Horror Writers Association Blog

2018 Award Recommendations

Members, log into the Members-Only area of the site and recommend those works from 2018 that you loved! Look for the link to "Bram Stoker Awards".

The HWA announces the 2017 Bram Stoker Awards® recipients!

Awards were announced in Providence, RI, on 3/2/18. Congratulations to all!

STOKERCON 2019

In gorgeous Grand Rapids, MI, May 9 - 12, 2019.

Click here for up-to-date info!

The CreEpy Catalog: Frozen Charlotte

The CreEpy Catalog: Frozen Charlotte

 
A Flash of Fear: Why Write Short-form Horror

A Flash of Fear: Why Write Short-form Horror

 
Q&A for The Frightful Ride of Michael McMichael

Q&A for The Frightful Ride of Michael McMichael

 

Recent Posts

Haunted Nights Audiobook

Here are 16 chilling, never-before-published tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, coedited by Ellen Datlow, one of the most successful and respected genre editors, and Lisa Morton, a leading authority on Halloween.

In addition to stories about scheming jack-o’-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick-or-treating in the future, Haunted Nights also offers terrifying and mind-bending explorations of related holidays like All Souls’ Day, Día de los Muertos, and Devil’s Night.

“With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfbane Seeds” by Seanan …

Buy HWA’s Books Here!

HWA is pleased to provide this handy shopping page with clickable links to use to purchase our most recent anthologies in ebook or audiobook, our nonfiction guide On Writing Horror, and our annual Poetry Showcases. By using these links, you’re providing HWA with a small amount of extra income, so we thank you in advance and wish you HAPPY SHOPPING!

To purchase print copies of Haunted Nights and Scary Out There, we encourage you to patronize independent bookstores.

Haunted Nights ebook:
 Haunted Nights audiobook:
 Scary Out There ebook:
On Writing Horror print:
 On Writing Horror ebook:

 F.
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Writing Tips

Learning to write well is a long and difficult road. The HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION, in an effort to help improve the general quality of fiction across the board, offers the following book, articles, and writing-related links for writers.

On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association

Copyright 2006 by HWA
ISBN: 1-5829-7420-9 (Writers Digest Books)
Price: $16.99

Recently updated and revised, available in trade paperback from Writers Digest Books through any major online retailer. A volume of 41 essays on the craft of horror writing, edited by Mort Castle, with contributions from dozens of well-known HWA members. An …

“So, Who Wants to be a Horror Writer?” by Edo van Belkom

© 2000 by Edo van Belkom
(From the book WRITING HORROR)

Whenever I give a talk on the craft of writing (whether the talk is on horror writing, fantasy writing, short story writing, or just plain creative writing) I always begin with a question. And even though this is a book on the subject of writing, it has the feel — to me anyway — of a long talk. So, I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t begin the book any differently than I would a talk, although I will make one concession and modify the question …

“The Horror of It All” by Tim Waggoner

© 2000 by Tim Waggoner

Want to write horror? A lot of folks do. The mainstream publishing industry
may have momentarily turned its collective back on the genre, but the
small press scene is thriving, not to mention the burgeoning number of
horror ‘zines on the Net. Unfortunately, a great many stories published
in these markets are uninspired (to put it kindly) and just plain bad
(to put it honestly). Want your work to stand out from the rest of the
lycanthropic pack? Want to start selling to larger and more prestigious
markets? Want your horror stories to be so …

The Seers’ Table – October 2017

The Seers Table!

by

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community

Happy November! I love reading horror the most as Autumn turns to winter, and our Seers have some good reads lined up!

Lauren Salerno recommends:

Lauren kicks us off with a fantastic list of Latinx authors.

Lauren also recommends:

Aliya Whiteley was born in Devon, UK, in 1974. She writes novels, short stories, and nonfiction, and has been published in places such as The Guardian, Interzone, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Black Static, Strange Horizons, and anthologies such as

…

Final Frame Film Competition Judges Announced

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Short Horror Film Competition Judged by Z NATION’s Craig Engler

 

Providence, RI, November 3, 2017

The Horror Writers Association announces its third annual short film competition. On March 2, 2018, Final Frame will be held in conjunction with StokerCon 2018® at the fabled Biltmore Hotel in Providence, Rhode Island. The Final Frame film competition will celebrate the best in short horror films from around the globe. Everyone is encouraged to enter the competition.

Selected films will be screened in the Garden Room of the Biltmore Hotel. A grand prize winner will be announced at the film …

“Why Do We Love Halloween?” By JG Faherty

As a horror writer, it’s kind of expected of me that I’ll be enamored of the Halloween season. And it’s no secret that I am! But I loved Halloween long before I became a writer. Even as a little kid I looked forward to Halloween as much as I did Christmas.

The question is, why?

For a child, the reasons are pretty easy to figure out. Lots of candy. Lots and lots of candy! The chance to dress up in a costume and run around the neighborhood relatively unsupervised (at least back in my day). Halloween was the only cool …

“How We Made a Monster (and scared the bejeebers out of an entire high school)!” By Lloyd F. Ritchey

We watched with glee as a man scooped up a little girl and bolted for the door. The kid was kicking and screaming with fright. “Ah,” I thought. “Another successful show!”

I was a high school junior, and my esteemed institution was holding a Halloween-themed open house. The classrooms were crammed with the usual flaccid haunted house stuff: “Come inside kiddies, feel the witch’s guts.” (Bowl of cold spaghetti). Her eyeballs—hard-boiled eggs. Yawn.

My friends, Warren and Pete, and I had presented the school fathers with a proposal: we would produce Halloween shows a-la Frankenstein that would run about five …

“Underworld Gothic” By Dan Rabarts and Lee Murray

Lee Murray: We’ll probably shock our American colleagues by saying Halloween isn’t really a thing down here in New Zealand. No neighbourhoods of kids out Trick or Treating. No pumpkins on the doorstep. For HWA members this is akin to blasphemy. Do you think they’ll revoke our memberships?

Dan Rabarts: Well, we’re here to shock a little, aren’t we? In New Zealand we’re starting to see a bit of Trick or Treating on Halloween, but for whatever reason, it’s never really caught on. Halloween in the Southern Hemisphere comes about in late spring, so it’s not dark or cold when …

“A Halloween Ritual” By Naching T. Kassa

Halloween is a magical time for children. October chill fills the air, frost glittered pumpkins wait in the patch, and disguised friends roam the streets. Halloween traditions increase the enchantment. In my family, one ritual stood out above all others. This was the Halloween ghost story.

The tale was always told before bedtime, when shadows had extinguished the light of day. My mother, the storyteller, made sure we were snug in our beds before adopting a suitably spooky tone. Sometimes, the story was lighthearted with a silly twist at the end. Other times, the story was more frightening, much like …

“The 1970s, The Goatman, and Me” By Sheri White

The 70s were a scary time to be a kid. It was an era of urban legends, UFO sightings, Bigfoot, and demon possessions.

In my town, our urban legend was the Goatman. Half-man, half-goat (obviously), he lived in a derelict shack in the woods behind my elementary school. According to those who had “seen” this creature (usually older kids), it had the head and chest of a man and the body and four legs of a goat. And he would kill you if he caught you.

How he was supposed to accomplish this, and why he wanted to were never …

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