Joe Mynhardt stands as a paragon in the horror literary world, a Bram Stoker Award-winning South African publisher, editor, and mentor with over a decade of experience. As the founder and CEO of Crystal Lake Entertainment, Joe has transformed a humble 2012 startup into a multifaceted Intellectual Property powerhouse. Under his visionary leadership, Crystal Lake Publishing has become just one of the many thriving divisions of his company.

With a track record of working with and publishing works by luminaries such as Neil Gaiman, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Charlaine Harris, Ramsey Campbell, John Connolly, Jack Ketchum, Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, Graham Masterton, Damien Angelica Walters, Adam Nevill, Lisa Morton, Elizabeth Massie, Joe R. Lansdale, Edward Lee, Paul Tremblay, and Wes Craven, Joe is the quintessential mentor for aspiring horror authors. His deep industry insights and extensive network place him in a unique position to guide both new and seasoned writers in the genre.

Joe’s commitment to nurturing talent and fostering author careers is at the heart of Crystal Lake Entertainment’s ethos. His approach is not just about publishing books; it’s about building a community, sharing knowledge, and being a beacon of friendship and guidance in the often intimidating world of horror writing.

Since leaving his day job in 2016 to focus full-time on his passion, Joe has also excelled as a work-from-home dad, a role he embraced in 2018. His daughter, Cayleigh, named after his childhood influences Bruce Lee and Stan Lee, is a testament to his belief in the power of storytelling across all mediums. Joe’s love for great narratives extends beyond literature, encompassing comics, games, film, and television, with favorites ranging from Poe, Doyle, and Lovecraft to King, Connolly, and Gaiman.

Joe Mynhardt isn't just a figure in the horror industry—he's a driving force behind it, leading a successful online business that goes beyond the traditional boundaries of publishing. Discover more about Joe’s journey on Facebook or Patreon, where he continues to inspire and lead the next generation of horror storytellers.

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.

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"The triumph of Everington’s first novel is that, while hinting at lofty literary precedents, it cumulatively takes on an unsettling voice all of its own." The Guardian review of The Quarantined City

Whenever I have to write an author bio for anthology or something, I send them something like this:

James Everington mainly writes dark, supernatural fiction, although he occasionally takes a break and writes dark, non-supernatural fiction. His second collection of such tales, Falling Over, is out now from Infinity Plus.

He’s also the author of The Quarantined City, an episodic novel mixing Borgesian strangeness with supernatural horror—“an unsettling voice all of its own” The Guardian—the novellas Paupers’ Graves and The Shelter, and the mini-collection Trying To Be So Quiet & Other Hauntings. Alongside Dan Howarth, he has co-edited the anthologies The Hyde Hotel, Pareidolia (Black Shuck Books) and the BFS Award nominated Imposter Syndrome (Dark Minds Press).

Oh, and he drinks Guinness, if anyone's asking.