The Black List and Zando are hunting for the next great horror novel.

Attention, thrill-seekers. The Black List and Zando are teaming up on a mission to identify the next great horror novelist. Could it be you?

The inaugural Evil Twin Manuscript Initiative will select an unpublished or self-published horror novel for a $25,000 publishing deal with Evil Twin, a Zando imprint. Submissions will open shortly and close on November 20, 2026—so if your Obsessions inspired triptych needs polishing, you have a few months.

What’s more, the brief is wide for this genre contest. According to early press, Initiative readers are interested in “upmarket supernatural, gothic, psychological” fiction, or “any horror sub-genre that may intersect with thriller, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy.” Which covers a lot of sin.

Tropes are welcome, but fresh perspectives are necessary. The only real limit to one’s dark imagination is logistical—submitted manuscripts must not be under contract somewhere else. (But no agent required.)

Zando, founded in 2020 by Molly Stern, is a leading indie to watch. On a mission to publish “tomorrow’s cult classics,” the house has focused on nurturing new literary talent in novel ways. Imprints like SJP Lit and Gillian Flynn Books trade on known personalities. But recent partnerships with Crooked Media and Tin House suggest the house’s expansive literary ambitions. We’re doing politics and poetry, folks.

As for the imprint at hand, Evil Twin, launched in February 2026,  is committed to publishing “hauntingly human stories” that consider our darkest fears and deepest questions. The imprint’s first titles include A.P. Thayer’s Tapeworm and Abe Moss’s Morsels.

An upcoming slate includes new work from James Bennett, E.J. Green, and Neil Sharpson. And, as we’ve covered, possibly you.

There’s no doubt that horror is having a moment. According to Randy Winston, creative director of fiction at The Black List, this genre is hitting on a need for collective catharsis.

“Horror novels are among the most exciting stories around,” Winston said in a press release. “They are unsettling narratives that mirror our reality, and create emotional stakes grounded in grief, mortality, and trauma.” As someone who recently completed a binge of Widow’s Bay, I can cosign this statement.

Happy submitting, ye ghouls.