Horror Flash Fiction Directory
OUR SELECTION OF HORROR FLASH FICTION
Horror is one of the four different genres that we are proud to give a home to here on Lore Publication. No matter what kind of horror you like, we give horror of all styles a home. Be it a cosmic horror using lovecraftian tropes, gothic horror, or a haunting that takes place in rural Nebraska – if you love to read or write horror then this is the section for you.
When it comes to the horror flash fiction that we decide to publish, this page acts as a prime directory for all the stories we run. Do note that here on Lore we consider stories with a word count range of 251-999 works of flash fiction. This may differ from publication to publication and you may hold a different opinion, but for the sake of simplicity, that’s what has been decided for Lore.
As our Chief Editor, Stewart Storrar aims to give fair time and attention to everyone that submits work for consideration. He knows that every story is crafted with care, detail, and love – and respects that drive and dedication to put your thoughts to paper. Lore started as a place writers could share their work to find new readers, and a place for readers to find brilliant stories. However, if you do enjoy what you read, don’t forget to show some love to the writer than penned it. Check out their links and support their work in any way you can – all the writers out there appreciate you!
Are you a writer? Got a submission of a horror flash fiction you want considered for publication with Lore? Check out our Submissions page for additional information and happy writing!
‘The Oracular of Aetius’ by Rhea Kinslow
‘Dream Party’ by Christa Wojciechowski
‘Viral’ by Stewart Storrar
‘The Snowman’ by Stewart Storrar
Check back soon for more!
MORE ABOUT FLASH HORROR FICTION
Horror is a unique genre of fiction in that what is horror to one person or one author will be different from what horror is to another. This finds its roots in the idea that what is scary to one person may not be scary to another. But with all genres, there will always be speculation as well as debate about what the genre is and what tropes define it.
That being said, there are of course common tropes that are generally agreed upon that define horror flash fiction from other kinds of fiction.
To keep things simple we’ll delve into what horror means for Lore and the stories we publish.
Generally, horror and aspects of the horror genre will crop up in stories we publish across all the genres we focus on for flash fiction; sci fi, fantasy, and mystery. A story we catagorize as horror will have horror tropes as their main focus. Cosmic horror with lovecraftian tropes is a good example of what we mean and what we look for when publishing horror.
WHAT DEFINES HORROR?
Before we delve into defining horror, what we categorize as horror may very well differ from your own perspective of what makes a horror story. It may also be exactly what you were expecting. Our own perspective here at Lore about what defines Horror may also differ from other publications.
We want to stress that we don’t want to delve into the ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ of defining a genre, rather, our purpose of defining horror is purely to organise our own catalogues of fiction.
With that in mind to explore what a horror story is here on Lore, we’ll cite:
horror noun, hawr-er
1. an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear
2. anything that causes such a feeling
3. such a feeling as a quality or condition
Dictionary.com, 2023
horror uncountable or singular noun /ˌhɒr.ər
an extremely strong feeling of fear and shock, or the frightening and shocking character of something
Cambridge Dictionary, 2023
We want to focus on some key aspects of both definitions to accurately define what we mean by horror here on Lore:
- a feeling of fear caused by something shocking
- a feeling of fear caused by something revolting
- we want to remove an emphasis on overwhelming, especially for fiction
- references to such a feeling as a quality or condition (very important for cosmic horror)
We feel that these four points are paramount to differentiating Horror as a primary genre, as opposed to horror elements or tropes in other genres of fiction we publish.
WHAT MAKES A HORROR STORY?
As we discussed in our definition of how we’d catagorize horror on Lore, a Horror needs to strike an emotional chord of fear, shock, or uneasiness in the reader.
Unlike visual mediums, horror in literature needs to bring out the dire, ghastly reality a character is facing. Building up imagery or setting the scene is important in any story but is imperative in horror fiction (and more specifically sub-genres like gothic fiction). Horror doesn’t work without building an atmosphere to facilitate it.
Get creative and delve deep into your own fears. Write something that’ll make you feel uneasy, or shocked.
WHERE DO I START WITH HORROR FICTION?
If you’ve never delved into horror literature before, it can be a daunting task to ascertain where to begin. There are an abundance of different horror authors and horror stories to choose from.
A great place to start is to go for the classics, or horror from the birth of the genre in modern literature.
Try: Dracula by Bram Stoker, The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup, Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare, The Call of call of Cthulhu and The Mountains of Madness by H. P. Lovecraft.
Alternatively, read any of the stories on here to get a taste!
WHAT IS HORROR FLASH FICTION?
At Lore Publication, flash fiction horror and horror stories will need to adhere to our above conditions for consideration. If you’ve not already read up on how and why we define horror the way we define it – this is a great starting point. But, in essence, we want short tales of flash fiction that’ll send a shiver down the reader’s spine, or indulge in themes that chill the blood! Most importantly, for it to be a flash fiction, it needs to strictly adhere to our word count.
How Do I Submit to Lore?
If you have a horror submission for Lore to consider for publication, then read our submissions page for more information.
We can’t wait to see what you’ve written!