Christmas Spirits
Website
From the Editor
Sharing ghost stories in the chilly darkness by firelight is a celebrated holiday tradition that’s ready for a resurrection. Christmas Spirits is a new magazine seeking original ghost stories with a winter holiday twist. Cobwebs tangled with tinsel, atmospheric scares, and winter chills of the spectral kind. The new magazine was founded by Nicole Levine, whose holiday season was heavy with seasonal music. Ever since “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” promised “scary ghost stories,” she wanted to hear them. Now, she wants to read yours. Jeffrey Levine, an experienced artist, illustrator and designer, is on board as the magazine’s art director. Their vision is to bring stories selected for the print publication to be accompanied by original illustrations. The publication will be accompanied by a vibrant online presence, offering excerpts, original works, art, and discussion of the holiday ghost story genre. We aim to produce a new print magazine once a year in time for the holidays, in addition to sharing fiction, poetry and illustration online. Stories published in the print magazine may be selected to be accompanied by an original illustration. We are looking for works that fall within the ghost story genre, not simply horror. The setting should evoke winter. We’re especially interested if your story touches on themes associated with the winter holidays: death, rebirth, renewal. In addition to Christmas, other winter holidays may be included. If you’re the type to leave your skulls up beyond October, feel spiders are right at home in a holiday wreath, stamp out bats with your cookie cutters, and know the softly twinkling lights in the wood might be holiday décor or something more sinister, please consider joining us. We’re excited to build collaborations between writers, artists and editors to produce a volume that will introduce some fresh chills into the 2024 holiday season.
Submissions
What we publish: Ghost stories that have a winter holiday twist. Christmas or other seasonal holidays should be present in the story, but don’t necessarily have to drive the plot. However, we’re especially interested in ghost stories that explore the themes of those holidays: death, rebirth, renewal, and connection. Please note we’re interested in work that falls in the ghost story genre, and not all stories that fall within the larger genre of horror will be suitable. MR James, E. Nesbit, and Charles Dickens are all good inspirations for the type of stories we’re seeking—though please feel empowered to explore current settings and ideas. We’re interested in all of the following: – Short stories, ideally between 2,000 and 5,000 words. – Flash fiction, of 1,500 words or less – Poetry, ideally that would fit on a single page – Artists interested in creating an original illustration for the magazine All artists and writers published in print or on the website will receive a copy of the print publication. Simultaneous submissions are welcome. Please inform us promptly if a work under consideration for Christmas Spirits has been accepted elsewhere for publication. SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN now through March 31, 2024. For more details on submissions, please visit our website: https://www.christmasspirits.org/submission-guidelines
Upcoming
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submissions are open now through March 31, 2024. Please see our website for more details on where to submit your manuscript and formatting.
Information
Editors Name Nicole Levine
Print publication? Yes
Circulation
Do you take online submissions? Yes
Submission Guidelines URL https://www.christmasspirits.org/submission-guidelines
Approx. Response Time? 3 weeks
How often do you publish? Annually in print.
Year Founded? 2023
Do you pay? Complementary copy of the magazine
Twitter
Mailing Address:
Email nicole@christmasspirits.org