Special Feature: D&T Publishing

It’s always a pleasure for me to support the work of independent publishers. As a reader, you really do not ever know what you’re going to get with these guys, as they take risks on the most original (and bizarre!) fiction. It’s out of the literary comfort zone for many, but venturing into those uncharted areas of ‘here be monsters’, one can find the wildest of treasures.

D&T Publishing describe themselves as a bijou horror publishing house producing some of the best indie horror titles in the world. Yep: can confirm. From new authors to genre ‘names’, not a month goes past without one of their titles poking its head onto my reviewer radar, so I’ve compiled some of my favourites to give you a taste. I’m also including links to purchase via Godless, a likewise independent online bookstore that supports niche and gonzo horror, with a greater percent of profits going direct to authors.

‘Malum in Se’, by Jean Jentilet

Jenna Reynolds has always been at the top of her class, but law school is different. She works hard—harder than most of her classmates—to make the grades she needs to secure a clerkship with the most prestigious law firm in the city. When an all-night study session gets the best of her, she finds her fate in the hands of Professor Gregory Pym. A venerated academic who has taught generations of law students (including Jenna’s mother), Professor Pym does not believe in laptops in class, internet-based research, or second chances. Consumed with the idea of everything she has worked for crumbling around her, Jenna takes drastic measures—so drastic that there may be no going back.

As with most of the titles here, this is a short almost-novella, but it zips along before ending with a bang. What would you do if you were a student desperate to pass? This reminded me of Grisham’s ‘The Firm’ if it were an episode of ‘Tales from the Crypt’ - the paranoia, haunting undercurrent and final snap of Going Too Far. One for the young academics.

‘Dead Cats of Civilization’, by Douglas Ford

When a hurricane strikes his hometown, a young man rushes away from his new life so he can help with the recovery effort. He finds his old neighborhood dealing with the storm’s aftermath in some macabre ways, including the construction of a strange totem. Even worse, nothing can prepare him for the twisted horror that awaits him inside the walls of what he once called home.

This flows so gently. Definitely Lovecraftian, the story tweaks the nose of modern Floridians while showing a very real perspective on the immediate aftermath of an apocalyptic event… combined with monstrosity as humanity slips away. I was particularly struck by the mood here, as it’s beautifully sad, mournful in its confusion over just what the heck is going on. What even is normal anymore?

‘The God Damn Dead,’ by Colt Skinner

During the frigid Canadian winter, two outlaw bikers have been set up for a crime they didn’t commit. On the run from the law and their own club, they must fight their way through hordes of zombies, gangs of vampires, and a murderous witch who is hell-bent on revenge. 

I didn’t think this was for me at first. The protagonists seem so very unlikeable, in a stereotypical ‘biker gang’ racist, violent, toxic-masculine way. It only took a couple of (short) chapters to be fully on board with the adventure of our heroes as they run from the law, even worse biker gangs and the supernatural. Who’s the most damned… Red Dead Redemption with better wheels.

‘I Want Candy,’ by Azzura Nox

Hidden away in an old Victorian home, the Dresden witches have been making their prized candies for years. Their secret ingredient would make most people squeamish, but for Lollipop it’s just another typical day at home. Lolli spends her days making candies and longing for her classmate Stella. Stella is both beautiful and popular, but she harbors a darkness in her that threatens to make her whole world come undone. This coming of age queer romance is drenched in blood and sugar.

This is so much fun, I read it in one sitting, and would love to see an adaptation (paging Blumhouse)! The two heroines are both sympathetic - in the manner of ‘Heathers’, perhaps - and the small-town weirdness combined with dark magic is absolutely gripping. I was all over this candy, and am very glad to see the author getting more attention with each new creation.

‘Saturday Morning Mind Control,’ by Ben Arzate

What really killed Saturday morning cartoons? For Caleb’s young cousin attacks him with a knife, seemingly without provocation, it turns his whole life upside down. Who would believe a middle school boy that something strange came from the TV that Saturday morning and made it happen? Saturday Morning Mind Control is a mix of horror, mystery, and satire combined with a twisted coming-of-age tale in an America entering the new millennium.

This has the genuinely under-the-skin creepiness of those particular kid shows that freaked us out years ago. Children have to deal with their fears alone because who’d believe them? But then parents are genuinely terrified that their son or daughter might be next. In this book, both scenarios are true. Like ‘Channel Zero’, the edges of what we know are peeling back, but I couldn’t look away.

I’ve already got more from D&T on the To Read pile, but urge you to check these out for some great writing that will stay with you in the manner of the best campfire tales.