Tenebrous093: NSFNW (Not Safe For Non-Weirdos)
Hey Ho, Tenebrous Cult!
I don’t even wanna waste time with clever intros or anecdotes; I just wanna show you some jaw-dropping art.
We’re thrilled to reveal Becca Snow’s cover for REEF MIND, the astounding debut novella from Hazel Zorn:
About REEF MIND:
The coral reef rose from the seas, spreading across the land with incredible speed. A rapidly evolving invasive species.
It transformed the landscape. Mutated every living creature of the surface world.
We never suspected it had a plan.
Beneath the grisly body horror of REEF MIND lurks a parable about delusion and how our self-images of nobility and heroism shatter in the wake of disaster. Can’t wait to dive deeper on this one, y’all.
REEF MIND isn’t out until September, but you’ve got one week left to sign up for the Tenebrous 2025 Book Club, securing your preorder alongside the rest of our scheduled releases!
We’ve got Print+eBook and eBook-only options available. You can read more in-depth about all eight books here.
Never underestimate the power of the preorder in the realm of indie publishing, whether it’s direct from the publisher or from your favorite local bookstore. Either option works, and we love you for it.
MEANWHILE
We won the Dead Languages Podcast’s First Annual (?) Cummie Award for Best Independent Press! Also known as the award for Press Least Likely to Fuck You Over. Whichever name you call it, we were pleasantly surprised and deeply honored to learn that we took home the prize from the half-dozen bona fide presses we were proud to be contending with.
And what’s the award look like, you ask?
Well, if you know Dead Languages hosts Carson Winter and P.L. McMillan, then you know their aesthetic runs a bit scatalogically illegal…well, ribald, shall we say:
(Here’s the NSFW part, in case you read this newsletter with your young children in tow; in which case, they’ve already learned far worse):
If you think we’re not gonna peacock this sucker around like it’s an Oscar, then you don’t know us very well.
In all honesty, we feel incredibly flattered to be recognized by our peers and readers for the values we carry ourselves with. There are so many incidents of predatory publishing, vanity presses gone wrong, and bad behavior that emerge every month. Those in power tend to stick to familiar names and safe bets, which inevitably garner awards attention.
If nothing else, this big veiny drippy blue dick proves that not all indie publishing tales are cautionary ones.
ATTENTION WRITERS!
Speaking of those badasses at Dead Languages, they’re currently conducting a survey asking the hush-hush questions about what working authors got paid in 2024.
Whether you’re self- or trad-published; got paid in comp copies or signed your first five-figure deal; they wanna hear from you!
Help them paint an accurate picture of the modern publishing and writing landscape here:
Win a Copy of CASUAL by Koji A. Dae
Our next book is out in less than three weeks, and over on Goodreads you can enter for a chance to win a print copy!
About CASUAL:
Valya’s neural implant is amazing.
Its game-like app, CASUAL, has managed her depression and anxiety, stabilized her mood, and helped the infertile Valya get pregnant. But new laws forbid her from using the device when she's sole caregiver for her infant. Her gaslighting ex won't help her, and she can't afford a nanny, so her obstetrician insists that Valya wean off CASUAL before giving birth.
Despite a will to quit and a supportive new love interest in her birthing class, disabling CASUAL turns Valya's anxiety into full-blown panic attacks. Her psychiatrist offers to enroll her in a controversial clinical trial that would place a tandem implant in the baby and allow Valya to keep hers active. Valya must decide whether she should attempt parenting without CASUAL or install a minimally tested device in her vulnerable child.
Casual is a stark and cutting glance at a near future that looks uncannily like our present, exploring themes of bodily autonomy and the struggle for mental health in a world increasingly divided.
“Up there with Atwood, Bradbury, Dick, and Gibson. Dae’s novel seems both inevitable and horrifying. A must-read for the moment.”
Literary Hub, The Most Anticipated Books of 2025
CASUAL is out February 11th, and you could always just preorder it direct from us; that’s cool too.
What will be the next “Lynch-ian”?
On Alex’s first visit to Portland last May, we went to see Black Lodge Burlesque, a David Lynch-inspired revue at the Hollywood Theatre, followed by a 35mm screening of Blue Velvet.
To the surprise of no one, we felt right at home sitting in front of a stage of strip-teasing Eraserhead babies and Dune sandworms.
I don’t know what, precisely, this anecdote is supposed to convey, other than I can probably count on one-hand-minus-a-couple-fingers the number of artists who could inspire such a spectacle across mediums and lifestyles.
Our little Weird pocket of the world is rampant with (well-deserved) salutes, reminiscences and tributes to David Lynch, following his passing last week. A surreal burlesque show is just one of the many ways he has inspired Tenebrous, and will continue to do so.
It’s sad there will be no new Lynch story to marvel at, but the body of work left behind is absurdly bountiful and could be scrutinized endlessly without revealing every last facet.
That is a hell of a thing to aspire to, and he helped to chart one Weird-ass map that we’re excited and honored to be a part of.
Weird will never die.
Hail the Tenebrous Cult.
Matt + Alex.
Ahhhh this is badass!!!