📅 First submission window: April-May 2026
We are currently preparing for our launch. Members who join now will receive early access to our Three-Act Gothic guide and be ready to submit when the window opens.
Embedded Files
Quick Reference
Reading periods (2026):
Apr-May (first window)
Jul-Aug
Oct-Nov
Jan-Feb 2027
Response time: Within 8 weeks
Length: 500-3,000 words
Payment: Contributor's copy + $10 USD
Fees: Free for members · $3 for non-members
Format: .doc, .docx, .pdf
The sample story “The Foxes of Spetchley Park” is just under 3,000 words. It demonstrates the depth and density we look for at the upper end of our range.
The Black Fox Society
Annual membership is $7 USD (approximately ¥1,000 / €6.50). Members receive:
Four EPUB issues annually (a $20 value) (first issue coming Summer 2026)
Early Submission Access: Two weeks before the general public
Free submissions to all reading periods
Early access to each issue
Invitations to virtual readings and events
Immediate access: Our full Three-Act Gothic guide with narratological analysis of "The Foxes of Spetchley Park" (available as soon as you join)
What We're Looking For
Black Fox Review is looking for gothic fiction that unsettles, haunts, and consumes. We publish four issues per year, each a collection of stories that honour the tradition of the gothic while pushing it towards new, strange territories.
✧ Themes We Love
Stories that blend the historical and the supernatural
Explorations of guilt, memory, and unkept promises
Liminal spaces: thresholds, ruins, gardens at dusk, the moments between waking and sleeping
The gothic not as decoration but as a way of seeing (a lens for examining what haunts us)
Transformation, reckoning, and the price of choice
✧ What We Don't Publish
Gore for its own sake (we prefer dread to disgust)
Stories where the gothic is merely aesthetic without thematic weight
Previously published work (including personal blogs and social media)
AI-generated or AI-assisted submissions
Length
We accept fiction of 500 to 3,000 words. The sample story “The Foxes of Spetchley Park” is just under 3,000 words. It demonstrates the depth and density we look for at the upper end of our range.
This range allows for:
Flash Gothic (500-1,500 words): Concentrated dread, fairy-tale intensity, prose poems, moments that linger like a half-remembered dream
Short Stories (1,500-3,000 words): Fuller narratives, transformations, reckonings (stories with room to breathe, like our sample piece)
We occasionally consider pieces slightly outside this range if the work is exceptional, but please query first.
The Fact & Fiction Requirement
Every submission must contain both factual and fictional elements. This is the cornerstone of what we do.
In your cover letter, you must specify:
What in the story is true (a place, a historical event, a person, an object, a documented experience)
What you have invented or transformed.
This is not about verification. We will not fact-check you. It is about intentionality. We want to read stories in conscious conversation with the real (stories that know where they came from and choose where to go).
✧ Demonstration from Our Sample Story
The sample story “The Foxes of Spetchley Park” demonstrates what we mean:
Factual elements:
Spetchley Park in Worcestershire, a real estate with its documented history of fire and rebuilding
The village of Crowle and surrounding locations: Froxmere Road, Church Road, Bredicot Lane, The Old Chequers pub
The Great War: ninety six men from Crowle served, eighteen did not return
The deep and lasting psychological wounds carried by survivors, known during that era as shell shock, a reality that haunted many veterans long after the fighting ended
Fictional elements:
The black fox as a supernatural presence
Tom's return and transformation
The reckoning at the lake
The bite as a mark of choice and consequence
✧ We approach all stories with care, particularly those depicting trauma. Historical accuracy matters, but so does humanity. Write with both.
Formatting Guidelines
✧ File Format
Accepted formats: .doc, .docx, or .pdf
File naming: “StoryTitle_AuthorName.doc” (e.g., “FoxesOfSpetchley_JohnMcLean.doc”)
Font: 12-point, readable serif (Times New Roman, Garamond, or similar)
Spacing: Double-spaced
Page numbers: Please include them
Your name: Should appear on the first page only (for blind reading)
✧ Grammar, Punctuation & Style
English consistency: You may use either British or American English, but you must be consistent throughout your story. Do not mix “colour” and “color” in the same piece.
Dialogue: Please use double quotation marks with commas, as in the sample: “Pathetic,” she muttered.
Internal dialogue: Use italics for characters' internal thoughts, exactly as shown in the sample story. This applies to single words (Fifteen.), phrases (It’s just a door, George), and longer passages.
Em dashes: Em dashes are not permitted. Please use commas, parentheses, or standard hyphens instead. This is a firm rule.
We have no strict house style beyond clarity and readability, but these three elements (English consistency, dialogue punctuation, and italics for internal thought) must be followed.
✧ Cover Letter
Your cover letter should include:
A brief biographical note (2-3 sentences)
The fact/fiction specification as described above
Any content notes if your story deals with sensitive material (optional but appreciated)
Submission Process
✧ Reading Periods (2026-2027)
April-May 2026
July-August 2026
October-November 2026
January-February 2027
Submissions received outside these windows will be returned unread. Members who join now will receive our Three-Act Gothic guide immediately and be ready for the April window.
✧ Fees
Members of The Black Fox Society: Free (unlimited submissions)
Non-members: $3 per submission
Fees help us pay contributors and keep the journal sustainable. Memberships are $7 per year and include four free EPUB issues plus free submissions.
✧ Response Time
We aim to respond within 8 weeks. If you haven't heard from us by then, please query via email.
✧ Simultaneous Submissions
We accept simultaneous submissions. Please notify us immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere.
✧ Withdrawals
If you need to withdraw your submission, please do so via the submission platform or email us.
Rights & Payment
✧ Payment
Accepted contributors receive:
$10 USD (paid via PayPal or bank transfer)
One contributor's copy of the issue (EPUB)
✧ Rights
We acquire First Worldwide Electronic and Print Rights for your story. This means we are the first to publish it, in any format, anywhere in the world.
All rights revert to the author upon publication. You are free to republish the work elsewhere after it appears in our pages, though we ask that you acknowledge Black Fox Review as the place of first publication.
(Example: “This story first appeared in Black Fox Review, Issue One, Summer 2026.”)
Beyond Publication
Accepted contributors receive more than payment and a contributor's copy.
✧ Novel Discussion
A 30-minute conversation with our publisher about a novel manuscript you'e working on. This is direct access to professional editorial feedback and potential publication consideration with Matatabi Press.
✧ Editorial Board Invitation
Writers whose work demonstrates exceptional vision may be invited to join our paid Editorial Board, with ongoing involvement in shaping future issues.
Additional Resources
We offer a series of guides for writers interested in the gothic form. These are suggestions, not requirements.
✧ Three-Act Gothic: A Narratological Guide
Available now for members. This guide walks you through:
The three-act structure in gothic fiction: How dread, transformation, and return create narrative arc
Motif selection explained: Why the black fox, the threshold, and the reckoning carry symbolic weight
Narratological analysis of "The Foxes of Spetchley Park," act by act, scene by scene
Act One: The Summons (the fox, the unkept promise, crossing the threshold)
Act Two: The Reckoning (transformation, the choice, the price)
Act Three: The Return (the lake, the gardener, what remains)
Writing prompts for each act, based on gothic narrative theory
Questions? Contact us at:
edit@matatabi-japan.com · press@matatabi-japan.com
(Use edit@ for submission questions · press@ for media and interviews)
© 2026 Black Fox Review · Published by Matatabi Press (Japan Publisher Registration No. 910554)
Distributed globally · Available at Barnes & Noble, Waterstones, Kinokuniya, Amazon, and select bookshops
edit@matatabi-japan.com · press@matatabi-japan.com
Page updated
Report abuse