The readers are nearly done (thanks for the volunteer time!). If you've been patiently waiting, you'll be glad to know that a decision about your submission will be coming to you in June. With only about 25 slots open for inclusion, there is a high rejection rate. Don't be discouraged, competition for the Strange Stories Anthology was fierce, with excellent talent from around the world. Submit for vol 2! Submit to the Putrescent Poems (horror poetry) this fall. We have greatly enjoyed reading and communicating to everyone, we just don't have the budget for 400 people! 

Stories are being read, and decision are being made. Two months has passed since the deadline and the team of four is pushing through the near 400 entries as quickly as possible (with our other day jobs). Sit tight, and we'll try to get decisions out within the next month or so. So you can assume, we'll be pushing back the publishing a while to accommodate the work load, but we are pleased with the enthusiasm with which the world has responded to the Strange Stories anthology. If you are nervous or have questions, drop us a line: [email protected]

Forty-Two Books will be releasing the 5th volume in the anthology series for the Utah Chapter of the Horror Writers Association. Titled "Peaks of Madness: A Collection of Utah Horror," the anthology features unique, fresh, and dark works by local Utah authors and/or is set in Utah. Pricing and buying options will come later. 

If you have not received an acknowledgement email from us, please write in to [email protected]. All email receipts for submissions received have been sent out and this will help us know if we missed your submission.

Now that submission have closed we'd like to thank all of you who took the time to send us your work. Even if you don't make it in, be sure to pick up a copy and submit to future projects. With near 400 submissions, we will select the best pieces from around the world. We're sorry we only have so much space and can't publish everyone, but we will try to feature at least one of each of the types: Micro, Flash, Short story, Film Script, Play, Novelette, Novella, and Book Chapter. 

It'll take some time, but we have a great team of MA/Ph.d English creatives readings and marking submissions. We'll be sure to update you on the status over the next 2 months.

As February 15th approaches we are giving an update. The Anthology call is a rolling success, with over 100 submissions from around the world received. Even if you don't get in, we are taking the time now to say thank you for submitting. We are doing our best to have a well balanced, quality crafted anthology that represents the best original strange fiction from around the world! 

​The Introduction from the upcoming "Peaks of Madness: A Collection of Utah Horror" anthology. Let it challenge your assumptions of horror:
The Chapter is creating a great legacy of content and writing in the state of Utah. The act of producing and pushing content to the public eyes shows the vibrant and diverse culture that exists in Deseret. A healthy society embraces and encourages its hidden components (as horror often is). Regardless of its historical origins and political affiliations, a culture that expresses itself in the many ways in which peoples exist and live is a culture that flexes with change and reinvests in itself for the future. Horror is often one of the elements of culture that is suppressed and banned by the dominate structures in a society (governments, officials, churches) because of the inherent nature of what it contains: upsetting, disturbing, moral defying, and challenging ideas which can transform an individual. 
I define horror as my graduate English science fiction teacher did, Dr. Eric Swedin from Weber State University, “In speculative fiction, horror is anything you don’t want to happen.” From the things that go bump in the night, to gore, repulsion, fright, terror, and what makes us uncomfortable, horror at its core is not about shock value or exposition. Though exposition, grindhouse, and body horror have their place, the use of horror in human culture dates back to ancient times with folk myths and fairy tales—scaring children into behaving—warning of danger, and exciting the minds to the possibilities of adventure. 
Horror can act as a medium to express imagination, ethical lessons, and to understand what it means to be human by reflecting on a situation which isn’t real, but very well could be. The genre and the creativity within invites discussion, confronts assumptions, and makes us turn inward to answer the questions about how we feel and how we will live our lives after encountering the most terrifying and horrific monsters of all: ourselves.
Each story is a piece of art, put together in a collection that is a public exhibition. Creative writing, as a fine art, allows us to tame the inner demons and befriend the outer monsters of the world. As in the words of Karl Paulnack, director of the music division at the Boston Conservatory, “Art is part of survival; art is part of the human spirit, an unquenchable expression of who we are. Art is one of the ways in which we say, ‘I am alive, and my life has meaning.’” Horror thus gives life meaning.