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.
Breakfast with the StokerCon GOHs
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2024 Bram Stoker Awards® Final Ballot
Nominees Announced
The Scholarship from Hell is the only scholarship offered by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) that puts the recipient right into the intensive, hands-on workshop environment of Horror University, which takes place during StokerCon®.
By Tom Joyce
Whether it’s a matter of keeping a short story tight, or of churning out the daunting number of words required to fill a novel, creating a narrative at any length comes with its own set of challenges. Drawing on the lessons he’s picked up as a short-story writer who transitioned to novels, Josh Rountree discusses the nature of those challenges and how to overcome them.
May Seers’ Table, Kate Maruyama, Diverse Works Inclusion Committee
Geneve Flynn recommends:
Pauline Yates is the creative force behind the multi-award-winning science fiction novel, Memories Don’t Lie, recognized in awards including the 2024 BookFest Awards winner in three categories (YA – Science Fiction; Sci-fi Action Adventure; Sci-fi – Genetic Engineering), 2024 American Legacy Book Awards – Finalist (Science Fiction); 2023 Indies Today Awards – Semi-Finalist, among others. She’s also the author of the short horror read, Dream Job, the sci-fi/horror novella, Shattered, and the horror short story collection, The Connections We Keep.
The Horror Writers Association announces its 2025 Specialty Award Recipients! These awards will be presented during the Bram Stoker Awards Ceremony in Stamford, Connecticut this June.
Kate Maruyama Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee
Linda Addison Recommends:
Pedro Iniguez is a horror and science-fiction writer from Los Angeles, California. He is a Rhysling Award finalist and a Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee.
Columbus, OH – The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the recipients of its Lifetime Achievement Award. These awards will be presented on June 14, 2025, during the Bram Stoker Awards® Presentation at StokerCon®2025 in Stamford, CT.
The HWA is proud to announce that it will call for submissions from its members for the HWA Poetry Showcase Volume XII beginning April 1, 2025. Maxwell I. Gold will be the editor for the volume.
Lisa Morton describes Dennis Etchison’s work as a “brain bombshell” that changed her idea of what horror fiction could do. When she was just starting out, Etchison had a major influence on both her art and her career. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Lisa discusses Etchison’s writing technique, his influence on her own work, and what writers today can learn from the late horror legend.
Horror has long been a genre of fear and power—one that reflects our deepest anxieties and dares to explore the unknown. Yet, for too long, the voices of women in horror have been overlooked, despite their undeniable influence in shaping the genre. Women in Horror Month is a time to celebrate these groundbreaking authors, editors, and creators who bring fresh, haunting perspectives to the page.
Celebrate Women in Horror Month with These Spine-Chilling Anthologies!
March is Women in Horror Month, a time to celebrate the darkly brilliant minds of female horror authors. If you’re craving stories that will haunt your dreams and keep you turning the pages late into the night, check out these terrifying anthologies featuring horror’s most compelling voices:
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/).
Early in his career, writer and director John Harrison picked up techniques about telling a horror story from collaborating with George Romero. He’s spent decades refining those techniques as a screenwriter, director, and novelist – most recently in a new novel that released on the 11th of this month, Residue: Paramentals Rising, based on the Netflix series he created. In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, John shares his thoughts about telling a horror story and storytelling in general. He also gives advice about releasing a book, and getting into TV writing.
Horror —n: an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; a shuddering fear.
Who were the first Black horror writers in a country that made enslaved Africans’ everyday life horrific? How did stories develop and what were their themes? I wanted to write this because of my own curiosity. I didn’t know where this was going to lead me but the more I dug the more I found. The yellow brick road of discovery took me away from the land of published authors to places unexpected.
What inspired you to start writing?
This is always a difficult question to answer because I have always loved writing. My imagination was always running wild and growing up, rather than paying attention to lessons in class, I was writing stories in the middle of my notebooks. I used to look forward to doing creative writing with spelling words in elementary school. But my inspiration for starting to take writing seriously was in high school. I had a teacher, Mr. Dolan, who was always encouraging me to tell my stories. One open school night he told my parents “Your son is a writer and is really good at it. You should help him nurture that talent because he can go far with it.” He was one of those teachers who always believed in what I could do. I had told my parents I wanted to be a writer, and they weren’t a hundred percent behind it as a profession with my father saying that I had to be good at the craft to make it. That was before Mr. Dolan told him this news. And until I heard Mr. Dolan say this, I thought about finding something else to pursue. But he confirmed that small belief I had in myself, and it inspired me to go forward with it.
What inspired you to start writing?
Pain, uncertainty, and hope. Honestly, I was a naive child, filled with joy at the thought of meeting another face. But when homelessness found my family in the South Bronx, I quickly learned that people weren’t always safe. Being exposed to ‘American history’ in school further revealed what it meant to be Black in this country, a trauma, in my view, that demands mental health support, like counseling, in schools. These harsh realities made me dream of a better world. I found that place within the pages of books, the ink of a pen, and the boundless depths of my own imagination.
Linda D. Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community
You can see any of The Seers’ Table posts since inception (March 2016) by going to the HWA main page and selecting the menu item “HWA Publications/Blogs/Seers’ Table.”
The worldview of horror writers, editors, screenwriters, etc. population is a plethora of different groups. The definition of groups within a demographic is large and multi-faceted. One thing horror creators have in common is they want their work to generate a sense of fear or discomfort in the reader or viewer. This work is influenced by the experiences of the group in the world and their individual lives. Each creator’s work is flavored by the disturbing aspects of their life and the world around them. The HWA runs a monthly series each year highlighting horror writers and editors, etc. from different marginalized groups.
The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce a new discount for HWA Members in partnership with the Authors Guild. The Authors Guild has extended a special discount for HWA Members. Any HWA member who is newly joining the Authors Guild will receive a 20% discount on new membership at the Authors Guild.
The Horror Writers Association’s Library Advisory Council is proud to announce the 2024 recipients of the Young Adults Write Now (YAWN) Endowment. This endowment is provided by the Horror Writers Association and is aimed at supporting teen writing programs in libraries as part of its ongoing dedication to furthering young adult literacy. We received a large number of excellent applications last year and are heartened by the number of libraries currently prioritizing teen writing programs.
Whether they come by way of Oz, Wonderland, or the Brothers Grimm, nightmare-inducing children’s stories are the gateway for many nascent fans into the strange, terrifying, and delightful genre of horror fiction. Joe R. Lansdale took a crack at children’s horror fiction with the Ray Bradbury-influenced Something Lumber This Way Comes, which is being rereleased by Pandi Press this month. Kasey Lansdale, executive editor of Pandi Press, provides some useful information about the publishing industry for aspiring authors in this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts. And Joe gives some tips on writing children’s fiction.
