission. Submissions without one will be declined.
Simultaneous submissions:
Yes. If your manuscript is accepted elsewhere, withdraw it through Subfolio.
Multiple submissions:
One manuscript at a time. If we pass on your submission, you're welcome to send something else.
Previously published work:
We do not consider manuscripts that have been published in full, in print or digitally. Individual stories from a collection that appeared in journals are fine and should be acknowledged in the cover letter.
Submission fee:
Submissions are free.
Subfolio offers an optional tip at checkout if you'd like to support the press. Tips are not considered in editorial decisions.
How To Submit
Submissions are handled through Subfolio.
Please allow 3-4 months for us to review your manuscript. We will respond to every submission.
Questions about your submission can go to submissions@honeythiefbooks.com
We pay advances and royalties on every book we acquire.
Contest contributors are paid honoraria.
Please don't email manuscripts directly. We only read what comes through Subfolio.
