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By editors Lindy Ryan and Stephanie M. Witovich’s new annual anthology series celebrates and preserves
The best horror fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by women in contemporary horror.
Black Spot Books is proud to announce the Women in Horror of the Year,
A new annual retrospective anthology series dedicated to celebrating, preserving and creating a lasting record of women
A contribution to the genre.
From award-winning authors and anthologists Lindy Ryan and Stephanie M. Edited by Uitovich, the inaugural volume will collect outstanding horror fiction, nonfiction, and poetry by women and female-identifying authors published each calendar year. Debuting in spring 2028, Volume I covers work published in 2026 and features an introduction by author, historian, and horror scholar Lisa Morton.
The new series builds on Black Spot Books’ acclaimed women’s horror anthology series and its long-running
A commitment to empowering women’s voices in the genre. Ryan worked as an editor and curator for Bram Stoker
Award-nominated series including Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga, Mother Knows Best: Tales of
Handmade Horror and Screams: An Anthology of Werewolves, with Witovich. Each installment in the series has earned multiple starred reviews from the book trade media. HOWL was named a Library Magazine Best Book of 2025.
Together, Ryan and Vitovich bring decades of experience as writers, editors, educators and horror advocates.
Literature for the project. Described by Shelf Awareness as a “champion of female voices in horror,” Ryan created
Much of her career has revolved around empowering the contribution of women to the genre and is recognized as one of the scariest.
The masterful curators of the anthology.
Wytovich is a two-time Bram Stoker Award®-winning poet, editor, and educator whose work has appeared in many best-selling collections, including Best Horror of the Year by Ellen Datlow.
Ryan and Witovich believe that women have always played a role in defining and redefining horror, but it’s still remarkable.
Work – especially works published through independent presses, small magazines, digital publications, limited editions
anthologies and other ephemeral venues—can easily disappear from the larger literary conversation. the best of the year
Women in Horror celebrates outstanding work by women in the genre, while creating a living canon that reflects its breadth, preserves works that might otherwise be lost to time, and places emerging and underrepresented voices alongside established authors as part of the contemporary horror record.
Submissions will open for Women of the Year in Horror, Volume I on October 31, 2026 and will remain open until December 31, 2026. Full submission guidelines are available here
Black Dot Books
Black Spot Books is a woman-owned specialty press publisher of award-winning anthologies and collections by women in horror. Learn more about Black Spot Books at www.blackspotbooks.com.
