A Premier Publisher of Genre Fiction
The place for a thrilling escape into new worlds, chilling fears, and urgent mysteries.
Currently accepting submissions for:
Sci-fi + Fantasy
Thriller + Mystery
Humor
Latest Stories
Publishing stories every week from new and established writers
The Demon and the Duckling
Amy Flanders“No, thank you.” The demon inclined her head graciously. “Pardon?” The knight blinked. He was not prepared for politeness from demons. It went against all his training. He swallowed the rising lump in his throat. “To be clear,” he said, “are you refusing to surrender? Or refusing to move yourself out of that good woman […]
Postpartum Ballad of Wendy Rhys
Seth WadeI slink down the street, rotting tot in stroller. Each clack of the wheels on the sidewalk cracks becomes a twist inside my chest. Squeals ringing from the playground. Ladies on benches in neat dresses, reading or chatting or watching kids play. I sit on a bench, soaking up all the happy around me. Wendy? […]
SELECTED APOLOGIES TO SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, WRITTEN IN LICHEN
Tiffany HarrisGene believed the mitochondria were feminist until someone asked him why. That’s how things started going downhill. My husband, Gene Saperstein, fifty-eight years old and retired from the IRS just this past spring, standing there holding a glass of boxed pinot grigio in Lucy Halperin’s living room, surrounded by women with statement earrings. You should know […]
Sci-Fi + Fantasy
The Demon and the Duckling
Amy Flanders“No, thank you.” The demon inclined her head graciously. “Pardon?” The knight blinked. He was not prepared for politeness from demons. It went against all his training. He swallowed the rising lump in his throat. “To be clear,” he said, “are you refusing to surrender? Or refusing to move yourself out of that good woman […]
Humor
SELECTED APOLOGIES TO SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR, WRITTEN IN LICHEN
Tiffany HarrisGene believed the mitochondria were feminist until someone asked him why. That’s how things started going downhill. My husband, Gene Saperstein, fifty-eight years old and retired from the IRS just this past spring, standing there holding a glass of boxed pinot grigio in Lucy Halperin’s living room, surrounded by women with statement earrings. You should know […]
Thriller + Mystery
Postpartum Ballad of Wendy Rhys
Seth WadeI slink down the street, rotting tot in stroller. Each clack of the wheels on the sidewalk cracks becomes a twist inside my chest. Squeals ringing from the playground. Ladies on benches in neat dresses, reading or chatting or watching kids play. I sit on a bench, soaking up all the happy around me. Wendy? […]
The Ghost of Language
Roberto Cofresí HopgoodShe feeds the abdicators every morning at eight o’clock. Canned tuna or beans. She opens the cans into a few of her Wedgwood bowls and places them outside the glass doors of the Dakota. She wishes she had better use for her fine China. She stands inside the vestibule and watches them. Like feeding stray […]
Sitting up with the Dead
Rachel SavageThe night before Grandaddy Burl died, Colly dreamed of a flathead catfish swallowing him whole. Summer storms had been rolling in since June; the mountain air sitting heavy like flannel on fevered skin. Splashes of sunbeams illuminated verdant pockets, but the inevitability of more rain coaxed the shadows out from crevices and caves to smother […]
Historical Fiction
CAN I HELP YOU, MISS?
David Landau(Circa 1953) It’s going on full dark when the car turns off the highway into the motel auto court. A ’48 Studebaker Commander careening through one last pothole, running roughshod since Fresno, on fumes since Old Town Calabasas. But it made it. They made it. Just past the red “VACANCY” sign, the car slows then […]
We Undark Night With Our Tongues
Claudia MonpereWe were instructed to point the brush with our lips ––Grace Fryer, a dial-painter for The Radium Luminous Materials Corporation, 1930 1.Glow Twirling the paintbrush in our mouths to sharpen the point glow-in-the-dark watches airplane dials clocks in the company darkroom our glow-in-the-dark cheeks necks hands our radium tongues constellations of luminous dust drifting as […]
Young Adult
A Little Sorrowed Talk
Heather Etelamaki“You know what I heard, Philippa?” Kenzi said. “What?” I said, watching the lifeguards clean the pool beyond the fence. For the last time that summer, we were waiting to get into the city pool and, as usual, had come too early. “Mitchell was watching you the whole time we were here yesterday.” I gripped […]
The Fox in the Hydrangea
C. E. SternOnce upon a time, the house next to the cemetery belonged to the only undertaker in town. But we Talbots haven’t been undertakers since great-uncle Laurence got shot in a hunting accident. It’s been just Pa and me in the house ever since. But that’s fine. The house likes it better that way. At least […]
Submit Your Story
Share your writing with us! We want stories from these genre categories: sci-fi/fantasy; horror/thriller; humor.
