Ghost Orchid Press

@ghostorchidpress.com

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Cambridge, UK-based indie publisher of horror, gothic and supernatural fiction. EIC: Antonia Rachel Ward. ghostorchidpress.com

Image of DuMort book cover with the caption 'Shirley Jackson award nominee: Best novella'

Genre spotlight: dark fantasy

Genre spotlight: Gothic Horror

Genre spotlight: climate fiction

Genre spotlight: Gaslamp fantasy

"Part enchanting dreamworld, part blistering nightmare, Every Dark Cloud warns us of humanity's worst impulses, and reminds us of its best."
-- Stephanie Feldman, author of Saturnalia

"Seductive to the core. Hold My Heart is an intriguing thrill, its world tinged with noir atmosphere and a passion for grime on skin and tongues on blades.”
-- Hailey Piper, author of Queen of Teeth

"With gorgeous prose and a heart-stopping conclusion, Tang’s debut novella is absolutely unforgettable.”

-- Kelsea Yu, Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of Bound Feet and Demon Song

"A haunting and thought-provoking twist on the fairytale narrative. Must we be only what others have foretold and experienced? Or can we make our own stories, flawed and complex as we are..."
-- Shawna Lawless, author of the critically acclaimed Gael Song series

Leathan should’ve known that mystic was scamming her when he promised it’d be easy to break her curse.
The thought pinballs around her head as she sequesters herself in an empty corner of the big top backstage, as far from the other troupers as she can get. Chest heaving from her cross-city dash to the circus, eyes burning from sweat and tears she refuses to shed, she digs into her skirt pocket for her compact. She should’ve known.

Look for me.

It starts with this: a distant
figure, high and away in the finest
private box.

Look for me.

A pull of magnetism, as thin and
strong as filigree wire. It starts at
the woman with the opera glasses,
who sits gazing at the stage from
on high, and ends with the woman
who stands there watching, struck
thunderbolt-still in the stalls.

Search me out. Go on.

Imagine if you were looking for
me with those.

Covers of Hold My Heart and The Devil's Gift with the caption 'if you love horror'

Covers of The Extravaganza Eternia and Neverest on a background of night sky with the caption 'if you love mystery'

A copy of The Castaway and the Witch stuffed in a stocking with the quote 'Such is the nature of memory, always creeping onto the edge of fiction.'

A copy of DuMort stuffed in a stocking alongside some candy canes, with the quote 'In Mydalla we do not speak of the dead.'

A Christmas stocking filled with candy canes and a copy of Ghost Apparent

A christmas stocking filled with candy canes and a copy of A Very Ghostly Christmas

Covers of Mazi and Sair Back, Sair Banes with the caption 'if you love folk horror'

Covers of Dark Woods, Deep Water and Ghost Apparent with the caption 'If you love Dark Fantasy'

Covers of Ashthorne, DuMort and The Belladonna Invitation with the caption 'If you love Gothic'

Covers of Winter Harvest and The Castaway and the Witch with the caption 'If you love... mythology'

Cover of Dark Woods, Deep Water with the caption 'Make a date with the goddess off death'. Background is a witchy-looking woman holding a glowing crystal ball.

Cover of The Castaway and the Witch with the caption 'get stranded on a desert island with a witch'. Background is a woman in black in a meadow, holding a dagger aloft.

Cover of Every Dark Cloud with the caption 'look into humanity's dark future'. Background is an image of a woman looking into a glowing crystal ball.

Cover of Cholorophobia with the caption: Reconnec with the dark side of nature. Background is a woman in black holding a tambourine aloft.

Cover of Les Petites Morts with the caption 'indulge in an anthology of dark fairy tales'. Background: A woman dressed in black holds a skull high in the air.

Cover of The Belladonna Invitation with the caption 'Enter a poison salon in 19th Century Paris' - 'Horror Season'. Background is a witchy-looking woman in a cornfield.

Cover of Neverest with the caption 'Encounter the supernatural on Mount Everest'. 'Horror Season'. Background is a dark haired girl holding a glowing crystal ball.

The cover of Hold My Heart with the caption 'get inside the mind of a serial killer' and beneath that, Horror Season on a grainy background photo of a witch-like woman holding a crystal ball.

Image of The Castaway and the Witch cover with the caption: "One of those stories you'll want to return to again and again." -- Danai Christopoulou.

A woman dressed in black dances in a wheat field, behind the caption 'Horror Season' and a selection of book covers.

"As thoughtful as it is beguiling, set in
an island that is both prison and
promised sanctuary, Papadopoulou's
The Castaway and the Witch is one of
those stories you'll want to return to
again and again.”

