When the Base Goes Dark: Holding the Line at Home
OPEN to former and current military dependents. Please submit your work during the period March 1 – April 30, 2026.
Honor system! Please do not submit if you do not fit the demographic for this anthology. There’s another submission call that is open to all for our first volume in the INEVITABLE series.
Payment: $50 flat rate per accepted story + contributor copy
Word Count: 2,000 – 6,000 words (firm)
Publication date target: Late 2026 (we’re shooting for November, but that might be cutting it close) or early 2027
Absolutely no AI-generated content!
Charity Supported: National Military Family Association https://www.militaryfamily.org
SUMMARY
Dependent? Hell no! You hold everything together and don’t back down. Behind every deployment is a home left vulnerable. Behind every absent active duty member, a family stands watch and handles whatever comes their way.
When the Base Goes Dark seeks original horror fiction written exclusively by current or former military dependents.
This anthology will explore the dark spaces that fester when the troops are gone, and the base goes quiet. It’s up to families to manage the horrors on their own, by whatever means possible. The threats you face are not insurgents or enemy combatants—they are creatures, hauntings, curses, psychological terrors, and domestic horrors that take root in unsuspecting territory.
This is a horror anthology, but dark fantasy and sci-fi horror are expected and encouraged.
THEME: HOME IS THE BATTLEFIELD
A military base has a level of safety associated with it. Civilians can’t just walk in. Vehicles are stopped and inspected before granted entry. It’s home. But what’s keeping darkness from crawling under the radar?
We want stories where the protagonist—military dependent(s)—must manage the horrors while their fictional active duty spouse or parent is deployed, TAD/TDY, on an exercise, at training, the entire unit is on a MEU, or otherwise away. You get the idea.
Your story should center on:
- Supernatural or psychological disturbances in on-base housing, commissaries, family readiness centers, gyms, on-base schools, facilities, or anywhere military families live and gather.
- Demons—literal or metaphorical.
- The unspoken expectation that dependents will “keep things running” even when the world is crumbling.
- Creatures—bigfoot, aliens, whatever makes for a great story invading the protagonist’s life.
- Collective resilience—spouses, children, friends banding together, neighborhood watch groups with night-vision goggles and holy water, Family Readiness meetings that turn into war councils.
- Ultimate costs—some families will conquer the horror while others may fall. Survival is not guaranteed.
We want stories grounded in the unique culture, pressures, myths, and quiet terrors of military family life—but transformed into something monstrous, creepy, or downright terrifying.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
- Horror forms—creature, cosmic, folk, psychological, body horror, occult, surreal, speculative, etc.
- Authentic perspectives—the frustrations, the pride, the fear, the strange normalcy of on-base living.
- Stories where the setting matters. Military bases, commissaries, housing units, flight lines, barracks, base schools, on-base forests, trails, armories, motor pools at night, abandoned training ranges, etc.
- Tension between duty and dread. There’s a level of behind-the-scenes confidence that comes with being a military dependent that is often ignored or practically squashed by leadership. Make your readers see how capable military families are under pressure.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT
- Real-world political theater or screeds.
- Military fetishization or trauma porn.
- Stories centered on the active-duty member’s experience (they should remain off stage or basically absent.
- Excessive gore without a narrative purpose.
- Fan fiction or anything using established intellectual property.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
- Simultaneous submissions: Yes, but please notify us ASAP if accepted elsewhere. No reprints. No more than two submissions per applicant.
- Manuscript format: Standard Shunn, .doc or .docx only.
- Content boundaries: We will consider dark themes, but avoid sexual violence, graphic domestic abuse without supernatural relevance, or cruelty for shock value alone.
- Diversity encouraged—military families come from every background, and we want this anthology to reflect that truth.
- Note for Underage Applicants. As an adult horror anthology, older teens may submit with their parents involved in the process and if the story is accepted for publication, the contract. Also, keep in mind that language, gore, and other adult content will be included in the final publication. Do not submit a story on your own if you’re not of legal age to enter into a contract.
WHERE TO SEND
Send submissions to info@tundraswanpress.com
Subject line: BASE GOES DARK_[Your Last Name]_[Story Title]
Attach your story as a file. Do not submit your story in the body of an email.
Provide a third-person author biography in the body of the email, NOT at the end of your submission. **Include a separate paragraph with a few sentences about your experience as a military dependent of [branch of service], including moves or unique/brief information as a military dependent you’d like to share with readers.