#Hobjects – haunted, cursed, bedevilled, faerie-infested objects that bring no good to their owners.

Hi, I’m David รɦคᛕﻉร – and if you’re here, you (or someone you know) follows me on Twitter.

You’ll know that I am a dabbler in a few things and have co-produced a number of well-received anthologies and collections over the years. I’ve always relied on the help of wonderful people, probably a little too much, and recent events in my life persuaded me it was time to finally see a project through alone.

The idea came from the portmanteau of haunted objects. I also like the idea that Hob was old English for The Devil. Hobs are also faerie-type spirits – think Hobgoblins.

I wanted to go back to my Flashdogs and Infernal Clock roots – where we openly called for stories from writers of all levels and experiences.

HERE’S THE IMPORTANT BITS (for now):

• I’m looking for short stories (between 1k and 5k words) that use the paragraph in bold as an inspiration – that’s it, that’s the brief apart from…
• No ‘-isms’ and nothing designed to be specifically offensive to any particular cross-section of society. I welcome submissions that are representative and appealing to a wide-ranging audience.
• As editor, my decision is final.
• I can’t pay you, but you’ll get an e-book file and one printed copy of the book (if you choose to give me your address). I’ll also buy you a drink and hand one over in person if you fancy a trip to Brum!
• Apart from Flashdogs, I’ve never made any money back on these ventures, but if I eventually do, it will be donated to the charities we’ve supported in honour of my Mum who passed recently. She had all my books and this one will be dedicated to her memory too.
• You retain copyright and I only ask for 6 months exclusivity (and would flex on that too!)
• I WILL be getting a simple contract knocked up for all successful authors.
• I might want Flash stuff of 100 words exactly – more on that later.
• I’ll be using a template, the book will be 6×9, so please forward in standard manuscript format as shown here: https://www.scribophile.com/academy/how-to-format-a-short-story-manuscript
• If you have trouble with that, I can sort it – just type your story in word and I’ll do the rest.
• Any questions – ask on Twitter or comment below.