In Space No-One Can Hear You Dream
This issue we’re packing up our tricorder and hopping into our cryostasis pods for a voyage into the unknown. What lies in wait for us in the vast mystery of space? Aliens, black holes and dark urges? B-movie monsters and short-skirted heroines? Or the unexplored depths of our own twisted psyches? Switch on the in-flight movie and sip your Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster as we prepare to launch into a world where no-one in Hollywood has gone before.
Not sure how to interpret this theme? Here are just some of the ideas you could explore:
- play around with movies, blockbusters and pop-culture
- twist some of the ‘rules’ and clichés of sci-fi
- introduce us to aliens, monsters and ‘the other’
- give us strong, plucky and intelligent heroines
- explore dreams, illusion and reality
- show us what happens when science clashes with the unknown
- dive into the world of taglines, slogans and advertising
- shock and thrill us with tales of s3x, desire and the beast
This theme offers an exciting variety of different interpretations. What we’re not looking for is typical genre sci-fi or fantasy. We want stories that are out of the ordinary, surreal and twisted, or laced with dark, wicked humour. We want angry voices, new voices, voices that want to toy with the reader and teach them something new and exciting. Take us dark places, dirty places, and show us things to make us giggle, gasp or gag.
All submissions must have a countercultural element. By this we mean an engagement with, challenging of or subverting of popular cultures and ideologies. Many submissions lack this important point. Remember: we are 'The Anti-Pop Culture Journal'. If you want to know what that means, pick up a copy and see how our mission statement and our themes come together. Read the editorial introduction. Read the stories. Read the poems. Look at the art. Read the columns. Then ask yourself, 'Can I really imagine myself alongside these works?' If you can, then submissions should be sent, as always, to editor@polluto.com.
All contributors will receive one comp copy, and one story each issue will be selected as the editor's favourite, receiving payment at 4p/word (capped at £200). Payment to non- UK residents is by PayPal ONLY. We cannot send foreign bankers drafts or send foreign currency.
More information here.
