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Frolic Press | Travis D. Johnson
@frolicpress.bsky.social
300 followers 330 following 180 posts
Frolic Press publishes works of weird fiction.
https://frolicpress.ink/

Founded in 2025 by Travis D. Johnson
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Frolic Press | Travis D. Johnson @frolicpress.bsky.social · 1d
Cover reveal for Frolic's first release!

80th Anniversary Edition with an introduction by Ramsey Campbell @ramseycampbell.bsky.social

New over illustration by James Hutton

trade paper and e-book available:
February 10, 2026

frolicpress.ink

#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#WeirdFiction
#CoverReveal
frolicpress.bsky.social
Cover reveal for Frolic's first release!

80th Anniversary Edition with an introduction by Ramsey Campbell @ramseycampbell.bsky.social

New over illustration by James Hutton

trade paper and e-book available:
February 10, 2026

frolicpress.ink

#FritzLeiber
#RamseyCampbell
#WeirdFiction
#CoverReveal
November 13, 2025 at 3:30 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Thanks for hosting, Eryn! Thanks to all!
The only thing I have this week is this (possibly pretentious) founding statement that I wrote for my new small press: frolicpress.substack.com/p/an-invitat...

#HorrorWritersChat
October 29, 2025 at 8:18 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
I'm going with the ghosts of megafauna, or megafauna survivals, although I'm not the first or even second with this answer—so maybe they aren't so forgotten after all.
The mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, the terror bird, and the titanboa all live in the novel I'm working on.

#HorrorWritersChat
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 16d
Q4, and this is the last one for tonight. Hang around for the pimp your book part of the night in 10 minutes. Please do repost others. Please do go and repost one of Matt's books as well.
Thanks thanks.
#HorrorWritersChat
if we could resurrect one forgotten fear or myth: which one are you choosing?
October 29, 2025 at 8:13 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
The old things of the darkness are still here, and the more our electric lights and cities force them into the interstices of this world, the more hostile toward us I reckon them.

#HorrorWritersChat
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 16d
So what does it say about us, as the folklore evolves, and we fear new things, in the dark...

#HorrorWritersChat
we used to fear the dark, and the woods: now we fear the screens and the systems. What next? What does it tell us about us? Or do you keep the old in your stories?
October 29, 2025 at 7:51 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
My home is the Deep South, and folk belief is so alive here. The joining of Indigenous, European, and African traditions here, and the brutal history that shaped that process—that's one well from which my work springs. It's hard to answer with more specificity in 300 characters.

#HorrorWritersChat
October 29, 2025 at 7:43 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Hello again, folks! I'm Travis and I write horror/fantasy/weird/supernatural/whatever fiction.

Things that scared me as a child include: my father's snoring, space aliens, the knowledge of mortality, and this one particular street lamp I could tell you about.

#HorrorWritersChat
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · 16d
Hola, Horror Writers. I'm going to post and eat as I've pretty much just walked in. But, we're all about it today, so close to Halloween!
Tell me tell me. What scared you as a child?

No links, no hawking books please, till the end. Thanks Thanks.

#HorrorWritersChat
Welcome home, horror writers! Introduce yourselves. What do you write and .... what was your childhood fear....
October 29, 2025 at 7:15 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
frolicpress.substack.com/p/an-invitat...
October 29, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Frolic Press | Travis D. Johnson
bookshop.org
There are 37 donors funding the $300 million build of the new White House ballroom.

Unsurprisingly, Amazon is on that list. But you know who isn’t? Independent bookstores.

And this is why it will *always* be bookstores over billionaires. ✊
October 27, 2025 at 2:38 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Frolic Press Newsletter
frolicpress.substack.com?r=fjlee&utm_...

Sign up for free for major news and announcements, and the occasional tale. We won't just send inbox clutter, I promise.
Frolic Press Newsletter | Substack
Click to read Frolic Press Newsletter, a Substack publication. Launched a few seconds ago.
frolicpress.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:45 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
I made a list of my 301 favorite horror films that have fewer than 50,000 watches on @letterboxd.social

letterboxd.com/6travisjohns...

#horrorcommunity #horrorfamily #film #horrormovie #horrorfilm #horrorfan #classichorror #hammerhorror #filmsky #horrorsky #mutantfam #horrorfam
October 26, 2025 at 10:09 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Full cover reveal in November!

Frolic Press debuts with CONJURE WIFE by Fritz Leiber
80th Anniversary Edition

Introduction by the great @ramseycampbell.bsky.social

Releases Winter 2026!

To be available wherever books are sold.

#weirdfiction #horrorliterature #smallpress #booksky
October 25, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by Frolic Press | Travis D. Johnson
emilyhughes.bsky.social
do you have a horror/horror-ish book coming out in 2026? tell me about it here, please! I'm working on the 2026 horror list and while I'm very good at sniffing out new books, I still miss things - help me help you!

forms.gle/KxLNwVDVbbRS...
2025-2026 Horror Master List Book Submissions
Because I'm out of my mind, I maintain a running list of the year's new horror releases. If you're an author/editor/marketer/publicist/agent who'd like one of your books included, please fill out the ...
forms.gle
October 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Thank you, Mary! You've been a wonderful host.

