Marrow Magazine is titillated to announce our Marroween 2026 Flash Fiction contest, a devilish little carnival of all things creepy, horrifying, frightful, rotten, and otherwise scary. This is a small, limited contest, dedicated to sharing your most disconcerting works. We’re talking ghosts. Undeads. Monsters. And the most frightening prospect of all: the human psyche and its interior emotions.

Here are the frightful little deets:

• Theme: Profound, dark, spooky works of fiction under 500 words

• Submissions open on our site at [9 AM] AKT, October 1st

• Submissions close at [12 AM] AKT on October 13th

• Submission fee is $5

• One winner will receive a first-place prize of $100, plus publication — to be announced on October 31st, 2026

• Winner and all entries selected for publication will have the option for royalty shares in our print productions

Don’t blink or you’ll miss it.

How to submit:

First, please use the Stripe link below to pay the submission fee. Take a screenshot or save the confirmation email as a receipt, to be uploaded as proof of fee payment. Once your fee is paid, please use the form below to submit your work as a Word document or PDF. Erotica is welcome, but we kindly ask for no pornographic content or photographs (it’s not us, it’s you. Don’t be gross). 

More details:

All submissions will be judged anonymously. Judging will be done by the editors of Marrow Magazine. Every submission will be read by at least two people. All submissions must not be previously published. 

Note: Marrow’s contest fees cover prizes for winners and publication/organizational expenses.