Travis D. Johnson | Frolic Press
@frolicpress.bsky.social
Publisher & Founder, Frolic Press | Writer, Artist, Composer | Weird Fiction & Literary Horror
https://linktr.ee/travisdjohnsonwrites
https://linktr.ee/travisdjohnsonwrites
Pinned
Full wrap reveal! CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber - The 1943 Text, with two essays by Ramsey Campbell, illustration by James Hutton
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
Ah, good to know that someone's enthused about St. Claire! She's terribly under-appreciated, I think.
We may also do Hope Mirrlees's 'Lud-in-the-Mist' next year, though Union Square has just released a nice edition of that and we want to focus on less available works.
We may also do Hope Mirrlees's 'Lud-in-the-Mist' next year, though Union Square has just released a nice edition of that and we want to focus on less available works.
January 9, 2026 at 11:16 PM
Ah, good to know that someone's enthused about St. Claire! She's terribly under-appreciated, I think.
We may also do Hope Mirrlees's 'Lud-in-the-Mist' next year, though Union Square has just released a nice edition of that and we want to focus on less available works.
We may also do Hope Mirrlees's 'Lud-in-the-Mist' next year, though Union Square has just released a nice edition of that and we want to focus on less available works.
*Poul Anderson, that is, of course.
January 9, 2026 at 11:09 PM
*Poul Anderson, that is, of course.
Someday! Up next is Manly Wade Wellman, then Paul Anderson, Margaret St. Claire. Also an anthology of new weird fiction, a collection of my own work, and I'm negotiating the rights to Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetralogy and Rex Miller's SLOB.
January 9, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Someday! Up next is Manly Wade Wellman, then Paul Anderson, Margaret St. Claire. Also an anthology of new weird fiction, a collection of my own work, and I'm negotiating the rights to Evangeline Walton's Mabinogion Tetralogy and Rex Miller's SLOB.
This picture is of my treasured 1981 Ace edition. I love it, but it completely misrepresents the novel—especially that tagline—and might cost you quite a bit of money on the used market.
#FritzLeiber #FrolicPress #WeirdFiction #HorrorLit #FantasyLit #SmallPress ##Booksky
#FritzLeiber #FrolicPress #WeirdFiction #HorrorLit #FantasyLit #SmallPress ##Booksky
January 9, 2026 at 10:45 PM
This picture is of my treasured 1981 Ace edition. I love it, but it completely misrepresents the novel—especially that tagline—and might cost you quite a bit of money on the used market.
#FritzLeiber #FrolicPress #WeirdFiction #HorrorLit #FantasyLit #SmallPress ##Booksky
#FritzLeiber #FrolicPress #WeirdFiction #HorrorLit #FantasyLit #SmallPress ##Booksky
It's amazing to hold this in my hand. From contemplating starting a small press to holding the first book in my hand after five months of exhausting work.
The Frolic Press edition includes scholarly apparatus by @ramseycampbell.bsky.social and lists at $16.
It will be available worldwide March 20.
The Frolic Press edition includes scholarly apparatus by @ramseycampbell.bsky.social and lists at $16.
It will be available worldwide March 20.
January 9, 2026 at 10:42 PM
It's amazing to hold this in my hand. From contemplating starting a small press to holding the first book in my hand after five months of exhausting work.
The Frolic Press edition includes scholarly apparatus by @ramseycampbell.bsky.social and lists at $16.
It will be available worldwide March 20.
The Frolic Press edition includes scholarly apparatus by @ramseycampbell.bsky.social and lists at $16.
It will be available worldwide March 20.
I was going to ask, as I didn't see a credit! Do you ever take commissions? I do my own graphic design and typesetting, but often need an illustrator.
January 7, 2026 at 9:10 PM
I was going to ask, as I didn't see a credit! Do you ever take commissions? I do my own graphic design and typesetting, but often need an illustrator.
Borrowed it on KU. I quite like the cover illustration. I'll read it soon!
January 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Borrowed it on KU. I quite like the cover illustration. I'll read it soon!
Changes may accrue: barnacles on wrists that breathe with the tide, veins turning to ink, or a child growing translucent, drifting like milkweed seed.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
You spring out of your den, gliding between trees. You follow the winged figures. Your kin. Your home.
