Submissions are now open for Flame Tree Fiction’s new African Ghost Short Stories series, a collaboration with Nigerian-British horror writer Nuzo Onoh. This is a chance for African and African-diaspora writers to explore their culture of ghostly folklore through fiction.

For 30 years, Flame Tree Fiction has been making books, calendars, notebooks and e-books on art, music, and lifestyle, as well as an informative blog. The Flame Tree Collections focus on suspense, supernatural, science fiction and mystery stories. Some past collections include Black Sci-Fi Short Stories, First Peoples Shared Stories, Immigrant Sci-Fi Short Stories, and Asian Ghost Short Stories.

African Ghost Short Stories is the newest title in the Flame Tree Gothic Fantasy series. It will be supported by a foreword written by award-winning horror writer Nuzo Onoh. Read more about the inspiration behind the collection below:

The volume will explore the deep-seated supernatural element in African storytelling – whether reaching back to the spirits, ancestors and ogres of folklore or the vibrantly modern ghosts of today’s African horror. New and contemporary stories will complement poignant folktales such as ‘The Story of Takane’ from Lesotho and ‘The Disobedient Daughter Who Married a Skull’ from Nigeria. The book will delve into the fascinating heritage of African ghostly lore and literature, encouraging it to be reclaimed and retold by contemporary African voices.

Nuzo Onoh is an award-winning Nigerian-British writer and a pioneer of the African horror literary subgenre. Hailed as the “Queen of African Horror”, Onoh is a Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. She has given talks about African Horror, including at the prestigious Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, London. Onoh holds a Law degree and Masters’ degree in Writing, both from Warwick University in England.

Submission Guidelines:

  • Multiple submissions are fine but must be in separate emails.
  • Simultaneous submissions are fine but you must have the right to license your story in an anthology.
  • Submission does not imply the right to publication. Each story will be read and assessed by the selection panel.
  • Include in your submission email whether your story would be a reprint or is currently unpublished.
  • Submissions must use the dedicated email address.
  • The subject line of the email must be the story title.
  • The file with the story must be attached to the email (.docx, .doc or .rtf format).
  • The name of the file must match the name in the subject line.
  • If submitting more than one story, please submit one story per email.
  • The file name of the submission must be the story name only.
  • Please use spaces between words in the title (not _ or – ).
  • If the story name starts with A or The, please use it at the beginning of the file name.
  • Recommended story length is 2000–4000 words, but stories slightly outside this range will also be read.
  • If submitting a story that has recently been submitted to Flame Tree Fiction for consideration to another anthology, please state this in the submission email.

Flame Tree Fiction editors aim to read each story and confirm its status within 4 months of the submission deadline. Publication will be in April 2024.

Accepted stories will be paid at the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) rates of 8 cents/6 pence per word for original stories, 6 cents/4 pence for reprints. Payment for the chosen stories will be made within 30 days of the final advertised publication date.

Deadline: September 17, 2023

Go here for more info. Submit to [email protected].

Good luck!