Hey Ho, Tenebrous Cult!

The Weird Bookmobile is open for business

..I don't know what that means. Your books will not be delivered by a bookmobile, unless that's what you call your mail carrier's vehicle, and frankly that's between you and them.

Still, the bookmobile was awesome, wasn't it? I discovered Alan Moore's Swamp Thing at way too young an age on my neighborhood bookmobile. That explains a lot about the direction my life has taken.

I'm rambling, aren't I? I'm just so excited to tell you about our 2026 lineup at length, and that Book Club subscriptions are open now!

Sub to the Book Club

Subscribing to our 2026 titles is an investment in the work we do, and it in turn helps us continue to invest in more of the types of work that *should* see mainstream success but don't... yet.

Additionally:

• you'll get the smug sense of satisfaction that comes from directly supporting a cool, too-sexy-for-its-own-good indie press and its equally sexy cadre of writers;
• you get some cool exclusive swag and bonus features;
• you'll save a bunch on shipping costs;
• we have it on good middling authority that this will pay off for you karmically in whatever the next realm of existence holds;
• Most importantly, you get some of the best books being published today.

With print subscriptions—as with all Tenebrous orders—you get the eBooks for free. But we also have eBook-only Book Club, where you can subscribe and save a few bucks vs. what you would pay by ordering each title individually.

This year's Book Club has nine titles coming at you instead of eight. (Our 10th book—Mo Moshaty's non-fiction exploration of the horror genre across cultures, ANNEX OF THE OBSCURE, VOLUME ONE: THE AFTERLIFE—is not part of the book club but will be offered to subscribers at a discount, once we have the details for it ironed out.)

Alright, so what's on the agenda for 2026?

1.KAYAK by Kristal Stittle (Feb. 17)

Page count ain't everything...but if it were, then Tenebrous has a new champion. KAYAK is a beefy book, and it needs every last one of those pages to contain its rollicking creature-feature action, suspenseful cliffhangers and epic sci-fi horror; KAYAK is widescreen cinema vibes—dashes of The Walking Dead and A Quiet Place—but deft character work and pure Pulp are in its bones.

"Deceptively unsettling, smart survival horror…grips you by the throat and [doesn’t] let go."

• Max Booth III, I Believe in Mister Bones

“A riveting, fast-paced, genre-blending story.”

• Laura Cranehill, Wife Shaped Bodies

"Hypnotically suffocating and immersive. I caught myself holding my breath.”

• J.Krawczyk, It Looks Like Dad

Cover art by Kerisson Wemerson. Interior art by Blacky Shepherd.

**And if subscribing to the Book Club ain't your thing—if you prefer to order a la carte—KAYAK is also up for preorder right now!**

Preorder KAYAK

2.OLYOKE by Vincent Endwell (Mar. 24)

"Deep-fried Southern Gothic & mind-melting Cosmic Horror"

Yep, that sums it up nicely, thank ya Bitter.

Olyoke, Tennessee is home to a Dollywood-style theme park, generations of troubled families, and the warnings of a dead architect turned conscripted prophet, who writes of a coming cataclysm.

As the fire nears, DARCY, a Dolly Parton impersonator, finds strange worms in the swamp and feeds them to her dog, who then speaks with the voice of her dead mother. Recently divorced LYLE KNOX is called through its dreams by a strange house, and through its investigation, discovers that Lyle Knox itself is not a person, but a structure. MAGGIE WARNER organizes a theater production to stave off her gnawing misery and becomes convinced that only the people she sees in her dreams are real. Moreover, the Whistler—the man Maggie becomes when she sleeps—welcomes the town’s impending Judgment with open arms.

All destinies converge in Olyoke. None will escape unchanged.

Cover art by Jenna Cha. Interior illustrations by Echo Echo.

Fans of the Weird Lit side of Tenebrous—CROM CRUACH and ONE HAND TO HOLD fans, we're looking at you—OLYOKE is what you're salivating for.

3.SPLIT SCREAM: CURSED PLACES (Apr. 21)

Our cult-favorite twin novelette series is back for an eighth double feature, once again curated by series founder Alex Ebenstein.

