About

HORRIFIC SCRIBBLINGS is a publishing imprint, basically an indie press, dedicated to the provocative, scary, and strange–dark fiction that challenges boundaries, assaulting readers’ expectations and violating their comfort zones. We do all types of horror, from the quiet to the extreme, and love horror-adjacent areas like the surreal, the weird, and dark fantasy. We believe horror is important, even when, or perhaps especially when, it revels in the unthinkably bizarre and disgusting limits of the imagination.

We started with a long-term, three-phase plan. After months of prep, the company launched in November, 2025 and started publishing in February, 2026, the kickoff for Phase One. On April 24, 2026, we started Phase Two with the launch of our first IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign for a pro rate paying anthology of short stories.

PHASE ONE
Time to abandon the “we.” Horrific Scribblings is helmed by the person behind what you’re reading, L. Andrew Cooper, and the first order of business was to publish some of my stuff, exciting new books and stories and revised vintage material. I also started directly selling (the store/shop is currently on hiatus) signed copies of out-of-print editions, exclusive digital downloads, etc., which I’d never done, so it was all new and experimental. I chose Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing instead of going through Ingram or another service (I recently left Kindle Select to use other e-book distributors but still use KDP for setting up print). Finally, eager to publish other writers and help the imprint grow, I created Horrific Scribes, a section of this website that publishes various authors’ dark short stories and poetry (received via open submissions, paid a flat rate) in an archival format. The biggest surprise of Phase One occurred when, after only a few months of publishing, Monte Remer approached me about working for Horrific Scribblings in a part-time capacity… a job that could be unpaid, necessary, alas, because my company only loses money. Monte was in a good position because he had university support, which assuaged my guilt. I’d run an internship program before, so I had a fairly good sense of what to do. I researched the legalities, looked at what some other publishers did with regard to unpaid assistance, figured out what I could give that would be worthwhile enough to exchange for labor, and designed the Horrific Scribblings Internship, which mostly focused (and continues to focus) on work related to Horrific Scribes. In most endeavors, I unexpectedly became a we, which didn’t stop Horrific Scribes from taking over most of my life. Anyways, I became more adept while the imprint grew, getting ready for…

PHASE TWO
Once the imprint and I found our footing, I planned to return to more familiar territory and put together a themed anthology of short horror fiction that comes from open submissions and pays a professional rate. I am particularly excited to work on such a project again because the last one I did, Reel Dark, turned out to be a great book, but it had a short lifespan due to the first publisher going under and the second having contractual problems. However, I knew from the beginning that to pay pro rates I’d have to try crowdfunding, a new experience for me that began with the launch of the IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign for the anthology Extremely Weird Splatter, a collection of short stories that fuse the aesthetics and savvy of extreme/splatterpunk with far-out weird horror.

PHASE THREE
Once a couple of high-quality anthologies have established Horrific Scribblings as a name in the market, assuming people are interested, I will very slowly sign additional writers for novellas and novels. If everything works well enough for me to get to phase three, I should really have something worth signing up for.

Who are We?

Publisher and Editor: L. Andrew Cooper

You’ll find plenty about my publications elsewhere on this site and on our sister site, landrewcooper.com. This site does have an author page for me. Below, the business side.

I self-published three books before deciding to create this imprint, learning the basics for formatting, creating different types of e-book files, etc. My previous experience on publishing and design projects related to my work as Assistant Director of Writing and Communication at Georgia Tech and then Director of Film Studies at University of Louisville came in handy. I have collaborated on publishing and designing journals, informational booklets, and marketing materials for wide audiences.

My academic career began with a bachelor’s in English from Harvard and a master’s and Ph.D. in English from Princeton, for the latter of which I focused on the history of the horror genre. I don’t mind saying that these degrees mean I know a hell of a lot about literature, especially horror, and about writing, which I went on to teach for a decade on all levels, first-year college to doctoral. I do my own editing. I am very good at it and, until more people come on board, would apply myself to any work under the Horrific Scribblings imprint the same way I would my own.

Assistant Editor: H.J. Dutton

H.J. Dutton is a Pennsylvania-based writer and Assistant Editor at Horrific Scribes. His work has been featured on Creepy-A Horror Podcast. Alongside L. Andrew Cooper, he co-edited the anthology Horrific Scribes Presents: Invasions of World, Home, Body, and Mind as well as the upcoming collection Horrific Scribes Presents: Rulemakers and Rulebreakers.. More of his fiction is forthcoming in Audience Askew, Schlock Webzine, Quotidian Bagatelle, and Cryptic Frog Quarterly.

Before inquiring about joining Horrific Scribblings, Dutton’s short story “Family of Four” was accepted by and is now published in Horrific Scribes.

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS

We’re waiting for the right person or persons to express interest!

Interested in becoming an Editorial Assistant? Read about Horrific Interning.

Visit the EDITORIAL ASSISTANT HALL OF FAME

Artist/Designer (Freelance): Ruth Anna Evans

Ruth Anna Evans is a book cover designer and author who specializes in all things horror. She works with indie authors across the horror community to design their covers in a professional and polished way. For more information on book cover design, go here. You can also join her Facebook Group Ruth Anna Evans Cover Designs to see current premades.

She has self-published the horror collections OH FUCK OH FUCK IT HURTS and No One Can Help You: Tales of Lost Children and Other Nightmares. She is the editor of PUSH!: An Anthology of Childbirth Horror, the editor of Ooze: Little Bursts of Body Horror, the author of two spooky novellas, and the author of medical horror novella Against Medical Advice. Ruth Anna loves horror that hurts.