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Coming Attractions

But, wait, there’s more, you also get…

It’s been a fantastic year for Word Horde books (and their striking covers) so far—from Christine Morgan’s Vikings to Molly Tanzer’s Decadents—but we’re just getting started!

We’ve also got a pair of collections from John Langan coming late summer/early fall. A reissue of John’s long out-of-print first collection, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters will be released in August, and a brand new collection, Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies will wrap up our production year in October. Both will feature more amazing art from Children of the Fang cover artist Matthew Jaffe. Keep watching this space for cover reveals and preorders!

And now… (drumroll please)

We’re super excited to tell you about our first two titles acquired for 2022!

First up is a new collection from World Fantasy Award-winning author Scott Nicolay. Dropping in February (2.22.22!), And at My Back I Always Hear is a sizeable collection of stories and novellas from the always erudite and provocative Nicolay.

Following in April will be the debut novel from S. L. Edwards, In the Devil’s Cradle, a captivating haunted house novel where the house is an entire country, a nation coming apart due to influences both internal and external, both natural and supernatural.

Why follow the herd? Join the Horde!

Cover Reveal: The Molly Tanzer Collection

Landing May 25, 2021: The Molly Tanzer Collection from Word Horde! Back in print after some time, these new Author’s Preferred Editions of Tanzer’s early works feature refreshed content, new introductory material and notes, and these amazing new chromatic covers from Matthew Revert!

Preorder your copies today from Word Horde, and you’ll also receive signed bookplates from Molly Tanzer, and free eBooks in your preferred format. Order the full Molly Tanzer Collection bundle for a special price!

And now, on to the covers!

Rumbullion by Molly TanzerRumbullion — An unsettling epistolary novella filled with 18th century decadence, weird rituals, and murder.

In the aftermath of a party gone terribly, fatally wrong, nobleman Julian Bretwynde strives to make sense of the evening’s events, interrogating those in attendance, including the mysterious Count of Saint Germain, the Lady Nerissa, and a servant named Dionysios.

As Julian attempts to excavate the truth from wildly disparate stories, he finds that truth may be far stranger–and deadlier–than he imagined.

A Pretty Mouth by Molly TanzerA Pretty Mouth — An interlaced collection detailing the triumphs and misadventures of the decadent Calipash dynasty, a family blessed–and cursed–by cosmic weirdness.

A faithful valet is forced into the service of a decadent lord. A young writer of erotica returns to the family estate after many years in exile. A pair of decadent twins conspires to explore the most eldritch and macabre debaucheries. A troupe of soldiers face off against unimagined barbarity. A young man determines to be part of the in crowd… at any cost.

The Pleasure Merchant by Molly TanzerThe Pleasure Merchant — A novel of despair and desire, equal parts psychological thriller and sensual parlor drama.

When apprentice wig-maker Tom Dawne’s greatest creation is used as part of a revenge scheme against a powerful gentleman, he is dismissed by his embarrassed master and forced to abandon his dreams of completing his training, setting up a shop of his own, and marrying his master’s daughter. Determined to clear his name, Tom becomes the servant of the man he suspects set him up. Tom finds himself caught up in a web of ambition, deceit, mesmerism, sex, and power… and at its center, a man able to procure pleasure for anyone–for a price–and a woman whose past has been stolen.

News From The Horde – April 2021

It’s Release Day for Christine Morgan’s The Wolf’s Feast, preorders are now open for The Molly Tanzer Collection, and FREE Scratch and Dent Fisherman!

Release Day: The Wolf’s Feast

Happy Freya’s Day and Blessed Walpurgisnacht! Today is release day for Christine Morgan’s newest collection of Viking stories and sagas, The Wolf’s Feast, as well as her redesigned first collection, The Raven’s Table. Both covers feature Elinore Eaton’s amazing artwork depicting a mythic panorama. Publishers Weekly described this collection as “infused with mythology and magic, these dark tales cast a powerful spell.” Order yours today!

Preorder The Molly Tanzer Collection

Preorders are now open on a trio of titles by Vermilion author Molly Tanzer coming May 25, 2021:

  • The Pleasure Merchant: A novel of despair and desire, equal parts psychological thriller and sensual parlor drama.
  • Rumbullion: An unsettling epistolary novella filled with 18th century decadence, weird rituals, and murder.
  • A Pretty Mouth: An interlaced collection detailing the triumphs and misadventures of the decadent Calipash dynasty, a family blessed–and cursed–by cosmic weirdness.

Previously published by Cameron Pierce at Eraserhead Press, these critically acclaimed books have been out of print for some time.

The Molly Tanzer Collection from Word Horde are the Author’s Preferred Editions of these works, each featuring new introductory material and notes, and we are quite pleased to bring them to you. We’ll be showing off new cover artwork by Matthew Revert very soon, so get your order in and stay tuned!

