Horla

Think of it, if you like, as a reading room in one of those old-style libraries of the kind certain towns and cities are fortunate to still possess: shelves of volumes that reach for ever, light falling softly on the pages of your book, rain perhaps beating against a high, dark window, the chamber otherwise hushed and deserted. With our name we tip our hat to the great story-teller Guy de Maupassant and his classic tale of terror Le Horla. The word itself has been taken to mean ‘that which is out there’. Here, at our meeting place, we hope you’ll find haunting fiction, arresting articles and spirited opinion, in this eternally fascinating genre. While we are, of course, keen to restore to wider knowledge the names of past practitioners whose reputations have perhaps become unjustly obscured, a vital part of our mission is to publish fine contemporary fiction in the fields of horror and the supernatural. Something that’s important to us – and you might feel the same way – is our independence and our independent-mindedness. We don’t belong to some giant combine. The allegiance of Horla is a simple one: it is to the cause of good writing in our genre. Putting a single and wholly precise word on our passion is difficult. But it would be fair to say that our devotions lie somewhat closer to the French word frisson than to the garishly horrific ‘schlock’. We like inventive writing: images that linger, language that is felicitous, stories that compel. And we believe in humour, at times, too. Dark laughter that will have you leaving us – until you return, of course – with a certain smile on your face. Or perhaps that should be a smile that is… uncertain. Happy reading,

Country of Publication & Year Established

United Kingdom

Established in 2019