Centipede Press

Centipede Press is an American independent book and periodical publisher established in 2001 in Lakewood, Colorado, by Jerad Walters. The press operates at the intersection of genre publishing, fine bookmaking, and the collector market. Its principal subjects include horror, weird fiction, crime writing, science fiction, gothic fiction, fantasy art, and critical studies of literature, music, and film. Although it publishes contemporary writers, it is also known for bringing neglected, out-of-print, or difficult-to-find genre works back into circulation through carefully researched and substantially designed editions. The imprint’s publishing program developed from earlier names including Cocytus Press and Millipede Press. Since its founding, Centipede Press has issued more than two hundred volumes, covering authors such as Stephen King, Peter Straub, Richard Adams, John Fowles, Neil Gaiman, Frank Herbert, and Patrick McGrath. Its list also includes literary and critical projects devoted to major genre figures, horror cinema, visual art, and the history of fantastic literature. Rather than competing primarily on volume or mass-market reach, the press differentiates itself through editorial selection, production quality, and the physical presence of its books. Centipede editions commonly use oversized formats, elaborate typography and page design, commissioned or selected artwork, high-quality dust jackets, signed copies, limited printings, and traycased or otherwise deluxe bindings. These characteristics place many of its books closer to art objects or collectible reference works than to ordinary trade paperbacks. The company’s approach has been described by critics as demonstrating how unsettling, grotesque, or otherwise unconventional material can acquire aesthetic appeal through illustration, photography, painting, woodcut, and sophisticated book design. The press has received recognition within speculative-fiction and horror communities. It won the Horror Writers Association’s Specialty Press Award in 2013. Its books have also been finalists for Bram Stoker Awards in nonfiction and fiction-collection categories, the Locus Award for Single-Author Story Collection, and the World Fantasy Award for Best Multiple-Author Anthology. In 2018, a Centipede project about Patrick McGrath, Writing Madness, was associated with three World Fantasy Convention Special Awards—Professional for its writer, artist, and editor. In 2010, Centipede Press expanded into periodical publishing with The Weird Fiction Review, an annual, extensively illustrated print journal edited by S. T. Joshi. The journal examines eerie, monstrous, decadent, and otherwise strange material across literature, film, comics, magazines, and related culture, combining essays, criticism, interviews, poetry, and original fiction. By 2025, the press was described as releasing approximately one to three new books per month, principally as luxury or oversized signed and traycased hardbacks. Its continuing identity is that of a specialist publisher serving readers, collectors, scholars, and enthusiasts who value both the literary content and the craftsmanship of the physical book.

Centipede Press was founded by Jerad Walters in 2001 in Lakewood, Colorado. Its earliest publishing activity was associated with the Cocytus Press and Millipede Press imprints, before the Centipede Press identity became the principal brand. From the beginning, the operation focused on genres and subjects that had strong specialist readerships but were not always served by mainstream publishing: horror, weird tales, crime narratives, science fiction, gothic novels, fantasy art, and criticism concerning literature, music, and film. The press developed a distinctive model based on combining editorial recovery with premium physical production. It published new and established writers while also reviving out-of-print works by earlier genre authors. The resulting list included books connected with Stephen King, Peter Straub, Richard Adams, John Fowles, Neil Gaiman, Frank Herbert, and Patrick McGrath, among others. Its projects were not limited to fiction. Centipede also produced art books, author retrospectives, film studies, literary criticism, and anthologies, frequently using commissioned illustration, photography, painting, or woodcut to create a visual relationship between the text and its subject. Recognition from genre institutions followed. Centipede titles appeared in annual retrospective selections such as The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, The Year's Best Science Fiction, The Best Horror of the Year, The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, and The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror. The press received the Horror Writers Association Specialty Press Award in 2013. Individual books or projects were also associated with finalist recognition for Bram Stoker Awards, the Locus Award for Single-Author Story Collection, and the World Fantasy Award for Best Multiple-Author Anthology. In 2018, the World Fantasy Convention gave three Special Award—Professional trophies to the writer, artist, and editor involved with Writing Madness, a Centipede volume focused on Patrick McGrath. A significant expansion came in 2010 with the launch of The Weird Fiction Review. Edited by S. T. Joshi, the annual color journal broadened the press’s role from book publisher to forum for scholarship and creative work. Its subject range includes the eerie, monstrous, decadent, and unusual in literature, film, comics, and magazines, and its contents include essays, criticism, interviews, poetry, and original fiction. The press’s reputation rests particularly on the treatment of the book as a designed and collectible object. Critical commentary has emphasized its use of superior layouts, dust jackets, illustrations, and presentation. By 2025, its program was described as producing one to three new books a month, generally in luxury or oversized signed and traycased hardback formats. This continuing emphasis on limited, elaborate editions gives Centipede Press a specialized position within independent publishing: it serves readers who want significant genre and literary material, but also collectors and institutions interested in craftsmanship, visual interpretation, and durable physical editions.

