Today’s the day the Sinister Horror Company closes its doors, and I couldn’t let the ocassion pass withoit something of a celebration of all the great work we’ve seen bearing that logo over the years.
In fact, I’m going to keep the Sinister Horror Company party going well into 2024. It seems only fitting that I should start one of Justin Park’s books on the last day of 2023, when The Sinister Horror Company closes, so that I can continuing reading it into 2024. This one gets off to a flying start and it full of intrigue. Like all of J.R. Park’s work that I’ve read, it’s got a touch of grimness to it, a dash of humour, but on top of that, fantastic writing and real sense of storytelling style.
I first became aware of The Sinister Horror Company in 2019 when I stumbled across their stall at HorrorCon 2019. I picked up a couple of books, the fabulous and funny collection, Corpsing by Kayleigh Marie Edwards – AKA Kayleigh Dobbs of Happy Goat Horror and Maniac Gods by Rich Hawkins. dmittedly, the latter of the two was a little darker than I usually read. I also picked up a set of horror cards produced by the Sinister Horror Company – much like Top Trumps, only featuring creatures from The Sinister Horror Company’s releases. Given that my first novel, Dead Branches, uses Top Trumps as a key feature, I thought this was a great idea. From this moment, it was clear that The Sinister Horror Company were something special. Every book I’ve subsequently read, every subsequent launch event has confirmed this theory.
To say this encounter changed by life might seem hyperbolic. However, I didn’t know about many of the other writing events before this point. It was Justin who told be about Edge Lit. I’m not alone in thi regard, either. It seems many people have tales of Justin Park leading them into this spooky world.
So next up was Edge-Lit 2019 in Derby, where again Justin was manning his Sinister Horror Company stand and he sold me a copy of Cannibal Nuns from Outer Space by Duncan P Bradshaw. This book is an absolute gem. Not only is the story a blast, the presentation is superb. Further to this, Duncan did a reading from the book at EdgeLit too. Duncan’s reading was incredible entertainment.
When COVID came, face-to-face events were no longer possible. So what did the Sinister Horror Company do? They put on an evening of readings, culminating in a story my John McNee to launch his collection, Doom Cabaret which remains one of the best collections I’ve ever read.
And when in-person events could happen again, John McNee got his launch at ChillerCon featuring fun and games, with plenty of giveaways as folks tried to guess the horror movie theme being played.
This is another collection which blew me away. I’ve gifted Tracy Fahey’s collection to a few people, almost as if to say – look! this is how good a horror collection can be!
Through the Sinister Horror Company I discovered a bunch of authors who have gone on to be firm favourites. This release by Kit Power is incredible. Everything else I’ve read of his sinse has been amazing, too. It’s an example of the kind of original content that has been consistently put out over the years. Some of these are Justin’s own works, like the outstanding Mad Dog, or incredibly creative collections like CC Adams’ Misery and Other Lines.
I don’t know how many books I have from The Sinister Horror Company. One shelf (pictured at the top of the article) is currently full, but there are loads of others dotted around the house (we’re mid-way through a massive book re-arranging project -so they’re kind of everywhere) and a bunch more on my Kindle. I’m glad I’ll have a fair few new Sinister Horror Company books to discover for a little while, yet. Of course, I’m sad to see the Sinister Horror Company go (I might have got around to pitching my horror book that looks like Ceefax to Justin one day), but nothing lasts forever, so I’m glad I was fortunate to come across the stall and have my eyes opened to a wonderful publisher. Through that, I’ve not only found some fantastic reads, I’d like to think I’ve made some good friends, too, and I know I won’t be alone in wishing Justin Park the absolute best in all of his future endeavours.
Oh, and this one was one of my favourites.