Category: Front Page

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Final Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (http://www.horror.org/) is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with more than 2,000 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987 (see http://www.thebramstokerawards.com/).

Works appearing on this Ballot are Bram Stoker Award Nominees for Superior Achievement in their Category, e.g., Novel, and everyone may refer to them as such immediately after the announcement.

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards® Committee congratulate all those appearing on the Final Ballot. Notes about the voting process appear after the ballot listing.

If your work appears on this ballot and you would like to offer it to voting members of the HWA in the Internet Mailer to be sent on or around February 26, please see important information following the ballot.

The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

●       Ajram, Sofia — Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror (Ghoulish Books)

●       Costello, Rob — We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures (Running Press)

●       Gyzander, Carol and Taborska, Anna — Discontinue If Death Ensues: Tales from the Tipping Point (Flame Tree Publishing)

●       Murano, Doug and Bailey, Michael — Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners (Bad Hand Books)

●       Ryan, Lindy — Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror (A Women in Horror Anthology) (Black Spot Books)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

●       Barron, Laird — Not a Speck of Light (Bad Hand Books)

●       Enriquez, Mariana — A Sunny Place for Shady People (Penguin)       

●       Sylvaine, Angela — The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls (Dark Matter Ink)

●       Waggoner, Tim — Old Monsters Never Die (Winding Road Stories)                                   

●       Yardley, Mercedes M. — Love is a Crematorium and Other Tales (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

●       Coles, Donyae — Midnight Rooms (Amistad)

●       Drake-Thomas, Jessica — Hollow Girls (Cemetery Dance Publications)

●       Kiefer, Jenny — This Wretched Valley (Quirk Books)

●       Kim, Monika — The Eyes Are the Best Part (Erewhon Books)

●       Ryan, Lindy — Bless Your Heart (Minotaur Books)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

●       Ha, Robin (writer/artist) — The Fox Maidens (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

●       Hetland, Beth (writer/artist) — Tender (Fantagraphics Books)

●       Horvath, Patrick (writer/artist) — Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (Penguin Random House)

●       Tanabe, Gou (writer/artist) — H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu (Dark Horse Books)

●       Umber, Maggie (writer/artist) — Chrysanthemum Under the Waves (Maggie Umber LLC)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

●       Ajram, Sofia – Coup de Grâce (Titan Books)

●       Cassidy, Nat – Rest Stop (Shortwave Publishing)

●       Chapman, Clay McLeod – Kill Your Darling (Bad Hand Books)

●       LaRocca, Eric – “All The Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn” (This Skin Was Once Mine and Other Disturbances) (Titan Books)

●       Royce, Eden – Hollow Tongue (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in Long Non-Fiction

●       Bogutskaya, Anna — Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us (Faber & Faber)

●       Dauber, Jeremy —American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

●       Honeycutt, Heidi — I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies (HeadPress)

●       Hughes, Emily C.  — Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch (Quirk Books)

●       Sachar, Cassandra O’Sullivan, ed. — No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends the Tropes (Vernon Press)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

●     Averling, Mary – The Curse of Eelgrass Bog (Razorbill)

●    Collings, Michaelbrent – The Witch in the Woods (Shadow Mountain Publishing)

●     Cuevas, Adrianna – The No-Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

●     Ottone, Robert P. – There’s Something Sinister in Center Field (Cemetery Gates Media)

●       Royce, Eden – The Creepening of Dogwood House (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Superior Achievement in a Novel

●       Iglesias, Gabino — House of Bone and Rain (Mulholland Books in US; Titan Books in UK)

●       Jones, Stephen Graham — I Was a Teenage Slasher (S&S/Saga Press in US; Titan Books in UK)

●       Kiste, Gwendolyn —  The Haunting of Velkwood (S&S/Saga Press)

●       Malerman, Josh — Incidents Around the House (Del Rey)

●       Tremblay, Paul — Horror Movie (William Morrow in US; Titan Books in UK)

Superior Achievement in Poetry

●       Hodge, Jamal – The Dark Between the Twilight (Crystal Lake Publishing)                             

●       Iniguez, Pedro – Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future (Space Cowboy Books)                                               

●       Murray, Lee – Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud (The Cuba Press)         

●       Saulson, Sumiko – Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry (Bludgeoned Girls Press)

●       Wood, L. Marie – Imitation of Life (Falstaff Books)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

●       Beck, Scott and Woods, Bryan — Heretic (A24, Shiny Penny, Beck/Woods)

●       Eggers, Robert; Galeen, Henrik; and Stoker, Bram — Nosferatu (Focus Features, Maiden Voyage Pictures, Studio 8)

●       Fargeat, Coralie — The Substance (Working Title Film, Good Story, Blacksmith)