This time he's brought Sonora Taylor and Matthew Pritt along for the ride, and at first glance their cursed places couldn't be more different. "Passing Glance" takes us inside a sprawling Washington D.C. mansion that houses numerous secrets which unfold very literally like a trap; and "Lash Egg" whisks us to a fantastic world watched over by seemingly benevolent spirits of nature, until a mysterious wasting plague begins to consume the land.

Cover art by Evangeline Gallagher. Interior illustrations by Echo Echo.

4.ALICIA IS IN THE BASEMENT by Santiago Eximeno (May 19)

And how about a cover reveal to boot?! Feast your eyes on our second Jenna Cha cover of 2026:

You've heard me talk at length about the darkness within this book; but it also crackles with an uncanny electricity. I read it with equal parts compulsion and horror. I could not stop.

Somber noir/amateur sleuthing vibes early on, with an absolutely wrenching turn toward Twin Peaks:The Return atmosphere in the back half. And the ending is...

...

One summer afternoon, Santi and Maria's daughter disappears from

a public park without a trace.

After months of agony and fruitless investigation that only serves to

tear his life even further apart, Santi learns of a being that unleashes

an entirely new kind of horror on the young family's life:

“He Who Does Not Speak With Children.”

*This story contains graphic depictions of child murder. Please be advised.*

Jenna not only provided the astounding cover, but a number of double-page interior art spreads that make this novella—our first translated title, to boot!—sing even louder. I have a feeling this is gonna be our dark horse title for the year...for those who chance it.

5.BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror (+ More) Vol. 4, ed. Alex Woodroe (Jun. 23)

Our annual showcase of the best independently- and self-published Weird Fiction of the Year returns! As usual, you can expect the unexpected, and we promise you'll fall in love with at least one author you'd never heard of before.

Cover art by me.

(HI, ALEX HERE, HE'S BEING UNNECESSARILY MODEST, LOOK AT THAT ABSOLUTE BEEF-HONKER, MEGA-CHONKER, EYEBALL-MELTER, SKULL-CRUSHER OF A COVER. IT'S SO GOOD ISN'T IT?)

6.Midwestern Chrome by Michael Bettendorf (Jul. 28)

The author of our stealth-hit black metal gamebook TRVE CVLT returns with even more black metal carnage!!!

...wait what? This book book goes in a completely different gonzo-direction? But still just as cool? Huh. Well that works.

It's seedy, grimy cyberpunk for the Tenebrous set, with a dash of Philip Dick and a splash of Dashiell Hammett, set in that most unlikely of cyberpunk settings: Nebraska.

Gorgeous cover art reveal coming soon, courtesy of Arianna Bosa, who is also handling the interior art!

7.Your Body is a Fever Dream, ed. Alex Woodroe (Sept. 15)

We told you all about this one last week; it's safe to say you're gonna want to get your hands all over this collection that's sure to spread plenty of blood amongst the stars.

8.We Are Good People by Danger Slater (Oct. 20)

This is Danger's best work yet in my opinion, and it's without doubt the sharpest that his knives have ever been. I'm hesitant to share too many plot details yet; suffice to say, there is body horror in buckets, social satire out the wazoo, and shit gets gross, hilarious and absolutely bizarre.

There will also be content warnings; consider this your content warning.

Cover art by me again; hey here's a sneak peek that even Danger hasn't seen!

9.Dive by Allison Mick (Dec. 8)

This book is grimier than the beer-soaked floor of the infamous Oakland dive bar it takes place in, whose denizens spend all their time wasting away, wrapped in personal beefs both real and imagined, paranoid breakdowns and supernatural crimes. Vibes-wise, this is early 90s indie film all the way through, like if Jim Jarmusch directed Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but funnier.

Cover art by Matias San Juan coming to your eyeballs soon. Interior art by Allison herself.

Sub to the Book Club

So there you have it, Tenebrous Cult. Nine books to make your Weird antennae shiver (or whatever your antennae do, we don't judge).

We hope you'll give em all a shot! But whatever you do, please do your best to support independently owned businesses, and indie presses; not just ours (it's true, for real, there are others!)

Support risks being taken, support unknown voices being amplified. The underground is where the best stories are being told.

We've got some wonderful Weirdness for you next year. Get on board the Weird bookmobile (there it is, tied it all back together, nailed it, fist pump).

Hail Indie Publishing.

Hail New Weird Horror (+ More!)

Hail the Tenebrous Cult.

Matt + Alex