Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories

The Second City is second to none when it comes to terror.

From H.H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer, to the Jane Byrne Interchange at rush hour, there’s an ill wind blowing through the Windy City. In this new anthology, twenty stories by twenty authors from the Chicago area take you on a bloodcurdling tour of the best city in the world. Featuring new stories by Cynthia Pelayo, Nick Medina, Sahar Mustafah, LP Kindred, and Christopher Hawkins, Red Line: Chicago Horror Stories unearths the horrors, both real and supernatural, that populate the White City.

20 Stories by 20 Authors

We’ve invited five authors to headline the collection:

Christopher Hawkins – author of Downpour and Suburban Monsters
LP Kindred – Author and editor of Voodoonauts Presents: (Re)Living Mythology among others.
Nick Medina – author of Sisters of the Lost Nation and Indian Burial Ground
Sahar Mustafah – author of The Beauty of Your Face
Cynthia Pelayo – Bram Stoker Award winning author of Forgotten Sisters, The Shoemaker’s Magician, and others

The rest of the book (around 15 more stories) will be chosen from the open call for submissions.

Regional Bias

In addition to our five invited authors, we’ll be holding an open call for submissions during the month of February 2025 to fill out the rest of the book (approximately 15 more stories). We believe in paying people for their work, so we’re paying HWA pro rates (5 cents per word) for horror stories of 1000-5000 words that take place primarily in Chicago (primarily = more than half). To submit, you must live or have lived in the following Illinois counties: Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will, as well as Lake County, Indiana.

At least half of the events in your story must take place within Chicago’s city limits.

General Info

  • The general submission window will be open from February 1, 2025 to February 28, 2025.
  • There is an extended submission period from March 1 to March 14 for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and disabled writers.
  • Submissions should be 1000-5000 words
  • Stories should be written primarily in English; however, some inclusion of other languages is absolutely fine
  • Accepted authors will be compensated at 5 cents USD per word
  • Translations are okay, but please include both the name and contact of the original writer and the translator and affirm that both the writer and translator are OK with submitting to this project. If the work was previously published in a language other than English, please note where and when the story was published and confirm you have the right to sell an English version of the story. We will make only one payment, and it is up to the author and translator to determine how to divide the money. 
  • Co-written stories are okay, but please list all authors and contact emails for each author. As with translations, we will make only one payment, and it is up to the authors to determine how to divide the money. 
  • Simultaneous submissions are okay, but please let us know as soon as possible if your story needs to be withdrawn.
  • We will aim to respond to all submissions by March 30, 2025
  • Because of the high volume of submissions we expect to receive and our fast turnaround time, we will likely send form rejections to most authors. This is not a reflection of the quality of your work. 

Hard Sells: 

  • High fantasy. Urban fantasy is fine, but the setting has to be the Chicago that we know and love. 
  • Very hard sci-fi. We love sci-fi and stories grounded in real science and facts, but your story should not be written for an audience with an advanced degree in your subject.
  • Unnecessarily extreme gore. Emphasis on “unnecessarily”: we like gore, as long as it serves the plot or theme.
  • Unnecessarily extreme erotica. Again, emphasis on “unnecessarily”: we like it hot, as long as it serves the plot or theme. 
  • Overt or ham-handed political satire. 
  • Please use discretion: if your story has some extreme elements, kindly note that in your cover letter. It’s not an automatic no, but it helps our editors manage our headspaces while reading submissions.


Automatic Rejections

  • Reprints.
  • Stories by people who do not live or have not lived in the area outlined above.
  • Stories sent outside the submission window.
  • Stories that do not take place primarily in Chicago (primarily = more than half).
  • Stories that promote any kind of hate including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, classism, etc. Your story could contain bigoted characters or explore bigotry but make sure that your narrative isn’t promoting hateful viewpoints.
  • Stories generated using so-called AI software, machine learning, or Large Language Models.
  • Stories over the word count limit of 5000 words or under the minimum word count of 1000 words.
  • Stories that are excerpts of novels or chapters, unless they stand completely alone from the larger work.
  • Stories not written primarily in English (note that translations are fine, as is the presence of some non-English language text.) 
  • Multiple submissions by the same author(s).
  • Resubmitting a rejected story unless we invite you to make revisions and resubmit.

Submitting a Story

  • Please use some approximation of Shunn manuscript format (either modern or classic). Stories will not be rejected on the basis of whether you used Shunn properly, but it’s a good guidebook for how to put together a readable submission. 
  • Attach your story as file types .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Shunn manuscript formatting: Proper Manuscript Format for Fiction Writers | William Shunn
  • Please write Submission: “TITLE” – LAST NAME  as your subject line.
  • In your cover letter:
    • Please include your pronouns and the name by which you would like us to address you. You do not have to give us your legal name at time of submission.
    • Please include your connection to Chicago: whether you live here, were born here, or you used to live here.
    • You do not need to give us your address or contact information except for your contact email at time of submission.
    • We don’t need long cover letters, but if you want to, you can highlight any special expertise or relationship you have to your story.
    • You may include a link to your website or list of previous publications, but this isn’t necessary—we love publishing new voices, so we encourage previously unpublished writers to send something.
  • Try to proofread your story as much as possible, but minor errors or some awkward sentences will not cause us to automatically reject your piece.
  • When you have all of that stuff together, please send your submission to frombeyondpress@gmail.com

Commitment to Diversity

We intend to create a diverse anthology and encourage members of the BIPOC, disabled, LGBTQIA+, or other marginalized groups to submit stories. When presented with otherwise equally good submissions, we will prioritize stories by marginalized authors. And we are offering an extended submission window from March 1 to 14 for members of these groups.