Matt Blairstone
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mattblairstone.bsky.social
Matt Blairstone
@mattblairstone.bsky.social
Publisher/Founder @tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Shirley Jackson Award-nominated editor.
Illustrator of slimy things.
Devotee of comic books & guit-fiddle music of every stripe.
OPEN for both editing & art gigs.
He/him
Portland OR
Pinned
Need Human Art for your book/shirt/band/life in general? I'm open for commissions!

Holler:
1.) DM me
2.) email mattblairstone at gmail dot com
3.) mattblairstone.carrd.co

Recent client work:
@brandenburgdm.bsky.social @shortwavebooks.bsky.social @nwreader.bsky.social @tenebrouspress.bsky.social
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
It's a shite state of affairs. Show me the new writers, not the people who's tired, formulaic, phoned in rubbish swamps the dubious honour of the best seller lists. Give me the new ideas
It's dire when you try to help authors find where to submit excellent manuscripts, and there's just hardly anything. Not even talking about the chances of acceptance; just anywhere to even *try* that's all of: the right genre, open, open to unagented, decent, and safe. Everyone's closed.
November 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
It's dire when you try to help authors find where to submit excellent manuscripts, and there's just hardly anything. Not even talking about the chances of acceptance; just anywhere to even *try* that's all of: the right genre, open, open to unagented, decent, and safe. Everyone's closed.
November 22, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
But if I talk about the long-term effects of press owners engaging in star worship, nepotism, gatekeeping, and clout chasing, I'm the asshole who gives these poor dudes a hard time and doesn't understand how brave and plucky they are for entering that bidding war over Stephen King's used tissues
November 22, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
🔥 COVER +TITLE REVEAL + SUBMISSIONS OPEN🔥

YOUR BODY IS A FEVER DREAM: A Cosmic Body Horror Anthology from Trans & Gender Nonconforming Voices

A Charity collection coming in October 2026🖤☠️🏳️‍⚧️

Art by @mxmorgan.com

All the info here: tenebrouspress.com/blog/2025/11...
November 20, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Weird Year in Review:
8 books.
3 magazine issues.
2 sleep-deprived co-publishers.
Let's do it again in '26!

Missing anything from your bookshelves? Hit up our webstore🖤☠️
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
On days where I fret whether we're waving our Weird flag w/enough vigor, I remind myself of the 3k-word cheat sheet that @goresorcerer.bsky.social wrote up to explain PUPPET'S BANQUET.

@eveharms.com thought it was badass; that's good enough for us, should be for you too🖤☠️

store.tenebrouspress.com
November 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
I gotta read this, this is tripping every one of my triggers
🎉🖤RELEASE DAY🖤🎉

@rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is out now everywhere!

Sci-Fi, Cosmic Horror & Queer Romance meld effortlessly in this tale of a deep space mission thought lost forever & the bonds that keep us human at the edge of the universe.

Get it:
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
By my count…eleven? I dunno, that seems a reasonable number 🖤☠️
November 14, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Today is all about scheduling the 2026 calendar; giving myself a heart attack *now* so I don't have 70 small heart attacks next year, or at the very least cutting that 70 down to a healthy 30.

2026 Book Club subscriptions open in TWO WEEKS🖤☠️
November 13, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Astronaut hates space, ship, other crew members💀

Not too fond of his assigned penpal either (at first)💀

Shit goes bananas at the edge of the universe💀

Time gets crazy💀

People die💀

Cosmic Horror💀

...Meet Cute?❤️

DEAR STUPID PENPAL by @rascalhartley.bsky.social
OUT NOW: store.tenebrouspress.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I'm actually not overly prone to impulse purchases but when you are cassette tape sequel to the first Stygian Bough album which is prolly the best doom album of the past I dunno how many years decades? then you get impulse bought🖤☠️
November 14, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
"...unsettling and immersive sci-fi thriller. Readers will be on the edges of their seats."

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BABY

www.publishersweekly.com/9781787589186
November 13, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
From today's newsletter:

"Not as many people will read DEAR STUPID PENPAL as *should*. But the ones who do? Get ready to hear them talking about it a whole lot, for a long time to come. This book changes people. It changed me."

