Welcome to The Pitch, a monthly discussion thread of the best speculative fiction on Substack, introduced by the authors themselves!
Whether you’re a reader searching for spooky new worlds or a writer ready to promote your scariest piece, this Halloween Thread is for you! Here’s how it works:
🎃 Are you a writer?
Head to the comments and add:
A link to the speculative fiction that will keep your readers up at night (short story, serial chapter, anthology excerpt, essay, etc.).
A 1–2 sentence pitch to hook new readers.
Bonus: Share the inspiration behind the story, a moodboard, the first line, favorite reader tropes. Be creative!
⚰️Are you a reader?
Head to the comments:
Browse the comments to discover fresh speculative fiction directly from the authors.
Like the ones that catch your eye.
Leave a comment on a story you enjoyed—it makes a writer’s day and starts great conversations.
Already have a favorite ghost story to fit the theme of this spooky month (on or off Substack)? Leave a comment to drop a rec of your own!
🕸 Support the Community
Want to help these stories reach more readers?
Restack. Restack this thread. Restack the stories you are reading. Let fellow Substackers know what you enjoy.
Share it to Reddit, Discord, X, Instagram, Facebook, share it with your mom, uncle, best friend, grandpa, neighbor who weirdly does yardwork at midnight—anywhere speculative fiction lives, let them hear from you.
Like the infectious bite of a zombie, the words coming from your mouth are viral. The more you share, the more readers will read, and the more connections we build. Let’s keep the signal strong.
"Omegavores was what the news called them—back before the broadcasts stopped. An omnivore would eat anything, but the Shifters ate everything. Down to the last morsel."
"Strange Turkey" is a post-apocalyptic holiday story about survivors braving the wilds in search of a Thanksgiving dinner. It's a little The Walking Dead, a little Michael Crichton. Come check it out:
https://copperfrog.substack.com/p/strange-turkey
I'm on a bit of a quest to get my first proper paid subscriber, so I thought I would go back to when I was first here on Substack and present you with part 1 of a 6 part fun, dry-humour-esque, sci-fi adventure set a few hundred years after the Rapture in which the survivors live on huge rotating space stations. This is a bit of a crossover as it has an offbeat version of Katrina in it too (in flashbacks). There's great 50s esque goodies and a great baddie, and a few demons thrown in for good measure. The first chapter is free, so I am attempting to entice people to consider going paid to read the rest of it. I have nothing to lose, after all. It's called The End of Space Station Fifteen. Try it...
Starts here: https://inadifferentplace.substack.com/p/the-end-of-space-station-fifteen?r=2s9hod