Apex Magazine 2027 is live!

$7,563 pledged of $21,000 goal 36% funded 147 backers

Ends October 30Last updated Oct 7th, 10:26 AM ET

Closed to submissions

Send us something strange.

We want dark, beautiful, boundary-pushing speculative fiction — stories filled with marrow and heart, twisted and strange. We especially seek work from marginalized and under-represented writers.

Submissions closed this month

Our submissions window opens in odd months only. We are closed in February, April, June, August, October & December.

What we want

Dark, weird, and beautiful speculative fiction — horror, science fiction, fantasy, and slipstream.

Original, unpublished stories up to 9,000 words.

Distinct voices, especially from marginalized and under-represented writers.

Stories that leave the reader a little changed.

Not for us

Reprints or multiple submissions.

Gratuitous gore or cruelty for shock value alone.

AI-generated or AI-assisted writing.

Fan fiction or work featuring others' copyrighted characters.

The terms

Payment

8¢ / word

Length

Up to 9,000 words

Response

30–60 days

Rights

First world English

Submit through

Moksha

How it works

Your path to publication

Every submission moves through the same careful, multi-reader process — and our Flash Fiction track follows its own five rounds. Here's the whole journey, from Moksha to print.

Apex Magazine Flash Fiction

The monthly Flash Fiction Contest

This month's theme on Patreon ↗

Our Flash Fiction Contest is open to the public from the 7th until the final day of each month. The contest is themed — if your story does not meet our monthly theme, it will be rejected. The new theme for each month is announced on our Patreon.

Window

Open from the 7th through the last day of every month.

Themed monthly

Each month has a theme, posted on Patreon. Off-theme stories are rejected.

Genres

Literary, speculative genre fiction: horror, science fiction, and fantasy.

One at a time

No multiple or simultaneous submissions, due to the contest structure.

Winners

Published as a Patreon exclusive before appearing in Apex Magazine.

Won recently? Winners are asked to wait one issue cycle before submitting again — for example, October/November winners wait until February/March.

Ready when you are.

Read the full guidelines on Moksha, then send us your strangest, sharpest work.

Submissions closed this month

For potential contributors

Contract templates

Reference copies of the agreements we use for Apex Magazine. Your signed contract will always be sent to you directly — these are here so you know what to expect.