Award Winners
We Undark Night With Our Tongues
Claudia MonpereWe were instructed to point the brush with our lips ––Grace Fryer, a dial-painter for The Radium Luminous Materials Corporation, 1930 1.Glow Twirling the paintbrush in our mouths to sharpen the point glow-in-the-dark watches airplane dials clocks in the company darkroom our glow-in-the-dark cheeks necks hands our radium tongues constellations of luminous dust drifting as […]
#83: Kimberly Frank Is a Skank
Sharon Inkpen“#83: Kimberly Frank Is a Skank” by Sharon Inkpen is the winner of the Through the Looking Glass Challenge hosted by Voyage YA by Uncharted. Page 1 It’s 1989. You are thirteen-year-old Colleen Paxton. Puberty is hell. High school is hell. Your life is hell. The lunch bell just rang. You’re supposed to be in […]
A Seamstress Joins a Bodice to a Skirt
Amelia M. BurtonThe best part of sewing a garment is pressing the finished seams. The glide of the iron over parallel stitches, two lines a quarter inch apart. The coy slip of the edge rolling under itself. The joining obscured. My hand follows the iron, satin clammy with heat, then reverses back over the seam, skin licking […]
Hollow Whispers of the Wind, Chapter One
Florence ChienOne An island. Such is my existence within the stale breath of my house, my house against the undying neon of the Bund, and the Bund beneath the fires that scorch the sky. Mine is an island of solitude and silence. Not even the stifling August heat can begin to thaw the ice that entombs […]
Escape from Krow: A Novel Excerpt
Robyn DabneyChapter One The first person I tried to kill with a shadow was my sister. I had removed my only pair of stockings and left them to dry by the fire while I relieved myself. Remil had taken the socks, unraveled them into two useless piles of thread, and then laughed when she’d seen my […]
Coyote Vicious: A Novel Excerpt
KoadaChapter Two My father had been obsessed with making sure I knew how to tell when and where an animal had been. When he was whipping his little Toyota truck, which he lovingly called The Yoda, up the side of a mountain, speeding around corners with no guard rails, he’d screech to a stop next […]
Machines, bodies, machines
Anna Quercia-ThomasHe wonders if the bed springs know that they are different things from the springs in his body that clench and unclench throughout the night, instinctive in a helpless attempt to roll himself away from the fire burning in each of his bones. It’s the left side, hip to ankle, shoulder to ribs. He thinks […]
What The Living Carry
Andy BoyleTheir men and boys were gone before they’d crossed into Nebraska. Teddy was the last to go. Mary never thought he would make it as long as he did due to his temper and his drinking. But he did. Then one night, he went out to take a piss while they were camped inside a […]
Latest Contests
Get the guidelines on our current contests, where we offer writers premier opportunities for publication and payment. All winners selected by noted guest judges.
Interviews
Uncharted
By Caitlin Taylor So I had the privilege and pleasure of connecting with acclaimed Vietnamese-American author Jamie Jo Hoang in anticipation of the release of her stand-alone companion book, My Mother, the Mermaid Chaser, out September 23rd of this year. 2025 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War. In the spirit […]
Myna Chang
Debbie Urbanski is an acclaimed author of both fiction and essays. Simon & Schuster published her debut climate novel, After World, in 2023, and will release her new short story collection, Portalmania, in May. I was lucky to read an advance copy of Portalmania and was blown away by the characters and tightly held tension […]
Kate Maruyama
Kate Maruyama's novel Harrowgate was published by 47North, and her novella Family Solstice, named Best Fiction Book of 2021 by Rue Morgue Magazine was published by Omnium Gatherum. Her short work has appeared in Asimov's Magazine, Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Entropy, Duende, Cultural Weekly, and in numerous anthologies including December Tales, Halloween Carnival Three, and Gathering: A Women Who Submit Anthology. She is a member of the SFWA and HWA where she serves on the Diverse Works Inclusion Committe and she sits on the Board of Women Who Submit. She writes, teaches, cooks, and eats in Los Angeles.
See Their WorkChristina Kann
Christina Kann is a lifelong writer and reader, podcaster, traveler, gardener, hiker, cat mom, and generally okay human being. She is also the co-founder and communications director of Wildling Press. She lives and thrives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, their two cats, and their several foster kittens.
See Their WorkAlejandro Gutierrez
Alejandro is a writer and storyteller from the Seattle area. He self-published his first book, The Rat Tunnels of Isfahan, in 2017. Then, in 2021, he won second place in Vocal Media’s Summer Fiction Series challenge for his story ‘Grandmother’s Hands.’ Alejandro also received an Honorable Mention from Writer’s Digest for his story, In a Cucumber. In 2022, Alejandro won First Place in the Dillydoun International Fiction Prize for his story, ‘In the Shadow.’ He is currently working on his second novel.