— Danai Christopoulou, author of

Vile Lady Villains

“The Castaway and the Witch is a wild, recursive fable of heartache, transformation, reclamation, and distortion. It casts a magical web that catches you in its unsettling whimsy even as it drags you further into its darker depths.”
-- T.L. Bodine, author of Neverest and River of Souls

"A moving tale of families lost and magic found, an exploration of the power of enchantment and the enchantments of power - with the poetic register of a timeless fable and an island so vivid you'll want to wander its woods (and befriend the animals!)."
-- Rose Biggin, author of The Belladonna Invitation

"Captivating from the first page, this is a story about growing up and growing wise, a book-love story as harrowing as it is tender. With a touch of Piranesi, an undercurrent of fairy tales, and an ancestry of Greek myth, The Castaway and the Witch is a beautiful, deeply moving book."
-- Natalia Theodoridou, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of Sour Cherry

"A haunting and thought-provoking twist on the fairytale narrative. Must we be only what others have foretold and experienced? Or can we make our own stories, flawed and complex as we are..."
-- Shawna Lawless, author of the critically acclaimed Gael Song series

"You are nowhere at the moment. Neither dead nor alive. Your destiny depends entirely on what you do next..."

“As thoughtful as it is beguiling, set in an island that is both prison and promised sanctuary, Papadopoulou's The Castaway and the Witch is one of those stories you'll want to return to again and again. Its true spell is revealed slowly, in layers laden with lost folklore, hidden truths and tragedies—a powerful tale about choosing which parts of the lore to claim as your own, and where to pen a brave new start.”
-- Danai Christopoulou, author of Vile Lady Villains

"Eighty years ago, humanity was faced with a choice: allow the sun to burn everything and everyone, or cover the sky—plunging the world into darkness."

“The Castaway and the Witch is a wild, recursive fable of heartache, transformation, reclamation, and distortion. It casts a magical web that catches you in its unsettling whimsy even as it drags you further into its darker depths.”
-- T.L. Bodine, author of Neverest and River of Souls

Video of a hooded woman walking down a city street, accompanied by a heartbeat soundtrack. Text: "It will hurt. You will struggle. You will try to get away. I won't let you.“

"A moving tale of families lost and magic found, an exploration of the power of enchantment and the enchantments of power - with the poetic register of a timeless fable and an island so vivid you'll want to wander its woods (and befriend the animals!)."
-- Rose Biggin, author of The Belladonna Invitation

"Captivating from the first page, this is a story about growing up and growing wise, a book-love story as harrowing as it is tender. With a touch of Piranesi, an undercurrent of fairy tales, and an ancestry of Greek myth, The Castaway and the Witch is a beautiful, deeply moving book."
-- Natalia Theodoridou, Nebula and World Fantasy Award-winning author of Sour Cherry

Cover of The Castaway and the Witch with the caption: 'now available on Netgalley'

"A haunting and thought-provoking twist on the fairytale narrative. Must we be only what others have foretold and experienced? Or can we make our own stories, flawed and complex as we are..."
-- Shawna Lawless, author of the critically acclaimed Gael Song series

Covers of Sair Back, Sair Banes by Anthony Engebretson and Mazi by Koji A. Dae with the caption 'if you love folk horror'.

Covers of Ashthorne by April Yates, DuMort by Michelle Tang, and The Belladonna Invitation by Rose Biggin, with the caption "If you love Gothic"

Covers of Dark Woods, Deep Water and Ghost Apparent by Jelena Dunato, with the caption "If you love dark fantasy"

Covers of Neverest by TL Bodine and The Extravagazna Eternia by Kristin Osani with the caption 'If You love mystery'

Cover of DuMort with the text 'out today'.

"SuChin left bruises around my neck, delicate blossoms budding purple beneath my skin which no amount of powder could hide." DuMort, Michelle Tang, July 2025

“ We clasped hands to cement our deal, his strong hand devouring mine, the shifting flame our only witness... Or so I thought.”

DuMort by Michelle Tang, July 2025

“How quickly he and I became we. As fast as a guest-of-honour became a man on the run; as fast as a lady turned her back on the life she knew.”

DuMort by Michelle Tang, July 2025

“Unlike the other occultists who crawled like vermin through this city, DuMort had genuine ability. Everyone said so. It was why he could not stay in any place for long: crowds began to follow him, and violence soon followed. ”

DuMort by Michelle Tang, July 2025

“In Mydalla, we do not speak of the dead.”

DuMort by Michelle Tang, July 2025

Covers of Winter Harvest and The Castaway and the Witch by Ioanna Papadopoulou with the caption 'If you love mythology'

Covers of Hold My Heart by Koji A. Dae and The Devil's Gift by Joshua Robinson with the caption 'If you love... horror'