Aethon Acquires Horror Publisher Wicked House

As reported by Publishers Weekly, Aethon Books has acquired horror book publisher Wicked House, which will become an imprint of Aethon.

Wicked House has published more than 50 titles, among them Blain Daigle’s The Broken Places and Duncan Ralston’s Puzzle House. Aethon said it will use a group approach to running Wicked House, with existing Aethon teams leading the imprint along with Vault Comics CEO Damian Wassel, Fright Night Audio founder Joe Hempel, and longtime horror editor and author Andrew Najberg.

Wicked House founder Patrick Reumen, who is stepping down, said he was pleased to find an owner who will “honor the legacy of what I built.”

Aethon CEO Rhett Bruno said the goal of the acquisition is to use the resources of Aethon to build on what Reumen created and to continue to publish “gripping horror tales.” Aethon president Steve Beaulieu noted the addition of Wicked House complements the niche Aethon has created in the horror field through its partnership with Vault Comics.

Joe Hempel added, “When the opportunity to help run Wicked House presented itself, it felt like the perfect move after making Fright Night Audio one of the top horror audiobook publishers in the world. We feel we can make Wicked House THE destination for horror authors in every stage of their career.” 

New titles in the AETHON: Wicked House imprint already in the pipeline for 2026 and beyond include novels from a number of household names in horror, upcoming talent, and more:

• Summer Camp, Slasher Series, Vol. 1, by Jeff Strand 
• The Glitched House, Vol. 1, by Ben Farthing 
• Porcelain Lullaby, by Blaine Daigle
• I Woke Up A Final Girl, by John Durgin  
• Planet Slaughter, by Daniel J Volpe 
• Tormenta, by Debra Castaneda 
• The Final Final Girl, by James Kaine 
• We Were Never Really Friends, by Timothy King 
• Dear Nancy, by Matt Shaw 
• The Dwelling, by Judith Sonnet
• The Pond, by Judith Sonnet
• The Thing you Brought me Home, by Boris Bacic
• Untitled Horror Novel, by Lee Mountford
• Untitled Horror Novel, by Andrew Van Wey

So, happy Halloween and welcome to the Wicked House! Join our mission to bring readers the best damn horror and dark fantasy on Earth.

The Wicked House acquisition follows Aethon’s purchase, earlier this year, of a majority interest in Vault Comics and a subsequent agreement with Vault to publish print editions of dozens of titles that have appeared only in digital formats.