The Summer 2026 Subscriber Drive
Help Darker Times get to 500 paid subscribers by August 14th so we can keep you up to your elbows in frights.
If you're new here, hi! We're so glad to meet you. Darker Times is a worker-owned, subscriber-funded magazine publishing critical and culture nonfiction writing about the horror genre in all its forms.
The upside of being an independent publication? We can cover whatever we want, however we want, whether that's a deep dive into the hidden horrors of SpongeBob SquarePants or an examination of the game design mechanics that make Idols of Ash such an unforgettable experience. But that also means that we rely on our readers to keep going. The startup costs for the site came out of our own pockets, and the paid subscribers who've signed up so far have allowed us to be reimbursed for our own launch costs, but we've yet to be paid for our work.
Good culture writing requires time: hours spent reading, watching, research, drafting, editing, production, and admin time. Your paid subscriptions go directly toward allowing us to keep publishing work about the genre we love so much.
From July 20th to August 14th, we're running our first-ever subscriber drive to help us get to the point where we are publishing everyday, commissioning new articles, and accepting pitches from writers. Over the coming weeks, we'll be publishing something new every weekday. We'll have features and opinions from our core team–Aigner, Anna, Emily, and Jessica–plus essays and articles donated by a number of generous authors on topics ranging from sex scene discourse, historical horror storytelling, writing horror for kids, the kinds of performance we expect from creators, and more.
Until now, everything on our site has been free to read. Starting with the subscriber drive, two articles per week will be just for paying subscribers. So if you love horror and never want to miss a scare, subscribe today.
Darker Times: Smart horror writing for smart horror fans.
Join us – you don't even have to sell your soul.
Our Subscriber Drive Goals
Our goal is to hit 500 paid subscribers by August 15th, 2026. By helping us hit that goal, you'll allow us to unlock even more features for paying members, including:
- The Darker Times Movie Club a monthly watch along with a new or classic horror film followed by a group discussion
- The budget to commission and publish an article per month from a freelance contributor (this is the first step towards opening up to pitches!)
- More involved, in-depth writing, such as:
- Anna will read all of Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves in a single weekend and write about the inevitable mental breakdown that follows
- Jessica will embark on a series about indoctrinating a love of horror in your kids in a thoughtful way
- Emily will finally write her master's thesis about how the Saw movies and the Jackass movies are two sides of the same coin
- Aigner will do a deep dive into the world of cozy horror writing and publishing
Your Benefits
As a paid subscriber to Darker Times, you get:
- Access to everything we publish on site
- Commenting privileges
- Membership in our book club (launching August 1st!)
- Membership in our private Discord
- Access to future subscriber perks yet to be unlocked!
If you're already a paid subscriber, thank you. Your early support means the world to us. If you're looking for more ways to support us, tell a friend about us (or better yet, give them a gift subscription!). We also happily accept donations:
Already subscribed but overburdened with more cash than you know what to do with?