Terrify us, entertain us, make our prairie province shudder and giggle! Saskatchewan Screams is seeking original short horror fiction from Saskatchewan authors.

Selected stories will be featured at a live event and read by actors to a live audience. This event will occur at a TBD venue in Saskatoon, on a TBD weekend in October.

There is a hard limit of 2,000 words, with preference given to 1,500 words or less. The call for submissions is open exclusively to Saskatchewan residents until May 31, 2025. If material is still required, the call for submissions will be open Canada wide until July 15, 2025.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, so long as you let us know immediately upon your story being accepted elsewhere. Multiple submissions are limited to two.

What makes us drool:

1. Engaging ,character driven horror stories.

2. New takes on classic tropes.

3. Genre blending (Horror Sci-Fi, Horror Comedy, etc)

4. Risk taking.

5. Saskatchewan settings, and good ol’ fashioned SK characters.

6. Halloween themes.

7. Stories that compliment a live reading, such as 1st person narratives.

What makes us immediately slush your stories:

1. Racism, Ablism, Sexism, Transphobia, Homophobia, Ageism. Any sort of ‘ism’ or unwarranted bigotry.

2. Excessive, meaningless gore. If it serves the story, great. If not, leave it out.

3. Erotica.

4. Excessive swearing. Your story will be significantly better without it.

5. Politics, or divisive flame baiting (this goes double for far right leanings).

6. Rough drafts. Edit your work, then have someone else look at it. We will only do light editing, so have it the very best it can be before submitting.

7. AI. This is an art form, not a Facebook ad. AI is easy to spot, so don’t go there.

8. Fan fiction. Nothing set in the Buffyverse, Marvel Universe, etc.

If selected, authors will receive payment of $30.00 Canadian. Authors will also be able to use a live recording of the event for personal use, promotion, and bragging rights. Copyright immediately falls back to the author after the event concludes.

Format your story as follows: 12 point Times New Roman font, double spaced, with name, pen name (if applicable), contact information, word count and title on the first page. The only format acceptable is .docx. Make sure it’s not a read only file.

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