Happy Goat Horror

Dark bleatings my dear friends. It’s Novella November, so I initially planned to post nothing but novella content this month. However, with the sad news that Sinister Horror Company is closing its doors, I’m compelled to break my own plan by writing this special post because Sinister Horror Company is special and it deserves as many proper farewells as the horror community can give it.

SHC was founded in 2015 by Justin Park (and Duncan Bradshaw and Daniel Marc Chant who both left to pursue other things). In 8 years, it has published numerous works and given many new authors their debut, me included. I was so thrilled when my debut collection, Corpsing, was published by SHC because I was already a fan of the press and was collecting everything they put out. Justin’s books always look so sleek and professionally edited and formatted, and the covers are fabulous.

My relationship with SHC is one of the most special bonds I have in indie horror. Firstly, Justin took me under his wing as an author when I was brand new and knew absolutely nothing. He welcomed me into the indie horror world, which I didn’t even know existed. He took me to my first book convention. I didn’t know there was such thing as book conventions. Sometimes I helped with trading, other times I just went for fun. He introduced me to almost everyone I know in the community, and I can never thank him enough for that because you guys are family.

His enthusiasm for the authors and books he published was a breath of fresh air and just lovely to see. The first time I sat at SHC’s trading table, I watched him excitedly describe the plots of the books he was selling to potential buyers and I thought, “this guy sincerely loves what he does”. I didn’t know then what the reality of running in indie press was, but through my job over the last couple of years, I do now.

Running an indie press is a labour of love, because it’s certainly not a realistic way to get rich. That’s not to say that SHC doesn’t sell because I know it does, but think about it – overhead costs, paying cover artists, royalty splits with the authors, convention costs, and most importantly, the extraordinary amount of time that Justin put in to reading submissions, editing and formatting new releases, and everything else that goes into a book release. The more I learned about publishing, the more insane I found SHC’s output. Justin has been single-handedly running it for years, and the volume, frequency, and quality is amazing. And he’s been doing this on top of a full time job, social obligations, and other priorities.

Through Justin’s work, I discovered so many great books and writers. Rich Hawkins’ King Carrion is one of my Top 5 vampire stories of all time. I found Tracy Fahey, John McNee, and Jonathan Butcher. I cruised on hell ships, gazed back at myself in a city of mirrors, and explored underground forests. The Black Room Manuscripts is one of the best anthology series I’ve ever read (4 books in total, and the proceeds of all of them went to various charities), and I was honoured to be included in one of them.

Justin’s absence at FCon this year was noticed. People were whispering in corners, wondering if it meant something, say…. that perhaps Justin was pulling back from publishing. And by “people”, I mean me and everyone else, because he’s a staple of our community and we missed him. Justin is not only a talented creator and someone who’s given an enormous amount of time to helping other authors, but a great person with a heart of gold. He’s become one of my best friends over the years and I know I don’t just speak for myself when I say that although I’m sad to see the end of SHC, Justin will always be a valued member of the extended horror family.

I know I’m not the only one who wants to give SHC the send off it deserves, but before I get to that, I want to say one more thing first. Awards are a tricksy little hobbitses. Year after year, I celebrated the nominees and winners of the many various book awards that exist, but was always quietly disappointed that SHC continuously didn’t get a look in. SHC put out so many books that sincerely deserved to be on those lists. I wanted to see Justin get some sort of official recognition. And then I thought….

… Hey, I give out awards!

I’m delighted to announce that Justin Park will be the recipient of Happy Goat Horror’s first ever ‘Outstanding Contribution to Horror Award’. I realise I’m just an over-enthusiastic book reviewer, and that being hailed a horror champion by a tribe of goats isn’t the same as receiving a Bram Stoker, for example. But, for what it is worth – Justin, you deserve this. On behalf of the indie horror community, thank you so much for your time, your hard work, your commitment to publishing quality work, and your plucky, horror-loving attitude. We see you, we appreciate you, and we’ll miss Sinister Horror Company.

So, with all that said, let’s see out this awesome press with a bang! I’m linking Sinister Horror Company’s website and Etsy store below (click on the pics above if you’re interested in those books, they’re embedded with links). Share on social media, discuss, argue about which SHC book is the best of the whole lot. Let’s party this thing out. We only have 2 months until the doors close and SHC’s many fabulous titles slip into the void, so grab them while you can!

Sinister Horror Company, it’s been a pleasure!

And Justin, we love you.

SINISTER HORROR COMPANY – WEBSITE

SINISTER HORROR COMPANY – ETSY STORE