Dark Horizons is the journal of the British Fantasy Society, publishing fiction, poetry, articles and interviews in two issues a year (March and September). The current editor is  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The poetry editor is  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . For the very latest information on submitting to this publication, keep an eye on our forums. There you'll find updates on what we're looking for at the moment, what we're short of, and so on. Note that you do not have to be a member of the BFS to submit to Dark Horizons, nor to join the BFS forums.

Please note: Dark Horizons is currently closed to fiction submissions, and will remain closed at least until the end of September 2010, and at latest until the end of December 2010. We remain open to submissions of articles, interviews, poetry and artwork.

Fiction

• We're looking for all kinds of fantasy fiction: heroic, dark or comic fantasy, fantastical horror, supernatural fiction, fabulations, science fantasy, science fiction and so on. We aim for a balance of genres in each issue.
• Stories in the 3,000-7,000 word range are preferred.
• No reprints; no simultaneous submissions; one submission at a time.
• Please submit stories by email as attachments in rtf format. For maximum helpfulness, name your file using this format: DH Story Title by Author Name, and put the correct title and author name in the file properties.
• Please include a bio (as long or short as you like). It won't affect our decision with regard to your story, it's just to save a bit of time later on if we accept your story. So don't worry if this is your first ever submission.
• Please state if you are a BFS member (member submissions don't receive preferential treatment; this is to help with admin when despatching contributor copies).
• We no longer accept postal or Google Wave submissions.

Poetry

Subject matter as for fiction; poems should have a fantastic, weird, supernatural or mythical theme. Any form will be accepted with a maximum length of 36 lines. Poetry submissions should be emailed to the poetry editor, Ian Hunter – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . To be honest, rhyming poetry will be a hard sell, as some poems become slaves of making the rhyme, however, it would be good to see sonnets, Villanelles or the odd Rondeau, or any other form you care to tackle. Tip – before submitting, read your poem out loud. Does it work? Check the metre. Does it scan right? Look at your line lengths. Please include your poems in the body of the email, not as an attachment. Lengthy poems or sagas will be considered, but should follow instead the submission guidelines given above for fiction.

Non-Fiction

We are looking for anything that will interest the members of the British Fantasy Society, in particular interviews, overviews, critiques, biographies, histories, opinions, ruminations, and so on. We do suggest you contact us before writing any very substantial article (either by letter or email), to check on suitability and available space. Our readers are generally quite knowledgable when it comes to fantasy, so don't be afraid to suggest topics slightly off the beaten track. All non-fiction should be sent directly to the editor by email. Reprints are welcome.

Note to Publishers

We are always on the lookout for suitable people to interview. We would also be interested in providing our readers with previews of forthcoming books, in particular of non-fiction titles. Previews could take the form of an extract, deleted scenes, or (for example) a note from the author explaining the significance of his or her subject. Please contact the editor to discuss.

Artwork

We are looking for artists in all mediums (including photography) prepared to illustrate stories and the front cover. Please email good quality examples of your work to the editor or simply refer us to your website or online gallery. You don't have to commit to doing any artwork. We keep a mailing list of interested artists, and send out a list of stories and available space for each issue. If you see something on the list that interests you, just let us know and we'll send a pdf of the story in question for reference.

A Bit of a Downer

The British Fantasy Society is a non-profit organisation and therefore DH is unable to pay for submissions (although the budget will stretch to a copy of the magazine for contributors who are not society members). However, you will be in good company: Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, Louise Cooper, Stephen Gallagher, Brian Lumley, Mark Morris, Lisa Tuttle, Robert Holdstock and many others have all been published by the BFS. Note that many paying markets can be found by consulting online directories (such as www.duotrope.com and www.ralan.com).

You retain all rights to your work, allowing us only the right to distribute paper copies of the issue in which it appears. We will ask for permission with regard to using your work in other ways, such as an ebook version of the magazine for members, but it won't be a problem if you say no. If at a later date your story is reprinted elsewhere, we would be grateful if a notice could be appended regarding its original publication in Dark Horizons.

Response Times

Dark Horizons is always open to submissions, but since it is only published twice a year (March and September, at present), we may have to hold on to a stories a little longer than we'd like before deciding whether to use them, especially since the space available for fiction in each issue is affected by how much non-fiction we manage to acquire. However, we will aim to acknowledge your submissions fairly quickly.

You can get information on our responses from our Duotrope page.