Pride Every Month
Jun 09, 2026 1:31 pm
Hey Ho, Tenebrous Cult!
A couple of thoughts in celebration of Pride Month.
We know that our lives, identities, and struggles exist every day of the year, and deserve however much space they need, every month. But we also know that celebrations are important, and marking the passing of time and our growth over the years is how we remember where we're going.
if Texas had just accepted my redesign of their flag the first time, we'd be a lot better off.
So we are here to celebrate Pride Month, in the most suitably Tenebrous fashion we can imagine:
Right now with a special treat; and every goddamn day of the year after that.
And we're pleased to introduce a permanent section to our webstore header:
If you're looking for the best, Weirdest Queer literature that the indie horror scene has to offer, then baby, you are home.
You can be assured that some of our Weirdest stories reside here. (Because Val resides here.)
goddammit, Val.
goddammit, Val.
Speaking of Weird, in light of the recent publishing gossip (TL;DR someone trademarked 'hot girls read' and it's kind of hilarious) I made us our own slogan.
Who thinks we should have an extended Tenebrous shirt store? OH WAIT WHAT'S THIS >>>
But most importantly, what we have is amazing books, so we hope you'll celebrate with us and our LGBTQIA+ Cult. And if not this month? NBD. We'll be here next month.
And the one after that.
And so on.
~ And a note from the most Romanian editor in all of weird horror ~
I think of myself as a quiet queer.
You all have so much going on in your parts of the world, you may not know very much about mine. Most of Eastern Europe is a right-wing cove, and although Romania has been a little island of sanity for a while, it's riddled with upheaval and uncertainty. There's a war front a few hours away and rumours we're next, politicians getting eliminated from elections for collusion with the Russians, there's drones and jet fighters overhead daily, digital attacks for lunch, and the extremist campaigns get more heated by the minute in a desperate attempt to bring forward whatever the hell it is the world is planning for this little corner of it.
Don't worry. We have extensive problem-solving experience.
Not to frighten you; we're a tough people and considering everything, we're doing very well. There are more wins than losses, so far. But it is a context that refuses to be ignored, and one that impacts this month, for me.
Because outside of the space of English-speaking publishing—and I give thanks every single day that it exists and I am allowed to be here as I am—I am very, very careful and anxious about my visibility as a queer person. And I know that inside Romania and outside of it, there are a great number of us in the same shoes, perpetually struggling to strike the balance between making sure good people know as much as they need to, while not giving scary (and often local) ones too easy a target to start lobbing shots at. And the secret is, there is no balance. Whatever we do, it'll be wrong in both directions a little bit, and we just need to live with that.
But if there's one common trait running through most of us on any corner of the flag, it's that we love being close to our own people, and I have been feeling terribly far from all of you, a problem of my own doing. Which means it needs to be of my own un-doing too.
Also we love flags. Here's one I'm personally pretty fond of right now.
So I want you to know: I am proud of you and respect you if you're visible, and loud, and bright, and thank you for making the world more open for all of us. I am proud of you and see you if you're a quiet, stealth queer, hiding in the costume of an ally and hoping your activism makes your people feel safe around you anyway. I am proud of you if you've found yourself. I am proud of you if you don't quite know who you are, yet, but you're pretty sure it's someone. I am proud of you if you can't stop talking about it. I am proud of you if you never say a word and hope people will 'just know'. I am proud of you if you march. I am proud of you if you don't.
However you celebrate this month, I hope you feel a little closer to you, and to the people like you. Go tell someone you see and accept them. Be loved.
Hail Indie Publishing.
Hail New Weird Horror (+ More!)
Hail the Tenebrous Cult.
Hail the Pride Millennium.
Matt + Alex
