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This Week in Speculative Fiction with The Horror Tree for 10/17/2025
Stuart Conover
October 17, 2025
Word of the week: Dealated - an adjective to describe an insect that has lost its wings.
Hi readers and writers! Welcome back to The Horror Tree Newsletter and its brand new format. We’ve had some feedback, and so far it is ticking all the boxes! If you’d like to let us know what you think about this new layout, then please do drop us a message. You’ll be pleased to know that I’m finally on antibiotics for my chest infection, and my doctor has also prescribed an X-ray, too, just in case. This illness has really been a hindrance to my creativity and if you’ve read my latest post (the ghost candle) you’ll know that I’m missing my writing. Of course, rest is more important right now. I’m lucky to have the energy to complete this newsletter, haha.
You can find me (Corinne Pollard) lurking on Bluesky @corinnepwriter.bsky.social, Instagram & Threads @Corinnepwriter and my new website, corinnepollard.wordpress.com Now, onto the latest articles on writing from around the web.
In this Newsletter, you'll find...
🌟 Horror Tree / Trembling With Fear Updates
Hi all.
We’re now into our second week of the new format of our newsletter! There hasn’t been much feedback quite yet, but what has come in has been positive (or constructive in a good way!) We’re still open to changes and are figuring this out as we move along. Not much movement on the new website layout quite yet or the next Trembling With Fear, but we’re inching towards it!
If you post any writing content during the week and think it would be a good fit for us to feature, do reach out and let us know at [email protected]
Thank you, Patreons! As always, the site's lifeblood is in your hands, and we truly appreciate your support.
If you're interested in contributing and think you have something that would help out, PLEASE don't shy away from contacting us! ([email protected])
- Donate directly by either Ko-Fi or Patreon
- Sharing guest posts with us or reaching out to us to be a blog tour host.
- Article writers (articles, interviews, reviews, crowdsource compilations, etc.)
- Advertising and either Site or Contest sponsorships!
And now, I will return you to your regularly scheduled newsletter!
🌟 Newsletter sponsor
Read InhuMANities today!
“Dark, visceral, poetic and devastatingly honest, Robertsons writing lives at the intersection of unabashed hunger, desire, beauty and repulsion. These tales strike at the heart of the queer, gothic soul. They are beautifully painful and darkly necessary. A must read for all those who love unflinching art.”
-Suzan Palumbo Author of Countess and Skin Thief.
🌟 Articles
This week, I’m sharing articles from General and Craft. Firstly, diyMFA shares how Gabriela Pereira focused on achieving Morning Pages when she herself is not a morning person. I’ve never heard the term Morning Pages before, but it is quite simple. They’re the first three pages we write in the morning to spark our creativity. Pereira evolves this writing tool by breaking its rule to her own needs. Next, in general, FoxPrint Editorial looks at doubts, fears, and demons that often plague us as creatives and how we can overcome them by liking ourselves. We need to be compassionate with ourselves the same as we are towards others, so Tiffany Yates Martin looks at recording herself to give herself a pep talk for when she is in a spiral. An interesting way to help with self-doubt and mental health. Lastly, in craft, Janice Hardy writes for Writers in the Storm on Fear which she is claiming to be the secret weapon behind every great character arc. Fear drives the character further with your story’s plot by being a barrier at the start, which they must overcome, and they grow by the end of the story.
General:
FoxPrint Editorial: ““Seeing Myself Like Myself Is Pretty Damn Good””
Craft:
Writers in the Storm: “The Secret Weapon Behind Every Great Character Arc”
From Horror Tree:
🌟 Free Fiction Roundup
This week’s free fiction is across the darkness of horror where we love to feel a shiver, a thrill, or a goosebump along our spines. Firstly, “Welcome to the Horror Opposition Association!” is a horror poem that is styled as a speech with direct address towards a new member of the Horror Opposition Association. This group’s aim is to object to all horrors that have settled in one location, Morbid Tower West. With themes of survival and cult behaviour, this poem ventures across horror tropes. Next “La Llorona” is a latine flash fiction with a fresh take on the well-known spirit we know as La Llorona. In first person, the spirit reveals the truth behind her legendary status, claiming she is innocent and bound for a thousand years. Is she as innocent as she claims though? Lastly, “Let go, the anglerfish cries to her male protuberance, with whom she shares organs” is a strange horror flash fiction about a woman named Katherine Langley. who owns a business, The Anglerfish, which changes every day, who is courted by a Mr Boyd. There’s great eerie imagery, and as Mr Boyd begins to develop odd symptoms himself, you know there will be no happy ending. Enjoy reading!
“Welcome to the Horror Opposition Association!” by Bree Wernicke at Strange Horizons.
“La Llorona” by Luis Ortiz at LatineLit.
“Let go, the anglerfish cries to her male protuberance, with whom she shares organs” by C.K. Liu at Crow & Cross Keys.
🌟 Writing Prompt
Writing Exercise: Tooth Fairy
Your protagonist is addicted to fizzy drinks. They drink a litre a day. Their dentist warns them about tooth decay, but they don’t care. Water is boring, and other beverages are disgusting to them.
Then your protagonist wakes up in pain. In front of the mirror, they discover a hole in one of their front teeth, and it is widening.
They ring for a dentist appointment, hoping it can be repaired, while keeping an eye on the hole.
They freeze.
Out of the hole, a tiny hand wave,s and a female voice giggles. The protagonist watches in horror as something climbs out of the hole.
What happens next is up to you…Let your imagination run wild!
🌟 Weekly Post Roundup
Ongoing Submissions: Gavagai Payment: 8 cents per word Theme: Unthemed horror Note: You do need to sign up for the new writing community, Gavagai, to submit. | Taking Submissions: Tales of Steel and Sorcery Deadline: December 31st, 2025 Payment: $10 Theme: Stories that fall in the sword and sorcery genre |
Taking Submissions: RDG Books Is Open To Horror Novels Deadline: November 28th, 2025 Payment: $100 (not an advance) and royalties Theme: Horror | Taking Submissions: Aspec Paranormal Anthology Deadline: November 30th, 2025 Payment: Contributors' copy & $20 AUD Theme: Stories that centre asexual and aromantic characters (or identities that fall under those umbrellas) in a paranormal context |
Taking Submissions: Waxen Volume 2 Deadline: December 15th, 2025 Payment: Contributor copy (U.S. contributors only), $50 flat fee for accepted stories/illustrations Theme: Occult/weird horror, with an eye for experimental work | Taking Submissions: HORRIFIC: Tales of the Dying and the Dead Deadline: March 1st, 2026 Payment: $20, and an additional $20 if later produced in audio or large print format Theme: A large range of horror, please read post for specifics |
Thanks for reading!
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