This Week in Speculative Fiction with The Horror Tree for 11/07/2025

Author

Stuart Conover
November 07, 2025

In partnership with

Word of the week: Scarabaean - relating to or resembling a scarab beetle. It can also be used metaphorically to describe a quality similar to a scarab beetle.

 Hi readers and writers! Welcome back (or if it is your first time here, hello there) to the Horror Tree Newsletter. I hope your first week in November has been rewarding and fulfilling. Here in the UK, we’ve had our Bonfire Night or otherwise known as Guy Fawkes Night. We celebrate one man’s failure to blow up the Houses of Parliament (our government and king), but what if Fawkes had succeeded? We’d be looking at a much different UK now. In history, this was a pivotal moment just like a plot point in a book. Think about the consequences and the results of such a change and then as writers and authors we can decide which direction we wish for the book/story to go. If you’re inspired by Guy Fawkes Night, take a look at this week’s writing prompt. In other news, I’ve had a horror poem published by Disabled Tales called ‘Sugar’, a Hansel & Gretel retelling and I can’t wait for you to read it. Disabled Tales explores and discusses folklore and fairy tales with a particular focus on disabled characters. Enjoy! 

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.

🌟 Newsletter sponsor

Read Project Threshold

🌟 Horror Tree / Trembling With Fear Updates

Hi all.
So, since we last spoke, my mother-in-law has lost her 6-year battle with glioblastoma. Lost might be the wrong word, as this cancer’s survival rate is usually 2 years in the best-case scenario. She fought as hard as she could for as long as she could, making years of memories with us and our children.

RIP Cathy Muszynski.

Clearly, I’m going to still be in a state of slow responses to e-mails and progress on the site. All of our regular posts should still go through as normal, but I’ll be largely out of pocket for the next week, so you’ll probably be seeing another week of no progress on our larger goals.

Now, for the standards:

- Thank you, Patreons! As always, the site's lifeblood is in your hands, and we truly appreciate your support. 
- Offhand, if you've ordered Trembling With Fear Volume 6, we'd appreciate a review!

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]

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 Business and Craft. Firstly, Author Marketing Experts reveal why author events are still important in this day and age when digital marketing dominates. Think workshops, interactive games, quizzes, panels, Q&As, etc. These are great for authors to sell books as well as spread the word and build up lifelong fans. Next AuthorMedia looks at Shopify and why authors keep losing money with this platform. There are pros and cons to any tool in an Author’s toolbox, and authors will need to decide whether Shopify is for them or not. Authormedia also looks at alternatives such as Kickstarter and WooCommerce. Lastly, in craft, Jane Friedman’s blog has guest author Maryka Biaggio look at the usage of prologues and how they can work for one’s book. I’m sure at some point every writer has been advised to avoid prologues because of how many times they’ve been used poorly and are considered to be unnecessary most of the time. Biaggio includes examples of great prologues and explores their intended effect. If done correctly, a prologue can boost your story. 

Business:

Craft:

Jane Friedman: “Prologues That Work and Why”

From Horror Tree:

🌟 Free Fiction Roundup

This week’s free fiction dives into fantastical worlds with giants and beanstalks, fallen angels, and treasured lost souls. “Jack’s Mother Minds The Grandchildren” is a flash story set in the fairy tale world of Jack and the Beanstalk. Jack’s mother speaks to her grandchildren, unable to forgive her son’s actions and what she deems to be idiocy. Next, “And on Their Graves a Fall of Angels” is a dark fantasy short story about Stefan whose job is to shoot angels because in this world angels are more like pests and how Stefan copes in this almost-dystopian world of nailing people in their coffins when it is time for them to die. The opening sentence and the last sentence are fantastic hooks. Lastly “In Which One Partakes In Their Own Disappearance On The Eve Of Halloween” is a narrative ghostly poem. If you’re already missing Halloween, this poem brings back its spookiness as the narrator divulges it is the time for when they’re brought back before they disappear again. Enjoy reading! 

“Jack’s Mother Minds the Grandchildren” by Mikki Aronoff at Ghost Parachute.

“And on Their Graves a Fall of Angels” by Natalia Theodoridou at Uncanny Magazine.

“In Which One Partakes In Their Own Disappearance On The Eve Of Halloween” by Silvatiicus Riddle at Cosmic Roots & Eldritch Shores.

🌟 Writing Prompt

Writing Exercise: Bonfire Night

Your protagonist wakes up, brain foggy and coughing loudly as they inhale smoke. They smell wood burning and people chattering. They attempt to stand but discover their hands and feet are bound. This discovery clears their mind and they struggle against the rope in desperation while scanning their surroundings.

It is dark, but through a crevice, they spot flames coming closer, burning its way through the wood that encircles the protagonist.

Bangs and pops erupt overhead and from the flashes, the protagonist sees a crowd further back from the flames and that’s when it fully hits them. They’re inside a lit bonfire and someone had deliberately put them there.

What happens next is up to you…Let your imagination run wild!

🌟 Newsletter sponsor

Growth unlocks straight to your inbox

You’re optimizing for growth. You need ecom tactics that actually work. Not mushy strategies.

Go-to-Millions is the ecommerce growth newsletter from Ari Murray, packed with tactical insights, smart creative, and marketing that drives revenue.

Every issue is built for operators: clear, punchy, and grounded in what’s working, from product strategy to paid media to conversion lifts.

Subscribe free and get your next growth unlock delivered weekly.

🌟 Weekly Post Roundup

Tales from the Little Library - Call for Submissions

📚 Submit your speculative fiction to Tales from the Little Library!

They’re seeking 3,000–5,000 word stories inspired by the libraries of your childhood - places filled with wonder, mystery, and just a hint of the fantastic.

💰 Payment: $15

🕛 Deadline: November 30, 2025

Ghost Lights - Horror Anthology Call (Flame Tree Press)

💀 Ghost Lights is the 7th volume in Flame Tree Press’s acclaimed ABC of Horror anthology series, edited by Mark Morris.

Seeking unthemed horror stories that are chilling, original, and unforgettable.

💰 Pay: 8¢/6p per word

🕛 Deadline: November 14, 2025

Taking Submissions: Walls Anthology

Deadline: November 30th, 2025

Payment: $50

Theme: Walls-real, imagined, perceived, constructed, demolished, and rebuilt

Small Robin Press seeks creative nonfiction exploring walls in all their forms - physical, emotional, or societal. Writers from underrepresented backgrounds are highly encouraged to submit.

📍 Learn more:

Taking Submissions: Untitled Cozy Fantasy Anthology

Deadline: January 31st, 2026

Payment: $30

Theme: Cozy Fantasy

Hollow Oak Press seeks cozy, optimistic fantasy stories filled with warmth and character-friendship, community, and healing at heart.

📍 Learn more:

Taking Submissions: Fun in the Dark: Transformations

Deadline: December 31st, 2025

Payment: £20 + contributor copy

Theme: Fun but dark fiction about “Transformations”

Kilter and Rammel Publishing seeks dark yet playful tales exploring transformation-physical, emotional, or cosmic. Five stories will be chosen for their debut anthology.

📍 Learn more:

Ongoing Submissions: A Midnight Kind of Place

Payment: £15 (GBP)

Theme: Most forms of horror

Open: Worldwide (UK focus)

Scotland-based horror market A Midnight Kind of Place seeks short stories (500–10,000 words) for online and audio publication. Looking for tales that chill, haunt, and linger.

📍 Learn more:

Thanks for reading!

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Subscribe here