From counterculture to pop culture: The story of indie publisher Headpress Books

It all started with “quite an outrageous horror film,” says David Kerekes, one of the three original founders and head of Headpress. I am on a zoom call with him and the other core member of the team, press officer Jen Wallis, to discuss the company’s story and its upcoming anniversary.

The film David refers to is Jörg Buttgereit’s Der Todesking, the follow up to the German director’s cult horror Nekromantik. Headpress was founded to release Der Todesking in 1991 and the money it made was put into Headpress magazine. David explains that many horror-film-related things emerged from the video’s nasty furor, including a number of magazines. The founders of Headpress were interested in that progression and keen on anti-censorship. Each of them learnt to write on the job.

The counterculture tone of the magazine steadily established itself, its masthead being ‘sex religion death’. David highlights “the circle of interest was really very strong,” especially pre-internet. “It was a touchstone for a lot of people.”

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