Open Submissions

Submission period: April 15 – June 15, 2026.

Cracked Anvil Press is accepting submissions for it’s Off the Broken Path: Dark Tales of Enchanted Forests anthology–a collection of grimdark and horror tales featuring enchanted forests.

Tell us tales of enchanted forests. Stories filled with grit and gore. Tales of warning and woe. And if your story ends happily… make sure your characters bleed for it.

We like to be surprised. Excited. Engaged. Preferring short, compact prose to long, drudgy sentences. Stories that move quickly, with subtle set ups and brutal pay offs.

Length: Short stories, 1,000 – 5,000 words in length. (We will consider stories that are shorter or longer, but they will have to really, really wow us.)

Genre/Theme: Fantasy. Grimdark. Horror. With enchanted forests taking a central role in the story.

Format: Language, English. Written in Modern Shunn Format. (https://www.shunn.net/format/story/)

Reprints: No. (This includes stories posted on Substack, personal blogs, or other online sources.)

Payment: $5.00 per story + ebook copy of anthology.

Process: We will be actively reading and responding throughout the submission period. All responses will be sent out by July 15, 2026, if you haven’t heard from us by then please query.

Publication Date: October 2026.

AI Statement: We do not accept stories written by or with AI.