Feral House
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox publisher Feral House is an American book publisher founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey and based in Port Townsend, Washington. Feral House is known for its taboo and provocative publications, but has had significant influence in both underground circles and the mainstream.
History
Feral House was founded in 1989 by Adam Parfrey in Los Angeles, California.[1]Template:Sfn It is now based in Port Townsend, Washington.[2] Feral House was formed out of the collapse of his previous publisher, Amok Press.Template:Sfn The publisher became known for its taboo and strange publications, including the collected works of the Unabomber, works about Charles Manson, works by serial killers, conspiracy theorists, and neo-Nazis.[1][3] Its motto is "Refuses to be Domesticated".[3]
Parfrey maintained that just because he published someone did not mean he agreed with their views,[1] though he had friendly connections with neo-Nazis, including neo-Nazi James Mason.Template:Sfn Early publications of Feral House expressed mostly far-right political views, though this expanded over time.Template:Sfn The company's first book was a 1989 republication of The Satanic Witch by Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan.[3]Template:Sfn This was financially successful for Feral House.Template:Sfn It published a variety of political extremist material.Template:Sfn Mason intended to write a book about neo-Nazi George Lincoln Rockwell published by Feral House, intended to release in 1990, but this fell through.Template:Sfn
Feral House was sued for publishing a 1998 book about the Oklahoma City bombing. The book accused an FBI official and argued the government had known the attack was going to happen. Parfrey was forced to destroy all copies of the book, apologize, and disavow the theories espoused.[3]Template:Sfn In 1996, they attempted to launch Feral House Audio, a release label. Only one recording was ever released, Varg Vikernes's Filosofem.Template:Sfn Following the death of Parfrey in 2018,[3] Feral House continues to be run by Parfrey's sister, Jessica Parfrey, and Christina Ward. In 2021, they put out a call for "writers who identify as Women, People of Color, LGBTQ, and others who have felt excluded from traditional publishing", in an effort to introduce more diverse authors into their lineup.[1]
Influence
Feral House became a significant company in several underground circles, but soon developed mainstream influence as well. Their books have inspired several mainstream films.[1]Template:Sfn Tim Burton's film Ed Wood was based upon the Feral House title, Nightmare of Ecstasy: The Life and Art of Edward D. Wood Jr. Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes was also based on a Feral House book.[3]Template:Sfn[4] The Feral House title American Hardcore: A Tribal History by Steven Blush has been made into a feature documentary of the same name, released by Sony Classics in the fall of 2006.[5] The 2018 film Lords of Chaos was also based on a Feral House publication. Despite this growing influence, Feral House continued to publish neo-Nazi materials, though their political topics widened over time.Template:Sfn
References
Works cited
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