●       Perkins, Osgood — Longlegs (C2 Motion Picture Group, Cweature Features, Oddfellow Entertainment)

●       Schoenbrun, Jane — I Saw the TV Glow (A24, Fruit Tree, Smudge Films)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

●       Barron, Laird — “Versus Versus” (Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners) (Bad Hand Books)

●       Bolton, Rachel — “And She Had Been So Reasonable” (Apex Magazine Issue 147) (Apex Book Company)

●       Brown, Sasha — “To the Wolves” (Weird Horror #9) (Undertow Publications)

●       Busby, R. A. — “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” (Nightmare Magazine January 2024) (Adamant Press)

●       Jakubowski, Raven — “She Sheds Her Skin” (Nightmare Magazine November 2024) (Adamant Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

●       Arnzen, Michael — “Screamin’ in the Rain: The Orchestration of Catharsis in William Castle’s The Tingler“ (What Sleeps Beneath)

●       Liaguno, Vince — “The Horror of Donna Berzatto and Her Feast of the Seven Fishes” (You’re Not Alone in the Dark) (Cemetery Dance Publications)

●       Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — “Hidden Histories: The Many Ghosts of Disney’s Haunted Mansion” (Disney Gothic: Dark Shadows in the House of Mouse) (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.)

●       Wetmore, Kevin J., Jr. — “Jackson and Haunting of the Stage” (Journal of Shirley Jackson Studies Vol. 2 No. 1) (Shirley Jackson Society)

●       Wood, Lisa — “Blacks in Film and Cultivated Bias” (No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends the Tropes) (Vernon Press)

Superior Achievement in a YA Novel

●       Cesare, Adam — Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

●       Fraistat, Ann — A Place for Vanishing (Delacorte Press)

●       Parker, Natalie C. — Come Out, Come Out (G.P. Putnam’s Sons)

●       Senf, Lora — The Losting Fountain (Union Square & Co.)

●       Wellington, Joelle — The Blonde Dies First (Simon & Schuster)

Note to nominees: If you would like to offer your work to voting members during the reading period ending March 15, please send a link to stokerchair@horror.org as soon as possible, no later than February 25. You may post the fact that your work is available to be read for Bram Stoker Award consideration ONCE, and only once, on the HWA Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Horrorwritersassoc/; and on the HWA Discord here: http://discord.gg/qXNWT2MCEK. If you had already posted your work in these places prior to the announcement of the Preliminary Ballot, you are entitled to post it again. The Discord and Facebook page are open to members and nonmembers alike. Nonmembers may also email stokerchair@horror.org for help with this.

February 28: The Final Ballot is dispatched. Please note only Active and Lifetime Members in good standing as of January 31 can vote. If you are an Active or Lifetime Member and do NOT receive your electronic ballot link by March 3, please first check your spam/junk mail filter, make sure your email address is updated in Wild Apricot, and then email ballotmaster@horror.org with a brief message about the issue. Note that ballots are sent to the same email address as the Newsletter and the Internet Mailer. It is the responsibility of each Member to keep their email address up to date in Wild Apricot or by advising the HWA Director at director@horror.org of any issues with their membership account. Late ballots cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

March 15: The 2025 Bram Stoker Recommendation form goes live and the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards Juries open to Submissions. Members should hold any Recommendations for works published in the calendar year 2025 until the form is live.

Members wishing to submit work published in 2025 to the relevant Jury should read the information at the Bram Stoker Awards website at http://www.thebramstokerawards.com/submissions/ before doing so.

March 15: The Bram Stoker Awards Final Ballot closes at midnight U.S. Pacific Time. Any ballots received after this cutoff will be discarded.

June 14: The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards will be announced during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet held during StokerCon^® 2025 in Stamford, Connecticut. 

Bookings and information for StokerCon^® are available at: https://www.stokercon2025.com/.

Note: Banquet Tickets are separate from the Convention Membership and will soon be available for purchase at Eventbrite. Click “Tickets” to see the Banquet option as an add-on to your existing registration or an option for a new registration.

Please direct any questions about the ballot to stokerchair@horror.org. Questions about StokerCon should go to info@stokercon.com. Questions about the HWA should go to director@horror.org. 

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the Preliminary Ballot for the 2024 Bram Stoker Awards®. The HWA (see http://www.horror.org/) is the premier writers organization in the horror and dark fiction genre, with more than 2,000 members. We have presented the Bram Stoker Awards in various categories since 1987 (see http://www.thebramstokerawards.com/)

Works on this ballot are not referred to as “nominees” or “finalists.” Only works appearing on the Final Ballot may be referred to as “nominated works” and their authors as “finalists.”

The HWA Board and the Bram Stoker Awards® Committee congratulate all those appearing on the Preliminary Ballot. Notes about the voting process will appear after the ballot listing.

