We craft and tell stories because we’ve stood on the uncertain edge between the waking world and our imagination, between enchantment and fear. And we remember other stories that help us build our own stories, scraps of lumber and fragments of narrative we gather together to make stories for ourselves.

Call for Submissions: Why would Anyone enchant That?

There are good wizards, there are evil wizards, and then, there are bad wizards—the kind that create the vorpal apple corer, the ten-thousand-league piano dolly, the leggings of a hundred insects. They live in the Winnebago of Infinite Fear at the bottom of the ocean of cake frosting and fly through the night sky in a Zamboni which bays at the moon. The Romanian special forces still talk about The Great Plunger Panic of 1985 in hushed tones, and diplomats the world over shiver when they recall the affair of the weaponized Arbroath smokies. And who gives a conquering hero a kitty-litter-sifter that can rend the fabric of space and time? Who are these magical beings that give the rest a bad rap? They may call themselves “avant-garde” but what’s the truth and why would anyone enchant that?

We invite submissions that address the theme of strange and preposterous magical objects. Please read up on related folk motifs before you submit: these bizarre items have been infesting folktales for a long time. Consider this old Norwegian tale about why the sea is salt, or browse through that old copy of Andersen’s tale ‘The Shoes of Fortune’, below. And please read through our submission guidelines (tab 3 above) before sending anything.

Artists interested in illustrating for the issue should send an inquiry in the first instance to info(at)unsettlingwonder(dot)com.

Submissions are open till 1 May 2014.

The formal CFP can be viewed and downloaded here. Please distribute freely.


Reader Comments

  1. Have loved fairy tales since being brought up on Joan Aiken books, think your website will be a great interest to me. Saw your call for work on magical objects and remembered a short story I wrote about a dress of peacock feathers – think my tale would be rather tame and twee for yourselves but it has an original fairy tale at its heart. Would you be interested in reading it?

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