X Marks the Spot
I think I first got to know Ross Lockhart – please correct me if I’m wrong about this, Ross – after he bought a reprint of one of my stories for The Book of Cthulhu II, which would put it around 2012.
Not too long after that, Ross launched his own publishing imprint. The first book published by Word Horde was Tales of Jack the Ripper, which came out ten years ago to the day – around three days ago. (I’m a little late making this post.) My story “Ripperology” appeared in there.
Since then, Ross has continued to be my most frequent publisher. I’ve had a story in very nearly every anthology that Word Horde has released, the sole exception, I believe, being Amber Fallon’s Fright into Flight. Perhaps more to the point, Word Horde has published my last three short story collections, all those I have put out since they launched.
The first of those – and my second collection full-stop – was Painted Monsters & Other Strange Beasts, released back in 2015. Since then, Ross has put out two other collections of mine, most recently How to See Ghosts & Other Figments, which was released just last year.
Ross and I are also working together on another project. Something that isn’t a short story collection, but I can’t say more just yet. We should be announcing it very soon, though, and I hope my readers will be excited.
I’m excited and proud to have been such a big part of Word Horde’s first decade. Ross has always treated me and my books well, with generous promotion and work behind the scenes that ensures that my books always look amazing. Besides the books with my name on or in them, Word Horde has published a wide array of great titles that I highly recommend.
Word Horde’s first ten years have been filled with unforgettable books, from John Langan’s The Fisherman to Scotty Nicolay’s And at My Back I Always Hear, and many more besides. Word Horde authors include Molly Tanzer, Nadia Bulkin, Scott R. Jones, Livia Llewellyn, Kristi DeMeester, Craig Laurance Gidney, S.L. Edwards, Nicole Cushing… the list goes on and on.
Recently, Ross and company also opened up a physical bookstore, the Word Horde Emporium of the Weird & Fantastic, where they sell much more than just Word Horde titles. Indeed, the Emporium traffics in just about everything suggested by that moniker. I haven’t gotten a chance to visit the physical store in Petaluma, California just yet, but I hope to someday. And in the meantime, here’s to many more years of Word Horde goodness!