If your work appears on this ballot and you would like to offer it to voting members of the HWA in the Internet Mailer to be sent on or about January 28, please see important information following the ballot.

The 2024 Bram Stoker Awards® Preliminary Ballot

Superior Achievement in an Anthology
Ajram, Sofia — Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror (Ghoulish Books)

Coleborn, Peter and Chinn, Mike — Shadowplays (PS Publishing)

Costello, Rob — We Mostly Come Out at Night: 15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other
            Creatures (Running Press)

Grassmann, Preston and Kelso, Chris — The Mad Butterfly’s Ball (PS Publishing)

Gyzander, Carol and Taborska, Anna — Discontinue If Death Ensues: Tales from the Tipping
             Point (Flame Tree Publishing)

Murano, Doug and Bailey, Michael — Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse
             and Bad Manners (Bad Hand Books)

Peter, Jessica and Bloom, Timaeus — Howls From the Scene of the Crime (Howl Society
             Press)

Ryan, Lindy — Mother Knows Best: Tales of Homemade Horror (A Women in Horror Anthology) (Black Spot Books)

Ryan, Lindy — The Darkest Night (Crooked Lane Books)

Yates, April and Knowles, Ray — Scissor Sisters (Brigids Gate Press)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Barron, Laird — Not a Speck of Light (Bad Hand Books)

Enriquez, Mariana — A Sunny Place for Shady People (Penguin) 

Ghosh, Puloma — Mouth (Astra)          

Maberry, Jonathan — Midnight Lullabies: Unquiet Stories and Poems (WordFire)

Mars, MJ — We’ve Already Gone Too Far (Paramonster)

Najberg, Andrew — In Those Fading Stars (Crystal Lake)

Pyles, Nelson W. — All These Steps Lead Down  (Cold War Radio)                           

Sylvaine, Angela — The Dead Spot: Stories of Lost Girls (Dark Matter Ink)

Waggoner, Tim — Old Monsters Never Die (Winding Road Stories)                                   

Yardley, Mercedes — Love is a Crematorium and Other Tales (Cemetery Dance)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel
Alering, Alisa — Smothermoss (Tin House Books)

Coles, Donyae — Midnight Rooms (Amistad)

Drake-Thomas, Jessica — Hollow Girls (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Gish, Elliott — Grey Dog (ECW Press)

Ham, Yeji Y. — The Invisible Hotel (Zando)

Kiefer, Jenny — This Wretched Valley (Quirk Books)

Kim, Monika — The Eyes Are the Best Part (Erewhon Books)

Ryan, Lindy — Bless Your Heart (Minotaur Books)

Sandeen, Del — This Cursed House (Berkley)

van Veen, Johanna — My Darling Dreadful Thing (Poisoned Pen Press)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Erman, Matthew (writer) and Beck, Sam (artist) — Loving, Ohio (Dark Horse Books)

Ha, Robin (writer/artist) — The Fox Maidens (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Hetland, Beth (writer/artist) — Tender (Fantagraphics Books)

Horvath, Patrick (writer/artist) — Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees (Penguin Random
             House)

Maass, Dave (writer) and Lay, Patrick (artist) — Death Strikes: The Emperor of Atlantis (Dark
            Horse Comics)

Peterson, Scott and Downing Hahn, Mary (writers) and Laxton, Meredith and Haralson, Sienna
             (artists) — The Old Willis Place (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Romesburg, Sam and Freeman, Sam (writers) and Vázquez, Rodrigo (artist) — Hound (Mad
            Cave Studios)

Tanabe, Gou (writer/artist) — H. P. Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu (Dark Horse Books)

Tynion, James, IV (writer) and Hixson, Joshua (artist)—- The Deviant (Image Comics)

Umber, Maggie (writer/artist) — Chrysanthemum Under The Waves (Maggie Umber LLC)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Ajram, Sofia – Coup de Grâce (Titan Books)

Cassidy, Nat – Rest Stop (Shortwave Publishing)

Fairclough, Gemma – Bear Season (Wild Hunt Books)

Gu, Congyun “Mu Ming” (trans. Kiera Johnson ) – A Well-Fed Companion (Reactor, March 20
             2024)

Hernandez, L.P. – In the Valley of the Headless Men (Cemetery Gates Media)

LaRocca, Eric – “All The Parts of You That Won’t Easily Burn” (This Skin Was Once Mine and
             Other Disturbances) (Titan Books)

McLeod Chapman, Clay – Kill Your Darling (Bad Hand Books)

Olivas, M. M. – “¡Sangronas! Un Lista de Terror” (Uncanny, September 2024)

Royce, Eden – Hollow Tongue (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Watkins, Melissa A. – “Ol’ Big Head” (Lightspeed Magazine, December 2024) (Adamant Press)

Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction

Bogutskaya, Anna — Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us (Faber & Faber)

Brewster, Scott and Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — The Routledge Introduction to the American
            Ghost Story (Routledge)

Dauber, Jeremy —American Scary: A History of Horror, from Salem to Stephen King and
             Beyond (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill)

Duns, Ryan G., S.J. — Theology of Horror: The Hidden Depths of Popular Films (University of
            Notre Dame Press)

Honeycutt, Heidi — I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies
            (HeadPress)
Hughes, Emily C.  — Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re
             Too Scared to Watch (Quirk Books)

McOuat, Allyson — The Call Is Coming from Inside the House (ECW Press)

O’Sullivan Sachar, Cassandra, ed. — No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends
            the Tropes (Vernon Press)
Riekki, Ron and Wetmore Kevin J., Jr., eds. — The Many Lives of the Purge: Essays on the
            Horror Franchise (McFarland & Company, Inc.)

Shultz, Erica — The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide to Child Kills in Film
            (Self-Published)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

Alkaf, Hanna – Tales from Cabin 23: Night of the Living Head (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of
            HarperCollins Publishers)

Averling, Mary – The Curse of Eelgrass Bog (Razorbill)

Collings, Michaelbrent – The Witch in the Woods (Shadow Mountain Publishing)

Cuevas, Adrianna – The No-Brainer’s Guide to Decomposition (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Fournet, M. R. – Darkness and Demon Song (Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan
            Publishing)

Hassan, Rochelle – Nox Winters and the Midnight Wolf (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Oshiro, Mark – Jasmine Is Haunted (Starscape, an imprint of Tor Publishing Group)

Ottone, Robert P. – There’s Something Sinister in Center Field (Cemetery Gates Media)

Royce, Eden – The Creepening of Dogwood House (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of
            HarperCollins Publishers)

Ursu, Anne – Not Quite a Ghost (Walden Pond Press, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

Superior Achievement in a Novel
Iglesias, Gabino — House of Bone and Rain (Mulholland Books)

Jones, Stephen Graham — I Was a Teenage Slasher(S&S/Saga Press)

Kiste, Gwendolyn —  The Haunting of Velkwood (S&S/Saga Press)

Leede, CJ – American Rapture (Tor)

Malerman, Josh — Incidents Around the House (Del Rey)

McGregor, Tim – Eynhallow (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Medina, Nick – Indian Burial Ground (Berkley)

Pelayo, Cynthia – Forgotten Sisters (Thomas Mercer)

Tingle, Chuck – Bury Your Gays (Tor)

Tremblay, Paul — Horror Movie (William Morrow)

Superior Achievement in Poetry

Anderson, Colleen – Weird Worlds (Weird House Press)                                                   

Blythe, Andrea – Necessary Poisons (Interstellar Flight Press)                                           

Hodge, Jamal – The Dark Between the Twilight (Crystal Lake Publishing)                             

Iniguez, Pedro – Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future (Space
            Cowboy Books)                                               

Marinelli, Kayleigh – Medicine (Plan B Press)

Murray, Lee – Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud (The Cuba Press)         

Ness, Mari – A Few Mythic Paths (Porkbelly Press)                                               

Saulson, Sumiko – Melancholia: A Book of Dark Poetry (Bludgeoned Girls Press)

Tolian, Brenda S. – Bestial Mouths (Raw Dog Screaming Press)     

Wood, L. Marie – Imitation of Life (Falstaff Books)      

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay
Beck, Scott and Woods, Bryan — Heretic (A24, Shiny Penny, Beck/Woods)

Eggers, Robert; Galeen, Henrik; and Stoker, Bram — Nosferatu (Focus Features, Maiden
            Voyage Pictures, Studio 8)

Fargeat, Coralie — The Substance (Working Title Film, Good Story, Blacksmith)

Lobel, Andrew — Immaculate (Black Bear, Fifty-Fifty Films, Middle Child Pictures)

McCarthy, Damian — Oddity (Keeper Pictures, Shudder)

McDonald, Ian — Woman of the Hour (AGC Studios, BondIt Media Capital, Vertigo
            Entertainment)

Perkins, Osgood — Longlegs (C2 Motion Picture Group, Creature Features, Oddfellow
            Entertainment)

Schoenbrun, Jane — I Saw the TV Glow (A24, Fruit Tree, Smudge Films)

Shields, Stephen and Busick, Guy — Abigail (Project X Entertainment, Radio Silence
            Productions)

Singer, Tilman — Cuckoo (Fiction Park, Neon, Waypoint Entertainment

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Barron, Laird — “Versus Versus” (Long Division: Stories of Social Decay, Societal Collapse, and Bad Manners) (Bad Hand Books)

Bolton, Rachel — “And She Had Been So Reasonable” (Apex Magazine Issue 147) (Apex Book
            Company)

