Jacque Day is co-editor of the Carnage House horror web ‘zine and also works for Crystal Lake Publishing. Before swerving into genre writing, she worked as a copywriter and served as the longtime managing editor for the New Madrid journal of contemporary literature. She lives in her home state of Pennsylvania, USA, with her scientist husband.

Since its founding in August 2012, Crystal Lake Publishing has quickly become one of the world’s leading publishers of Dark Fiction and Horror books in print, eBook, and audio formats.

While we strive to present only the highest quality fiction and entertainment, we also endeavour to support authors along their writing journey. We offer our time and experience in non-fiction projects, as well as author mentoring and services, at competitive prices.

With several Bram Stoker Award wins and many other wins and nominations, Crystal Lake Publishing puts integrity, honor, and respect at the forefront of our publishing operations.

We strive for each book and outreach program we spearhead to not only entertain and touch or comment on issues that affect our readers, but also to strengthen and support the Dark Fiction field and its authors.

Not only do we find and publish authors we believe are destined for greatness, but we strive to work with men and woman who endeavour to be decent human beings who care more for others than themselves, while still being hard working, driven, and passionate artists and storytellers.

Crystal Lake Publishing is and will always be a beacon of what passion and dedication, combined with overwhelming teamwork and respect, can accomplish. We endeavour to know each and every one of our readers, while building personal relationships with our authors, reviewers, bloggers, podcasters, bookstores, and libraries.

We will be as trustworthy, forthright, and transparent as any business can be, while also keeping most of the headaches away from our authors, since it’s our job to solve the problems so they can stay in a creative mind. Which of course also means paying our authors.

We do not just publish books, we present to you worlds within your world, doors within your mind, from talented authors who sacrifice so much for a moment of your time.

There are some amazing small presses out there, and through collaboration and open forums we will continue to support other presses in the goal of helping authors and showing the world what quality small presses are capable of accomplishing. No one wins when a small press goes down, so we will always be there to support hardworking, legitimate presses and their authors. We don’t see Crystal Lake as the best press out there, but we will always strive to be the best, strive to be the most interactive and grateful, and even blessed press around. No matter what happens over time, we will also take our mission very seriously while appreciating where we are and enjoying the journey.

What do we offer our authors that they can’t do for themselves through self-publishing?

We are big supporters of self-publishing (especially hybrid publishing), if done with care, patience, and planning. However, not every author has the time or inclination to do market research, advertise, and set up book launch strategies. Although a lot of authors are successful in doing it all, strong small presses will always be there for the authors who just want to do what they do best: write.

What we offer is experience, industry knowledge, contacts and trust built up over years. And due to our strong brand and trusting fanbase, every Crystal Lake Publishing book comes with weight of respect. In time our fans begin to trust our judgment and will try a new author purely based on our support of said author.

To date we’ve published around 100 books, and with each launch we strive to fine-tune our approach, learn from our mistakes, and increase our reach. We continue to assure our authors that we’re here for them and that we’ll carry the weight of the launch and dealing with third parties while they focus on their strengths—be it writing, interviews, blogs, signings, etc.

We also offer several mentoring packages to authors that include knowledge and skills they can use in both traditional and self-publishing endeavours.

We look forward to launching many new careers.

This is what we believe in. What we stand for. This will be our legacy.

Welcome to Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.

Lisa Vasquez, (known by her readers and fans as the Unsaintly Queen) creates vivid, twisted horror with the precision of a scalpel, and cuts into the reader's psyche with fleshed out characters. Vasquez is a mentor for the HWA, is head of Stitched Smile Publications, and retired editor-in-chief of the company’s quarterly publication, House of Stitched Magazine.

Vasquez now focuses on her own stories which range from slow and subtle gothic horror, to the more extreme sub-genres of horror. Her writing style has been compared to the works of Mary Shelley, Baz Luhrman, and the Grand Guignol (John Palisano, Bram Stoker-winning author of NERVES), and is hailed as, "A writer of nightmarish vision and a new, poetic voice in today's horror genre" (Peter Molnar, author of THE CLOCKWORK LAZARUS).

A native Chicagoan who spent half her life on the city’s south side, she now lives in Houston, Texas, fighting off mosquitos large enough to carry off small children, and avoiding direct sunlight. The Unsaintly Queen is rumored to only accept offerings of “sparklies.”

Known by his fans as "The Pastor of Horror", Ezekiel Kincaid brings a unique and original touch to the dark fiction genre. His twenty plus years in ministry have afforded him the opportunity to encounter people from all walks of life and in a myriad of situations. These experiences have leaked into his stories in numerous ways. Like life, his writings run the gamut of human existence. Fear, dread, grief, loss, sorrow, hardship, humor, joy, and perseverance; the paranormal, supernatural, demonic, ghastly, and macabre - you'll find it all in the pages of his work. Mr. Kincaid also has the ability to write in various styles and voices, giving each tale the narration and visceral characters needed to make the words jump off the page for his readers. The greatest compliment that he is most often given is that his stories are so different from one another, it's hard to tell they are written by the same author. This allows him to consistently churn out fresh stories for his readers and keep them on their toes. The only other language he is fluent in is sarcasm. One time, his fiance bet him he couldn't go two minutes without making a sarcastic comment. Zeke didn't last thirty seconds. Since then, he's stopped taking bets. He also has three theological degrees, along with a poetic and romantic side (which he usually ends up ruining with a snarky comment). He is from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has four children, and is about to start his residency as a chaplain. Zeke played football in college and likes to train in martial arts. He's also an avid Ash Williams fan and will fight anyone who says they don't like Bruce Campbell.