KEPT: An Anthology of Literary Horror

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Some things are kept out of love. Some are kept because letting go would cost too much.

Tell us what’s being kept, and who’s doing the keeping. A secret held for forty years. A person locked away where no one will look. Someone kept alive past their time. Someone kept dead.

We love humans doing terrible things to other humans, but the strange is welcome too, as long as the horror lives in the holding on.

The theme is Kept. Tell it from either side of the lock. The keeper, sure it’s all being done out of love, or the kept, learning what the keeper needs from them. Either way, we want to feel the rage, the fear, the shock, all the things that make us cringe. 

We’re drawn to stories where the worst things happen between people. The collector and the thing he can’t let go of. The family that closes ranks around what it’s hiding. We want the dread of watching someone hold on too tight, and the kind of fear that makes a reader recognize themselves in the one doing the keeping.

Touchstones, for the kind of work we're looking for

• William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”
• Shirley Jackson, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
• John Fowles, The Collector
• Andy Davidson, In the Valley of the Sun

Please include a cover letter with a little about you and the story. We will be reading these stories blind so please:

Do NOT include ANY identifying information on the 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
• 2,000–6,000 words
• Submitted as a .docx file

Note: If your story includes sexual assault you MUST include it in the content warning or your story will be automatically rejected. Your story is not judged on this, but we have readers that read stories with SA and readers that don't. Thank you for your considerate warnings. 

Simultaneous submissions: 

Yes. Please notify us promptly if your story is accepted elsewhere. 

Multiple submissions: 

No. Please submit only one story.

Reprints: 

We’re looking for original, unpublished stories only. 

For selected stories: First prize $500. Second prize $200. The other selected stories each receive a $100 honorarium. 

Every contributor receives one paperback copy and the ebook, plus 40% off any additional copies. 

Response: Winners will be announced June 1, 2027. All submitters will receive a response by that date. 

We use Subfolio for all submissions.

Submissions are now open until March 1, 2027.

Questions about submitting? Write to us at submissions@edgeandbusby.com

IF YOU EMAIL A SUBMISSION IT WILL NOT BE READ