Brown, Sasha — “To the Wolves” (Weird Horror #9) (Undertow Publications)

Busby, R. A. — “Ten Thousand Crawling Children” (Nightmare Magazine January 2024)
            (Adamant Press)

Dawson, Emilie —“Snowblind” (NonBinary Review Issue #35: Old Friends) (Zoetic Press)

Forna, Victor — “like blood on the mouths of death” (Nightmare Magazine May 2024) (Adamant Press)

Greenwood, Gage — “Two Shows on a Saturday” (Levitating: Stories) (Tanner’s Switch
            Publishing)

Jakubowski, Raven — “She Sheds Her Skin” (Nightmare Magazine November 2024) (Adamant
             Press)

Jensen, Nayani — “Rescue Station”(Northern Nights) (Undertow Publications)

Matthews, Ben “Flesh of My Flesh” (Spawn 2: More Weird Horror Tales about Pregnancy, Birth
            and Babies) (IFWG Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

Andersen, Joceline — “Bad Blood: Serial Killers, True Crime, and the Racial Imaginary In
             Shadow of a Doubt” (Canadian Journal of Film Studies Spring 2024) (University of
            Toronto Press)

Arnzen, Michael — “Screamin’ in the Rain: The Orchestration of Catharsis in William Castle’s
            The Tingler” (What Sleeps Beneath)

Donner, Claire — “All is the Fear and Nothing is the Love: The Phantom of the Auteur in Dario
            Argento’s Opera” (Severin Films)

Kelso, Chris — “On Melting: Essays Against the Body” (Filthy Loot/Control)

Liaguno, Vince — “The Horror of Donna Berzatto and Her Feast of the Seven Fishes” (You’re
            Not Alone in the Dark) (Cemetery Dance Publications)

Markov, Haralambi — “The H Word: My Father, My Private Monster” (Nightmare Magazine, May 2024) (Adamant Press)

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — “Hidden Histories: The Many Ghosts of Disney’s Haunted Mansion.” (Disney Gothic: Dark Shadows in the House of Mouse) (Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.)

Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew — “Those Who Eat and Those Who Get Eaten: Cannibalism and
            Capitalism in Melville’s Typee and ‘The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of
            Maids’” (Gothic Melville) (University of Wales Press)

Wetmore, Kevin J., Jr. —“Jackson and Haunting of the Stage” (Journal of Shirley Jackson
            Studies Vol. 2 No. 1) (Shirley Jackson Society)

Wood, Lisa — “Blacks in Film and Cultivated Bias” (No More Haunted Dolls: Horror Fiction that Transcends the Tropes) (Vernon Press)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Ancrum, K. — Icarus  (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Cesare, Adam — Clown in a Cornfield 3: The Church of Frendo  (HarperCollins Children’s
            Books)

Cobell, K. A. — Looking for Smoke (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Fraistat, Ann — A Place for Vanishing (Delacorte Press)

Kisner, Logan-Ashley — Old Wounds (Delacorte Press)

Kölsch, Freddie — Now, Conjurers  (Union Square & Co.)

Parker, Natalie C. — Come Out, Come Out  (G.P. Putnam Son’s)

Senf, Lora — The Losting Fountain (Union Square & Co.)

Vishny, A. R. — Night Owls (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Wellington, Joelle — The Blond Dies First (Simon & Schuster)

Our voting members will now vote on these Preliminary Ballots, with voting closing on February 15, 2025 (only Active and Lifetime Members in good standing are eligible to vote).

Works appearing on the Preliminary Ballot are NOT “Bram Stoker Award® Nominees” and authors, editors, publishers, and others should not refer to any of these works as such – doing so is a severe breach of etiquette and can lead to disqualification of the Work(s) involved.

The Preliminary Ballot will be sent to Lifetime and Active Members in good standing on February 2. If you are an Active or Lifetime Member and do NOT receive your electronic Ballot link by February 4, please first check your spam/junk mail filter, make sure your email address is updated in Wild Apricot, and then email director@horror.org with a brief message about the issue. Note that Ballots are sent to the same email address as the Newsletter and the Internet Mailer. It is the responsibility of Members to keep their email address up to date in Wild Apricot or by advising the administrator of any issues with your membership account at director@horror.org. Late Ballots cannot be accepted under any circumstances.

If your work (you are the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist) appears on the ballot and you wish to provide a link allowing Voting Members to read the work, there will be a SPECIAL PRELIMINARY BALLOT INTERNET MAILER issued on or about January 27. Please email the Internet Mailer editor at stokerchair@horror.org with a link to your work as soon as you can but no later than January 25. You may submit only a link, no description of the Work or other information. Anyone validly representing a work appearing on the Preliminary Ballot may submit via this method, whether or not they are HWA members (this includes the author, agent, editor, publisher, or publicist of the work).

