Dark Horizons

[Peter Coleborn]

Dark Horizons is the critically acclaimed journal of the British Fantasy Society.  Over the years it has seen many changes and editors.  2006 sees another change: new editors have been appointed.  Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards take over at the helm from this year?s Fantasycon. Dark Horizons will continue to publish fiction, poetry, articles and interviews.

Fiction: Dark Horizons is a broad church as far as ?fantasy? is concerned ? but the emphasis will be in the weird and fantastic (heroic fantasy, swords and sorcery, surreal, ghost stories, horror).  The field is wide open. Stories have to be good. We prefer stories in the 4000-7000 word range, but will take shorter or longer tales; stories over 10,000 words will only be accepted occasionally.

Poetry will be selected and edited by the award-winning Joel Lane. Subject matter as for fiction; they should have a fantastic, weird, supernatural or mythical theme.  Any form will be accepted with a maximum length 30 lines (again, longer poems will be considered: is anyone writing a 21st century ?The Raven??).

Articles: we will consider anything (interviews, overviews, critiques, biographies, histories, etc) that may interest BFS members and again, ?fantasy? has a wide brief.   DH will not publish reviews of current books or films; these will be included in Prism.  We suggest that you contact us before you write your article (either by letter or email).

Artwork: we are looking for artists in all mediums (including photography) prepared to illustrate stories ? and the front cover.  Please send good quality examples of your work ? not originals.

Submitting your work: all initial submissions must be sent as hardcopy; accepted material must be available in electronic form (disk or email).  We will accept poetry submissions via email, as long as they are no more than 30 lines in length, and sent in the body of the email, not as an attachment.  Manuscripts must be in standard MS format (double spaced, single side, etc); they must not be folded more than once when stuffed into an envelope (preferably not folded at all, especially MSS of five or more pages).  Always include a self-addressed envelope with sufficient postage (UK stamps or two Dollars or Euros) if you want the MS returned. If the MS is disposable include SSAE or an email address for correspondence. 

A bit of a downer: the British Fantasy Society is a non-profit organisation and therefore DH is unable to pay for submissions (other than in copies).  However, you will be in good company: Ramsey Campbell, Louise Cooper, Stephen Gallagher, Clive Barker, Brian Lumley, Mark Morris, Lisa Tuttle and many others have all been published by the BFS.

Send submissions and other snail mail to Dark Horizons, 36 Town End, Cheadle, Staffordshire, ST10 1PF, U.K., and send emails to darkhorizons@britishfantasysociety.org.uk

[Peter Coleborn]

DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSIONS

The deadlines for submissions to Dark Horizons are 1 November 2006, 1 March 2007, 1 July and 1 November, with anticipated publication in February, June and October 2007 and in February 2007. We aim to stick to these dates but as is ever the case, the best laid plans of mice, men and editors are wont to go astray. These deadlines do not prevent potential contributors from submitting at any time during the year but as you can see from this timetable, the busy periods for DH production will be in the two or so months before publication.

The fantasy field is embedded on a foundation of short stories and Dark Horizons seeks to continue this tradition. The contents of magazine can only reflect its contributions. In order to create and maintain a balance, we wish to encourage contributions that cover all tastes, all areas of the fantasy genre, from the darkest corners to the brightest of horizons, by way of the heroic, supernatural, surreal ? you name it. The only criterion is that the stories are good enough.

Dark Horizons will also publish non-fiction, be it articles about themes, writers, artists, interviews, and essays expressing the author?s opinion. If you have something to say, consider Dark Horizons as the vehicle for your views. If you wish to write non-fiction for us, please email us first.

Please take a look at the submission guidelines, available elsewhere on the BFS message boards or in Prism.

            Peter Coleborn and Jan Edwards

[VirgilKain]

The bumber edition was a fine publication. It may have been a long wait but it was worth it.
Thanks and keep them coming

[Jen]

The next DH (and Marie's last) is also set to be a bumper one too.... 

Will post the contents list as soon as we get it finalised...

[Peter Coleborn]

When Jan Edwards and I took over the editorship of DH from Marie, we geared ourselves for a tri-yearly scheduled. We thought that the membership would demand this. However, at the AGM the issue of increasing postage rates was raised, and how to accommodate the inevitable financial burden this would place on the BFS. The audience unanimously stated its preference for a biannual Dark Horizons. This would make it easier on Jan and me, and it will help reduce the costs: postage and the cost of printing the covers, one of the more expensive parts of small press printing. Thus the deadlines for DH are 1/11/06 and six months later (according to my maths, that's 1/5/07). The page count should remain roughly the same.