PulpCult by CultureCult is looking for original short stories for its upcoming anthology “KRANKENHAUS,” a book of horror stories featuring haunted hospitals. (Publication window: October 2025)
THE FINAL DATE OF SUBMISSION IS SEPTEMBER 20, 2025
After Haus and Haunted Haus, CultureCult Press enters the stark, sterile and sinister corridors of the hospital ward this Halloween. CultureCult Press invites writers to submit their most chilling tales of medical dread, surgical nightmares and abandoned hospitals for our upcoming anthology, KrankenHaus.
The word Krankenhaus is German for “hospital,” but broken down, it carries a darker poetry: Kranken (“the sick”) and Haus (“house”). A house of the sick. A place of healing, yet equally, a place of suffering, despair and death. The title reflects the duality where science struggles with the muddle of superstitions, where white coats and bright lights cannot banish the shadows that linger in operation theatres, morgues and human minds.
Submit your own story or feel free to get started with one of our WRITING PROMPTS:
- Dr. Som peacefully runs a human organ racket behind the facade of his private hospital, until the day a victim, oddly enough, refuses to die.
- This was the hospital where her mother had died. 20 years later, she awaits her own recovery but something distinctly pulls her towards the private cabin where her mother had passed away.
- The movie star had been to lots of rehabs, but there was something odd about this secluded fortress-turned-wellness centre that gave him the creeps.
- A nurse manning a wartime medical camp inside a dilapidated church, discovers a cursed book that can restore life, in exchange for a different life taken.
- Arthur fakes being possessed to escape a murder conviction, but as soon as he is admitted to the old sanatorium, he starts to hear a whisper that begins to drive him insane.
- Abandoned hospitals are almost always haunted. That’s what the public believed, so such places were good to stage ghost hunting shows. Or so Raheema thought…
All Horror Subgenres welcome. The story MUST feature a haunted hospital.
WE ARE ACCEPTING:
Fiction: (between 1500-8000 words) Send no more than ONE piece of fiction.
Flash Fiction: (between 100-1500 words) Send no more than TWO flash fictions
We are accepting TRANSLATED WORKS as well. Submission of translated works must be accompanied by a statement declaring that the translator has obtained the author’s permission and their publisher’s, if required.
Simultaneous Submissions are welcome but the author must inform us by e-mail as soon as the submitted piece is accepted elsewhere. Pieces cannot be withdrawn once CultureCult Press informs the author of its acceptance for publication.
We consider reprints but generally do not publish them unless they are absolutely exceptional.
At present, we are unable to pay our contributors.
Each contributor shall receive a COMPLIMENTARY DIGITAL COPY of the anthology as soon as it publishes.
Manuscripts should directly be sent to PulpCultSubs@gmail.com
Emails must have the subject line “Submission for KRANKENHAUS“
Each piece MUST be attached with a short bio (preferably within 100 words) and, if possible, a photograph of the author to go along with publication.
Please submit your files in the following formats: .doc /.docx /.txt. DO NOT submit PDFs.
CultureCult Press uses non exclusive rights to publish in its anthologies and website. Authors shall retain all rights and shall be free to republish/reuse their work anywhere else once it has been published.
Please submit only original pieces. CultureCult Press or the editor/s of the anthology shall not be responsible for any disputes arising out of plagiarism or copyright infringement.
NOTE: We typically reply within a month after receiving submissions. However, replies can be delayed under unforeseen circumstances.
