12 Literary Agents Seeking Horror Novels NOW
All the agents listed here personally confirmed to me as of October 2015 that they are actively seeking horror submissions NOW. Some gave personal notes about their tastes while some did not. We have listed their personal tastes, contact emails, and submission instructions. They take adult horror, young adult horror, and middle grade horror.
In celebration of my three new books released this September (what an awesome autumn!), I'm doing a lot of special lists of agents seeking queries right now. I've already done lists on picture book agents, thriller agents, fantasy agents, and women's fiction agents. Below find a list for 13 agents seeking horror novels NOW.
- When Clowns Attack: A Survival Guide is an anti-clown humor book that teaches you how to defend yourself against these red-nosed bozos who plague us. It's a perfect gift for that clown-hating friend in your life. (It almost makes a heck of a white elephant gift.) Find it on Amazon or through Barnes & Noble or anywhere else books are sold. Beware clowns.
- The 2016 Guide to Literary Agents is a big database of agents -- who they are, what they want, how to submit and more. Find it in the Writer's Digest Shop or anywhere else books are sold.
- The 2016 Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market has oodles of markets (agents, publishers, etc.) for writers & illustrators of children's books -- from picture books to middle grade to young adult. Find it in the Writer's Digest Shop or anywhere else books are sold.
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All the agents listed below personally confirmed to me as of October 2015 that they are actively seeking horror submissions NOW. Some gave personal notes about their tastes while some did not. Good luck querying!
1. Alison Fargis (Stonesong)
How to submit: submissions [at] stonesong.com addressed to Alison. Include the word 'query' in the subject line of your email to ensure we receive it and it isn’t filtered as spam. Include the first chapter or first 10 pages of your work, pasted into the body of your email, so that we may get a sense of your writing. Please note that Alison is closed to queries in December. We welcome queries from independent and self-published authors. If you have self-published your book and are interested in working with a publisher for future works, please include descriptions of published and forthcoming works, as well as information about sales and reviews. Our system is set up so that every email query receives an automatic reply confirming receipt. After that, we will be in touch only in the event we would like to request more material. This is because we receive such a volume of submissions that it is impossible for us to respond individually to every query. If you have not received a request from us within 12 weeks, consider that we have passed. If we request additional material, we will of course respond with a specific reply. Please feel free to follow up with additional news about your submission during the 12-week period."
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2. Maria Vicente (P.S. Literary)
Notes: Looking young adult and middle grade horror. (No adult mss.)
How to submit: How to contact: E-query query [at] psliterary.com with “Query for Maria” in the subject line. “Do not send attachments. Always let us know if your manuscript/proposal is currently under consideration by other agents/publishers. If you don’t receive a response to your query within 4-6 weeks it means a no from the agency.”
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3. Carlie Webber (CK Webber Associates)
How to submit: To submit your work for consideration, please send a query letter, synopsis, and the first 30 pages or three chapters of your work, whichever is more, to carlie [at] ckwebber.com and put the word "Query" in the subject line of your email. You may include your materials either in the body of your email or as a Word or PDF attachment. Blank emails that include an attachment will be deleted unread. E-mail queries only.
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4. Beth Phelan (The Bent Agency)
Notes: Young adult and middle grade horror only. (No adult mss.)
How to submit: E-query phelanqueries [at] thebentagency.com. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email.
No attachments.
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5. Veronica Park (Corvisiero Literary)
Notes: "I would love a YA, contemporary retelling of any of the horror "classics" like Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Grey, or anything by H.P. Lovecraft."
How to submit: E-query query [at] corvisieroagency.com and putting "Attn: Veronica Park - Query - [BOOK TITLE]" in the subject line. She prefers to see your query letter, synopsis and 15-20 page sample pasted into the body of the e-mail. For bonus points, include links to your social media profiles in your email signature.
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6. Rebecca Podos (Rees Literary)
Notes: Young adult and middle grade horror only. (No adult mss.)
How to submit: Submit a query letter and the first few chapters (pasted in the e-mail) to Rebecca [at] reesagency.com.
No attachments.
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7. Bernadette Baker Baughman (Victoria Sanders & Associates)
How to submit: Send a query letter with the first three chapters (or about 25 pages) pasted into the body of the message to queriesvsa [at] gmail.com, with "Query for Bernadette: [title] in the subject line. "We will only accept queries via e-mail. Query letters should describe the project and the author in the body of a single, one-page e-mail that does not contain any attached files. Please paste the first three chapters of your manuscript (or about 25 pages, and feel free to round up to a chapter break) into the body of your e-mail. We generally respond to queries in one to four weeks, although occasionally it will take longer. We will not respond to e-mails with attachments or attached files."
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8. Sarah LaPolla (Bradford Literary)
Notes: Young adult horror only. (No adult or MG mss.)
How to submit: E-query sarah [at] bradfordlit.com. Put "Query: [title]" in your subject line. Please email a query letter along with the first chapter of your manuscript and a synopsis. Please be sure to include the genre and word count in your cover letter.
No attachments.
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9. Jill Marr (Sandra Dijkstra Literary)
Notes: Adult stories only. No YA or MG. "I’d like to find a horror story like Joe Hill’s Heart Shaped Box, the kind of tale that pulls you in so completely, and yet you feel like you can only safely read it during the day. I'd also love to see more gritty and atmospheric stories with plenty of plot turns--think The Silent Girls by Eric Rickstad. I like weird and creepy like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Shock me."
How to submit: E-query jmsubmissions [at] dijkstraagency.com. "If you have not heard back from us six weeks after sending your letter, you may assume that we have passed. Please send a query letter, a 1-page synopsis, a brief bio (including a description of your publishing history), and the first 10-15 pages of your manuscript. Please send all items in the body of the email, not as an attachment."
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10. Alec Shane (Writers House)
How to submit: Send the first 10 pages of your manuscript, along with your query letter, to ashane [at] writershouse.com with “Query for Alec Shane: [TITLE]” as your subject heading.
No attachments.
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11. Lane Heymont (The Tobias Agency)
How to submit: To query, type “Query - The Title of your Manuscript” in the subject line, then please paste the first five pages of your manuscript into the body of the e-mail to query [@] thetobiasagency.com.
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12. Evan Gregory (Ethan Ellenberg Literary)
Notes: "Alien. Abduction. Whitley Strieber and Fire in the Sky scarred me for life. Also if you can write a contemporary Lovecraftian yarn I want to hear from you (especially if you're TheBoyInTheClock)."
How to submit: Please send submissions to agent [at] ethanellenberg.com to the attention of Evan. “For email submissions, we ask that you paste all materials into the body of the email in the order mentioned below. For example, if you were submitting fiction you would begin with a brief query letter, followed by your synopsis, followed by the first 50 pages of your manuscript. We will not open attachments.”
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Bonus # 13. Heather Flaherty (The Bent Agency)
Notes: "I like really good horror and ghost stories… not gory-for-gory's sake or overly disgusting, but cringing, dark, bloody twisted, and even lovely. I'm seeking Alice Madness Returns meets Anna Dressed In Blood."
How to submit: flahertyqueries [at] the bentagency.com. Please do not query Heather if you are also querying Beth Phelan of The Bent Agency, who is also on this list. Paste the first ten pages of your book in the body of your email.
Chuck Sambuchino is a former editor with the Writer's Digest writing community and author of several books, including How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack and Create Your Writer Platform.
