Twilight Zone-esque market(s)?

K. Andrew Smith · Oct 15, 2009

Looking over the short stories I tend to write, most are heavily influenced by Twilight Zone, as in suspenseful, sometimes supernatural, and often with a touch of horror. I have a very difficult time putting these into a genre. Some could be considered Fantasy, others Horror, but those elements are usually small, and I don't know that they really fit. When I look at the Suspense markets, most are geared towards crime/mysteries.

Anybody know of some markets that offer pro payment and welcome this type of story?

Merc · Oct 16, 2009

Would the stories be considered weird?

ChiZine is listed as just "dark", and has a variety.

I think Cemetery Dance is closed...

There's Weird Tales of course.

I think of TZ as being weird at times, but also some very clear F/SF/H elements as well, so maybe see which stories would be closest to a genre classification and then find markets that accept that, check them out, and sub what seems to be a closest fit for your work?

~Merc

Shadow_Ferret · Oct 16, 2009

Do you use Duotrope to search markets?

You might look into Shock Totem, Dark Discoveries, and Strange Horizons. They're listed as pro pay.

K. Andrew Smith · Oct 16, 2009

I do use Duotrope, but there's not exactly a Twilight Zone genre. It's kind of Science Fiction, kind of Fantasy, kind of Horror, kind of Suspense...not exactly a style that's easy to classify.

Strange Horizons is tough, because they're very down on Horror in general. I do have one of my stories currently submitted to Shock Totem, so we'll see how that goes. Good to know about Chizine and Dark Discoveries, though. Somehow I missed them.

PeterL · Oct 17, 2009

Just keep submitting. Someone will decide to buy someday.

stormie · Oct 17, 2009

Even though the title has the word "alien" in it, AlienSkin also takes stories that are similar to Twilight Zone. I've had a few pubbed by them over the years. I don't know the pay now. And you have to read their guidelines for what they're looking for in story length each month.

MumblingSage · Oct 19, 2009

Otherwise, if you're using Duotrope, take your 'base' genre (sci-fi or fantasy, probably) and pick 'Dark' for theme, and see what you come up with.

johnnysannie · Oct 20, 2009

This is a little OT but years ago (in the 1980's) Twilight Zone Magazine was a market I aspired to cracking. After many efforts, I did - I had a story accepted by the editors and I was soo happy --- until the magazine went out of business BEFORE my story ever appeared. And since it was payment after publication, no money either. But damn it, I came close...just no cigar.

Justin91 · Nov 5, 2009

johnnysannie said:
This is a little OT but years ago (in the 1980's) Twilight Zone Magazine was a market I aspired to cracking. After many efforts, I did - I had a story accepted by the editors and I was soo happy --- until the magazine went out of business BEFORE my story ever appeared. And since it was payment after publication, no money either. But damn it, I came close...just no cigar.

I remember this magazine! My stories are also highly influenced by the old twilight zone stories as well...too bad this magazine is not still available for this type of "weird tales".

waylander · Nov 5, 2009

How about this one?
http://www.abyssandapex.com/guidelines.html

Polly · Nov 25, 2009

The friendly folks in the Speculative Fiction subforum may also have some market suggestions - from what I gather, they specialise in hard-to-define genres

Here's a link: Absolute Write - Interstices

Jake G · Nov 25, 2009

I swear, every short story I read in Analog belongs as a Twilight Zone script.

Jamesaritchie · Nov 25, 2009

johnnysannie said:
This is a little OT but years ago (in the 1980's) Twilight Zone Magazine was a market I aspired to cracking. After many efforts, I did - I had a story accepted by the editors and I was soo happy --- until the magazine went out of business BEFORE my story ever appeared. And since it was payment after publication, no money either. But damn it, I came close...just no cigar.

I always wanted to crack that market, too. But I kept putting off making the attempt, and just when I decided the time was right, the magazine folded. I still have several copies of it, and read them regularly.

Twilight Zone-esque market(s)?

K. Andrew Smith

Merc

Mistress of the Zombie Hordes

Shadow_Ferret

Court Jester

K. Andrew Smith

PeterL

stormie

storm central

MumblingSage

Inarticulate Herb

johnnysannie

Justin91

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Polly

Back from the Brink

Jake G

Jamesaritchie