Zando has announced the launch of its new horror imprint, Evil Twin, which will begin publishing titles this August. The imprint will be led by Nancy Trypuc as publishing director, who will also continue as deputy director of marketing at Zando, with editorial director Masie Cochran and director of original development Hayley Wagreich overseeing acquisitions. Evil Twin aims to publish six to eight titles per year.
Wagreich is also the co-director of Zando's romance imprint Slowburn, which the publisher said has seen "explosive success" since its launch in 2024. Zando CEO and founder Molly Stern said that Evil Twin likewise aims to seize on reader enthusiasm for the horror genre.
“As we have with Slowburn, Zando is building on discovery-driven momentum for Evil Twin, meeting the surge in reader demand while curating best-in-class contemporary horror that blends psychological intensity with social and emotional depth," she said in a statement.
Zando has worked its social channels, including BookTok, to drive discovery for Slowburn. Since she joined Zando in 2025, Trypuc has been behind the effort to broaden Slowburn’s marketing footprint. “We know how to build a robust and playful presence both online and IRL to meet genre readers where they gather," she said.
Evil Twin's inaugural list will kick off on August 18 with A. P. Thayer’s debut novel Tapeworm, which acquiring editor TJ Ohler described as “a mix of From Dusk Till Dawn and The Thing” and which follows "a group of friends who must confront questions of identity, queerness, aging, and desire during a vampire infestation in an isolated Californian desert." Tapeworm’s deluxe first printing will feature sprayed edges, designed endpapers, and a foil stamp.
Morsels by Abe Moss, an originally self-published novel in which a woman's visit to her boyfriend's family turns dark, will follow on October 6.
Further titles include a mix of debut and established voices in the genre. Haunted Minds: Tales of Possession, slated for 2027, is a short story anthology with a foreword by Stephen Graham Jones (The Buffalo Hunter Hunter) and edited by Nick Roberts (The Exorcist's House), with contributions from Clay McLeod Chapman, Nat Cassidy, and others. Also publishing in 2027 and 2028 are Ana Must Die (Again) by E.J. Green; Mother of Night and The Dead Hundred by James Bennett; Sorrow Lake by A.P. Thayer; and Hell Puppies by Neil Sharpson.
Trypuc, a longtime fan of the genre, spoke to the value of horror for sparking conversation around weighty subjects. “The genre has such appeal as an entrypoint for conversation about complicated and nuanced cultural topics we usually like to edge our way around— from class to race, gender to aging, and so much more," she said.
She added: "And honestly, who doesn’t like to share a scary story?”