I want to shout about Frolic, my new small press.
We're launching next year with an 80th Anniversary Edition of Fritz Leiber's Conjure Wife including an introduction by Ramsey Campbell.

working on the website now: frolicpress.ink

#HorrorWritersChat
October 22, 2025 at 7:43 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
June Moore, protagonist. A young hunter searching the haunted landscapes of Florida/Georgia circa 1910, on a quest of vengeance against timber barons. She's my favorite because I've known her forever. She's probably here to ask me when I'll finally finish writing her story.

#HorrorWritersChat
marywyrd.bsky.social Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 23d
QUESTION FOUR

There’s a knock at the door.

Before you can answer it, the door opens and reveals…your favourite character. They are your creation.

Who is visiting you?
Why are they your favourite?
And why are they here, now?

- - -

Linger a little longer for the outro & promo #HorrorWritersChat
Question four - From your work, who is your favourite character? Antagonist? Protagonist? Who are they? Why are they your favourite? And why are they visiting you? #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.
October 22, 2025 at 7:26 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Book: The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe
Film: True Grit (1969)
Music: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music
Painting and printmaking: the works of Odilon Redon

#HorrorWritersChat
October 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
2B pencil, notebook (I always write notes and first drafts by hand), etymological dictionary.

I recommend all of these. I also recommend a good mattress; images and ideas so often come in dreams.

#HorrorWritersChat
marywyrd.bsky.social Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 23d
QUESTION TWO

We stand before your writing area #HorrorWritersChat

Which three tools (apps? Items? objects?) do you find useful when writing?

Are there any you’d recommend to other writers?

The stranger the better...
Question Two - Which three tools, apps or items do you find useful when writing? Which would you recommend to other writers? Quote Post your answers with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.
October 22, 2025 at 6:38 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
#HorrorWritersChat

Hello, I'm Travis. I write supernatural horror set in the US South with touches of sadness and sinister whimsy.

My dream writing room would be in a tree house in a vast old growth forest, with nice cabinets to display my collection of animal skulls and odd miscellanea.
marywyrd.bsky.social Mary Wyrd (she/her) @marywyrd.bsky.social · 23d
QUESTION ONE - #HorrorWritersChat

Behind this door is your ideal writing room. 🚪

If money were no object and dreams were reality, this is where you’d write, relax, and conceive of your next great work.

Introduce yourself along with your horror niche, then open the door and describe your space.
Question one - Introduce yourself! Your name, your corner of the horror genre and describe your dream writing room. Quote Post your answers with the hashtag. Don’t forget to like/share other answers and chat in the comments #HorrorWritersChat - background composite image of a series of abandoned interior rooms. On either side of the opening to the next room, a pair of shadowy hands presses against the walls.
October 22, 2025 at 6:25 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
I've been away, but I've been busy. I started a small press!

frolicpress.ink

If you're reading this, I hope you've been well!
Frolic Press
Frolic Press
frolicpress.ink
October 22, 2025 at 11:25 AM
frolicpress.bsky.social
The first passion flower of spring has opened.

#nativeplants #naturalfarming #gardensky
April 6, 2025 at 8:40 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Mushrooms in my gardens, making soil.

#fungifriends #naturalfarming
April 4, 2025 at 3:13 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Mustard and radish in bloom.
#gardensky #naturalfarming
April 1, 2025 at 3:57 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
I've read Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Emily Bronte, Herman Melville, Gene Wolfe, and Virginia Wolfe, so I know there are no rules.

Unpopular horror opinion? 'Evil Dead' is better than 'Evil Dead 2'?
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · Mar 19
Question Four. *dramatic pause*

Go on then. Hit me with it.

#HorrorWritersChat
Question Four Talk to me about unpopular horror opinions! Do you have one yourself? Which rules get you venting? #HorrorWritersChat Quote Post and don't forget the tag
March 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Some things must be mysterious, but I go very deep into back story. A lot of that back story may be excised in revisions, but I have to write it at least for myself, to know my characters and settings as deeply as I can.

#HorrorWritersChat
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · Mar 19
Question Three!

I suspect this MIGHT align with the pantsers plotters but hey who knows. Maybe it won't.

#HorrorWritersChat
Question Three Let's talk back story. Do you find creating a deep back story helps with the scares or do you prefer to leave it mysterious? #HorrorWritersChat Quote post and don't forget the tag
March 19, 2025 at 8:12 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
I don't think that horror requires moral themes, necessarily, but my own stories do.
A lot of my favorite literature is very didactic.
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · Mar 19
Question TWO. Now I feel like one of those quiz folkies. I expect to get a range of answers to this, but hey who knows. It's not that much of a corker. I'm not super mean today. Mwahaha.

#HorrorWritersChat
Question Two Do you think that horror needs a moral or thematic lesson? Can they simply exist to inspire fear? #HorrorWritersChat Quote post and don't forget the tag
March 19, 2025 at 7:36 PM
frolicpress.bsky.social
Hello, I'm Travis. I write supernatural horror informed by Southern American literature & folklore, heroic fantasy, westerns, and much else.
I have only 1 WIP; it's an historical epic and has required a lot of research.

#HorrorWritersChat
erynmccee.bsky.social Eryn McCee @erynmccee.bsky.social · Mar 19
Alright let's kick things off for another night. If you're not a horror writer, feel free to mute me for this evening, I will not be offended!
#HorrorWritersChat people, assemble! I want to hear your thoughts.
Question One Introduce yourself, writers! Tell us what kind of horror you write, and how many WIPs do you have currently? #HorrorWritersChat Quote post and don't forget the tag
March 19, 2025 at 7:20 PM