(s)crawl literary magazine

don’t worry jamie 😂 it’s not about good versus bad but the very specific and repetitive hallmarks of AI syntax.

a quick reminder:

yes, if you submit AI-generated work, you will be permanently blacklisted from our publication.

yes, this goes for author bios and cover letters as well.

yes, it’s much more obvious than you think it is.

three more weeks to get your submissions in!

Smart Search List of the Day The Smart Search List of the Day is: Paying Short Stories feat. @scrawlmagazine.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com/search/smart/fiction/paying-short-stories-Rdv653z8

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Paying Short Stories feat. @scrawlmagazine.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

(s)crawl is fabulous to work with! Send them your best creepy pieces. And if you want to check out their vibes, you can read my poem "Skull with Laurel, 1832" in Issue 1!

scrawlmag.com/issues/issue...

moody black & white image of an empty hallway with the text: fall 2026 submission call submission period: feb l-mar 15 seeking: horror short stories and poetry by Igtqia+, neurodivergent, bipoc, disabled, women, and gender-diverse writers we pay our writers and never charge sub fees SCRAWLMAG.COM

SUBMISSION CALL!

submissions are open for (s)crawl magazine's fall 2026 issue (issue no. 02)

see submission guidelines and submit your work on our website: scrawlmag.com

#horrorlitmag #litmag #diversehorror #horrorfiction #horrorwriters

a dark and moody greyscale image of a dark hallway. text overlay: save the date. submissions for issue no. 02 will open on february first

happy new year horror-lovers!

submissions for the fall 2026 issue of (s)crawl will open on february 1st and close on march 15th.

check back here or on scrawlmag.com on feb 1st for more details!

whoa! that's us! thank you @chillsubs.bsky.social!!

thank you chill subs!! it's an honor!

20 Lit mags founded in 2025 that we think will be the next big thing • (s)crawl magazine - Horror-focused lit mag amplitying marginalized voices • Strange Pilgrims - Real, surreal, & brutally beautirul writing • Gather - A writing table for gutsy, bold poets • Tough Poets Review - Funny, smart, unpredictable, & startlingly honest • Strange Hymnal - Literary magazine of mystery, ritual, & obsession • Sonder Literary - Queer and youth-run zine focusing on equality and whimsy • 149 Review - Fresh, original, thought provoking work • Rawhead - Exploring the many forms resistance takes • FLARE Magazine - Spotlighting chronic illnesses, mental health, & disabilities • Blood+Honey - Experimental and avant-garde work that challenges & provokes • Tractor Beam - Radical visions of hopeful futures on Earth • OTHERSIDE - Quarterly magazine of speculative work by queer creatives • MENACE - Work that encapsulates the dark, the transgressive, the gross • shoegaze literary - A third space for dreamy, distorted alternate realities • Sardine Can Collective - Secret cult of tish girls • Little Fruits Magazine - Your ripest work: tart, rotten, dripping with sweetness • Lullaby Machine - A digital rest stop dedicated to the lullaby • The Aftershock Review - After trauma, there is still poetry • Outskirts - A new home for misfit poetry and prose • Mouthful of Salt - Amplifying the stories that won't stay quiet

Putting this out here so you can say, "I submitted to them before they were rich and famous." Which is obviously a super realistic goal for a lit mag.

Find the list here: www.chillsubs.com/lists/20-in-...

#writingcommunity

"There is no easy cure for depression. It feels like an experiment, trying to balance eating right, and exercising, and getting 8 hours of sleep, and sunshine, and journaling, and medicine. It's frustrating and scary exploring what works, or doesn't work. I wondered how far someone would go, what would they risk to try and feel like themselves again?" -ashley huyge

author interview with @ashleyhuygewrites.bsky.social is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration behind her piece “Glass Girl", as well as the insidious nature of depression and its lasting effects within families.

“I think the most challenging thing about writing an unreliable narrator—and writing in general, really—can be when you're too worried about being misinterpreted. [...] Trust is the crux of it—you have to trust yourself as an artist to effectively share your vision, and you have to trust your reader's intelligence. That takes practice.” -zanny stohl

author interview with @znnys.bsky.social is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration behind their piece “i always liked blueberries the best” and the importance of trust when it comes to the relationship between writers and readers.

thank you for letting us pick around in your brilliant brain!

Interview live on the (s)crawl blog as well! I really enjoyed answering these questions. If you've ever wanted to pick the goth side of my brain, this is your chance!

And if you haven't read "Skull with Laurel, 1832" it's a perfect little poem for these cold dark days. scrawlmag.com/issues/issue...

"Life is in its own way a series of little deaths, and shedding these skins/releasing older versions of ourselves is what makes it possible for us to change and grow. I'm not the same person I was fifteen years ago, or even five years ago-and that's the way things should be." -rj aurand

author interview with @rjaurand.bsky.social is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration behind the piece “Skull with Laurel, 1832” and how we all experience “little deaths” in order to grow and shed old versions of ourselves.

