Midnight Echo Issue 7, edited by Daniel Russell, is open to submissions from October 1, 2011, to January 31, 2012.

Here’s what Dan is after:

If no one was watching…if nobody knew…if you could get away with it….

Would you?

Midnight Echo invites you to look your hidden desires in the eye and drag the horrors into the light. Be it sexual fetishes, dreams of violence, the sites you delete from your history, drug cravings and that…thing you like to do when you’re all alone. We want the things you can’t discuss in polite conversation, the guilty, twisted needs that eat away at you.

We want your taboos.

Midnight Echo is looking for tales of the dark psyche and the yearnings that fuel it. Rather than looking for fiction that simply shocks and sickens, we want stories that are extreme in nature, yet disturbing and slight in their delivery. Make our readers dread turning the next page.

Supernatural stories are welcome, but will need to be more than standard vampire, werewolf, zombie stock.

About the editor: Daniel I. Russell has been featured in publications such as The Zombie Feed from Apex, Pseudopod and Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. He is the former associate and technical editor of Necrotic Tissue Magazine and was nominated for two Tin Duck Awards in 2011 for best novel (Samhane, from Stygian Publications) and best short story. His books Critique (Graveside Tales), Come Into Darkness (Skullvines Press) and The Collector (Dark Continents Publications) are soon to be released.

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Below are the general submission details for fiction, poetry, cover and interior artwork, and graphic/comic strips.

We also accept Letters to the Editor, so if you want to contact us to say how great we are, to complain about something, or just to chew the fat (translated = talk horror), please do. We won’t be able to publish all Letters, but we will be able to publish some. Send Letters to us at midnightecho@australianhorror.com

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FICTION

The maximum word length for short stories is 5000 words.

Submissions should be in standard manuscript format (eg, 12 point Courier or Times New Roman font, 1.5 line spacing) and sent as an attachment via email as either an MS Word document or an RTF file.

Write MIDNIGHT ECHO: “Submission Title” in the subject line of the email.

Please include your full contact details (postal address, e-mail, phone number) as well as word count in the body of your email, and send your submission to:

midnightecho@australianhorror.com

Midnight Echo buys Exclusive Worldwide English Language Rights (no reprints), with 6 month exclusivity after first publication, and pays 2c per word to a maximum of $75. No simultaneous or multiple submissions please. While we will seek to emphasise the work of Australian writers, Midnight Echo is open to submissions from anyone. You do not need to a member of the AHWA to submit your work.

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POETRY

As each issue of Midnight Echo has different editor/editors, poetry will not always be accepted. It all depends on editorial preferences for that particular issue.

Poetry is being accepted for Issue 7, so long as it fits the overall theme of the issue. Submissions should follow the same guidelines as per fiction (above).

Note: Payment rates for poetry is $15 for up to 50 lines, and $25 for poems up to 100 lines.

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COVER AND INTERIOR ART

Midnight Echo is also open to submissions for Full Colour cover and Black & White internal illustrations. We are seeking all forms of artistic expression – your art form, your medium, your way – as long the submission is a finished piece. No rough sketches or outlines of ideas, just your best and finest work!

All in all, your art should have a voice. It doesn’t have to be prominent, but it needs to be there. We will be asking each piece the same question: ‘Why do you exist?’ Your aim as the Artist, is to allow your piece to answer that question.

The editor of each issue will be responsible for selecting artwork.

If you are interested in submitting Art Work to Midnight Echo, please follow these directions:

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS:

For first round submissions, please email a 72dpi review image of your work.
Image must be under 3 MB.
Please compress using ZIP compression only.
One image per email, please.

Please send your submissions to: midnightecho@australianhorror.com

Accepted artists will be notified of the proceedings to supply their final piece for publication.

Multiple submissions are welcome, but each piece must be accompanied by their own cover sheet.

Please, no lengthy write-ups about your piece. The submission needs to speak on its own.

Payment: Full colour cover art will receive AU$80. Interior art will be paid AU$30 per piece.

All artists will be notified of their acceptance or otherwise via email. The decision of the Current Editor is final.

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GRAPHIC/COMIC STRIPS

Midnight Echo is also sourcing black and white Graphic/Comic Horror stories (colour is acceptable, as long as a black and white version is available). Submissions can be as dark, hard, or as subtle as the story dictates.

The length should be no longer than 10 A4 pages. Please email us with your proposal first (midnightecho@australianhorror.com). If we like where you’re headed, well ask for the graphic novel to be submitted in PDF format for final approval. Please ensure that the file size is no larger than 3MB. Query first if larger!

We offer $50 for accepted stories.