"A new voice in Weird Horror worth keeping a close eye on"
Hey Ho, Tenebrous Cult!
That quote in the email header comes from Michael Wehunt, a brilliant Weird Horror writer currently making waves in the public eye himself. He’s referring to Hazel Zorn, who makes her longform debut this September with REEF MIND, a novella of cold, brutal wonder; with a premise that feels both ludicrous and horribly inevitable:
The story centers on a retired fireman and his partner who reside in a coastal community as an explosive coral growth takes hold. It’s a stunningly beautiful sight…at first. And that’s really all we want to tell you about the plot before we wander into spoiler territory.
I mean, c’mon, you already know if just the phrase “Eco-Body-Coral Horror” is giving you the warm fuzzies.
“An unsettling novella with so many ways to get under your skin: Cosmic Horror, Body Horror, and also the growing 21st-century Horror that if the oceans we’ve harmed rose up against us, we would deserve it. Zorn is a new voice in Weird Horror worth keeping a close eye on.”
Michael Wehunt, The October Film Haunt and Greener Pastures
“Unfolds with terror and hypnotic beauty.”
Ivy Grimes, The Ghosts of Blaubart Mansion
"Zorn has stitched together a future unburdened by petty desire–there’s a greater power pulsing eerily beneath the prose."
Andrew F. Sullivan, The Marigold and The Handyman Method
“Surreal and skin-crawling. A pure oceanic nightmare and a must-read for fans of eco-Weird.”
Thomas Ha, Uncertain Sons and Other Stories
REEF MIND is out September 9th. It features incredible art all around: that psychedelic cover by Becca Snow, plus interiors by Echo Echo.
It’s also a part of the 2025 Book Club, so if you’re already subscribed, you’re good to go (and if you’re not, it’s not too late to join!)
Coming in 2026 from Tenebrous: Punk As F%$k edition
We and Allison have been sniffing each other out for a couple years, just waiting for the right project that screamed Tenebrous (into a spit-covered microphone in a rank, smoke-filled, overcrowded club). The essence of her initial pitch for DIVE was “Magnolia by way of Margaret Atwood: alternately gross, funny, and heartbreaking.” That’s pretty damn accurate.
This is the third book we’ve announced for 2026. If OLYOKE is the culty New Weird South, and KAYAK is widescreen epic popcorn Horror, DIVE feels like an early-aughts arthouse film, filled with memorable skeevy chainsmokers and shitty people doing shitty things to each other that you can’t help but cackle at.
I haven’t spent any time in Oakland, but the vibes of this book capture a creative bonanza on the verge of change. It reminds me of Portland shortly after I moved here in 2003; the feeling of a secret about to be shared (with a bunch of very excited real estate developers). Still a little bit seedy and grimy and artistic and brilliant…and ready to explode into the mainstream. And all the good and bad that comes with that.
The Oakland of DIVE is an Oakland on that same cusp: grim and gritty and in the process of becoming something…other. Allison breathes extraordinary life into this portrait of a neighborhood reaching its own horrific critical mass. It’s hilarious and shocking, dark and irreverent (Hey, I never get to use the word irreverent to describe our books! Hails anew, Allison!)
We got to hang out with her last year at StokerCon in San Diego, and all our fates were sealed:
Allison also writes funny shit for The Hard Times, which further validates her punk bona fides. Just thought you should know.
DIVE is coming out in fall 2026. You can try to act like you’re too jaded and cool for this book, but deep inside you’re stoked as hell.
POSTHASTE MANOR eBook is only $0.99 right now
Look, none of our books could ever have too many eyes on ‘em; and occasionally we think some could use a few more. So when we remember to, we’ll be putting one of our backlist titles up for less than a buck.
Right now we’re featuring 2023’s POSTHASTE MANOR from Jolie Toomajan and Carson Winter. Who can resist a kickass book about one seriously f&%ked-up house for less than a buck?!
About POSTHASTE MANOR:
NEVER TRUST A HOUSE WITH A NAME
Everyone has a story about Posthaste Manor.
None of the stories end well, but that doesn’t stop the hopeful from hoping and the desperate from trying.
This composite novel stands as both history and eulogy of one very haunted house, as recounted by artists, real estate agents, and beloved family pets; by the debauched, the dead and the dying, and anyone looking for one last chance.
Raise a glass in celebration. Just don't linger within its walls for long.
Cover art by Trevor Henderson.
Interior illustrations by Alex Woodroe.
“Un-builds a mosaic narrative from the exquisitely deconstructed corpse of Gothic fiction. Toomajan and Winter kick our expectations out like delinquents smashing windows, then remodel the old bones of the haunted house story to entrap the reader in a joyfully wicked architectural beast.”
Joe Koch, author of The Wingspan of Severed Hands and Convulsive
And if you wanna load your shopping cart up with some other titles while you’re there, we sure ain’t gonna stop you.
Alex arrives in Portland next week, just in time for the Portland Horror Film Festival to kick off on Wednesday! Next newsletter will have a cover art reveal for you and maybe some more 2026 news?
In the meantime, go make nice with your future oceanic overlords and preorder REEF MIND.
Hail Indie Publishing.
Hail New Weird Horror.
Hail the Tenebrous Cult.
Alex + Matt