The Phantom Pulse

Our submission window is open for 10 more days!

Send us horror stories that seep through skin and settle in the bones.

thephantompulse.com

This week's shout out comes a day late, but the story is evergreen: Check out @abigailkemske.bsky.social's "The Earth Inside Us" in the latest issue of The Dark.

www.thedarkmagazine.com/the-earth-in...

The Sauce Packet King of the West Hills - Small Wonders “Heard I might find you here.” She pulled out an honest-to-goodness glass bottle of ketchup, swaddled in bubble wrap.

Shout out time! Katherine Quevedo's story "The Sauce Packet King of the West Hills" captures a fun moment at the end of civilization and reminds us its the simple pleasures we should cherish. Give it a read at smallwondersmag.com/piece/the-sa... where it has been reprinted. @smallwondersmag.com

We’re nearly halfway through our submission window! Join our discord for updates on how may submissions we’ve received so far ☠️

discord.gg/28uMZrBwjf

We’re nearly halfway through our submission window! Join our discord for updates on how may submissions we’ve received so far ☠️

discord.gg/28uMZrBwjf

The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly by Samantha Murray Clarkesworld Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine and Podcast.

This week’s shout out is for @samanthamurray.bsky.social in @clarkesworldmagazine.com! We loved her story “The Stars You Can’t See By Looking Directly” and the flawless cascading of imagery and thoughts that delivers you to stars at the end of the world. clarkesworldmagazine.com/murray_01_26/

A quick FYI. We are renaming our "story of the week" posts to "shout out of the week".

Our weekly shout out goes to Leah Ning @leahning.bsky.social and her story "We Used to Wake to Song" from @apexmag.bsky.social. Harrowing family relationships wrapped in water's inevitable pull. We loved it!

Patreon Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

Week one of submissions has been incredible! Looking forward to more.

In the meantime, our Patreon is officially live. If you are looking to support us in the lead up to our first issue, check it out.

www.patreon.com/14807269/join

I Think She Is Starting to Suspect Something — Baffling Magazine by Yeonsoo Julian Kim “When I was born, I had nothing.”

Check it out: the story of the week! "I Think She is Starting to Suspect Something" by @yeonsoonerorlater.bsky.social in @bafflingmag.bsky.social issue #22 is a slinking tale of Yearning that'll leave you looking askance at the faces of those you know and love
www.bafflingmag.com/issue-twenty...

We are open for submissions! Send us your original horror fiction up to 3000 words, reprints up to 5000 words, and chilling cover art until February 14th. thephantompulse.com

The haunt begins today.

The Phantom Pulse opens for submissions tomorrow! Check our guidelines and instructions for sending stories and art at thephantompulse.com

Last Story of The Week before we open for subs: “Who Are You Wearing?” by @russellnichols.bsky.social in @uncannymagazine.bsky.social. We enjoyed this balanced bite of a story that picks at and peels back the layers of human autonomy and family until all you see is the exoskeleton that moves you.

Love when ppl turn to goo and debris 😍

3LBE Magazine - Songs Never Sung by Premee Mohamed It only ever spoke to me once and that was to say Do not sleep too deeply. Said upon departure, an aside tossed over its shoulder like salt. I paid little attention; I was staring at the thing it had ...

It's time for the story of the week! Give a read to "Songs Never Sung" by @premeemohamed.com in Issue 46 of @3lobedmag.com. So much broken world and endless years delivered in the few words of a decaying yet deathless protagonist. It's what your weekend needs 🖤

www.3lobedmag.com/issue46/3lbe...

I have two starter packs with speculative fiction publications - magazines, podcasts, and publishers. You can follow all or some from these lists.

1. bsky.app/starter-pack...

2. bsky.app/starter-pack...

Our story of the week: "Hope is the Thing with Circuits and Steel" by Elitsa Dermendzhiyska from FFO. The story is weird and ripe with warnings for humanity. Grannies. Consumption. A question probing the nature of emotion acquisition. Give it a read @flashfictiononline.bsky.social.

One month stands between us and your stories. Join our discord to discuss and be in community with other writers of horror 💀 discord.gg/28uMZrBwjf

SOTW: “The Last Minute Before the Rooster Crows” by Malena Salazar Maciá in The Deadlands. This story of twisted mathematics, the dying breaths of a mother, and odd inheritance had us calculating our love for the inexplicable weird and the hope in horror.

@thedeadlands.com

Our story of the week is “Things I Don’t Tell My Sister” by MM Schreier in Factor Four Magazine.

This story teases you with one horror of sisterhood only to hit you with a different one altogether at the end. Short, sweet, and sublimely messed up.

@mmschreier.bsky.social
@factorfourmagazine.com

Very excited for this new issue of @factorfourmagazine.com. I've got a little #scifi #flashfiction in it called "Things I Don't Tell My Sister"

Also pleased to share the issue with my #amwriting friend & critique partner the talented @aerynrudel.bsky.social

Check it out here:

We’ve been reading ancient tomes (recently published mags) in search of eldritch truths (Friday’s story of the week). What have you read this week?

🕯️ The Phantom Pulse is open Jan 1–Feb 14, 2026!

Seeking speculative fiction that lingers in the grey corners of humanity - dread that seeps under the skin, strange obsessions, and the beautifully bizarre.

💰 $0.03/word (unpublished)
📖 horrortree.com/taking-submi...

@thephantompulse.bsky.social

This is Phantom Pulse's first story of the week!

From Cosmic Horror Monthly comes "The Ones at the Top Didn't Fall There" by Joule K. Zelman. The story is pleasantly weird, the pacing is seamless, and the characterization is delightful.

Shout out to Joule K. Zelman!
@joulekzelm.bsky.social

Starting tomorrow, we will be shouting out recent stories we enjoyed every week!

Link is updated! Thank you for pointing this out again

Thank you! We just edited the invite so it should be eternal now.

Deepen your grim connection to The Phantom Pulse by joining our discord community! Expect conversations about writing, reading, living, and breathing horror and updates on our mag. Link is on our website at thephantompulse.com

The Phantom Pulse’s mission is to create more paid opportunities for horror writers. We can’t wait to see what you submit. thephantompulse.com

From writers of horror for writers of horror

The best way to support The Phantom Pulse is to tell your friends! Coming January 2026. thephantompulse.com

Send this to a writer/reader/artist you know!

Send us your horror stories (max 3000 words) and haunting cover art starting January 1, 2026. First issue to be published May 2026. thephantompulse.com

The first issue of The Phantom Pulse is coming in May. Send us stories and reprints to consider in January!