05/12/2025
In June 2026, we’ll publish our 50th issue. We’ll be marking the milestone with something special, but before that, we want to shine a light on all the other small indie magazine publishers out there.
When you spot a magazine on a shelf, and it piques your interest, and it looks pretty good, there’s a reasonable chance that it isn’t backed by a big corporation or major publishing house. Many are made by tiny teams pouring heart, imagination, and vision into every page. The fact is that countless small, independent teams are behind the scenes, creating imaginative, brilliant, bold, vital, and wildly creative work across the UK and beyond.
Indie magazines are where boundary-pushing writing, design, and ideas thrive. But that world is under strain. Rising production and distribution costs, alongside increasing corporatisation, mean many titles are struggling to survive—and with them, a creative landscape that mainstream publishing simply can’t replicate.
Most indie magazines run on shoestring budgets, tiny teams, and fierce dedication. They take risks: publishing experimental work, emerging voices, unconventional aesthetics, and formats that don’t fit neatly into a corporate marketing plan. They do it not for profit, but because it matters—because these magazines can shape scenes, launch careers, and build communities.
But much of this work happens through unpaid hours, late-night edits, proofreads, and designs. It’s no surprise that burnout is common, publication schedules falter, and, recently, several indie titles that we love and buy have closed their doors.
The absurd truth is that what makes indie magazines powerful is also what makes them vulnerable: they’re built on collaboration, not scale. Speaking personally, we’re humbled every time we discover a new voice or a first-time writer. We love being out at fairs and conventions, meeting readers who see Haunted—and the paranormal more broadly—as a cultural lifeline. But passion alone won’t keep these magazines alive. Support will.
Every time an indie-published magazine disappears, we lose a crucial space for experimentation, diversity, and creative risk-taking. And that’s something that we shouldn’t take for granted.
Our message comes from the heart: If you buy any indie-published magazine from a shop [or directly from their website], share it, talk about it. These small gestures matter more than you know. Each subscription, each sale, each ripple of enthusiasm helps keep the indie publishing community alive and thriving.
Paul & Andy.