Do NOT spam Voting Members, this is a severe breach of etiquette – Active and Lifetime (voting) members tend to notice such breaches and may consider them when determining which works to vote for on the Ballot.

You may also post the fact that your work is available to be read for Bram Stoker Award consideration ONCE, and only once, on the HWA Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/Horrorwritersassoc/; and on the HWA Discord here: http://discord.gg/qXNWT2MCEK. If you had already posted your work in these places prior to the announcement of the Preliminary Ballot you are entitled to post it again. The Discord and Facebook page are open to members and non–members alike. Non–members may also email stokerchair@horror.org for help with this.

• The Final Ballot will be announced on or about February 23.
• Please direct any questions or corrections regarding the Preliminary Ballot to stokerchair@horror.org.
• Any questions regarding your membership/account information to director@horror.org.
• If you’re on the Preliminary Ballot and want to provide your work for the Special Preliminary Ballot Internet Mailer to go out on or about January 27, please send a link to your work to stokerchair@horror.org—no later than January 25.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Columbus, OH – The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its Specialty Awards. These will be presented on June 1st, 2024, during the Bram Stoker Awards® Presentation at StokerCon®2024 in San Diego, CA.

Specialty Press Award

The recipient of the Specialty Press Award is Thunderstorm Books.

The HWA Specialty Press Award is presented periodically to a specialty publisher whose work has substantially contributed to the horror genre, whose publications display general excellence, and whose dealings with writers have been fair and exemplary.

The award was instituted in 1997, largely due to the efforts of long-time HWA member and specialty press aficionado Peter Crowther.

Congratulations to Thunderstorm Books!

_______________________________________________

The Richard Laymon President’s Award

The recipient of the Richard Laymon President’s Award for Service is Brian W. Matthews.

The Richard Laymon President’s Award for Service was instituted in 2001 and is named in honor of Richard Laymon, who died in 2001 while serving as HWA’s President. As its name implies, it is given by HWA’s sitting President.

The award is presented to a volunteer who has served the HWA in an especially exemplary manner and has shown extraordinary dedication to the organization.

Congratulations to Brian!

_______________________________________________

The Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award

The recipient of the Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award is Lila Denning.

In 2022, the Horror Writers Association renamed the Silver Hammer Award to the Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award in honor of the tremendous amount of work Karen did starting the HWA.

Our physical award has also been updated. Instead of a hammer, a new stylized sculpture has been designed and cast by the same company that mints our Bram Stoker Award statues. We look forward to sharing the new design at StokerCon2023.

The HWA periodically gives the Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award to an HWA volunteer who has done a truly massive amount of work for the organization, often unsung and behind the scenes. It was instituted in 1996 and is decided by a vote of HWA’s Board of Trustees.

The award is so named because it represents the careful, steady, continuous work of building HWA’s “house”—the many institutional systems that keep the organization functioning on a day-to-day basis.

Congratulations to Lila!

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Mentor of the Year Award

The recipient of the Mentor of the Year Award is Lisa Wood.

The HWA’s Mentor Program is available to all members of the organization. This popular program pairs newer writers with established professionals for an intensive four-month-long partnership. For new writers, the Program offers mentees a personal, one-on-one experience with a seasoned writer, tailor-made to help them grow in their writing and better market their work. For experienced writers, it is an opportunity to pay forward the assistance and encouragement other writers gave them when they were starting out. In addition, there is the added benefit of growing as a writer oneself through the act of teaching others. In short, the Program benefits all who participate, regardless of their roles.

Established in 2014, the Mentor of the Year Award recognizes one mentor in the Program who has done an outstanding job of helping new writers. The award is chosen by the current manager of the Program.

Congratulations to Lisa!

About the Horror Writers Association

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. Founded in the late 1980s, it now has close to 2000 members around the world and is the oldest and most respected professional organization for creators of horror fiction. The HWA encourages public interest in and appreciation of horror and dark fantasy literature and hosts an annual professional conference, StokerCon. HWA is also dedicated to recognizing and promoting diversity in the horror genre and practices a strict anti-harassment policy at all of its events. Please direct any questions regarding these awards to the Vice President of HWA. For more information about the Horror Writers Association, please visit https://horror.org/. For more information about the Bram Stoker Awards® and our other awards, please visit http://bramstokerawards.horror.org.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Columbus, OH – The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Award. These will be presented on June 1st, 2024, during the Bram Stoker Awards® Presentation at StokerCon®2024 in San Diego, CA.

