Artwork Submission Guidelines

Submissions: Open

What We Are Looking For

Macabre Magazine seeks artwork that embodies the spirit of horror—images that unsettle, disturb, and endure. We welcome illustrations, paintings, photography, digital art, mixed media, and other visual experiments that explore horror in all its forms: gothic, psychological, surreal, grotesque, or sublime.

We are equally interested in digital and uncanny art—works inspired by the aesthetics of online horror and creepypasta culture. If it is eerie, uncanny, or otherworldly, and created by a human hand and mind, it belongs here.

The work should not merely depict horror but interrogate it—revealing something lasting, unnerving, or transformative.

Ask yourself: Does this image haunt beyond its frame? Does it contribute to the evolving visual language of horror? If so, it belongs with us.

What We Publish

• Artwork: Up to five (5) pieces per submission.
We accept all original, unpublished artwork created through traditional, digital, photographic, or mixed-media methods.

Formatting

Professional presentation matters. Please follow these specifications to ensure your work displays at the highest quality.

Checklist for formatting:
• File type: PNG (high-resolution, 300 dpi minimum)
• Dimensions: At least 1500 px on the shortest side
• Color: RGB mode for digital display
• File naming: Title each piece clearly (e.g., Title_Medium_Year.png)
• Watermarks: Do not include watermarks or identifying signatures on submitted files

Submissions not meeting these guidelines may be returned for correction. If a revised file is not received within one (1) week, the submission will be rejected without further consideration.

Identifying information should appear only in the Duosuma submission form. Files containing visible or embedded identifiers will be rejected unread.

Important: All submissions are reviewed under a strict blind review policy. To preserve the integrity of this process, artists must remove all identifying information—including names, initials, signatures, or metadata—from the artwork file before submission.

Our blind review process ensures that each submission is evaluated solely on artistic merit, originality, and alignment with Macabre Magazine’s aesthetic.

Multiple & Simultaneous Submissions

• Multiple Submissions: Artists may submit up to two (2) separate portfolios at a time, with each containing no more than five (5) pieces. Review timelines may lengthen accordingly.
• Simultaneous Submissions: Permitted. If your work is accepted elsewhere, withdraw it immediately through Duosuma.

Reprints

We do not accept reprints. This includes any work previously published in print, online, or on self-published platforms such as personal websites, social media, DeviantArt, Behance, or Substack.

Generative AI Policy

Macabre Magazine publishes only original, human-created artwork. We do not accept AI-generated or AI-assisted imagery under any circumstances.

The creative process must be entirely the artist’s own—from concept to composition to execution. Submissions found to include AI-generated elements will be rejected immediately and may result in a permanent ban from future consideration.

Our mission is to celebrate human imagination—the raw, imperfect, and haunted kind that machines cannot replicate.

Response Time

We aim to respond within six (6) weeks. If you have not received a decision after that period, you may query through Duosuma.

Payment and Contributor Benefits

At present, Macabre Magazine does not offer monetary payment. Contributors whose artwork appears in the digital or print edition may receive a complimentary digital copy of the issue in which their work appears.

All accepted contributors are also eligible for a one-year complimentary membership to the American Horror Society, offering professional development resources, networking opportunities, and member-only events.

Rights

By submitting your artwork to Macabre Magazine, you agree to grant the following rights upon acceptance:

• Exclusive First Serial Rights: Six (6) months, in English, following publication. During this time, the contributor agrees not to publish the work elsewhere.

• Perpetual Archival Rights: Non-exclusive rights permitting Macabre Magazine to retain, display, and preserve the work in its digital archives, anthologies, or affiliated platforms.

• Promotional Rights: Perpetual right to reproduce excerpts, images, or media from the work for marketing, publicity, or review purposes that promote the contributor and their work.

• Anthology Inclusion Rights: Right to republish accepted works in future anthologies, special editions, or collected volumes, with full contributor credit.

• Audio Rights: Right to produce, publish, and distribute audio adaptations or narrations of accepted works on our official media platforms.

• Audio-Visual Rights: Right to adapt, feature, or incorporate accepted works within multimedia formats exclusively for promotional, editorial, or archive purposes (such as videos or visual showcases). For clarity, the contributor retains all film, television, dramatic, and theatrical rights to the work.

• Award and Nomination Rights: Right to nominate accepted works for consideration in literary and artistic awards, prizes, or external anthologies (including, but not limited to, the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, or the Bram Stoker Awards).

After the six-month exclusivity period, all rights revert to the artist. Copyright remains with the creator at all times.

Conclusion

Submission of artwork to Macabre Magazine constitutes acknowledgment and acceptance of these guidelines in full. The editorial board reserves the right to amend these terms without prior notice; however, no revisions shall retroactively alter the rights of works already accepted for publication.

Our goal is to showcase both refined and experimental visions of horror—from the painter’s brush to the digital uncanny. If your work evokes dread, fascination, or awe, it has a place here.