Specul8 Publishing

Specul8 Publishing Strange minds welcome. Sanity optional. Specul8 Publishing is the demented brain child of Rockhampton based author TC Phillips.

Specul8 Publishing: where TC Phillips turned his oddball ideas into a haven for Aussie and Kiwi writers who love all things weird, wild, and wonderfully speculative. After stumbling his way into a series of anthologies, literary journals and other international publications he was struck with the idea to try and ferret out other like-minded writers, freaks and miscreants a little closer to home. I

n 2014 he launched Specul8: Central Queensland Journal of Speculative Fiction and was shocked to learn there were far more of his type of twisted people out there than he ever bargained for. Three years and four bumper issues later, we set our sights a little farther afield and morphed into Specul8 Publishing, offering an independent publishing avenue for Australian and New Zealand based writers working in the kinds of speculative genres which really excite us. Whether sci-fi, horror, fantasy, steampunk or anything else in between, the stranger and more fantastical the better.

01/08/2025
Hello Specul8ors! It's your good ol' Uncle Henley Hackenslash here.Don't forget we're DYING to see your most WICKED tale...
01/08/2025

Hello Specul8ors! It's your good ol' Uncle Henley Hackenslash here.
Don't forget we're DYING to see your most WICKED tales. Give us some GARISHLY GRUSOME GORE and SADISTIC SCREAMS. And don't forget the STABBY-STABBY!
Knives, Nightmares & Neon: An 80s Slasher Anthology
Submissions open until August 31, 2025
www.specul8.com.au/submissions

Who's HUNGRY for some tasty flash fiction goodness with a little itty bit of cannibalism? 😋🍴🙍‍♂️I know you are you beaut...
01/08/2025

Who's HUNGRY for some tasty flash fiction goodness with a little itty bit of cannibalism? 😋🍴🙍‍♂️

I know you are you beautifully twisted miscreants. Read our latest flash fiction winner, 'Stay Inside' by Shakeel Roa
https://www.specul8.com.au/s/stories/stay-inside-by-shakeel-roa

She calls to him from further down the bunker. Hidden by shadows. “You know w-w-we can’t leave! It’s not safe yet!” They had lost track of how long they had been here many years ago. Or at least …

Hells yes. James Bond directed by the guy from Dune and written by the creator of Peaky Blinders?
01/08/2025

Hells yes. James Bond directed by the guy from Dune and written by the creator of Peaky Blinders?

Bond 26 is picking some exciting filmmakers.

Another fortnight down, and another Flash Fiction Challenge champion!This time, please congratulate... Shakeel Roa!Well ...
29/07/2025

Another fortnight down, and another Flash Fiction Challenge champion!

This time, please congratulate... Shakeel Roa!

Well done, Shakeel, your story will be online in the next few days, and we've emailed you

🎉 Think Fast. Write Faster. It’s Flash Fiction Time! 🖋️💣Can you tell a knockout story in just 300-500 words? Specul8 is ...
29/07/2025

🎉 Think Fast. Write Faster. It’s Flash Fiction Time! 🖋️💣
Can you tell a knockout story in just 300-500 words? Specul8 is back with a brand-new image prompt designed to spark brilliance—or chaos. Either way, we want to see what you've got!
🔁 Every fortnight until Oct 8th, a fresh visual prompt drops. Your mission? Craft a short tale, submit it, and you could snag:
💰 $10 AUD (via PayPal)
📢 A feature on our site
👑 Bragging rights as Specul8’s flash fiction royalty
But wait—there’s more festive fun! All winners will be featured in the Specul8 Christmas Annual, perfect for impressing relatives or haunting stockings across the globe. 🎄📘
Open to everyone, everywhere. Check the prompt. Hit the keyboard. Your crown awaits.

Central Queensland's own independent press Specul8 Publishing, specialising in all forms of speculative fiction.

28/07/2025

Attack of the Colossal Creatures from Planet X asks one simple, yet unanswerable, question: What will it be like when giant monsters invade our planet? Will it be epochal? Apocalyptic? Biblical? I …

Another new War of the Worlds is incoming. This time with Ice Cube.. thoughts?
25/07/2025

Another new War of the Worlds is incoming. This time with Ice Cube.. thoughts?

This is a very different take on H.G. Wells' book.

Merry Christmas in July! And as a present for you all, here's the cover reveal for our inaugural Christmas Annual - feat...
24/07/2025

Merry Christmas in July! And as a present for you all, here's the cover reveal for our inaugural Christmas Annual - featuring the winning entries of the Flash Fiction Challenge!

You too can get in on the action, as challenges are still running fortnightly until October 8th!

https://www.specul8.com.au/specul8-flash-fic-challenge

Kids today will never know the magic of a 5 for $5 weekly rental deal.If you could go back to your favourite video store...
23/07/2025

Kids today will never know the magic of a 5 for $5 weekly rental deal.

If you could go back to your favourite video store, what would you rent?

How’s your entry coming along for our latest Flash Fiction Challenge prompt?
22/07/2025

How’s your entry coming along for our latest Flash Fiction Challenge prompt?

Central Queensland's own independent press Specul8 Publishing, specialising in all forms of speculative fiction.

It's time for a little less conversation and a little more action!This book promises to be as big as the King himself. D...
19/07/2025

It's time for a little less conversation and a little more action!

This book promises to be as big as the King himself. Don't go stepping on our blue suede shoes, cause we're introducing Hail to the King, Baby - An anthology of Elvis impersonator-themed speculative fiction.

Elvis impersonators fighting N**i zombies? Groovy.

Elvis impersonators saving the world from alien invasion? Why thank you ma'am. Thank you very much.

Elvis impersonators who travel through time in a suped-up Cadillac? Be still my wooden heart.

Get your fried peanut butter, bacon and banana sandwiches ready folks! Things are gonna get All Shook Up.

Submissions open December 2025

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Rockhampton, QLD

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Stories worth sharing

We love storytellers, those passionate people who pour their souls into their work and yearn to share it with the world. That's what we do, at Specul8 we believe in stories that are worth sharing.