Lifetime Achievement Award

The recipients of the HWA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 are:

Steve Rasnic Tem, Mort Castle, and Cassandra Peterson.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented periodically to an individual whose work has substantially influenced the horror genre. While this award is often presented to a writer, it may also be given for influential accomplishments in other creative fields.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is the most prestigious of all awards presented by HWA. It does not merely honor the superior achievement embodied in a single work. Instead, it is an acknowledgment of superior achievement in an entire career.

About the Horror Writers Association

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is a nonprofit organization of writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting dark literature and the interests of those who write it. Founded in the late 1980s, it now has close to 2000 members around the world and is the oldest and most respected professional organization for creators of horror fiction. The HWA encourages public interest in and appreciation of horror and dark fantasy literature and hosts an annual professional conference, StokerCon. HWA is also dedicated to recognizing and promoting diversity in the horror genre and practices a strict anti-harassment policy at all of its events. Please direct any questions regarding these awards to the Vice President of HWA. For more information about the Horror Writers Association, please visit https://horror.org/. For more information about the Bram Stoker Awards® and our other awards, please visit http://bramstokerawards.horror.org.

The 2023 Bram Stoker Award winners were announced on June 1 during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet at StokerCon™ 2024 in San Diego.

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

Aquilone, James – Shakespeare Unleashed (Crystal Lake Publishing, Monstrous Books)

Golden, Christopher, and Keene, Brian – The Drive-In: Multiplex (Pandi Press)

Hawk, Shane and Van Alst, Jr., Theodore C. – Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology (Vintage)

Peele, Jordan, and Adams,John Joseph – Out There Screaming (Random House) – WINNER

Rowland, Rebecca – American Cannibal (Maenad Press)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

Files, Gemma – Blood from the Air (Grimscribe Press) – WINNER

Keisling, Todd – Cold, Black, & Infinite (Cemetery Dance)

Malerman, Josh – Spin A Black Yarn (Del Rey)

Nogle, Christi – The Best of Our Past, the Worst of Our Future (Flame Tree Press)

Read, Sarah – Root Rot & Other Grim Tales (Bad Hand Books)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

Carmen, Christa – The Daughters of Block Island (Thomas & Mercer) – WINNER

Compton, Johnny – The Spite House (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan)

LaRocca, Eric – Everything the Darkness Eats (CLASH Books/Titan)

Leede, CJ – Maeve Fly (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan/Titan)

Rebelein, Sam – Edenville (William Morrow/Titan)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

Bunn, Cullen (author) and Leomacs (artist) – Ghostlore, Vol. 1 (BOOM! Studios)

Cesare, Adam (author) and Stoll, David (artist) – Dead Mall (Dark Horse Comics)

Chu, Amy (author) and Lee, Soo (artist) – Carmilla: The First Vampire (Dark Horse)  – WINNER

Ito, Junji (author and artist) –Tombs (Viz Media)

Tanabe, Gou (author and artist) – H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth (Dark Horse Comics)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

Due, Tananarive – “Rumpus Room” (The Wishing Pool and Other Stories, Akashic Books)

Jiang, Ai – Linghun (Dark Matter INK) – WINNER

Khaw, Cassandra – The Salt Grows Heavy (Tor Nightfire/Macmillan/Titan)

McCarthy, J.A.W. – Sleep Alone (Off Limits Press LLC)

Murray, Lee – Despatches (PS Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Long Nonfiction

Coleman, Robin R. Means and Harris, Mark H. – The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press)

Fitzpatrick, Claire (ed.) – A Vindication of Monsters: Essays on Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley (IFWG Publishing International)

Hartmann, Sadie – 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered (Page Street Publishing) – WINNER

Morton, Lisa – The Art of the Zombie Movie (Applause Books)

Murray, Lee and Smith, Angela Yuriko (eds.) – Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror (Black Spot Books)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

Henning, Sarah – Monster Camp (Margaret K. McElderry Books)

López, Diana – Los Monstruos: Felice and the Wailing Woman (Kokila)

Senf, Lora – The Nighthouse Keeper (Atheneum Books for Young Readers) – WINNER

Tuma, Refe – Frances and the Werewolves of the Black Forest (HarperCollins)

Young, Suzanne – What Stays Buried (HarperCollins)

Superior Achievement in a Novel

Due, Tananarive – The Reformatory (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press/Titan) – WINNER

Hendrix, Grady – How to Sell a Haunted House (Berkley/Titan)

Jones, Stephen Graham – Don’t Fear the Reaper (Simon & Schuster/Saga Press/Titan)

LaValle, Victor – Lone Women (One World)

Tingle, Chuck – Camp Damascus (Tor Nightfire/MacMillan/Titan)

Wendig, Chuck – Black River Orchard (Del Rey/Penguin Random House)

Superior Achievement in Poetry

Gold, Maxwell Ian – Bleeding Rainbows and Other Broken Spectrums (Hex Publishers)

