Sink Into the Depths
Famished creatures lurk in the darkest currents of the sea, and it’s time to feed them. Starting January 1st, the Snoozine flock will begin stocking our submersible, The USS Abyss, with your speculative fiction and art, which will then be sent into the deepest trenches to feed these creatures. For anyone hoping to join this chilling excursion, please pay special attention to the following guidelines.
The Snoozine flock is excited to announce that submissions will soon open for the second issue of volume two. Throughout January, we will accept submissions for our Nightmare Issue: Abyss. Not sure what to write? Go stare into the murky depths of your local pond. Watch underwater oil rig cameras for signs of an abomination. Take a (spooky) bath. Look for inspiration in the fear of the unknown, and show us what’s lurking in the depths of your imagination.
Thematic Guidelines: Shrouded by Waves, Drowned by Dread
Find your scuba suits, Dreamers, and get ready to submerge yourself in fear. We know more about space than we do about the sea, but we hope you’ll help us change that. Grab a flashlight and illuminate the horrors swimming beneath the surf. Help us find Atlantis—or better yet reveal how it got lost in the first place. The sea is an awesome and inspiring thing, but for this issue, we want to explore the reasons it should be feared and revered.
In no way do we want to limit your horizons, but if you need a little guidance, here are a few themes you might explore. The unknown is a great and terrifying concept well-suited for this issue. You might also consider general themes of darkness, exploration, discovery, and tragedy. As with all Nightmare issues, we want you to embrace the darker sides of speculative fiction. Ask yourself how the abyss might inspire terror. Write stories that will make our editors (even more) afraid to get on a boat or sink beneath the waves.
Submission Details
– Submission Period: January 1st-31st
Explore the Seven Seas and Beyond With Us
Shed your land legs and equip yourself with fins that will slice us to the core. We eagerly await your water logged tales of terror and suspense. Weave the net of your story with slippery plots and sharp-toothed characters. The USS Abyss is ready to carry your stories to the seafloor, and we hope your piece will be one we take with us into the unknown.
Brace yourself for the surf and ride the waves to our submissions form.
What the Editors are Looking For:
When Randall and I discuss our current pieces, we always try to identify the themes the other person is working with. (It’s a fun bit of psychoanalysis!) Recently, Randall pointed out that I have been writing about water—A LOT. 🌊🌊 Which is funny, I told him, because I HATE deep bodies of water and water that I can’t see the bottom of, including the pond in my backyard. My imagination runs wild anytime I have to get in the kayak to untangle the fountain or clean off an algae bloom, and I can’t keep myself from imagining that something is following just under me. 👤It’s creepy, and I hate it. That’s the kind of dread I want to see in pieces for this issue. Show the monster if you’d like, but make sure it makes me fear the water. As always, I am perfectly happy with the weird and wonderful, but I also think dark fantasy and grimdark would be well-suited for this issue. Don’t worry if that’s not your jam, though. You can be silly and absurd, too, but make sure that you stay in the nightmare realm.
My imagination is transfixed on the terrors of water where I cannot see the bottom—Jessi and I get accused of being the same person sometimes! It might be full-blown thalassophobia, but as soon as I slip into this type of water my mind fills with the unseen horrors lurking below, waiting to drag me away from the sun for all time. Capture this vibe in your writing and you’ll be hitting exactly what I’m looking for. The ocean is unconquerable and powerful, and harbors secrets we still haven’t unlocked. The speculation is ripe; fill my next trip to the beach with new nightmares!
The abyss is a great theme because it’s the ultimate wildcard—it stares back, yes, but who’s to say what else is lurking in its infinite black depths? TOO SPOOKY. It’s a bottomless metaphor for everything we fear but can’t quite name: the unknown, the unexplainable, the unending existential dread of Monday mornings. It’s where our deepest insecurities hang out, sipping tea with monsters too weird for the light of day. In the abyss, gravity doesn’t work, time doesn’t matter, and even the bravest heart starts thinking, “Maybe I shouldn’t have poked the shadow that whispered my name.” It’s not just a setting; it’s an emotion—and that is what I’m looking for this submission call.
As a Navy Veteran, the ocean is some place I’m intimately familiar with. It can be so beautiful and serene—and being on the open ocean is honestly one of my favorite places to be, but there’s a darker side to it, as well. It can be cruel and dark and aggressive—that’s the part of the ocean I want to see in this issue. Sea monsters and pirates, shipwrecks and tsunamis, sirens that drag sailors into the depths. Show me ruined cities lost to the abyss and the ghosts that haunt them. Show me sailors lost at sea that are desperately trying to outrun the monsters that destroyed their ship. I want the real fear of the ocean that sets your heart pounding and your breath sawing out of you in great gasps. Jessi wants the monsters at the edge of your vision, just out of reach, but I want them in my face in all their twisted glory.