When I got the idea for this blog, it came to me on a night when I couldn't fall asleep. Sometimes we have the best ideas on those nights. Some of the greatest stories ever told came in a dream or on a sleepless night. But sometimes, we are delirious from exhaustion, and we think something sounds great only to realize later that it's not! Sometimes we also like to overestimate our abilities, especially if we are overachievers. It's me. I'm we.
The indie horror community is like a weird little family. Some of us love each other, talk to each other every day, and are more like siblings than friends. Some of us hate each other, like that cousin who pushed you in the pool with your phone in your pocket 10 years ago. You still don't talk at family events. There are even those we tolerate for the good of the group, even though we can't stand them. Like that great-aunt who the rest of your family thinks is just so sweet, even though she tells you she doesn't "understand your lifestyle" every chance she gets.
There are times when this community feels so big. It's easy to miss out on local events because you're not looking for them in the right places, or you miss an announcement or a post. It's incredibly difficult to keep track of new releases and books you want to check out. We have our Goodreads lists, our Amazon wish lists, and some of us even have spreadsheets on our computers and notes in our phones. There is a new book release every week, sometimes every day, and it's not uncommon for some great reads to slip through the cracks due to the overwhelming choices.
There are other times where this community feels so small. You can't exactly do a quick Google search and find a compiled list of all the indie horror events in the country, or in the world. You most likely won't find a list of all the new releases coming out that's inclusive of all subgenres. I mean you could (kinda what I'm trying to do here). But more than likely, the events you're interested in and the authors you want to read are nestled within little corners of social media.
I had a vision that The Heart of Indie Horror would be a place where indie horror readers could find something for them. I didn't want it to matter what subgenre they liked, what Facebook group they were in, or what country they were from. I think I started off with a pretty good idea. Then I realized something was missing. The reader.
This blog has been a lot of fun. It's a lot of work, but it's still a lot of fun. What I'm missing, though, is what appeals to you. For the first few months of its life, THOIH had a list a mile long of new releases, authors to interview, and events to promote. Authors were more than happy to have another place to talk about their book, and that's amazing, because they deserve it. I want nothing more than to support the indie authors out there who ground their fingertips to the bone writing stories that move us in one way or another. Well, I might want one thing more. I want to support the readers. I love the idea of promoting new releases, especially from newer authors. However, I don't think it means much to the readers at all if I haven't read the book. For a while, I was highlighting books without reading them first, just to get the word out there. I don't think there's really anything wrong with that, but to me, it feels incomplete. It feels like less than honest. I think what readers appreciate most is an honest review from someone they trust. That's how you get a reader to pick up a book. That means more than a post that says "buy this book."
There are about a million reviewers out there. There are bloggers, TikTokers, Instagrammers, etc. I am fully confident that I have nothing to offer that someone out there doesn't already do. But I love this little thing I made, so I'm going to keep doing it, but I'm going to make a few changes first.
I would still like to highlight events that are happening and new book releases. There will always be pages on this blog that list the information for all events and releases that I'm aware of. However, I am no longer going to do highlights on books I haven't read. I'm going to do in-depth reviews on books I have, and I'm going to do them for books I've loved. You will never see me completely trash a book on this site. You will never see me write a review here for a book that didn't shake me to my core and move my soul. These books will be books I would recommend with my whole chest. I'll continue to do Q&As with the authors because I love digging into their brains just a little bit deeper. I might also post some random musings, just little nuggets of food for thought. Hopefully this will continue to be a space for authors to celebrate their works, but I think I also want it to be a space for you, and I might be brave enough to let it be a little space for me.
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