Submission Guidelines

Time Frame

Since our beta, we have been receiving submissions from writers and filmmakers from around the world. Now that we are officially launched, we are expecting a large number of submissions. This will cause some wait times as we review each submission for publishing consideration on the NightmareFuel.org website. We ask that you remain patient during this time.

Written Stories

Review and Edit Your Work

It is important to review your work before submitting it to us. Proofread everything and make sure you have fixed any spelling errors, grammar issues and formatting. If we see any of these problems, we will discard your entry and move on to the next. Before even reading your story, we perform several inspections checking for problems, so be sure to double-check your work.

Submission Requirements

• Story submissions should be at least 500 words.
• Must be free of excessive spelling and grammar errors.
• Must use proper capitalization. Text written in all caps will be rejected.
• Must use proper paragraph breaks. If a written story has walls of text, it will be rejected.
• If a story is copied and pasted from a PDF, you must make sure it is formatted correctly. PDF copy and paste normally messes up the formatting.
• English must be the primary language of the author.
• Stories must not be plagiarized or derivative of any pre-existing or popular stories.
• Stories must not feature excessive sexual, pornographic and or extreme gore and violence.
• Stories must not demonize any group based on their sexual orientation, or race or incite violence against any group.
• No submission will be accepted if it is written in textspeak.
• The most important requirement is that all stories must be creepy, scary, spine-chilling etc. Any theme other than Horror will be rejected. So no comedy, drama, adventure etc.

Story Types That We Accept

NightmareFuel.org accepts fictional stories only. There are some legalities that can go with stories claiming to be true, so we don’t bother with those. However, stories that are based on true stories will be acceptable.

Original Work

All submissions MUST be original works. Submissions that are derivative from other existing works will not be accepted. Submissions that violate trademarks and intellectual property rights will also be rejected.

We Only Accept Completed Stories

All submissions MUST be completed. We do not accept stories that are broken up into chapters, parts and or continuations. Only submit completed works.

Text Formatting

Our form does not allow for HTML formatting such as bold, italics etc. If you have a story that needs these features in order to tell the story in a stylistic way, please contact us directly and tell us about your submission.

Film Submissions

Run Time

All film submissions should be at least 1 minute long. We are fans of micro horror. Even a 60-second short film can be creepy AF.

Visual Requirements

Films should be at least 1080p. While we don’t require expensive gear in order to accept a submission, the film should have great storytelling attached to it. The use of extreme gore, violence, sexual situations, racism, or any other form of extreme content will not be accepted.

Audio Requirements

The obvious one here is not using copyrighted music/sound fx. All music and sound must be properly licensed. Any film that is using copyrighted audio will be rejected. There are plenty of places to get great music, 2 of our favorites are AudioJungle.net and Epidemicsounds.com

YouTube & Vimeo

We will only accept video that is hosted on YouTube and Vimeo.

Paywall Films Not Accepted

We only accept films that are free to view. Any video that is behind a paywall will be rejected.

Credits and Contacts

Crediting Authors

On written stories, we provide credit in several places. The first is at the top of the story, and the second is at the bottom of the story. The bottom credit will feature the author’s avatar and links to make contact, including social media. Authors must provide this information for it to be available on the Nightmare Fuel website.

On film submissions, the writer and director are credited at the top of the page and the rest of the crew are credited below the film itself. This includes the cast. Links to social media and websites will be visible under the film poster art.

If you have any questions, please contact us.