Countershade Press

Countershade Press Jonah Barrett is a filmmaker, writer, and multimedia artist. Their debut book, Moss Covered Claws, came out in March 2021 from Blue Cactus Press.

Based in the Pacific Northwest, we make queer books (and other things) that toe the line between feel-good trope stories and depressing-ass trauma tales, all through the fantastical lens of speculative fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc). Their writing can be found in Creative Colloquy, Everyday Genius, Lit.Cat, OlyArts, and the bestselling Portland anthology City of Weird. They are soon to be featured in Dispatches From Anarres from Forest Avenue Press. They've worked as both a literary magazine and anthology editor. Jonah has directed and written three feature films, a dozen-ish short films, and four web series. Feature length films: Fabricated Partner of Cody McGuire, Booger, and Station 93. Short films: The Tale of Dubious Angel, Mud Puppy, The Tetrahedron, Bad Faith, and Writer's Block. Web series: Wake Up!, Booger (original), and Lazy Eyes Inc. Theatre production: Science Fiction Triple Feature. That was a fun list, eh? Jonah likes helping their friends make things as well and always try to work with people they love. They usually find themself in old haunted buildings or overgrown swamps.

09/20/2026
We’re kinda everywhere right now 💅🏻 Go find MENAGERIE at these fine, FIIINE bookstores.browsers bookshop Odds & Ends - A...
09/12/2026

We’re kinda everywhere right now 💅🏻
Go find MENAGERIE at these fine, FIIINE bookstores.
browsers bookshop
Odds & Ends - A Curiosity Shop
The Infernal Annex
Last Word Books
Orca Books Co-op
Karen McSwain
(Also makes a really great giiift I’m just saaayin’ 👀)

Prepare thyself for our Olympia Timberland Library event and soirée: “Welcome to the Void: a Countershade Introduction a...
09/10/2026

Prepare thyself for our Olympia Timberland Library event and soirée: “Welcome to the Void: a Countershade Introduction and Drag Show.”
The world is circling down the drain. At least it feels like it is! In this new world of flux and flow, new alternative methods of thinking are required, stat. A q***r publishing press is popping up in Olympia, specializing in speculative fiction (scifi, fantasy, horror, etc). But what’s this got to do with the end of the world? Come meet the publishers of Countershade Press, Jonah Barnett and Austin Barnett as they introduce you to their alternative worlds.

Audiences can expect to learn more about the press, followed with a monster drag show hosted by Luna DeLyte ✨Featuring D’Angelo Dandy Corvyd Riot and vαηεssα 🦋 ✨Drag explores “the other side,” submerging ourselves into worlds of storytelling through movement, words, and expression. All elements—from origin stories and lore to costume choices—bring audiences to experience a post-binary world of opportunity, where being your authentic self shines in the most fantastical ways.

We’ll wrap up with a short soirée where audience members can mingle, grab copies of Countershade books, and connect about possible futures.

October 8, 2026
6:30pm
Olympia Timberland Library
313 8th Ave SE
Free

09/09/2026

Let’s try that again…
You can find the Family Prehistory zine for free (stapled) in downtown Olympia. It’ll be $10 (hand-sewn) at tabling markets.

“The Woods” soundscape is coming along nicely! Lots of clings and clangs as we put together our ultimate noise band. Com...
08/27/2026

“The Woods” soundscape is coming along nicely! Lots of clings and clangs as we put together our ultimate noise band. Come see it Friday at 6:30pm at Browsers for MENAGERIE’s debut.

08/24/2026

August 28 is this Friday! Here’s some more about the performance that Austin Barnett is putting together for Cecilia Meade’s tale “The Woods,” one of the five stories of MENAGERIE. Come see it at Browsers this Friday ✨
Extra credit: tally how many times these guys say the word “exciting.”

08/23/2026

The woods come alive in the theatrical soundscape performance, part of the August 28 book launch at Browsers Bookshop of “Menagerie: A Cluster of Loss,” published by Countershade Press, a new micro press for q***r speculative fiction run by husbands Jonah and Austin Barnett. Following the performance, Jonah Barnett will host a Q & A with Cecelia Meade, the author of the story “The Woods,” one of five by local writers in “Menagerie.”
https://olyarts.org/soundscape-book-launch-for-countershade-press-uplifting-q***r-voices-in-olympia/

We curate words, yes, but we curate music, too. The authors of MENAGERIE came together and compiled a playlist that runs...
08/23/2026

We curate words, yes, but we curate music, too. The authors of MENAGERIE came together and compiled a playlist that runs in the order of the collection. Apple Music and Spotify for this one, but we’ll have the playlist printed in the back of the book as well. Head over to the book’s main page (second link in bio) and scroll down to find some sick tunes to get a sense of what you’re in store for.

08/17/2026

Adrienne Rustwood Hyphal Studios has been copy editing my work since day one, and she returns to her usual position AS WELL AS illustrating a story for the very first time. Come see the work of Adrienne Rustwood 🍓 on August 28 at 6:30pm at Browsers Books.

Austin won’t let me put my flyer on this post. Says it’s “insensitive.” Whateverrrrrr.
08/15/2026

Austin won’t let me put my flyer on this post. Says it’s “insensitive.” Whateverrrrrr.

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