"Even when there's zero physical danger, having something unwanted follow you around—gradually consuming your time/energy/strength to such a degree that you relent and accept it—can be real life-wrecker. Maybe there's a very good reason for accepting it. Maybe you've got no other choice but to accept it. Maybe you're just exhausted. But the end result is the same—now you're stuck with a dead man." -rachel henderson

author interview with @rlhendie.bsky.social is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration for her piece “The Dead Man” and how the use of humor as a technique—if the right balance is struck—can make horror elements even more effective.

"Even when there's zero physical danger, having something unwanted follow you around—gradually consuming your time/energy/strength to such a degree that you relent and accept it—can be real life-wrecker. Maybe there's a very good reason for accepting it. Maybe you've got no other choice but to accept it. Maybe you're just exhausted. But the end result is the same—now you're stuck with a dead man." -rachel henderson

author interview with @rlhendie.bsky.social is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration for her piece “The Dead Man” and how the use of humor as a technique—if the right balance is struck—can make horror elements even more effective.

"The Book of Revelation has colonized my symbolic language without a clear or definable provenance. But can you write about queerness, about monstrous desire, about obsession, without calling the Devil or the Woman of the Apocalypse?" -sasha ravitch

author interview with sasha ravitch is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration for her experimental piece “the serpent finds eve in every lifetime; or, GARDEN REVISITED” and how her work in occulture and witchcraft informs her writing.

"Subject matter naturally informs structure, definitely. Free verse comes the most natural for me, and I feel that it particularly suits "still life of womb" precisely because it's so loose, so unstructured. You re not particularly coherent when you're curled up immobile and trying to not literally cry out in pain, after all." -chloe ho

author interview with chloe ho is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration for her piece “still life of womb” and how diction, alliteration, and internal rhyme come together to evoke the pain of menstruation.

"In my story, I gave the garbage disposal a voice because it can often feel like we're being taken from more than we are willing to give up. At first it feels harmless, but as we are whittled down more and more, we realize that something has to change." -hannah madden

author interview with hannah madden is live on the (s)crawl blog ✍️

scrawlmag.com/blog/intervi...

learn more about the inspiration for her piece “My Disposal” and how she explores generational trauma through an everyday household appliance.

cover of our fall 2025 issue. a moody photo of a skull surrounded by dirt and leaves. text: ISSUE NO. 01 fall 2025 (s)crawl literary magazine

list of our fall 2025 contributors text: My Disposal hannah madden still life of womb chloe ho the serpent finds eve in every lifetime; or, GARDEN REVISITED sasha ravitch The Dead Man rachel henderson Skull with Laurel, 1832 rj aurand i always liked blueberries the best zanny stohl Glass Girl ashley huyge

today is release day for (s)crawl’s inaugural issue! 🎉

we have seven incredible pieces for you:
4 short stories
2 poems
1 experimental piece

some visceral, some emotional, but all worth your time.

read issue no. 01 now @ scrawlmag.com

we’re so lucky to have you!

I'm in the inaugural issue of this super cool new horror mag! Check out my gothic poem "Skull with Laurel, 1832" (and all the other cool pieces) below! It's perfect reading for spooky season.

💀 scrawlmag.com/issue-1/ 🥀

🎉🎉🎉

RELEASE DAY RELEASE DAY

@sasharavitch.bsky.social @rjaurand.bsky.social @znnys.bsky.social @ashleyhuygewrites.bsky.social

cover of our fall 2025 issue. a moody photo of a skull surrounded by dirt and leaves. text: ISSUE NO. 01 fall 2025 (s)crawl literary magazine

list of our fall 2025 contributors text: My Disposal hannah madden still life of womb chloe ho the serpent finds eve in every lifetime; or, GARDEN REVISITED sasha ravitch The Dead Man rachel henderson Skull with Laurel, 1832 rj aurand i always liked blueberries the best zanny stohl Glass Girl ashley huyge

today is release day for (s)crawl’s inaugural issue! 🎉

we have seven incredible pieces for you:
4 short stories
2 poems
1 experimental piece

some visceral, some emotional, but all worth your time.

read issue no. 01 now @ scrawlmag.com

thanks for including (s)crawl!

#FF It’s Loud Shirt Day! To celebrate, give some ❤️ and a follow to these publications in the lit community that begin with “L” or “S”!
@scrawlmagazine.bsky.social
@lothlorienpoetryj.bsky.social
@saggingmeniscus.bsky.social
@lowhangingfruiter.bsky.social
@saltpublishing.com

greyscale graphic showing a portion of a human skull. overlaid text says: FIRST LINES I never wanted children of my own. Glass Girl Ashley Huyge

read the rest of “Glass Girl” by Ashley Huyge (@ashleyhuygewrites.bsky.social) in issue no. 01 of (s)crawl on 10.26.25

#scrawlmagazine #litmag #horrorlit #horrorwriters