Iron Maiden!!

HORROR ANTHOLOGY OPEN SUBMISSION CALL DETAILS!

I am teaming up with my good buddy, Joseph Murnane, to bring you a real banger of an anthology!

The Writing On The Wall: Horror Inspired By The Music Of Iron Maiden

PAY: 20$ + an author copy in exchange for one year of story rights beginning from publication.

WHAT WE WANT:

The title pretty much sums it up. Each author will submit a short story inspired by and named after a single song from the Iron Maiden catalogue. You do not need to take this literally. Take it however you want. There is no specific subgenre we are looking for. Take your chosen title and shoot for the moon with whatever wild idea it instills in you. A haunting at a metal show? Awesome. A monster roving an ancient battlefield? Go for it. A highway murderer with a specific soundtrack? We’re all ears. Celebrate this band that’s been with us for fifty years any way you see fit. The point is that we’re all fans banding together to pay tribute to their art with our own.

But there are some things we need to stay away from, so…

WHAT WE DON’T WANT

Lyrics and rights to them are very tricky, so other than the title, we ask that you don’t include any direct quotes from your song.

Some gore is okay, but let’s rein it in to an extent. No extreme SA or extreme violence against children. No racism, bigotry, etc

DEETS & DATES

Submission email: maidenhorroranthology@gmail.com

Submit your story as a .docx file with your name, song, and word count in the subject line

Publication Date: aiming for October 2025

Submission Window: May 15, 2025 through June 1, 2025

Stories submitted before or after this window will not be considered.

GUIDELINES:

Double-spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman or Garamond

No indents preferred

3000-7000 words

And finally, this is a shared open/invite anthology, so the following songs have already been claimed by some pretty cool names we think you’ll love sharing pages with:

  • Still Life

  • Hallowed Be Thy Name

  • Wasted Years

  • The Number Of The Beast

  • Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter

  • Strange World

(Stories submitted for these songs won’t be considered.)