Get a FREE Scratch and Dent copy of The Fisherman

We have an overabundance of Scratch and Dent copies of John Langan’s Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman. While supplies last, use the coupon code GOFISH to get a FREE Scratch and Dent copy of The Fisherman. Be sure to add it to your cart with your other items. If you’ve already got a copy, this is a great way to get one for a friend.

Coming Soon from Word Horde

Here’s what’s coming from the Horde later this year.

Two collections from John Langan, the all-new Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies (October), and a new edition of Langan’s out-of-print debut collection, Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters (August). More details coming soon!

News From The Horde – March 2021

Keep reading for news about Christine Morgan’s The Wolf’s Feast and other upcoming titles, an updated Scratch and Dent Sale, and FREE Scratch and Dent Fisherman!

Cover Reveal: The Wolf’s Feast by Christine Morgan

Coming Freya’s day, April 30: The Wolf’s Feast, the newest collection of Christine Morgan’s Viking stories and sagas. Featuring gorgeous artwork depicting Freya and her wolves from the incomparable Elinore Eaton, this collection is “infused with mythology and magic, [and] these dark tales cast a powerful spell.” (Publishers Weekly)

To celebrate the release of The Wolf’s Feast, we’re re-releasing The Raven’s Table with an all-new Elinore Eaton cover featuring Odin and his ravens. Apart, these covers are stunning, but side by side they paint a mythic panorama. Here’s a peek at the covers and your first chance to preorder

Continue Reading →

It’s the About Time It’s the End of the Year Sale

It’s been quite a trip around the sun: Wildfires, upheaval, a global pandemic! But we’ve finally made it to the end of this dumpster fire of a year, and not a moment too soon. Seems like a good excuse to run a sale! So, from now through December 31, take 25% off your order of all Word Horde books (except scratch and dent) with coupon code DUMPSTER. Pick up John Langan’s latest collection, Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies, Scott R. Jones’ novel Stonefish, or any other Word Horde releases… and save!

Children of the Fang and Other GenealogiesStonefish by Scott R. Jones

THE HORROR BUNDLE FROM WORD HORDE

Word Horde is proud to present a collaboration with StoryBundle, curated by Molly Tanzer. Here’s Molly:

We are fortunate enough to be witnessing a lush flowering of horror. From New Weird to throwback splatterpunk, the modes and expressions of the genre these days are as diverse as its writers. Whether you’re intimately familiar with the contemporary horror field, or just looking to dip your toe in a very deep—and monster-infested—pond, this bundle of horror novels and collections from sensational independent publisher Word Horde is not to be missed. You’re sure to find something strange, something scary, something transgressive, something that jumps out at you and demands to be reckoned with.

Word Horde’s list is eclectic, in the best way. Readers will find plenty of cosmic horror here, such as Brian Hauser’s Memento Mori, nestled alongside literary works such as John Langan’s The Fisherman, and lighter fare such as my own weird western Vermilion. You’ll also find a lot of music-inspired horror such as David Peak’s Corpsepaint, Tony McMillen’s An Augmented Fourth, and Carrie Laben’s A Hawk in the Woods. If you like your horror shorter, if not necessarily sweeter, we have a few stand-out collections, too. Orrin Grey’s Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales will dazzle you, Nadia Bulkin’s She Said Destroy will rebuke you, and Livia Llewellyn’s Furnace will incinerate you from within. As you can see, every book in this bundle has been selected because it’s essential reading for the up-to-date reader of modern horror fiction.

Like all speculative fiction, horror serves as a lens; as a mirror, really. When we read horror, we read about ourselves. That’s why it makes us shiver and squirm. So, enjoy seeing yourself reflected throughout the Horror Bundle from Word Horde. Only you’ll know if you’re seeing yourself in the heroes—or the monsters.

–Molly Tanzer

For StoryBundle, you decide what price you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you’re feeling generous), you’ll get the basic bundle of five books in any ebook format—WORLDWIDE.
• Corpsepaint by David Peak
• A Sick Gray Laugh by Nicole Cushing
• A Hawk in the Woods by Carrie Laben
• The Fisherman by John Langan
• She Said Destroy by Nadia Bulkin

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $15, you get all five of the regular books, plus TEN more books, for a total of fifteen!
• Beneath by Kristi DeMeester
• An Augmented Fourth by Tony McMillen
• Memento Mori – The Fathomless Shadows by Brian Hauser
• Stonefish by Scott R. Jones
• Furnace by Livia Llewellyn
• Guignol & Other Sardonic Tales by Orrin Grey
• The Human Alchemy by Michael Griffin
• The Raven’s Table by Christine Morgan
• The Unnamed Country by Jeffrey Thomas
• Vermilion by Molly Tanzer

This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com

Preorder John Langan’s Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns August 18, 2020 with a new book of stories: Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies

An aspiring actress goes to an audition with a mysterious director. An editor receives the last manuscript of his murdered friend. A young lawyer learns the terrible connection between her grandfather and an ancient race of creatures. A bodyguard drives her employer across a frozen road toward an immense hole in the earth. In these stories and others, John Langan maps the branches of his literary family tree, tracing his connections to the writers whose dark fictions have inspired his own.

