> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://cabinet13.ghost.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# PAID/Horror Flash Fiction Call for Submissions
- URL: https://cabinet13.ghost.io/paid-horror-flash-fiction/
- Published: 2026-08-01T02:46:45.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-04T02:42:07.000Z
- Author: Tara Nixon

## Call for Submissions

Cabinet 13, Issue One: WATER. Horror flash and short fiction, 100–3,500 words. Pays $25 (≤1,000 wds) / $50 (1,001–3,500 wds) flat, on acceptance, USD. First world electronic rights, six-month exclusivity. Digital. Reading August 1, 2026 – August 15, 2026 or first 200 submissions. No AI, no reprints, sim-subs OK, no more than 10 subs per writer.

---

## Open Call: **WATER**

---

## THE CALL

Issue One is for all things WATER, and we want it doing something **wrong**.

💧🚣‍♂️🧊❄️🌧️💦🫗🚿🌊🚤🩵

We are Cabinet 13\. 

We are new, we are small, we pay, and we can't wait to read your work! 

---

## WHAT WE WANT

- Water behaving badly! Whether it is rising, standing, seeping, dripping, boiling, rippling, refusing to drain, falling from the sky, we are interested. 🩵
- Horror surrounding the vessels that hold water: cisterns, fonts, retention ponds, wells, bathtubs, ice machines, culverts, leaks, floods, rivulets, plastic bottles, Owalas...bodies... 🩵
- Vivid imagery and flawed characters 🩵
- Settings that are, well, water-y. This isn't a must by any means. But, we are already warm to the idea.

## WHAT WE’VE SEEN ENOUGH OF OR DON'T WANT TO SEE

- Drowned people returning wet. Yes, we know that *Creepshow* vignette was EPIC. But, that's the point. It's been done. And well.
- Stories where the twist is that they were dead the whole time
- Clowns in the sewers…in Maine (not that we don’t love Pennywise…but…)
- Deserts. Yes, we know there is a wealth of inspiration to be found in exploring the psychology of seeking water when its scarce. But, we want this issue to be 💦 soaking wet. The wetter, the better, in fact. 💦💦💦💦💦💦💦 Fully incorporating the theme = 🥇

*Not for us:* stories built on sexual violence; harm to children or animals as the engine of the horror

---

## THE SPECS

| **Reading window** | August 1 – August 15, or at 200 submissions, whichever comes first |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Length**         | 10 – 3,500 words (upper limit somewhat flexible)                   |
| **Payment**        | $25 flat up to 1,000 words · $50 flat for 1,001 words              |
| **Paid**           | On acceptance, USD via PayPal                                      |
| **Format**         | Digital issue, August 31, 2026                                     |
| **Response**       | Within ten days of the window closing                              |
| **Rights**         | First World Electronic Rights, exclusive six months                |

---

## THE FINE PRINT

**Rights.** We ask for First World Electronic Rights, exclusive for six months from publication, after which all rights revert to you. We keep a non-exclusive right to hold the piece in the back-issue archive and to quote briefly for promotion. 

**Copyright remains yours.** If we ever put together a Cabinet 13 anthology, we will come back and ask again, and we will pay again.

**Simultaneous submissions** are welcome; withdraw promptly if it places elsewhere.

**Multiple submissions:** 10 per writer per window.

**AI.** We do not accept work generated by AI, in whole or in part. We read everything ourselves.

**Payment on acceptance** means before publication, not after. If we say yes, you get paid whether or not the issue ships on time.

---

## HOW TO SUBMIT

Send to [submissions@cabinet13.com](mailto:submissions@cabinet13.com). One submission (story) per email.

- Attach as **.docx** — standard manuscript format, or close-ish preferred
- Subject line: **WATER — \[Story Title\] — \[Word count\]**
- In the body: your name, the title, the word count, and three sentences of bio if you want one. No cover letter needed.
- Put your name on the manuscript or don’t; we won’t google you.

We respond to everything. 

If four weeks pass without a word, send us a DM. Something got lost.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/63/a7/63a704a3-5966-44c3-a304-652e662d44cc/content/images/2026/08/Untitled-design--6--1.png)