There are plenty of great sci-fi, fantasy, and horror titles released every month by major presses. But independent presses also publish many quality works, some of which may go unnoticed. With that in mind, here’s a look at some notable books slated for release in March and April 2022 on independent presses. That’s not all, but it might point you in unexpected directions with your spring reading.

Conspiracies, disasters and others

When it comes to cryptids, few are stranger than Mothman, a bizarre creature lurking in the woods of West Virginia. It has been the subject of prose non-fiction and disturbing comics; there’s even a Mothman riff in the Fallout 76 game. And if Mountain State’s cover art and location are any indication, that’s also what Laurel Hightower writes about in her new novel Below, about a woman whose road through the mountains takes a sinister turn. (March 29, 2022; Perpetual Motion/Macabre Books)

What does it mean when you’re not who you thought you were? Alternatively: the categories of “beauty queen” and “sleeper agent” haven’t, historically speaking, had much overlap. Candace Wuehle’s Next Monarch asks the question: what if someone could claim both of these job descriptions? Add a touch of the occult and a bit of punk rock and you have an intriguing combination. (March 29, 2022; Soft Skull Press)

The end(s) of the world

When it comes to John Elizabeth Stintzi’s novel my volcano, a volcano erupting from the ground below Central Park manages to be one of the least weird aspects of the plot. Stinzi’s novel also includes time travel, folk tales, and a character transforming into a being with an ever-growing hive mind. This is not a book that lacks ambition. (March 22, 2022; Two Dollar Radio)

For years, Jon Frankel has been working on a series of novels set in a future United States devastated by climate change. A 2020 profile of Frankel described his work in bold terms: “It’s Shakespeare as a B-movie, it’s Philip Marlow’s alienation from Chandler.” The next part of his huge novel isle of dogs due out this spring; the first part dealt with political intrigue in the United States around 2500. (April 2022; Whiskey Tit)

Several of Yoko Tawada’s novels have drawn readers into strange corners of the future, including The emissary. The next step for her in English translation is Scattered all over the earth, translated by Margaret Mitsutani. It’s the first book in a trilogy, set in the near future where climate change abounds and Japan has disappeared from the map. (March 1, 2022; New Directions)

Dystopian states can teem with magic as easily as science. In Eugen Bacon’s novel Mage of Fools, a dictator used strange abilities to devastate the environment. The novel’s protagonist must find a way to end his reign using suppressed literature and the possibility of a better life for all. (March 15, 2022; Meerkat Press)

Ominous Things That Aren’t Necessarily Apocalyptic (But Could Be)

Presentations don’t always catch my attention, but when Vanessa Veselka and Paul Tremblay rave about your book, it can only catch my attention. The book in question is the collection of Cara Hoffman Ruin, which encompasses everything from talking animals to kids wearing weird disguises. It turns out that the mix of the sinister and the surreal creates a compelling combination. (April 5, 2022; PM Press)

If you haven’t encountered John Langan’s fiction yet, 2022 is the perfect time for it. Langan writes emotionally resonant and formally brilliant stories that veer into the occult and outright horror. Le Printemps, an expanded edition of its first collection Mr. Gaunt and Other Difficult Encounters will see print. This is an excellent introduction to a prodigiously talented writer. (March 2022; Word Horde)

Let’s not forget that poetry can also transport readers into speculative, bizarre, or otherwise fantastical realms. In this case, Adrian Ernesto Cepeda We are the possessed, a collection that cites both Carmen Maria Machado and Nick Cave as inspirations. These works promise to convey a sense of dread and unfold in the world of death. (March 2022; CLASH Books)

There are also reasons for optimism

Above all, Chelsea Vowel’s Buffalo is the new Buffalo has a surprisingly good, evocative and immediately memorable title. That it is described by the publisher as a work of “Mestizo Futurism” is also very intriguing. Vowel’s collection takes familiar sci-fi structures and charts new horizons within them; it’s the anti-colonialist collection you didn’t know you were expecting. (26 April 2022; Arsenal Pulp Press)

Richard Butner has been writing surreal and fantastical stories for some time now, and this year will see the publication of his first collection. It’s called The adventurers, and it’s full of mysterious doors, lost royalty, and loving ghosts. Publishers Weekly’s review drew comparisons to the unlikely trio of “John Crowley, Ray Bradbury and Sally Rooney” – which is certainly an eye-catching combination. (March 22, 2022; small beer press)

You may have read some of Vandana Singh’s short fiction in these very (digital) pages. Now she has a book due out as part of PM Press’ excellent Outspoken Authors series. Utopias of the third kind brings together fiction and non-fiction that finds Singh exploring the notion of what a utopia might be and how we might get there. (March 22, 2022; PM Press)

Old stories, new spins

Can old myths coexist with modern tales of violence and isolation? Read Irene Solà When I sing, the mountains dance (translated by Mara Faye Lethem) and you just might have your answer. It’s a novel where witches tell part of the story, where ghosts are as central to the story as the living, and where the landscape itself takes on massive stature. (March 15, 2022; Graywolf Press)

If you have read Catherine M. Valente’s novel Immortal, you may know the story of Koschei the Immortal. Valente’s book juxtaposed this character with part of the history of the Soviet Union; by Katia Kazbek The little foxes took matches also returns to this folk tale, but ventures into the last days of the USSR and touches on themes of identity and family. (April 5, 2022; Tin House)

How many stories have caught your eye telling of a strange event happening in the nearby woods? At Masatsugu Ono’s At the edge of the wood (translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter) tells the story of a family who arrives at a new home and discovers that the woods near their house are home to something strange. How does this change them in turn? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out. (April 12, 2022; double line press)

Tobias Carroll is the editor of Vol.1 Brooklyn. He is the author of the collection of short stories transient (Civil coping mechanisms) and the novel Reel (Rare Bird Books).