Paula Guran reports: “As the editor of the annual anthology series The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror for Prime Books, I am now reading for the 2012 edition — the third in the series — which will include material published in 2011.
“I am looking for stories of dark fantasy. Dark fantasy can simply unsettling or eerie; revelatory or baffling. It can be a story in which a small glimpse of life is seen ‘through a glass, darkly.’ Or, in more literary terms (all of which are debatable) it might be any number of things: weird fiction (new or old), supernatural fiction, magical realism, surrealism, the fantastique, or the ever-ambiguous horror fiction (which need not have a supernatural element but can crossover into other genres).
“You can get an idea of what I am looking for from the first two volumes of the series: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2010 (covering 2009) is widely available and The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror: 2011 (covering 2010) will be published in August 2011. You might also read the introduction to the first in the series here: What the Hell Do You Mean by ‘Dark Fantasy and Horror’?
“This is a Reprint anthology so I am only reading material published during the calendar year of 2011.
“Readers: I appreciate your recommendations. Email: [email protected].
“Publishers: I prefer email submissions of Word documents, RTF, or PDF rather than hard copies if available. It saves you the postage and I can keep track of things better this way. If you must send galleys, magazines, or books, email me for snailmail address. If your publication appears on the Web only, please make me aware of it. Send to: [email protected]
“Writers: It is best to request your publisher send me your entire collection, the anthology, or periodical in which your story was published. If it has been legitimately published online, please send the URL.”
The deadline for 2011 materials is February 1, 2012, but the sooner the better.
