IN THE RIVER IS NOW AVAILABLE (8/7/17)

Very excited to announce a summertime surprise from myself and Lazy Fascist Press:

My brand new book IN THE RIVER is now available!

I left my heart on the page writing this, and I think it’s my most horrific and beautiful work. I hope that those who read it will feel the same.

Here’s the publisher’s rundown:

“An intensely moving tale of survival and madness along the river's edge. A father and son fishing lesson becomes a nightmarish voyage to the sea in this visionary testament to the lengths we will go for those we love.”

IN THE RIVER

Available in print and digital editions. Cover by Matthew Revert.

100% of my first month’s royalties from the book will be donated to Portland Homeless Family Solutions to aid them in the difficult work of helping families with children find safety and security during times of struggle.

Best wishes,

JRJ

Official Cave Mode Announcement! (6/8/17)

Did this once before while working on SKULLCRACK and it's become apparent I should do it now to honor my obligations on this next novel. So, Cave Mode:

BLURBS―Somehow ended up with 15 manuscripts for potential blurbing in 2017. My normal policy is 2 per year (the thinking being if you only do a handful, folks don't write you off as a blurb mill [and also I want some time to read that old Questlove book!]). So, going back to that policy in 2018, and closed to new manuscripts until Q2 of next year.

EDITING―I don't do that in general, but David Osborne damn sure does, and I can vouch for his work.

CONS―Not going, even if it's in town. Might hit Bizarrocon, as my novel should be done by then (and it's their 10 year anniversary and that's the only time I ever see Cameron Pierce).

READINGS―As I am expected at my own Powell's reading on June 22nd, I'll do my best to show for that one. Other than that I'll be in my cave (and besides, my kid has an amazing knack for giving me some terrible illness right as my favorite authors come through town--it's a weird curse at this point).

SOCIAL MEDIA―Diminished presence for a while, except for one exciting secret thing.

ACTUAL SOCIAL LIFE―That's cute. Will be going on some playdates for the kid, though, so if anybody wants to hang with me at OMSI, holler.

Cheers!

JRJ

ENTROPY IN BLOOM IS NOW AVAILABLE!

Named one of the most anticipated books of 2017 by LitReactor and Big Other and one of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Books Everyone Will Be Talking About by Kirkus/Black Gate.

Includes "When Susurrus Stirs," the basis for the award-winning motion picture of the same name. Features an Introduction by Brian Evenson.

"Johnson is a master of mood, seamlessly combining the literary with the grotesque. Horror fans will find much to chew on, and these stories will certainly reach a wider audience. Johnson deserves to be a household name, as this superb collection makes clear."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Available in hardcover for the first time, a collection of cult sensation Jeremy Robert Johnson's best and most bizarre short fiction, including a brand-new, never-before-published novella.

For more than a decade, Jeremy Robert Johnson has been bubbling under the surface of both literary and genre fiction. His short stories present a brilliantly dark and audaciously weird realm where cosmic nightmares collide with all-too-human characters and apocalypses of all shapes and sizes loom ominously. In "Persistence Hunting," a lonely distance runner is seduced into a brutal life of crime with an ever-narrowing path for escape. In "When Susurrus Stirs," an unlucky pacifist must stop a horrifying parasite from turning his body into a sentient hive. Running through all of Johnson's work is a hallucinatory vision and deeply-felt empathy, earning the author a reputation as one of today's most daring and thrilling writers.

Featuring the best of his independently-published short fiction, as well as an exclusive, never-before-published novella "The Sleep of Judges"―where a father's fight against the denizens of a drug den becomes a mind-bending suburban nightmare―Entropy in Bloom is a perfect compendium for avid fans and an ideal entry point for adventurous readers seeking the humor, heartbreak, and terror of JRJ's strange new worlds.

"A perfect place to get acquainted with one of the darkest stars in the genre...Johnson captures humanity's absurdity, our grotesqueries, sometimes our triumphs, all the while pushing past the limits of reality, transforming it into something dark, and surreal, and unforgettable."
―B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

"ENTROPY IN BLOOM is an instant classic, a carefully curated manifesto whose main goal is to tell the world one of the brightest stars in indie lit is now too brilliant to remain hidden...This collection should turn him into the writer everyone is talking about. These fifteen stories and one novella show a powerful imagination, a great talent for storytelling, writing chops that allow him to tackle any genre, and a flowing, dynamic voice that, if Johnson were a singer, would extend to an impressive eight octaves."
―Electric Literature

"Surreal, visceral, and frequently unsettling...One more descriptor, while we're at it: highly entertaining. Johnson brings a pulpy urgency to the page, which blends neatly with the frequently heady concepts that he utilizes in his fiction. [ENTROPY IN BLOOM]'s a fine primer to his work, which encompasses everything from stories of pernicious terrors working their way into the world to taut crime fiction to insightful character studies."
―Tor.com

"Exciting, unpredictable, and feels slightly dangerous...free of the boundaries of conventional literature in ways you can't quite imagine. ENTROPY IN BLOOM is emotionally challenging, unpredictable and thoroughly original. I cannot say it enough: I had a great time with this book." ―Dead End Follies

"Showcases the best of the worst of Jeremy Robert Johnson. And by worst, I mean most gut-churning and nightmare inducing...Perfectly paced and extremely creepy...will leave you pondering the deeper meaning of random acts of violence for days to come. Enjoy?"
―LitReactor

"With ENTROPY IN BLOOM, Jeremy Robert Johnson continues to deliver the very best in short fiction...original ideas, compellingly realistic characters, wonderfully vivid language."
―This is Horror

"These stories can be uncomfortable, difficult, unflinching, but they're also always entertaining. Johnson writes with an energy that propels you through some very dark spaces indeed and into something profoundly unsettling but nonetheless human."
―Brian Evenson, author of A Collapse of Horses

"ENTROPY IN BLOOM crackles with weirdness, style, wit, a befittingly oddball sense of humanity, and a misshapen dark heart. I loved every damn story."
―Paul Tremblay, author of A Head Full of Ghosts and Disappearance at Devil's Rock

"Reading Johnson, you feel you are in the grip of an immensely powerful, possibly malevolent, but fiercely intelligent mind. Beware! (But enjoy--and trust me, you will.)"
―Nick Cutter, author of The Troop

"I've seen the future and it's bizarre, it's beautifully berserk, it's Jeremy Robert Johnson."
―Stephen Graham Jones, author of Mongrels

Available now wherever books are sold!

