The Surreal Grotesque is Rising…

So far I have gotten some good submissions but I think I should clarify the guidelines a little bit. I am willing to accept any poetry, fiction and even chapter fragments from a novel you may be writing that is horror based, sci-fi or surreal in nature as long as it has some dark aspect.  Grotesque doesn’t always have to mean “gross out”, Surreal can be like “the twilight zone”.  I want a mix of stories. They don’t all have to be obvious gross in their intent. The grotesque aspect can slip in subtly and the stories can be reality based and the surreal aspect can slip in giving the story a hidden dimension.

Also I would like to feature one longer story each month up to 2500 words or more depending on quality. So there will be a highlighted author of the month as well as the flash fictions (500 words) and shorter pieces (1500 words).  Also need artists, I have a movie writer, a book reviewer but also would like someone who draws graphic novel type mini-comics, people who want to get their work seen, looking for surreal cover art as well as sketches, collages, experimental photography, music reviews.  Or if you can score an interview with a published writer of dark or surreal fiction, I can try to negotiate a payment.  We are looking at becoming a pdf magazine with our own web domain so I may be able to start paying soon.  Ideally, I would also like to make this zine available through amazon for kindle or I-pads. 

Send all submissions of artwork or stories, flash or if you have longer pieces to:  dangrn77@hotmail.com, put subject:  Surreal Grotesque Sub in the heading.  Also a small bio and photo of you included would be nice.

 

The infestations begins…

Inside my mind’s eye, we are bleeding together.  Soon we shall become one.  Welcome to the Surreal grotesque, something is emerging, growing inside the cocoon.  Prepare yourself for infestation.

The surreal grotesque is a zine of grotesque proportions. It is a blend of splatterpunk, Salvador Dali and the truly bizarre. I am looking for stories anywhere from 500 words to 1500 words max. Just take me to another world, another place, another reality where nothing is as it seems. I want to feel like I am living in a Dali painting. Or blend a combination of dream-like imagery with the brutal horrors of reality. When do dreams become insanity? When does the truly grotesque become beautiful? I am not looking for vampires or werewolves or demons necessarily but would rather read about parasitic twins that return from the dead, an infestation of leeches in someone’s brain or even show me something beautiful born from something ugly. Stories that are able to blend sex and death, strange imagery that gets under a reader’s skin, the erotic, the damned, the bizarre and the mentally ill.  Have fun!

For now there is no payment but in the future this may change. I might be able to least provide a small payment. If these stories are good enough, I may try to put them into an anthology later. For now, this is a writing credit and a for the love of it project. All submissions accepted will be showcased and archived but I will remove them if you sell them to a paying market. I only expect exclusive rights for three months.

UPDATE:  Working on making this a pdf mag and possibly going through Amazon in the future!   Some of the entries have been a little esoteric, you can send me horror but just make it Extreme or unique in some way from traditional horror.

submit all stories to:  dangrn77@hotmail.com, with the subject:  Submission: Surreal Grotesque and the word count.  Thanks!