Violet Lichen
An Apex Book Company imprint
Dark & Weird Speculative Fiction
For readers who love fascinating horrors, strange characters, and disquieting ecology.
Inspired by the mysterious beauty of lichens growing in shadowy woods and the surreal drama of violet shades in nature, Violet Lichen fully embraces the weird, strange, and uncanny. Its books aim to leave readers feeling a little changed and disquieted — as if they've just emerged from under a strange spell.
Founded in 2024 by Marissa van Uden, Violet Lichen Books is the sister imprint of Apex Book Company — an imprint of Apex Publications, LLC, in Lexington, KY — giving a home to dark, literary, weird books a little outside mainstream tastes.
The catalog
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Open for submissions
Send us something strange.
We seek authors with a strong attachment to the themes, people, or places they're writing about — who sling their dark tales straight from the heart. We are especially interested in works by marginalized and under-represented authors.
Visit our query guidelines ↗
Now in progress
ECO25: The Year's Best Speculative Ecofiction
Finalists have been announced for our annual anthology gathering the strangest, sharpest ecological speculative fiction of the year. Read the full table of contents.
See the finalists ↗