Preorder @rascalhartley.bsky.social's debut:
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Hails to The Line-Up!
They agree that @rascalhartley.bsky.social's DEAR STUPID PENPAL is a must-read.

This unique blend of sci-fi, cosmic horror, buddy comedy & romance is one of the best things you'll read all...ever.

Out next Tuesday, order now here:
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
This person mos def wins the coveted Sexiest Tenebrous Cultist of the Day.

But share & share alike, we always say; this is a title that can be proudly paraded by multiple folks at once!

So: who else wants to be Sexiest Tenebrous Cultist of the Day? You know what to do🖤☠️
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
This is gonna be great. @spicycloaca.bsky.social is a Brave New Weird award winner, an incredible writer, & a hell of an interior art designer for THE SKULL & LAUREL magazines to boot🖤☠️
A little preview of how fucking cool Gore Poetics is going to be. Can't wait to publish this one next year.
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
2025 so far:

💀3 issues o'Weird shorts
💀Dystopian Feminist Sci-Fi
💀Freaky Novelettes of Loss & Rebirth
💀Indigenous Supernatural Chiller
💀Cronenbergian Phantasmagoria Mindfuck
💀Best New Weird Horror of the Year
💀Eco-Body-Coral Horror
💀Tarot-themed Terror

Get some Tenebrous🖤☠️
store.tenebrouspress.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Blurb, blur, blurb. Blurb is the word. Here's part of a killer blurb from @mattblairstone.bsky.social Matt Blairstone, Cult Leader over at @tenebrouspress.bsky.social Also, got a bit of a promo video for One-Shot in the comments. Click that link, maybe buy a book, maybe get weird with me.
November 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Dudes who can’t get hired anywhere else and took the worst possible lessons from cosplay💀

theonion.com/ice-agent-7-...
ICE Agent, 7-Year-Old Both Wearing Same ‘Military Commando’ Halloween Costume
theonion.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
Also, oh hey bookstores and shop owners! If you wanna carry Tenebrous books without all the hidden markups that In**amSp**k adds, all the deets are here:

tenebrouspress.com/wholesaledis...

Better % for you; better % for us and our authors🖤☠️
October 31, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Most of my life has been in restaurants, at every level, from dishwasher to rat catcher to general manager.
There is sooo little money in restaurants. That it’s falling to them to feed this country for free should shame both worthless political parties.

www.wweek.com/food/2025/10...
More Portland Restaurants Offer Free Meals During SNAP Shutdown
Options now include Cafe Olli, Grassa, Laughing Planet and more.
www.wweek.com
October 31, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
🎃HALLOWEEN READS🎃

Cuz books don't have expiration dates

@jolietoomajan.bsky.social & @carsonwinter.bsky.social's POSTHASTE MANOR takes you on a tour of the most f%&ked up haunted house imaginable. Think HAUSU (Japan, 1977) but middle America

Art @slimyswampghost.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/28ez4hb6
October 29, 2025 at 5:47 PM
My latest cover for Tenebrous. Definitely had some Carpenter Brut rattling around in my skull while working on it.

ALSO: my commissions are OPEN again.

Indie publishers, indie authors: I'm keen to get you unique art for your project that won't break the bank.

DMs are open🖤☠️
Check out the cover to BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror (+ More) Vol. 4, out June 2026!

🔥And then go grab a copy of this year's Vol. 3 at 20% off from our webstore through the weekend🔥

store.tenebrouspress.com/products/bra...

Art by @mattblairstone.bsky.social
October 29, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Matt Blairstone
If you're a reviewer and willing to do a girl a solid, there's definitely something on this list for calls for reviews that would treat you right.
And also there's my hoodlum of a book

ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/10/02/c...
Calls for Reviews & Essays: January 2026
The Ancillary Review of Books publishes reviews and essays with an emphasis on utopian impulses and systemic injustices. ARB seeks to build a community of radical thinkers writing about amazing, sp…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
October 28, 2025 at 8:08 PM