Exquisite Undead: An Anthology of Vampires
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Submission Guidelines
Submissions will open June 1, 2026, pending successful Kickstarter funding.
What am I Looking For?
The simple answer: Vampire stories. Lush, gorgeous, chilling, beautiful vampire stories.Tell me a story that will linger at the back of my mind forever. That will make me go feral while I’m reading it, that will have me underlining phrases and marking it up with exclamation points and big, excited YESes. Write me a story that shows me you understood the vampire assignment. Introduce me to your favorite aspects of vampires, make me love and/or loathe your characters, use the concept of vampires to carry a metaphor or message that means something to you. Make it brilliant, queer, swoony, romantic, tragic; make it dark, gruesome, bloody, gritty, even kind of gross—make it whatever you want, and make it exquisite.I especially encourage BIPOC and queer/trans writers to submit.
Please read the following guidelines carefully before sending your submission.
Your submission should be a clean draft that has been self-edited at least once. Please do not submit a first draft.Submissions will be accepted until SEPTEMBER 1, 2026. Any emails received after this date will not be considered.A submission does not guarantee an acceptance. You will receive either an acceptance or rejection within 1 month of the submission deadline.Stories written by or with the use of artificial intelligence will not be accepted. Don’t even bother.One submission per author, please.I will not accept any stories that glorify hate or bigotry in any form, including but not limited to: racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, etc.Dark/heavy thematic elements are welcome, but please do not submit stories with on-page sexual assault.I retain the right to reject submissions for any reason. Rejections will not include any critique or in-depth explanation. Please do not request this should you receive a rejection.PLEASE DO SUBMIT:
Any genre. Horror, romance, fantasy, sci-fi, historical, a weird blend of everything—all are welcome.Stories that are about and/or center a vampire or the concept of vampirism in some way. Feel free to take that in whatever direction you’d like: traditional blood-drinking vampires, undead horrors, psychic vampires—the details are up to you! Surprise me!Short stories, flash fiction, or poetry up to 7000 words. (Stories under 1500 words are considered flash fiction.)PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT:
Nonfiction, novellas, fanfictions, or any work that does not meet the definition of short story, flash, or poetry.Stories that function as inseparable sequels to other work you have written.Stories over 7000 words. Due to space and time constraints, that is a hard limit.Works that do not match the theme.Stories that are primarily erotica. This book is for adults, so adult content is encouraged, but this is not specifically an erotica anthology. Erotic/sensual/suggestive elements are fine.Stories that are published elsewhere, either digitally via Patreon, Ko-Fi, itchio, or a personal website, or in other anthology publications.
Terms of Publication
If your work is accepted, you agree to the following:
Your story or poem is 100% human-made, with no use of artificial intelligence for any part of the process.Your story or poem is not published elsewhere, physically or digitally, including in another anthology or magazine, or on yours or another publication’s website. This includes Patreon, Ko-Fi, itchio, newsletters, etc.Your story will be exclusive to this anthology for 6 months, after which you are free to distribute it wherever you wish, following other publications’ exclusivity terms.You will not distribute, publish, or sell your story individually during the 6-month exclusivity period.You will receive compensation of $50 USD (for short stories) or $30 USD (for flash fiction or poetry) no later than 1 month after your work has been accepted. This will be sent via PayPal.You will receive a complimentary contributor copy of the anthology.
How to Submit
Submissions will open June 1, 2026, pending successful Kickstarter funding.
Check back in May 2026 for more details.
About the Anthology
A Genre-Blending Anthology of Vampires, curated by indie author Talli L. Morgan.
