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.
