Halloween Edition – Occult Horror

What’s Hiding in the Dark?

This Spooky Season, Book Worms Horror Zine is celebrating the kind of horror that truly gets under our skin: the things we’re not supposed to know.

Secret societies. Demonic cults. Government conspiracies. Forbidden rituals. A frat/sorority house with a hidden basement. A pajama party Ouija board game that goes horribly, horribly wrong. If there’s a secret—and something sinister lurking behind it—we want to hear about it.

We’re looking for stories that explore the fear of what’s hidden, what’s forbidden, and what might be waiting just beyond the veil of what we think we know.

As always, we’re accepting:

• Original flash fiction — 1,500 words or less (no AI generated material, please)
• Poetry
• Topical essays

Please read the submission guidelines below for all the details.

So, dig into the darkness, uncover something you wish you hadn’t, and send it our way.

Good luck—and happy Spooky Season! 

Deadline: October 1, 2026 (must be received by deadline, so please mail early).

Word Count: 1500 words or less (we mean it).

No reprints, please. Exclusive print rights for six months after publication.

Payment is 8 cents a word for fiction and non-fiction, $25 for poems 20 lines or less.

ACCEPTING MAIL-IN SUBMISSIONS ONLY! (*see exception below)

Mail your submissions to: La Regina Studio/Grundy Commons/925 Canal Street/Bristol, PA 19007

Decision notices are sent through email so there is no need to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Please include your email address and your mailing address with your submission. All submissions must be typed (cover letters preferred but not mandatory) and be properly formatted. Also, if you have a social media presence, please include those beneath your email.

Be sure to:

Send only one submission, meaning don’t send multiple short stories or poems or a combination of both. Send only one piece and send your best.

DO NOT send your submissions using registered mail or any kind of correspondence requiring a signature. It probably won’t get to us and you’ll be wasting your money.

*If you’ve had work previously published in Book Worms (you know who you are) you may email your submission to bookwormssubmissions@gmail.com (same deadline) Please write Returning Author Submission in the subject line.

Please use the EXACT mailing address listed above. Please don’t write Book Worms on the address. This is a side project and our mailman might get confused. The mailbox is in a huge industrial complex and unfortunately, letters have gotten lost in the past, so please follow the instructions and mail as early as possible.

Curious what’s lurked in our pages before? Check out Book Worms Horror Zine.