Open Call: METALHEARTS Charity Anthology

TITLE: METALHEARTS: A Charity Anthology of Trendhorror benefiting the LA Wildfire Victims

SUBMISSION WINDOW:

Extended through April 30th, 2025

WORDCOUNT:

2,000 to 5,000 words

PAYMENT:

As this is a charity project, it's unpaid, but all contributors will receive a free ebook copy.

LINK TO ORIGINAL CALL

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WHAT THEY'RE LOOKING FOR:

Remember the 2000s? Do you remember where you were when the World Trade Center went down? Does it feel like the world's been burning ever since? You aren't the only one.

We are pleased to announce the call for METALHEARTS, a collection of 2000s nostalgia horror fiction. This is a charity anthology with a digital-only release where all the proceeds will be donated to help those afflicted by the Pacific Palisades wildfires in January 2025.

Opening with a special short story by retired authoress Verdona Klemp, we're looking for works inspired by living in the 00s and their facets.

The trauma of Columbine and 9/11, Guantanamo Bay and the War in Iraq, Islamaphobia, "if you see something, say something", the fear of anthrax in the mall, and getting on airplanes.

Horror remakes like House of Wax and The Ring, the death of Saturday morning cartoons, Harry Potter clones dominating the book industry, Tokyopop OEL manga and DC's Minx graphic novels, downloading music off Limewire and talking about it on Facebook, sites like DeviantArt and Newgrounds, Marvel's Civil War, and DC's Identity Crisis.

Whether you were a kid or an adult, we want to know what the 00s meant for you and how you can use that to make life in the 20s a bit more bearable.

PLEASE DON'T SEND

• ABSOLUTELY NO AI GENERATED CONTENT OF ANY KIND. NO EXCEPTIONS.

• Absolutely no hate speech, no glorification of racism, xenophobia, transphobia, homophobia, or any bigotry of any kind.

REPRINTS?

Accepted as long as the submitter specifies it's been previously published.

MULTIPLE SUBMISSIONS?

Allowed - just be aware that only one may potentially be accepted.

SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS?

Allowed - just let the editors know that it's a simultaneous sub, and if the story is accepted elsewhere.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Check here

FORMATTING GUIDELINES:

• Format: Shunn format, but only name/pen name, email address, and word count should be included. Put your story title in the header, right side. Do not use tabs for indentation. Times New Roman font, 12. Double-spaced.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

• Please include a short author bio and summary in your cover letter email, alongside any trigger warnings where applicable

• Email your submission to METALHEARTS2000@GMAIL.COM with your message title - [AUTHOR NAME] [TITLE] [WORD COUNT]

RIGHTS REQUESTED

• Because this is a digital only anthology and the proceeds are going directly to charity, contributors will receive a free edition of the anthology as compensation. All rights revert to the authors for their respective stories upon anthology’s publication.