Introduction by Stephen Graham Jones

Cover Art by Matthew Jaffe
Cover Design by Scott R. Jones

Pub Date: August 18, 2020

Preorder your copy today!

Stonefish streets, Scratch & Dent, and Word Horde’s Class of 2019 hits Apple Books

Scott R. Jones’s Stonefish hits the streets today. Look for it where better books are sold.

Stonefish by Scott R. Jones

A missing tech mogul…
…a jaded reporter…
…a damaged AI returned from a horrifying reality…
…and something lurking in the woods.

When journalist Den Secord is tasked with locating enigmatic tech guru Gregor Makarios, he soon finds his understanding of reality under threat. At the edge of the world, surrounded by primeval forests, in the paradisiacal environs of Gregor’s hi-tech hermitage, Den learns of the true nature of our Universe.

This is the way the world ends.

Heart of Darkness meets The Magus meets bleeding-edge psychedelic gnosticism in Stonefish, the debut novel from Scott R. Jones (When Stars Are Right, Shout Kill Revel Repeat).

Some recent returns means lots of new arrivals in our Scratch & Dent section. And while the condition of these books is less than perfect, we’d still love to find good homes for them. Perhaps your home. Novels, collections, and anthologies at great prices! Help us make room for more.

Word Horde books are now available on the Apple Books ebook platform. Look for our Class of 2019: Carrie Laben’s A Hawk in the Woods, Brian Hauser’s Memento Mori: The Fathomless Shadows, Craig Laurance Gidney’s A Spectral Hue, Nicole Cushing’s A Sick Gray Laugh, Jeffrey Thomas’s The Unnamed Country, and more (including Scott R. Jones’s Stonefish). And we’re still uploading, so if you don’t spot your favorite Word Horde titles at Apple Books now, you will soon!

Scott R. Jones’ Stonefish cover reveal

Coming this February is Stonefish, the debut novel from Scott R. Jones. Here’s a peek at the cover and your first chance to preorder…

Stonefish by Scott R. Jones

A missing tech mogul…
…a jaded reporter…
…a damaged AI returned from a horrifying reality…
…and something lurking in the woods.

When journalist Den Secord is tasked with locating enigmatic tech guru Gregor Makarios, he soon finds his understanding of reality under threat. At the edge of the world, surrounded by primeval forests, in the paradisaical environs of Gregor’s hi-tech hermitage, Den learns of the true nature of our Universe.

This is the way the world ends.

Heart of Darkness meets The Magus meets bleeding-edge psychedelic gnosticism in Stonefish, the debut novel from Scott R. Jones (When Stars Are Right, Shout Kill Revel Repeat).

Cover Art & Design by Matthew Revert

Pub Date: February 25, 2020

Format: Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-939905-56-7

Format: eBook
ISBN-13: 978-1-939905-57-4

Preorder your copy today!

It’s not too late to read the best books of 2019!

Here at Word Horde, we think we put out some of the best books of the year. Every year. And we’re not alone in thinking this. Here’s a round-up of some of the praise Word Horde books received as we moved into 2020.

Max Booth III said the following of Carrie Laben’s A Hawk in the Woods, “Consider this book the Geek Love of witchcraft. […] This is the best debut novel you’ll read all year.” And Max also names Carrie Laben’s A Hawk in the Woods one of the best weird and dark books of 2019 for the San Antonio Current, saying, “Laben’s novel is a gloomy celebration of black magic and everything that comes with it.”

NPR and Vernacular Books both picked Craig Laurance Gidney’s A Spectral Hue as one of the best books of 2019, as did Rosanne Rabinowitz and Bogi Takács.

LitReactor called Nicole Cushing’s A Sick Gray Laugh and John Langan’s The Fisherman two of the best books of the decade!

Signal Horizon‘s Carson Winter picked Nicole Cushing’s A Sick Gray Laugh and Brian Hauser’s Memento Mori: The Fathomless Shadows as two of the best books of 2019

TBN Weekly recommended Jeffrey Thomas’ The Unnamed Country, as did Paul StJohn Mackintosh of Grey Dog Tales, who writes, ““This is a modern classic of writing about another country or culture on the level of Lafcadio Hearn or ltalo Calvino.”

And we had a nice write-up in the Petaluma Argus-Courier, too!