Dastmalchian launches Good Fiend Lit with horror book club Buried in Books
David Dastmalchian is moving from screens to shelves.
The actor and comic-book writer has launched Good Fiend Lit, a new division of his Good Fiend Films devoted to horror, science fiction and fantasy literature, The Hollywood Reporter reported on Sept. 22. The division will focus on immersive storytelling, stories designed to pull readers deep into their worlds. It extends a production company — a business that develops and makes films and shows — that Dastmalchian founded in 2023.
He is not doing it alone. Author Natasha Preston is overseeing the launch alongside Dastmalchian. Producer Jennie Iacobino joins the team as supervising producer, handling day-to-day organisation of the launch. Leah Kilpatrick serves as executive creative director, guiding the look and creative direction.
The first project is built around reading together. Good Fiend Lit will start with Buried in Books, a quarterly book club that meets four times a year to discuss chosen titles. The initial lineup centres on three established voices in horror: Nat Cassidy, Tananarive Due and Josh Malerman. Each quarter will put a different book and author in front of readers, giving the club a simple, repeating rhythm.
It starts in person in New York. Buried in Books will kick off on Oct. 9 at The Twisted Spine, a bookshop in Brooklyn, during New York Comic Con, the annual fan gathering for comics, films, television and books. The opening night features a live conversation between Dastmalchian and Cassidy about Cassidy's novel When the Wolf Comes Home. That face-to-face format sets the tone. Readers meet. Writers talk. The book is the starting point.
Dastmalchian arrives with publishing credits of his own. He wrote Count Crowley and Kingdom of Earth for Dark Horse Comics and Knights vs. Samurai for Image Comics. Comics are a natural bridge here. They combine words and pictures, and they often share readers with horror and science fiction prose. That background gives him a direct link between the page and the screen.
The wider company has worked that territory from the start. Good Fiend Films was first announced in January 2023, Deadline reported at the time. It was set up as a genre-focused organisation specialising in horror, science fiction and fantasy. Its stated aim is character-driven work across those genres, according to earlier coverage by Fangoria. Good Fiend Lit keeps that focus. It simply applies it to books.
For fans, this means a short path from discovery to discussion. A book club can spotlight writers and titles that readers might otherwise miss. A production company watches for stories that could be optioned, which means acquiring the screen rights for a possible film or series. Good Fiend Lit sits at that junction, with readers on one side and film-makers on the other.