McHugh, Jessica – The Quiet Ways I Destroy You (Apokrupha Press)

Pichette, Marisca – Rivers in Your Skin, Sirens in Your Hair (Android Press)

Walrath, Holly Lyn – Numinous Stones (Aqueduct Press)

Wytovich, Stephanie M. – On the Subject of Blackberries (Raw Dog Screaming Press) – WINNER

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

Brooker, Charlie – Black Mirror: Beyond the Sea (Episode 03:06) (Zeppotron, Babieka, Banijay Entertainment, Broke and Bones, House of Tomorrow)

Cervera, Michelle Garza and Castillo, Abia – Huesera: The Bone Woman (Disruptiva Films, Machete Producciones, MalignoGorehouse)

Duffield, Brian – No One Will Save You (20th Century Studios, Star Thrower Entertainment)

Rugna, Demián – When Evil Lurks (Machaco Films, Aramos Cine, Shudder)

Yamazaki, Takashi – Godzilla Minus One (Robot Communications, Toho Studios) – WINNER

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

Daniels, L.E. – “Silk” (Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster: Stories Inspired by Stephen King, Twisted Wing Productions)

Jones, Rachael K. – “The Sound of Children Screaming” (Nightmare Magazine)

Miller, Sam J. – “If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak” (The Dark)

O’Quinn, Cindy – “Quondam” (The Nightmare Never Ends, Exploding Head Fiction) – WINNER

Tabing, Nadine Aurora – “An Inherited Taste” (No Trouble at All, Cursed Morsels Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

Bissett, Carina – “Words Wielded by Women” (Apex Magazine)

Bulkin, Nadia – “Becoming Ungovernable: Latah, Amok, and Disorder in Indonesia,” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books) – WINNER

Kulski, K.P. – “100 Livers” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books)

Murray, Lee – “Displaced Spirits” (Unquiet Spirits: Essays by Asian Women in Horror, Black Spot Books)

Wetmore Jr, Kevin – “A Theatre of Ghosts, A Haunted Cinema: The Japanese Gothic as Theatrical Tradition in Gurozuka” (The Wenshan Review of Literature and Culture: Special Issue on Asian Gothic)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

Bayron, Kalynn – You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight (Bloomsbury YA)

Dimaline, Cherie – Funeral Songs for Dying Girls (Tundra Book Group)

Simmons, Kristen – Find Him Where You Left Him Dead (Tor Teen)

Smith, Cynthia Leitich – Harvest House (Candlewick Press)

Tran, Trang Thanh – She Is a Haunting (Bloomsbury YA) – WINNER

The 2022 Bram Stoker Award winners were announced on June 17 during the Annual Bram Stoker Awards Banquet at StokerCon™ 2023 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

2022 BRAM STOKER AWARDS®  

Superior Achievement in a Novel

• Iglesias, Gabino – The Devil Takes You Home (Mullholland Press)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

• Nogle, Christi – Beulah(Cemetery Gates Media)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

• Kraus, Daniel – They Stole Our Hearts (Henry Holt and Co.)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

• Aquilone, James (editor) – Kolchak: The Night Stalker: 50^th Anniversary (Moonstone Books)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

• Ottone, Robert P. – The Triangle (Raven Tale Publishing)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

• Katsu, Alma – The Wehrwolf (Amazon Original Stories)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

• Yardley, Mercedes M. – “Fracture” (Mother: Tales of Love and Terror) (Weird Little Worlds)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

• Khaw, Cassandra – Breakable Things (Undertow Publications)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

[TIE]

• Derrickson, Scott and Cargill, C. Robert – The Black Phone (Blumhouse Productions, Crooked Highway, Universal Pictures)
• Duffer Brothers, The – Stranger Things: Episode 04.01 “Chapter One: The Hellfire Club” (21 Laps Entertainment, Monkey Massacre, Netflix, Upside Down Pictures)

Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection

• Pelayo, Cynthia – Crime Scene (Raw Dog Screaming Press)

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

• Datlow, Ellen – Screams from the Dark: 29 Tales of Monsters and the Monstrous (Tor Nightfire)

Superior Achievement in Non–Fiction

• Waggoner, Tim – Writing in the Dark: The Workbook (Guide Dog Books)

Superior Achievement in Short Non–Fiction

• Murray, Lee – “I Don’t Read Horror (& Other Weird Tales)” (Interstellar Flight Magazine) (Interstellar Flight Press)

Also presented at the ceremony:

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD 

• Elizabeth Massie
• Nuzo Onoh
• John Saul

SPECIALTY PRESS AWARD

• Undertow Publications

THE RICHARD LAYMON PRESIDENT’S AWARD

• Meghan Arcuri

THE KAREN LANSDALE SILVER HAMMER AWARD

• Karen Lansdale

MENTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

• David Jeffery