What We Publish
The Phantom Pulse is a biannual speculative fiction magazine of the grey corners of humanity, dread that permeates the skin, and the bizarre. Our pages are haunted by twisted longing, inevitable darkness, and quiet obsession.
We publish traditional horror, sci-fi horror, dark fantasy, and the weird. We have diverse reading tastes and are open to experimental forms and stories.
Unsure if we’ll like your story? You’ll never know unless you submit!
The Phantom Pulse welcomes and encourages submissions from writers of all races, color, religion, gender, gender expression, national origin, disability, and sexual orientation.
Story Submission Process
We are currently CLOSED for submissions.
Submissions open September 1st, 2026 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time and close on September 30th at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. We accept original story submissions up to 3,000 words. Please send submissions as a DOC or DOCX attachment to ThePhantomPulseSubmissions@gmail.com.
The subject line of your email should read: Your Name | Story Title | Word Count.
For example: John Johnson | Grubby Alien Soup | 2,503
Provide a brief cover letter in the body of your email.
Reprints
We accept reprint submissions up to 5,000 words. When submitting a reprint, please let us know where and when the piece was originally published. We don’t accept reprint submissions for stories that were published within the last 12 months.
Story Payment
We pay $0.05 per word for unpublished fiction and $0.01 per word for reprints. We pay our authors using PayPal.
Published authors will also receive a copy of the annual print volume in which their work appears.
Simultaneous Submissions
We allow simultaneous submissions, but please inform us in a timely manner if your story has been accepted elsewhere.
Multiple Submissions
We do not accept multiple submissions. Please submit only one story per submission window.
Response Time
We will respond to all submissions on or before October 15th, 2026. If you have not heard from us by then, please inquire at ThePhantomPulseSubmissions@gmail.com.
Artwork Submission Process
We are not accepting art submissions at this time.
Statement on “AI” Tools
The Phantom Pulse does not accept stories created or developed using AI or machine generation tools. Failure to abide by our AI policy will likely result in a permanent submission ban for offenders. And we will add you to our list of people who suck.