• 2025

  Ongoing luxury-edition publishing program

  [1]Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The press is described as releasing approximately one to three new books per month, mainly as signed, oversized, luxury, or traycased hardbacks.

• 2018

  World Fantasy Convention recognition for Writing Madness

  [1]Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The writer, artist, and editor associated with the Patrick McGrath volume Writing Madness receive Special Award—Professional recognition.

• 2013

  Specialty Press Award

  [1]Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Centipede Press receives the Horror Writers Association Specialty Press Award.

• 2010

  The Weird Fiction Review begins publication

  [1]Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org

  The press launches an annual color journal edited by S. T. Joshi, covering weird literature, film, comics, magazines, criticism, interviews, poetry, and original fiction.

• 2001

  Centipede Press is founded

  [1]Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org

  Jerad Walters establishes the independent press in Lakewood, Colorado, with a focus on horror, weird fiction, science fiction, crime, and related literary and artistic subjects.

A specialist independent press positioned between genre publishing, fine press bookmaking, and the high-end collector market. Its value proposition rests on distinctive editorial curation, recovery of overlooked works, lavish physical production, illustration, and limited-edition presentation.

• Collector book editions · 2001

  Centipede Press deluxe books

  The core product line consists of premium editions of horror, weird fiction, crime, science fiction, gothic, fantasy, and literary works. Editions may be oversized, signed, limited, illustrated, or housed in traycases, with significant attention given to typography, page layout, binding, dust jackets, and visual materials. The list combines contemporary authors, established literary figures, recovered out-of-print works, anthologies, and critical studies.

• Periodical · 2010

  The Weird Fiction Review

  An annual color print journal edited by S. T. Joshi. It explores strange, eerie, monstrous, and decadent themes across literature, film, comics, magazines, and related culture. Its contents include essays, criticism, interviews, original fiction, and poetry, making it both a scholarly and creative extension of the press’s book program.

• Literary study and author monograph

  Writing Madness

  A substantial Centipede Press project devoted to the work of Patrick McGrath. The volume exemplifies the press’s practice of combining literary analysis, visual presentation, and high-end production, and was associated with three World Fantasy Convention Special Award—Professional recognitions in 2018.

• 2010

  Launch of The Weird Fiction ReviewProduct launch

  Background

  After establishing a catalog of specialist books, Centipede Press expanded into recurring periodical publishing focused on weird fiction and adjacent arts and criticism.

  Action taken

  The press introduced an annual, full-length color journal edited by S. T. Joshi, incorporating criticism, essays, interviews, poetry, and original fiction.

  Aftermath

  The journal broadened the brand’s role within weird-fiction scholarship and culture beyond individual book editions.

  Source

• 2001

  Adoption of a specialist, collector-oriented publishing modelStrategy

  Background

  The press entered publishing in highly specialized genres where archival recovery, illustration, and physical presentation could distinguish an independent imprint.

  Action taken

  Centipede Press built its list around horror, weird fiction, crime, science fiction, gothic literature, fantasy art, and related criticism, using elaborate hardback formats and limited-edition presentation.

  Aftermath

  The strategy established the press as a premium independent publisher serving genre readers, collectors, and scholars.

  Source

1. 1Centipede Pressen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Centipede Press official websitecentipedepress.com