See Their WorkLinda H. Codega
Linda H. Codega (they/them) is a queer, nonbinary Southerner living in Yankeeland. They write about pop culture for io9, and their writing appears on Polygon, Observer, Tor.com, and Dicebreaker, among others. They are a Hugo-nominated first reader for Strange Horizons. Find them on Twitter @lincodega.
See Their WorkPatrick Hurley
Patrick Hurley is a 2017 graduate of the Taos Toolbox Writer's Workshop and a member of SFWA, Codex, and the Dreamcrashers. Patrick has also had fiction published in Factor Four, Galaxy's Edge, New Myths, and Abyss & Apex. Find out more about his work at www.patrickhurleywrites.com.
See Their WorkFrancis Bass
"Francis Bass is a writer living in Philadelphia. His writing has appeared in Reckoning, Electric Literature, and others, and he has self-published many other works. You can find him online at francisbass.com
See Their WorkAnja Hendrikse Liu
Anja Hendrikse Liu (she/they) is a creator and devourer of fantasy and sci-fi who wishes she had time and words for all of her dreams. Her short fiction has been published by Fusion Fragment, Air and Nothingness Press, and others. Anja is a recovering but unrepentant English major and loves experiencing the world via baked goods and mythology. Find her on Instagram @to.anja or at anjahl.com/author
See Their WorkNina Simon
Nina Simon writes crime stories about strong women. Her first novel, MOTHER-DAUGHTER MURDER NIGHT, will be published by William Morrow in September 2023. Originally from Los Angeles, Nina now lives off the grid in the Santa Cruz mountains. You can find her online at ninaksimon.com or @ninaksimon on Twitter and Instagram.
See Their WorkLatest News
Uncharted Magazine Cinematic Short Story Contest | Judged by Rachel Harrison Winners and Shortlist
This contest is quickly becoming one of our favorites! There’s just something immediate about a short story that creates its world through cinematic craft moves and detail-rich writing! Judge Rachel Harrison chose three winners, and we decided to publish two others that we couldn’t let go! And congratulations to everyone on the shortlist. We read […]
Humor Challenge Winner
We’re excited to announce the winner of the humor challenge! We laughed, we chuckled, raised our eyebrows, but this is the story we returned to the most! We’re grateful to all the submitters who helped us launch a new genre at Uncharted! The Winner: Selected Apologies to Simone de Beauvoir, Written in Lichen by Tiffany […]
Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize | Judged by Laird Barron Winners
Congratulations to our three co-winners chosen by Judge Laird Barron! See below for the reveal of the shortlisted authors. We hope these manuscripts find great homes in the future! The Co-Winners: The Sailor by K. Wallace King “Redolent of Ellroy and Chandler, but stripped down. Lean, mean, and to the point. I loved the sense […]
Humor Challenge Shortlist
Congrats to the shortlisted stories and their writers! You’re humor is shining through in these pieces! We’ll be back with the winner of the challenge very soon!
2025 Keynote by Benjamin Percy
Rescheduled for 8/13/2025! As writers ourselves, we know how invigorating and inspiring it can be to hear from successful genre writers who have found a way to finish their drafts and get their projects into the hearts and minds of readers far and wide. Benjamin Percy may have started in the literary fiction space, but […]
Humor Challenge Longlist
It’s always a delight to open up to a new genre and see how our submitters respond to an exciting challenge! Comedy of any kind is hard to pull off, but it’s especially difficult when it’s solely on the page. We’re excited to add these 19 title to our longlist, while we continue to review […]
Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize | Judged by Laird Barron Shortlist
We did it! We finally found our shortlist for this contest. They have been submitted to Laird Barron for his judging, and we can’t wait to find out which excerpts are the winners! Congrats to the writers of these 20 shortlisted excerpts!
Uncharted Magazine Novel Excerpt Prize | Judged by Laird Barron Longlist
This has been one of our most entertaining and well-written batches of submissions for a Novel Excerpt Prize since we started in 2021. We have finally narrowed the longlist down to 45 thrilling excerpts! We’re still discussing which stories will make the longlist, so we apologize for the delay! The better the submissions, the harder […]
YA OPEN Contest Winners
Thank you to everyone who submitted their stories to Voyage YA by Uncharted‘s YA OPEN. We appreciate the time and effort required to produce the excellent work that made this contest so competitive. We are excited to announce the winners here! XXX Winners First Place: “The Hand & The Sea” by Threa AlmontaserSecond Place: “Sandstone […]