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by Travis Green*

As a long-time aficionado of speculative and horror fiction, a fan of works by authors ranging from Kurt Vonnegut and Ira Levin to modern masters Jack Ketchum and Stephen King, I have been pleasantly surprised by my recent discovery of the so-called “indie horror” scene. For those unaware, the indie horror scene is a thriving industry, with no signs of slowing down. Smaller independent publishers (that is, not affiliated with the traditional “Big Four” of New York publishers) such as Raw Dog Screaming Press, Quirk Books, DarkLit Press, and Grindhouse Press have been offering an enticing line-up of short story collections, novellas, and novels for some time, penned by an impressive stable of talent. Cynthia Pelayo’s Crime Scene (Raw Dog Screaming Press, 2022), for example, won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection at this year’s annual ceremony recognizing dark fantasy and horror writing. Earlier this year, the charity Scares That Care held another of its Author Con events in Williamsburg, Virginia, where I was able to meet many of these lesser-known horror authors, as well as attend readings and workshops.

As I am still navigating this fresh world of the speculative-horror underbelly, I encourage fellow readers of the strange and macabre to check out some of the popular indie titles offered in our catalogue. One book (We Need to Do Something) was recently made into a feature film, produced by Josh Malerman of Bird Box fame. Another title (Kill Creek) garnered praise from Joyce Carol Oates, and was chosen as the American Library Association’s Horror Book of 2017. One is a crime-infused, modern retelling of the Pied Piper fairy tale (Children of Chicago), while another is a wildly original take on the vampire story—set in 1980’s Texas, no less—and was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel (In the Valley of the Sun).

Many of these titles are available in e-book format and may be accessed through our website, via the Libby and Hoopla reading apps—including right to your tablet or smartphone, for easy, on-the-go reading. Here are a few of the exciting new titles, as well as some other overlooked gems of our collection:

GHOST EATERS by Clay McLeod Chapman

CROSSROADS by Laurel Hightower