Remember Leisure Books and its top-of-the-line horror novels? For several years, that was the only company consistently publishing exciting new horror paperbacks. It originally targeted a younger audience, before editor Don D’Auria (pictured) came in and revamped the label, releasing books by esteemed scary authors like John Skipp, Brian Keene, Douglas Clegg and Richard Laymon. Though Leisure unfortunately closed its doors last year, the award-winning D’Auria has thankfully moved on to a new company, Samhain Publishing (already a more fitting name than Leisure), with the goal of continuing to publish the best horror novels on the market.

Formed in 2005, Samhain was initially a romance publisher, but as D’Auria puts it, its “innovation and supportive attitude toward authors” makes it well-suited for establishing a horror imprint. Its diverse, international audience base also means that it will hopefully be able to take Samhain Horror to a wider readership, appealing to the e-reader crowd as well as traditional paperback collectors. D’Auria celebrates this potential audience diversity, which is echoed in the kind of fiction he’s selecting for publication.

“I hope to attract a very broad readership, horror fans who love many different aspects of the genre,” he says. “I don’t want to focus on just one type of horror, because I love lots of different types and I assume other fans are like me in that way. So I want to attract people who enjoy subtle ghost stories, gory extreme horror, psychological thrillers—any kind of horror you can think of.”

In many ways, it seems like Samhain will be a continuation of Leisure’s horror heyday. “Soon after I left Leisure, I began talking with the owner and publisher of Samhain, who was looking to expand,” D’Auria recalls. “They’d been doing extremely well with the growth of e-books and wanted to move into an area that wouldn’t compete with their romance line. It was actually very similar to when I started at Leisure.” Between Samhain’s sales success and D’Auria’s experience and dedication, it seems like a match destined for success.

Samhain is also uniquely suited to attract a newer audience with the aforementioned emphasis on e-books. Though paperback and e-book publishing will initially be separated by a few months, they should sync up as the line goes forward. “Samhain has been publishing e-books from the very beginning, so they’re well-established as one of the leaders in the format,” D’Auria says. With the popularity of the Amazon Kindle, competing e-readers and smart-phone reader applications, it’s important that a major horror outfit be able to compete with more mainstream fiction publishers. “It seems clear at this point that e-books are the direction the industry is heading in, so I wanted to work for a company that had proven success in that area.”

Samhain has also promised that it will get as much information as possible to potential readers. “The biggest difference, of course, is the added push of the e-book edition, which means a lot more advertising directly to the customers,” D’Auria notes. “Samhain clearly sees the importance of advertising and will be promoting the new line in ads in magazines and on websites. We want to make darn sure that readers know these books are available.”

In addition, the Queens-based editor notes that digital delivery allows more flexibility—not only to reach a new generation of horror buffs, but also with the type of works he is able to put out. “Because of the e-book and trade formats, I’ll have a little more freedom as to what I can acquire,” D’Auria says. “I won’t be forced to stick to mass-market paperback lengths, like I was at Leisure. So now I’ll be able to acquire terrific novellas in addition to the novels. On the other hand, I’ll also be able to look at longer novels as well. It’s nice to have that freedom and not feel quite so constrained.”

Launching this October, Samhain will resume the basic Leisure horror frequency schedule, with two novels distributed every month. The celebrated Ramsey Campbell (THE NAMELESS, THE DARKEST PART OF THE WOODS) leads off the list of authors with his latest effort, THE SEVEN DAYS OF CAIN. And to celebrate the launch of the new imprint, Samhain will also rerelease several of Campbell’s previous works, including OBSESSION, THE HUNGRY MOON, DARK COMPANIONS and ANCIENT IMAGES. THE SEVEN DAYS OF CAIN was written last year and has only been published in the UK so far, which means that this horror/crime thriller will finally be available for U.S. readers.

Campbell’s contributions will be followed by a reprint of W.D. Gagliani’s WOLF TRAP, nominated for several awards, and Gagliani’s new WOLF’S EDGE; ANGEL BOARD, a first-time novel by indie horror filmmaker Kristopher Rufty (PSYCHO HOLOCAUST); and Brian Moreland’s new horror-mystery DEAD OF WINTER. Also look out for the new novel by Hunter Shea, FOREST OF SHADOWS, and a novella from horror/crime author Ronald Malfi called BOREALIS.

Samhain has already promised a diverse array of talent, which extends in the exciting November lineup. Expect works by crime-thriller author Russell James, horror filmmaker/fiction writer Frazer Lee and multiple award nominee Greg F. Gifune. December brings novels by newcomers Jonathan Janz and Elena Hearty.

D’Auria is uniquely suited to root out the best horror fiction with his 15 years of experience at Leisure. In that previous position, he showed equal enthusiasm heralding established and novice authors, making it clear that he would accept manuscripts from unknown writers as well as those lucky enough to find agents. D’Auria asserts that we can continue to expect that open-mindedness and eye for talent. “My tastes haven’t changed since leaving Leisure,” he says. “I still want to work with the best writers I can find. Of course, I hope to work with a number of the same authors I published at Leisure, but in general the writers I want to work with are the ones who write the best horror. We’ll certainly have our share of established authors, but I’m also very open to folks just starting out. I always want to bring first-time authors to the public eye. The genre always needs fresh blood, so to speak.”

For more on Samhain, see its official website. 

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