Exquisite Undead will be coming to Kickstarter in April 2026, with plans to begin accepting submissions in June if the crowdfunding campaign is successful. Publication is planned for 2027.The purpose of the Kickstarter is to cover publication costs such as cover art, ISBNs, and interior formatting, as well as contributor compensation and reward fulfillment. Click the button below to learn more and support the Kickstarter campaign.This anthology will feature short fiction and poetry centering vampires in all their myriad forms. Submissions from all genres will be accepted, from classic Gothic horror to science fiction that stretches the definition of 'vampire,' and everything in between.Visit the Submission Guidelines page for more details.Check back on this page later for information about contributing authors and their stories.Final cover art, Goodreads page, and purchase links to come.
Why Vampires?
Oh, why indeed? Why curate a collection centered upon this overused, overrated, oversaturated entity that has haunted our cultural lexicon for centuries? Aren't there enough vampire stories already? Hasn't it all been done before? Haven't we moved on from sparkly blood-sucking creatures of the night?Hah. Not a chance.Why vampires, you ask? I could give you the simple answer: Because vampires are rad. But that's not satisfying, is it? So let me ask you this: Why not vampires? Why not give a bunch of writers a chance to play in the sandbox with these endlessly fascinating, endlessly versatile, and eternally enduring vessels of metaphor?Yes, there's a million vampire stories. But there's always something new to be done with vampires, so no previous collection of vampire stories will have these vampire stories. Everyone who has ever written a vampire story has something unique to say, their own individual take on these creatures and what they mean.I can't wait to see what your vampires have to say.
Why "Exquisite Undead"?
The anthology's title comes from the artistic medium "exquisite corpse," which is a method by which multiple artists combine unique styles to create a singular image, often without being able to see the whole thing until it's finished. This leads to a surreal yet visually interesting final product.In a similar way, anthologies bring together the unique works of multiple authors to create one whole, harmonious work. There's a beauty to the chaos of these collections, and in my experience the stories have a serendipitous way of blending well even when they are very different.Furthermore...what better term to describe the vampire than exquisite?
About the Curator
Meet Indie Author Talli L. Morgan
Talli L. Morgan writes fantasy novels for adults and young adults. When they're not writing, Talli enjoys drawing, playing D&D, and thinking about writing.Since 2021, Talli has published 6 novels, 3 novellas, and 1 previous anthology. Their short fiction has been featured in Indie Bites as well as other fiction anthologies.You can learn more about Talli's books on their website: tallimorgan.com.In 2025, Talli launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund an audiobook edition of their vampire romance novel, Silver Blood. They are excited to jump into crowdfunding madness once again to bring this new project to life.
About the Contributors
Meet the starting contributors to Exquisite Undead!
Talli L. Morgan is the anthology's curator and an indie author of novels across the fantasy genre. They sure like to insist that they like vampires a normal amount, despite the fact that they've sunk years of time and energy into researching vampires. Visit Talli on their website, and learn more about them on the About the Curator page.
D.N. Bryn is a queer, disabled author of fantasy and paranormal romance, who has tricked themself into believing that having two attention-seeking cats as copy editors will counteract their dyslexia. It has yet to work, but the cats have no complaints.You can find them at dnbryn.com.
Josie Jaffrey is a dark fantasy and paranormal romance author who writes about lost worlds, dystopian societies and morally-ambiguous monsters (vampires are her favourite). She is the founding editor of fantasy magazine Indie Bites and writer of audio drama podcast Jack Valentine, Vampire Detective.You can find her at josiejaffrey.com.
Juniper Lake Fitzgerald is an author of queer dark fantasy and Gothic tales. She has authored the epic dark fantasy series The Fifth Yanai, and the gothic urban fantasy with romance The Modern Mythos Anomaly. Her work is featured in multiple anthologies and she is the narrative designer of the dark fantasy video game Shadow Rite.You can find her at ardentgrove.carrd.co.
Jessie Thomas is an author of paranormal and fantasy romance from Buffalo, New York. An avid reader, she enjoys writing books with gothic horror, atmospheric settings, and dark themes. When she isn’t chasing her muses around, Jessie can be found playing with her snaggle-toothed cat named Graham.You can find her at jessiethomasauthor.com.