So, since I am getting my feet under the desk now, here's a little flavour of my #mswl. In general, I like all facets of SFF, including horror, and I like my books to range from serious thought-inducing works to read-in-a-flash commercial fiction.

I’d like to see more YA horror in my submissions 😊 #MSWL

#MSWL A fantasy and mild 🙈 horror combo. I love an eldritch creature or a magical deer with too many antlers. Nothing that exists in the real world and can actually get me! And I like when there is actually a creature, but if there isn't, the real explanation better be cool!

Sci-fi – I’m not looking for hard sci-fi. I'd really like a sci-fi-horror like ALIEN (but not too much gore!! I can handle some though), and always open to space operas! No intergalactic wars.

Mystery/suspense – I really like creepy, gothic suspense like A FORGERY OF ROSES. And GALLANT—it feels like gothic, fantasy, & horror all in one! Anything that comps to CRIMSON PEAK is always on my list—creepy manor, period piece, lots of secrets, ghosts, some romance!

Middle grade – In addition to my constant favorites, fantasy & horror, I definitely have a soft spot for all things creepy & mystery! I'm a constant fan of THE GREENGLASS HOUSE, THE CLACKITY, NIGHTBOOKS, & I was a huge SCARY STORIES TO TELL IN THE DARK fan as a kid.

Comps: PAN’S LABYRINTH for fairy-tale horror, Carrie Ryan (especially THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH), THE YEAR OF THE WITCHING, FINAL GIRLS, MEXICAN GOTHIC, WILDER GIRLS. I also can’t get enough horror movies—BODIES BODIES BODIES and BARBARIAN are two more that’ve stuck with me!

Horror, YA & adult - To me, the best horror has social commentary (WHAT WE HARVEST, EAT YOUR HEART OUT). I love horror blended with fantasy or fairy tales. I never get tired of creepy forests & small towns with secrets, whether it’s a current setting, historical, or high fantasy!

This year, I’ll be looking first for MG, then YA, then adult, then PB. My preference is for dark genre work (fantasy, horror, suspense) and rom-coms/lighter contemporary! I’m newly open to adult rom-coms after falling in love with a few last year. 😁

I would love to see a horror submission that takes inspiration from the Great God Pan - give me unearthly awakenings, sinister horned gods and eerie woodlands #MSWL

Stories with the entrenched characters arcs, cults, unreliable narrators, eeriness, and survival component of Yellowjackets. I am OBSESSED with this show to say the least and would love to see these elements in the YA thriller/horror space or the adult speculative space.

My new #MSWL is live on my site! Mark your calendars for Valentines Day, when I repoen to #amquerying writers!

So, what am I seeking? This year I'm prioritizing queer specfic, BIPOC voices, and romance novels of all kinds. Let's dive into the specifics!

stgibson.com/manuscript-wis…

"Would love to see more psychological horror in my query inbox—especially anything with a remote location (“abandoned” anything is a major selling point for me!), a haunted house (house as character!), and/or a final girl."
@claire_m_harris #MSWL

psliterary.com/submissions/

#MSWL I’m getting a lot of great subs in since I opened up, but not a lot in what I’m REALLY hankering for right now: adult horror, thrillers, suspense whether they are grounded or have more of a supernatural element. I want to be unsettled and engrossed!

So I just saw that there’s a train stuck in rural SC for like 29hrs & the passengers are all stuck & this is terrible & tragic & also would make a great backdrop to a thriller/horror novel 😬 #MSWL (of course I hope it ends happily for the real life folks it’s happening to ❤️)

WHITE HORSE? Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis. Awful father disappears his own daughter and no bothers to investigate. Not even her friends or family. The monster? The crisis itself.

Okay, that’s it for horror. Hope it’s help.

Now onto nonfiction!

Sure, there were monsters but only monsters driven by humanity’s own misdeeds. There would be no horror in ALL THE WHITE SPACES without the sins and guilt those explorers brought with them. Even the fact they traveled there showed their dark desires.

Forget serial killers and the Albert Fishes. Show me SOFT AND QUIET. The horror everyday people do. Examples? WHITE HORSE, ALL THE WHITE SPACES, THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS.

What makes the best horror? The unknown. We don’t need monsters that go bump in the night because we are the monsters. Show me the evil darkness of humanity. What do I actually mean?

Transgender, LGBTQIA horror.