From here:
Greetings my fellow horror peeps and peers,
It’s no secret that these are tough times and money is tight for everyone. Huge corporations are lining up for DC pork and we all know who gets stuck with the bill for $800 billion and counting.
But nowhere in this vast plan do I see any help coming to the Horror Fiction industry.
Our publishers are struggling. Books aren’t selling. Magazines are barely scraping by. We’re seeing paying markets close doors every month. Even horror conventions are pushing to the back third of the year hoping things get better.
Well, Choate Road has decided to launch a grass roots HORROR BAIL OUT plan to help shake some things up. It’s going to be simple. It’s also going to rely on all of us, because if we lose our publishers, we’re all looking at a dead end.
The HORROR BAIL OUT is this: When you go to toss the government that $800 billion, keep $20 out. Don’t give it to DC. Pocket it. Whistle and stare into the sky so no one notices. Run home and shove that $20 in your desk or cookie jar or underwear drawer next to your leopard skin thong.
Then go buy a book.
My two cents:
I would never ask anyone to buy a book I didn’t think was good, or that they would enjoy. I don’t know everyone behind the presses involved in this operation but I do know some of them.
Apex Book Company is one of the best small presses out there. They consistently put out good products that are of good quality, both in material and in the quality of fiction. They work hard to bring you the best dark science fiction and strive to make their books affordable. Even their limiteds rarely go above $20. They also offer electronic versions of almost all of their books which makes them even more affordable. My personal favorites are Unwelcome Bodies by Jennifer Pelland, Temple: Incarnations by Steven Savile and the poetry books by Brandy Schwan. However, I really can’t say that there’s an Apex book (that I’ve read) that I haven’t enjoyed.
Graveside Tales is a relative newcomer and seems to still be working out their place in the genre. But I cannot recommend their anthology The Beast Within enough. I loved this one nad I think anyone who loves shape shifters will too.
I met the Shroud crew at Context and while I forgot to pick a copy of the magazine I know that they’re fun, solid people who are determined to build a good press. This is likely where I’ll be spend my $20.
Not ony is Skullvines publishing my novella Rot, they’ve also got some good titles under their name. Sloppy Seconds by Wrath James White is a collection of his Gross Out stories from WHC. But there’s another level to them too, making them not just inane voyages of yuck. Into the Cruel Sea by Rich Ristow was one of my favorite reads last year. It’s a stand out from many other horror tales for its realism and surprising emotional depth (emotions other than the scray ones). Skullvines is definitely toward the top on my most overlooked presses list.
Necrotic Tissue (which alas, I still haven’t read) released the first 4 (maybe 5) of their issues in free pdf form. How’s that for free samples!
The way I see it they’re only asking for $20, and there’s totally products worth that available.