THE END OF A VERY SMALL AND VERY STRANGE ERA (2/17/17)

Swallowdown Press will end its publishing run as of March 31st, 2017, eleven years after the release of its first titles.

During its (wildly intermittent) production period Swallowdown Press was responsible for the publication of nine novels. Five of these were nominated for the coveted Wonderland Award and four of them actually won. Collectively these books have sold over 15,000 copies and have served to expand the scope of the Bizarro fiction canon (while also finding inroads with discerning Horror and Crime readers looking for a little weirdness in the mix).

The original tagline for Swallowdown Press was “Brilliant Bizarro Books” and I stand by that. From the almost-alien, Lynchian Siberia of J David Osborne’s BY THE TIME WE LEAVE HERE, WE’LL BE FRIENDS to the darkly beautiful poetry of Forrest Armstrong’s THE DEADHEART SHELTERS to the mind-bending, revelatory shorts of Cody Goodfellow’s SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS, all were books which showed how deeply affecting literature could be when run through their author’s warped and singular imaginations.

I feel immensely privileged and proud to have had a small hand in introducing these books to the world. I’m also grateful to the artists—Alex Pardee, Alan M. Clark, Matthew Revert, Mike Dubisch, Dana Terrace, and Nick Gucker—who made our books look as amazing and dynamic as possible. And a great debt is owed to Carlton Mellick III and Cameron Pierce who did most of the actual book design (both cover and interior) for the Friend Price of Pizza and Beer.

For those wondering “Why?”: Swallowdown Press is solvent—we’ve paid all royalties religiously since our first pub date. All of our titles have earned out and are profitable and BY THE TIME and SILENT WEAPONS are certified hits by any small press standard. And I’m still a true believer when it comes to the power and potential of Bizarro fiction.

All that being said, time has compressed for me a great deal since becoming and fully devoting myself to being a father. Swallowdown has been on a production hiatus for over five years now, and I’ve realized that I’m kidding myself when I think it may return. In its absence presses like Lazy Fascist and Broken River and King Shot and Fungasm have published most of the books I would have wanted to put out anyway. The aesthetic I loved for Swallowdown is being served—and served better—by these wonderful publishers.

Beyond that, the unexpected success of SKULLCRACK CITY has presented me with some opportunities that I’m now (legally/contractually) bound to pursue, and these are drawing my attention away from the press in a way that’s unfair to the authors. So at this point I’d rather the rights revert to these folks so that they might find further opportunities for their very fine work. I can’t give details yet, but I can assure you that many of the Swallowdown books will be re-appearing in the near future.

So, for those interested in collecting or checking out the Swallowdown Press catalog before it’s gone, here is a list of titles which will no longer be available as of April 1, 2017:

WE LIVE INSIDE YOU by Jeremy Robert Johnson (print edition only, digital will remain available)

SIREN PROMISED by Alan M. Clark and Jeremy Robert Johnson (print edition only, superior digital version with full-color art already available from IFD Publishing)

THE DEADHEART SHELTERS by Forrest Armstrong (print/digital)

BY THE TIME WE LEAVE HERE, WE’LL BE FRIENDS by J. David Osborne (print/digital)

LOW DOWN DEATH RIGHT EASY by J. David Osborne (print/digital)

SILENT WEAPONS FOR QUIET WARS by Cody Goodfellow (print/digital)

PERFECT UNION by Cody Goodfellow (print/digital)

ALL-MONSTER ACTION! By Cody Goodfellow (print/digital)

ALSO OF NOTE:

Eraserhead Press’ print edition of ANGEL DUST APOCALYPSE will also be going Out of Print around this same time.

FURTHER EXPLANATION:

In April 2017 Night Shade Press will be releasing ENTROPY IN BLOOM in both hardcover and digital editions (with a trade paperback to follow in October 2017)! ENTROPY IN BLOOM not only collects the absolute best short stories from ANGEL DUST and WE LIVE, but also includes a brand new, never-before-published 25,000 word novella titled “The Sleep of Judges” (which feels like my best work to date [though the new stuff always does]).

ENTROPY IN BLOOM is the 4K Criterion Collector’s Edition Blu-Ray of my short work. It’s beautifully designed, deeply fine-tuned, and chock-full of extra features including an outstanding Introduction from the always amazing Brian Evenson. Going forward, I would tell any reader interested in my short fiction that ENTROPY IN BLOOM is 100% the book to pick up. As such, it is now going to become the sole collection available in print.

For those folks interested in the weird/experimental deep cuts, I am going to leave the very inexpensive Kindle versions of WE LIVE and ANGEL DUST on the market. To extend the film metaphor, there will still be a way to access my earliest work via these Bootleg VHS copies. So if you really need not one but three stories of Rave Horror or you dig Kenny Loggins jokes, you can still get that stuff for now.

Definitely some big changes, and there’s always more to be announced, but for now I just want to say:

Thank you for reading Swallowdown Press books! I hope you had as much fun experiencing them as we had creating them!

Best wishes,

JRJ

The SDP crew at Bizarrocon 2011