Elderfly Press is seeking submissions for a new anthology of stories and poetry exploring an unsettling question: What will become of us?

We are living through a period of enormous uncertainty. The world around us is changing rapidly, and the future can sometimes feel impossible to predict. The institutions we rely on are shifting. Technology is transforming how we work and communicate. Economic pressures affect where and how we live. The environment is changing. Political and social divisions seem increasingly difficult to bridge. At the same time, individuals are constantly navigating their own smaller transformations: growing older, falling in love, losing someone, starting over, becoming parents, leaving home, changing careers, discovering who they are, or realizing that the person they thought they would become is no longer who they are.

So, we want to ask the question: What will become of us?

“Us” can mean one person, two people, a family, a community, a society, humanity, or even another species. “Become” can mean transformation, deterioration, survival, evolution, reinvention, destruction, or something we don’t yet have a word for.

We are looking for stories and poetry that explore what happens when people confront an uncertain future—or discover that the future has already begun to change them.

Your interpretation can be literal or metaphorical. We are not looking exclusively for dystopian or speculative fiction. A story about a woman wondering what remains of her after thirty years of marriage could belong here just as readily as a story about a civilization collapsing or a creature evolving into something unrecognizable.

We want stories that make us wonder what comes next. Perhaps humanity survives but becomes something entirely different. Perhaps the world ends quietly, or perhaps it doesn’t end at all but the life we knew does. Perhaps technology saves us—or changes us beyond recognition. Perhaps a character spends years trying to become someone else only to discover that the transformation was happening all along. Perhaps what comes next is terrifying, perhaps it is beautiful, or perhaps it is both. We want stories that take that uncertainty and run with it, asking not only what the future might hold, but what it might make of us.

We are particularly interested in work that is dark, strange, unsettling, provocative, emotionally resonant, or difficult to categorize. We want stories that linger after the final sentence and poems that leave us looking at the world a little differently.

This anthology welcomes:

• Genre fiction: horror, speculative, dystopian, weird, gothic, supernatural, sci-fi, dark comedy, and beyond.
• Literary fiction with a moody or unsettling edge
• Essays on personal upheaval, cultural shifts, liminal experiences
• Poetry rooted in transformation, chaos, or shadow

Cross-genre work is especially welcome.

We are open to a wide range of interpretations of the theme. The story does not need to take place in the future, and it does not need to involve an apocalyptic or dystopian scenario. We are interested in the question itself: What will become of us?

Who will we become, and what will become of the things we love? What will happen to the places we call home, the communities we build, and the world we are leaving behind? We are interested in stories that explore not only our own uncertain futures, but the uncertain futures of the people, places, relationships, and worlds that matter to us.

And what happens when we discover that the future isn’t something waiting for us somewhere ahead—it is something we are creating right now?

What we don’t want (and where we draw the line)

This anthology welcomes honest, dark, and emotionally challenging explorations of parenthood—including depictions of abuse when they are essential to the story, grounded in character, or drawn from lived experience. However, we will not accept work that includes:

• Gratuitous or graphic violence included solely for shock value.
• Explicit, sensationalized, or voyeuristic depictions of harm to children.
• On-page sexual violence, especially involving minors (referenced trauma is acceptable; explicit detail is not).
• Content that prioritizes gore or spectacle over emotional truth, thematic depth, or narrative purpose.

We encourage submitters to approach heavy topics with intention, care, and narrative meaning. Difficult material is welcome—but exploitation is not.

Submission Guidelines

• Short stories: 1,000–5,000 words
• Essays: up to 3,000 words
• Poetry: up to 5 poems per submission, 1–3 pages each

Please submit original, unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions are fine—just let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere.

Details

• Deadline: December 15, 2026
• Contributors: Will receive a free digital copy, discounted print copies for resale, and promotional support.
• Rights: We request First World English Rights and non-exclusive anthology rights. Contributors retain ownership of their work.

How to Submit

Please send your work to: submissions@elderflybooks.com with the Subject line: What Will Become of Us? – [Your Name]

Include in your email:

• A brief cover letter (name, author bio up to 50 words, social links if desired)
• Your submission as a DOC, DOCX, or PDF file
• If submitting multiple pieces, please attach them as one file.

Questions?

Email us at info@elderflybooks.com

Now available in print and on Kindle!

Within these pages, a man awakens with a new head and an altered voice. A sunken city sleeps beneath the still waters of a lake. Fae figures linger at the edge of the woods, portals open into hell, and old tales return wearing new faces. The collection moves through haunted landscapes both external and intimate—through mourning, illness, decay, violence, and the terrifying beauty of transformation.

Darkly literary and deeply human, these tales and visions resist easy boundaries. They inhabit the liminal space between horror and realism, tenderness and brutality, the sublime and the grotesque. What emerges is a chorus of voices unafraid to look into the abyss and find, staring back, something achingly beautiful.

This is a book for readers who understand that the most haunting stories are not only terrifying—they are unforgettable.

From the editors who brought you Bad Moon on the Rise: An Anthology of the Unsettling!