Submission Call: Ghost Stories

Our annual submission call for ghost stories. We'll consider stories submitted to this call for potential publication by both The Fiction Desk and Uncertain Stories.

Deadline: Open now. Deadline 30 January 2026.

Word count: 1,000-15,000 words

Submission fee: standard (see submission guidelines).

Payment and rights: standard (see submission guidelines).

How to submit: Use our standard submission form, and select 'ghost story' in the drop-down box at the start of the form.

~

We're changing the rules a little for the 2025-2026 edition of our annual ghost story call.

In the past, we've used the term 'ghost story' loosely, the way a well-meaning aunt might use it when shopping for a Christmas present in a bookshop: as a catch-all term for any kind of supernatural, strange, or weird fiction.

This year, we'd really like you to send in stories specifically featuring ghosts. That is, the unquiet spirit of a dead person (or animal).

Other than that, feel free to experiment.

(Not sure which of our calls best suits your story? Don't worry: we read submissions with all open calls in mind. So if we love your work but it's not quite a ghost story, we'll still consider it for the General Fiction and Uncertain Stories calls.)