Your past has left its icy trails behind.
Becoming a new self also often includes a physical transformation. Do your characters change physically? In what way?
#HorrorWritersChat
Your past has left its icy trails behind.
Becoming a new self also often includes a physical transformation. Do your characters change physically? In what way?
#HorrorWritersChat
January 7, 2026 at 8:18 PM
Changes may accrue: barnacles on wrists that breathe with the tide, veins turning to ink, or a child growing translucent, drifting like milkweed seed.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
My characters sacrifice daylight’s illusion—easy disbelief, untroubled sleep, loved ones who flee the new quiet in their eyes. They bury ambition for obsession with the unseen. The pain is a slow flaying, raw and irrevocable—yet paid willingly, lest blindness claim them.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
The susurrus sharpens into a voice. Your voice. A human rumble deepened by the forest’s savagery bursts from your maw.
A question blazes in your mind.
Becoming a new self is laden with sacrifices. What do your characters sacrifice? How painful/significant is it?
#HorrorWritersChat
A question blazes in your mind.
Becoming a new self is laden with sacrifices. What do your characters sacrifice? How painful/significant is it?
#HorrorWritersChat
January 7, 2026 at 7:54 PM
My characters sacrifice daylight’s illusion—easy disbelief, untroubled sleep, loved ones who flee the new quiet in their eyes. They bury ambition for obsession with the unseen. The pain is a slow flaying, raw and irrevocable—yet paid willingly, lest blindness claim them.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
Just trying to keep it on @greethewriter.bsky.social 's level.
January 7, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Just trying to keep it on @greethewriter.bsky.social 's level.
My characters survive, when they do, by shedding daylight skins—scholars wake tasting old sea voices; skeptics return with something gazing from behind their eyes. They become quiet keepers of the thin places.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
The figures bury you in frozen earth, in chains of pine needle and bone. Golden eyes fuse into a singular pair.
The soil trembles with a question.
For characters to survive the horrors, they must often become new selves. What kind of new selves do YOUR characters become?
#HorrorWritersChat
The soil trembles with a question.
For characters to survive the horrors, they must often become new selves. What kind of new selves do YOUR characters become?
#HorrorWritersChat
January 7, 2026 at 7:36 PM
My characters survive, when they do, by shedding daylight skins—scholars wake tasting old sea voices; skeptics return with something gazing from behind their eyes. They become quiet keepers of the thin places.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
I am Travis D. Johnson—scribe of the weird, guardian of Southern ghostlore, founder of Frolic Press. Most I dread surrendering my watch upon the threshold: that dusk-haunted ear attuned to footsteps not my own along ancient stones
I am Travis D. Johnson—scribe of the weird, guardian of Southern ghostlore, founder of Frolic Press. Most I dread surrendering my watch upon the threshold: that dusk-haunted ear attuned to footsteps not my own along ancient stones
The figures encircle you in ursine and lupine furs. Jagged symbols mark their foreheads under antlered hoods.
The susurrus coalesces into a question.
Tell us who you are, what you write, and what part of your current self would you be scared to give up the most?
#HorrorWritersChat
The susurrus coalesces into a question.
Tell us who you are, what you write, and what part of your current self would you be scared to give up the most?
#HorrorWritersChat
January 7, 2026 at 7:29 PM
#HorrorWritersChat
I am Travis D. Johnson—scribe of the weird, guardian of Southern ghostlore, founder of Frolic Press. Most I dread surrendering my watch upon the threshold: that dusk-haunted ear attuned to footsteps not my own along ancient stones
I am Travis D. Johnson—scribe of the weird, guardian of Southern ghostlore, founder of Frolic Press. Most I dread surrendering my watch upon the threshold: that dusk-haunted ear attuned to footsteps not my own along ancient stones
Went to my favorite bookstore today.
#thomasligotti ##weirdfiction ##vintagepaperbacks #independentbookstore
#thomasligotti ##weirdfiction ##vintagepaperbacks #independentbookstore
January 6, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Went to my favorite bookstore today.
