Virgin Books Editor Adam Nevill announces a new horror line: “I am now embarking upon the ambitious task of publishing horror fiction as a mainstream publishing concern again in the UK. My goal is to create a more mature focus—horror with style and originality. Fresh and edgy contemporary fiction marketed at a more sophisticated readership than purely the traditional adolescent male demographic.”
He goes on to note that the horror genre has been “stagnant in the UK since the early nineties. But the grass shoots are in place for a serious revival of the supernatural in the novel.”
Rather than opening himself up to unsolicited submissions for the initial titles, he has “been recruiting authors from the underground that have been carrying the torch and learning their unholy craft in the long night of being out of vogue. I am very interested in non-genre literary authors writing for this line too—be it psychological terror, or physical horror. So often it is the non-genre authors who produce great writing in horror.”
The first books in his new line will be appearing next month, with a goal of publishing six books this year and more in the future. The first five scheduled book are:
The Grin of the Dark by Ramsey Campbell (May)
The Unblemished by Conrad Williams (June)
Banquet for the Damned by Adam L.G. Nevill (August)
Teatro Grottesco by Thomas Ligotti (September)
The Perils and Dangers of This Night by Stephen Gregory (October)
Nevill says “I’m also giving this list an international focus and am scouring the globe for writers of all nationalities.” More information should be available on the Virgin web site eventually.