The Canadian speculative fiction industry has been shocked by the sheer number of accusations against ChiZine Publications, a small Canadian publisher of horror fiction. What started with allegations of non-payment of royalties from a few authors exploded into dozens of stories of non-payment for editors, publicists, and other professionals, as well as allegations of sexual harassment, threats, gaslighting, and various other forms of emotional abuse.

Tonight, I’m hearing numerous horror stories from other members of the publishing industry about abuse and toxicity at Canadian horror publisher ChiZine. This is sad and awful news. My heart goes out to all the writers, editors, publicists, and others who have endured emotional abuse, harassment, or gaslighting from the publisher or anyone affiliated with it, or who have been denied payment for work they have done or royalties earned. This behaviour is disgraceful and unacceptable.