Saskatchewan Screams is returning for a second helping of ghouls, ghosts and hungry geese! Whip out your pens, dip them in your favourite shade of blood, and scribble down your nightmares for the world to see. We are looking for horror stories in two categories:

1. Flash Fiction of up to 1500 words.
2. Short Stories between 1500 words and 6000 words.

The submission period is between February 15 and July 15. Payment is 30.00 upon acceptance. If accepted, your story will be included in the Saskatchewan Screams Again anthology, and flash fiction will also be considered for the Saskatchewan Screams Again live even occurring in October. Poetry may be considered, but since this is primarily a horror story anthology the risk of rejection is higher.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, so long as you let us know as soon as possible and before acceptance. You may submit up to two flash fiction pieces and one short story.

What makes us scream in delight

1. Engaging, character driven horror stories.
2. Classic horror tropes explored in new and exciting ways.
3. Genre blending.
4. Saskatchewan settings and characters.
5. Risk taking.
6. Stories that have been beta read.
7. First person flash fictions that compliment live readings.

What makes our shoulders slump

1. Descriptive SA.
2. Sexism, ableism, racism, homophobia, transphobia. Any form of ‘ism’ or unwarranted bigotry.
3. Word riddles. Name your characters.
4. Politics or divisive flame baiting.
5. Excessive swearing. Your story will read better without it.
6. Meaningless gore. Violence is necessary to the horror genre, but excess must have purpose.
7. Smut and erotica. If you have to ask, “is this smut?” than your story isn’t right for Saskatchewan Screams.
8. Fan fiction.
9. Rough drafts.
10. AI. This is an artform, and AI is both gross and unethical. We will hunt you down with spears.

Format

1. 12-point font.
2. Times New Roman or Calibri font.
3. Word documents only.
4. Double spaced.
5. First page should include your legal name, contact information (address, telephone number, email) and word count in top left corner.
6. Title and pen name centered in middle of first page.
7. Please paste cover letter and short author bio in the email. The cover letter is not required; however, the author bio is. Please feel free to have fun with it.
8. The email subject line should read Saskatchewan Screams Submission.
9. Submissions are to be sent to sask screams at gmail dot com.

Expectations

1. The age requirement for submission is 19 years of age.
2. Only present or past Saskatchewan residents will be considered for publication.
3. The expectation is that you work with the editor in terms of rewrites, which may or may not be requested.
4. Even after a rewrite, your story may be rejected if it does not fit the tone of the anthology.
5. We prefer original stories, however may consider previously published works so long as they are exceptional and you retain the copyright. Saskatchewan Screams will not be responsible for any copyright infringement on your part. You MUST inform us if your story is a reprint, where it was originally published, and when.

Submit by email to saskscreams AT gmail DOT com with name and title in the subject line.

The 2025 Saskatchewan Screams anthology is available in ebook and paperback formats on Amazon. Simply click the picture below to open the Amazon page in a new tab.