Artwork © Eric N. Peterson

 

Update: Because there were issues with our Submittable page, we are extending our deadline to tomorrow, October 24, at 5:00 PM.

It’s October and time for our favorite call for submssions!

2020 is the year Zombies became boring. In the wake of COVID-19, we no longer wonder what would happen during an undead apocalypse. We can now envision legions of Americans lining up to be eaten while crying “Fake news” at the site of their own entrails. And that’s far more horrifying.

The old horror tropes provide fun escapism every Halloween, but the time for that is not now. This year, our annual Halloween and Trumpiversary sections need to have more purpose.

The horror of COVID-19 is real. The horror of Donald Trump is real. The two are now more intertwined than ever. In the final week of October leading up to both Halloween and the presidential election, Oddball Magazine will confront these modern horrors head on. But not without help.

What are we looking for? In a word: Horror.

There have been many pandemic and Trump related works published here and elsewhere under the banner of hope. From October 26 to October 30 (maybe longer?), we want work that focuses on the constant horror in American and global life. We want work that names the atrocities and brings them into light. We’re not ruling out satire or horror, and maybe the monster dies at the end, but we want to see your vision of the orange beast with nineteen heads first.

Read our standard Submissions page for general rules. Submit any poetry, prose or visual art in the “Halloween” or “Trumpiversary” sections of our Submittable page. You have until the end of October 23. Good luck!