Submission Guidelines for YULEHIDE

YULEHIDE

Anthology of Christmas-themed and Holiday Horror Stories

Wicked Shadow Press invites Christmas-themed and holiday horror fiction submissions for publication in its anthology "YuleHide" (Expected release: December 2025). The final date of submission is November 20, 2025

The nights are growing longer. The world has gone quieter, wrapped in the frost of memory. Yet, beneath the stillness, something stirs. It slithers its way inside, despite the carols and candlelight. You can feel it watching too, can’t you?

Whatever it is, let it in. Let it whisper. This winter, Wicked Shadow Press wants you to let it sting.

YULEHIDE seeks tales that breathe the cold: folklore and family secrets, ancient hunger and unholiness, the long dark that waits just beyond the hearth of life.

Feel free to come up with your own story or get started with one of our writing prompts below:

1) You decide to visit an ancient abbey on a dare, where a choir sings each solstice, though all its members have been dead for centuries.

2) The creepy tree in the yard of your new home is hundreds of years old... and demands to be decorated with something alive.

3) Your new AI assistant begins anticipating your Christmas wishes a little too well, including ones you can never dare say out loud.

4) This winter, each snowflake holds one forgotten memory. When it melts on your skin, you remember lives that weren’t yours.

5) The Advent calendar you bought from a strange shop, shows tiny, perfect scenes of terrible events before they happen to your neighbours.

6) You finally get the "perfect" family Christmas photo, but a horrifying, gnarled hand rests on your toddler's shoulder.

All Horror Sub-Genres welcome. The story must feature Christmas or the Holidays as the background/theme.

WE ARE ACCEPTING:

Flash Fictions: (between 50-1500 words) Please send no more than TWO flash fictions per submission.

Short Stories: (between 1500-8000 words) Please send no more than ONE fiction per submission.

We are accepting TRANSLATED WORKS as well. Submission of translated works must be accompanied by a statement declaring that the translator has obtained the author’s permission and their publisher’s, if required.

Simultaneous Submissions are welcome but the author must inform us by e-mail as soon as the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere. Pieces cannot be withdrawn once Wicked Shadow Press informs the author of its acceptance for publication.

We consider reprints but generally do not publish them unless they are absolutely exceptional. Please mention in the mail body in case your submission is a reprint.

At present, we are unable to pay our contributors. Each contributor shall receive a COMPLIMENTARY DIGITAL COPY of the anthology as soon as it publishes.

Manuscripts should directly be sent to WickedAnthology@gmail.com. Please write Submission for YULEHIDE in the subject line of your submission email.

Please submit your files in the following formats: .doc /.docx /.txt. DO NOT submit PDFs. 

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Wicked Shadow Press uses non exclusive rights to publish in its anthologies. Authors are free to republish their work anywhere else once it has been published.

Please submit only original pieces. Wicked Shadow Press or the editor/s of the anthology shall not be responsible for any disputes arising due to plagiarism or copyright infringement.

Each piece MUST be attached with a short bio of the author, preferably within 100 words, and if possible, a photograph to go along with publication. 

NOTE: We typically reply within a month after receiving submissions. However, replies can be delayed under unforeseen circumstances.