#thomasligotti ##weirdfiction ##vintagepaperbacks #independentbookstore
#thomasligotti ##weirdfiction ##vintagepaperbacks #independentbookstore
That was great! Love that you covered Kafka and Morrison.
January 6, 2026 at 5:30 PM
That was great! Love that you covered Kafka and Morrison.
!!!
ICYMI
Our latest episode of Horror Joy Meet Your Maker is live! Join me (Jeff) as I chat with @ivygrimes.bsky.social about horror, joy, and everything in-between.
redcircle.com/shows/979960...
#horrorjoy #horrorsky #horrorpod #horrorfans
redcircle.com/shows/979960...
#horrorjoy #horrorsky #horrorpod #horrorfans
January 6, 2026 at 4:23 PM
!!!
frolicpress.substack.com/p/conjure-wi...
#WeirdFiction #HorrorFiction #FritzLeiber #RamseyCampbell #SmallPress #BookDesign #ConjureWife
#WeirdFiction #HorrorFiction #FritzLeiber #RamseyCampbell #SmallPress #BookDesign #ConjureWife
January 4, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Frolic Press is officially doing business!
Trade paper available March 20 at independent bookstores, @barnesandnoble.com, and @bookshop.org
Ebook available February 9.
#BookPublishing
Trade paper available March 20 at independent bookstores, @barnesandnoble.com, and @bookshop.org
Ebook available February 9.
#BookPublishing
January 4, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Frolic Press is officially doing business!
Trade paper available March 20 at independent bookstores, @barnesandnoble.com, and @bookshop.org
Ebook available February 9.
#BookPublishing
Trade paper available March 20 at independent bookstores, @barnesandnoble.com, and @bookshop.org
Ebook available February 9.
#BookPublishing
Full wrap reveal! CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber - The 1943 Text, with two essays by Ramsey Campbell, illustration by James Hutton
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
January 2, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Full wrap reveal! CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber - The 1943 Text, with two essays by Ramsey Campbell, illustration by James Hutton
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
Available March 20, 2026 at bookstores everywhere
#WeirdFiction
#HorrorFiction
#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#SmallPress
#BookDesign
#ClassicHorror
Do you happen to know if VistaCreate exports PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3:2003?
Canva is useless now, and InDesign scarcely better these days.
I might have to learn Scribus.
Canva is useless now, and InDesign scarcely better these days.
I might have to learn Scribus.
January 2, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Do you happen to know if VistaCreate exports PDF/X-1a or PDF/X-3:2003?
Canva is useless now, and InDesign scarcely better these days.
I might have to learn Scribus.
Canva is useless now, and InDesign scarcely better these days.
I might have to learn Scribus.
I look like this now.
January 1, 2026 at 7:48 PM
I look like this now.
January 1, 2026 at 2:39 PM
My favorite first reads of 2025—new releases + older books I finally got to. (It's mostly horror.)
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
December 31, 2025 at 8:19 PM
My favorite first reads of 2025—new releases + older books I finally got to. (It's mostly horror.)
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
He reaches inside his coat pocket and withdraws a small bundle—his childhood laugh, preserved in a jar of loathsome fluid, still twitching. It is refused passage. The jar cracks; the laugh leaks out, curdles into a wet sob, and slithers away down the corridor.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
December 31, 2025 at 8:14 PM
He reaches inside his coat pocket and withdraws a small bundle—his childhood laugh, preserved in a jar of loathsome fluid, still twitching. It is refused passage. The jar cracks; the laugh leaks out, curdles into a wet sob, and slithers away down the corridor.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
Q3, #HorrorWritersChat.
We're inundated with fireworks and a cat who is remarkably unbothered for a change. She's powered by spite today.
Anyway. Questions questions.
We're inundated with fireworks and a cat who is remarkably unbothered for a change. She's powered by spite today.
Anyway. Questions questions.
December 31, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The past, I should hope; I'd like to think that the worst things I'll ever do are things already far behind me, things I did when I was young and very stupid.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat
December 31, 2025 at 7:46 PM
The past, I should hope; I'd like to think that the worst things I'll ever do are things already far behind me, things I did when I was young and very stupid.
#HorrorWritersChat
#HorrorWritersChat