Eldritch Cat Press invites writers of all backgrounds and experience levels to submit a piece for our upcoming multi-author anthology titled The Lantern Keepers — a haunting collection of short stories inspired by strange lights, liminal spaces, eerie things lurking in the fog, disembodied voices, odd cats and guiding figures who may (or may not) be leading you towards your doom.

We’re looking for tales that include characters who serve as guides, guardians, or messengers between the threshold of the living and the dead, lost or otherworldly. We want stories with haunting, dreadful, eerie, creeping or even sorrowful vibes — as long as it leaves readers checking to make sure there’s no weird lights outside of their windows after dark then you’re on target.

Think:

A cursed ferryman who chants the names of the dead to keep the living from being overrun by ghosts
A haunted lighthouse that lights itself whenever someone’s soul is at risk
A lost traveler guided through a place they should never have been in by a shadowy figure holding a flickering lantern

Your story must feature a light, a path and a guide of some kind (the more prevalent and central to the plot these three things are the better, but be creative with them!)
Please note that if the three above pieces are not included your story will be instantly rejected
Genres: Horror, gothic, dark fantasy, paranormal, magical realism, mystery, crime…pretty much anything goes, even sci-fi, high fantasy, post-apoc and various time periods