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This Week in Speculative Fiction with The Horror Tree for 12/12/2025
Stuart Conover
December 12, 2025
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Word of the week: Scurryfunge - a verb that means to rush around the house in a frantic effort to tidy up just before visitors arrive.
Hi readers and writers! Welcome back (or if it is your first time here, hello there) to the Horror Tree Newsletter. It has been a very horrible migraine week for me, and even now, I’m currently typing through the pain. Don’t worry, I’ll rest afterwards. It has meant no writing achieved, and even reading has gone out the window as it is so hard to focus. Also, I’ve had a story rejection. It stings, of course, even after all this time, but I’ll never let it stop me, so don’t let it stop you either! One’s rejection will be another’s acceptance somewhere. As you can imagine, I’m not feeling merry or Christmassy or even creepmassy, and if you’re feeling the same and, like me, you want to write about these themes, you’ll find articles, free fiction, and the writing prompt to inspire you. Not long now til the holidays!
You can find me (Corinne Pollard) lurking on Bluesky @corinnepwriter.bsky.social, Instagram & Threads @Corinnepwriter, and my 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.
Can you all believe that Christmas is almost here, and a new year is right around the corner? A quick plug for those who haven’t yet purchased something for their writerly friends, we do have a Spring and Winter Gift Guide worth checking out, which may give you a few ideas! For the readers in your life, there are graphic novels, horror set in Chicago, stories set in California, horror for foodies, to name a few.
No news on the next TWF or new layout. With it being near the end of the year, I’m not going to make any claims that either will be done before, but we’ll see!
On the personal writing front, I’ve hit a bit of a roadblock. I’ve got five works in progress, I’m still hoping to finish by the end of the year when their deadlines hit, and I’m mentally just burned out from the last couple of months. Fingers crossed that I can get at least one or two of them done!
And now, I will return you to your regularly scheduled newsletter!
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-Suzan Palumbo Author of Countess and Skin Thief.
🌟 Articles
This week I’m sharing articles from Business and Craft. Firstly, Author Marketing Experts look at the best book marketing campaigns with twelve examples that still work these days. Think TikTok, Book Clubs, and Podcasts. Marketing yourself and your book can be stressful, so I love that this article sums up each campaign with a practical list on how to apply the strategy. Next in craft, Fiction University explores how to edit or revise your novel without feeling overwhelmed. This is totally me at the moment! I’ve written my first draft, I’ve had feedback, but I’m overwhelmed on how much it needs altering, especially as things need revising from the setting to the character development. This is a handy list of breaking each task down into smaller, easier chunks. Lastly, I found this only recently and hope it may inspire you for this coming Christmas season. Every Writers Resource revives the lost Christmas tradition of a moral ghost story. Think Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol when Scrooge is visited by three ghosts. Moral ghosts let characters learn a lesson. Scrooge learns the meaning of Christmas. There’s even a free worksheet to help you write your ghost story. Give it a try this December!
Business:
Author Marketing Experts: “Best Book Marketing Campaigns: 12 Proven Examples That Still Work Today”
Craft:
Fiction University: “How to Edit (or Revise) a Novel Without Feeling Overwhelmed”
Every Writers Resource: “THE MORAL GHOST STORY: Reviving a Lost Christmas Tradition”
From Horror Tree:
🌟 Free Fiction Roundup
This week’s free fiction is a range of dark speculative fiction with a running theme of monsters from Pagan folklore to poisonous plants. Firstly “The Yule Lord” is a horror flash story about the coming of Krampus, Lord of Yuletide and Taker of Children. There’s great body horror imagery as Krampus is assembled, ready to feast. Perfect for this time of year. Next, “The Unwell Will Be Fed” is a spooky poem about a ‘begotten ghost’ and what it inflicts upon the second person ‘you’. There’s so many layers as to what this ghost could be. Is it longing? Is it a wound? This poem pulls at the heart and for me reflects a chronic illness or disabled body. Lastly, “A Good Brother” is a dark fantasy short story about the relationship between a brother and sister. When Mary is infected with a strange plant-like illness, her brother, John, makes it his solemn duty to bring her to the castle where the other infected live. It is a bleak story about a brother’s love and the need to do the right thing. Enjoy reading!
“The Yule Lord” by C. W. Stevenson at The Stygian Lepus (Edition 30, pp. 7-8).
“The Unwell Will Be Fed” by Haley Green at Crow & Cross Keys.
“A Good Brother” by Anne Wilkins at Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
🌟 Writing Prompt
Writing Exercise: Mistletoe Misery
Your protagonist is married and had an affair, and though they ended the relationship, the ex won’t listen. The ex stalks them wherever they go, despite police interference and many warnings.
In one desperate act, the ex rings, saying they’ll kill themselves if the protagonist won’t show. To their horror, they arrive to find the ex standing under the mistletoe and eating the berries.
Everyone knows mistletoe is poisonous. The protagonist hurries to make the ex throw up the berries. Instead, the ex kisses them, laughing. The protagonist wipes their mouth, but the damage is done.
The mistletoe is inside them now.
What happens next is up to you…Let your imagination run wild!
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🌟 Weekly Post Roundup
Call for Submissions – SNAFU: LEVEL UP (LitRPG Horror Anthology) SNAFU: LEVEL UP from Cohesion Press – a LitRPG horror anthology focused on action-heavy stories with game mechanics and monstrous battles. 🎮💀 🗓️ Deadline: March 31, 2026 📏 2,500–9,500 words 💵 Pay: AUS 5c per word They want: • LitRPG tales with visible mechanics • Characters who level up and progress through combat • Fantasy or tech LitRPG with strong horror elements Full call & guidelines: | The Deadlands – December 2025 Call Death tales wanted. 💀 The Deadlands is open for speculative fiction, poetry, and essays about death and what comes after. 🗓️ Deadline: Dec 31, 2025 💵 10¢/word fiction, $50 poetry, $100 nonfiction |
Triangulation: Bad Romance – Call for Submissions The Triangulation: Bad Romance anthology is seeking speculative stories & poems about toxic, failed relationships. 💔 🗓 Deadline: Jan 31, 2026 📏 <5,000 words / <60-line poems 💵 Paid market (prose & poetry, originals + reprints) Guidelines: | Bloody Valentine’s Day 2026 – Tales From The Moonlit Path Tales From The Moonlit Path is open for its Bloody Valentine’s Day 2026 issue. 💔🩸 🗓 Deadline: Feb 1, 2026 📏 Dark, character-driven fiction (max 2,000 words) + poetry 💵 Pay: $10 per accepted piece Details: |
Stygian Lepus Magazine – Jan 2026 Dark Fiction Call Stygian Lepus Magazine is open Jan 1–25, 2026 for dark-leaning work. 🐇🖤 🩸 Dark fiction & serialized dark fiction 🕯️ Creative non-fiction ✒️ Poetry & writing-related articles 🎨 High-res art (300 dpi) 💵 Pay: $5 + digital copy Details & guidelines: | Call for Submissions: Space and Time – Jan 2026 🚀 Call for Submissions: Space and Time Got a character or world that bends reality? This long-running spec mag is open Jan 15–31, 2026 for: ✨ Fiction – SF, fantasy, horror, steampunk, magical realism & hybrids (up to 5,000 words) 🪐 Poetry – speculative poems that break boundaries & blow minds 💸 Pay: 1¢/word for fiction, $5 per poem (+ digital contributor copy) 🌍 Languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, or Italian If your work lives where imagination collides with the unknown, this one’s for you. 🔗 Full guidelines & submit: |
Thanks for reading!
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