HWA Announces 2019 Scholarship Winners

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce the winners of its 2019 scholarships: HWA SCHOLARSHIP: Sara Adams was born and raised in Massachusetts and has been writing horror since the fourth grade, when she was given an assignment to finish a story about black cats and took it just a little too far. She grew up with a deep love of the genre, writing stories about everything from fluid minds to what lives in the shadows. Sara lives in Haverhill with her two roommates, crafting new nightmares every day. Her work has appeared in the anthology In Delirium…

How Podcasting Can Help Writers Learn and Network

By Matthew W. Quinn One of the great boons to my writing science fiction, fantasy, and horror has been the explosive growth of podcasting. The podcasts I listen to have provided me with many opportunities to learn and network and my life would be much poorer without them. Firstly, podcasts provide great opportunities to work with other writers. Thanks to The Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast, I learned hostess Lindsay Buroker had opened up her Fallen Empire universe to other writers through Amazon’s Kindle Worlds program. From this one podcast episode came my short novellas “Ten Davids, Two Goliaths”…
Scary Out There with Sarah Rees Brennan

Scary Out There with Sarah Rees Brennan

It’s Scary Out There had a witchingly good time talking character, lore, and more with Sarah Rees Brennan, author of Season of the Witch, the tie-in novel for Netflix’s hit show, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. With books like How to Hang a Witch, The Price Guide to the Occult, and Conversion, witchcraft in YA seems to be more popular than ever. Why do you think that is? Witches are figures of female independence and social disobedience! I think whenever society is having a big conversation about how just our system actually is, how power can be achieved in different…

The Seers’ Table August 2019

The Seers Table July 27, 2019 by HWAWeb Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community August contains National Friendship Day; why not make buddies with some new creators! Kate Jonez introduces: Nzondi (Ace Antonio Hall), born July 4, 1966, is an American urban fantasy and horror writer. He is best known as the creator of Sylva Slasher, a teenage zombie slasher who also raises the dead for police investigations. His nonfiction book, Lord of the Flies: Fitness for Writers, was published by Omnium Gatherum. Nzondi’s latest speculative fiction novel, The Oware Mosaic, is coming September 2019 from Omnium…
Officer Election Statements 2019

Officer Election Statements 2019

Our next election takes place August 1st, 2019, with the ballots closing August 15th, 2019. We have a diverse and strong list of candidates for our open Trustee positions. Vice President and Treasurer positions are running unopposed and will continue in their roles officially for the next two years. Candidate statements follow.
Surviving Records: Found Footage in Print

Surviving Records: Found Footage in Print

Shaky camcorders, baby monitors picking up paranormal activity, mysteriously unearthed videos—it’s no wonder found footage flourishes so well in cinematic horror. It’s visually compelling metafiction that doesn’t undermine audience immersion. It can be a little harder to pull off in print (especially because the author name on the physical book is rarely also the name of a character inside of it, a limitation The Blair Witch Project marketing team didn’t face when they released fake missing posters of their leads and even convinced some that the actors were dead). But, it can still be a lot of fun and provides…

The Seers’ Table July 2019

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community We have some hot summer reading for you at The Seers’ Table this month! Linda Addison Recommends: Tish Jackson grew up in the Bay Area and started writing in elementary school. She went on to crafting murder mysteries in high school, and the love of writing stuck. After graduating from an HBCU in New Orleans, she moved back home and continued writing, including a contribution to Brandon Massey’s Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III. Her story, “Cheaters,” is included in the 2017 Bram Stoker Award®-Nominated anthology Sycorax’s Daughters. Currently, Ms.…
Q&A for Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies

Q&A for Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies

We all know that zombies eat brains. But zombies that eat veggies? Now that’s scary! I recently had the chance to sit down and chat with husband and wife team Megan and Jorge Lacera about their debut picture book, Zombies Don’t Eat Veggies! (Lee & Low, 2019). We also talked about what it’s like writing horror for little kids and why diversity in horror is important. You don’t see a lot of horror picture books out there for little kids. What made you want to tackle zombies? Jorge: From the beginning, we knew we wanted to do something that was…

The Seers’ Table June 2019

Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Linda Addison recommends: Michelle R. Lane writes dark speculative fiction about women of color who battle their inner demons while falling in love with monsters. Her work includes elements of fantasy, horror, romance, and occasionally erotica. In January 2015, Michelle graduated with an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Her short fiction appears in the anthologies Dark Holidays and Terror Politico: A Screaming World in Chaos. She lives in South Central Pennsylvania with her son. In July, Haverhill House will release her novel, Invisible Chains, a horror/fantasy/slave narrative…

HWA Announces Academic Essay Collection

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, announces a new release in the Fall 2019 from McFarland Books. Horror Literature from Gothic to Post-Modernism: Critical Essays. These essays were initially presented at Ann Radcliffe Academic Conferences during StokerCon® events. All scholars and academics were invited to submit presentation abstracts related to Horror Studies for consideration. The book is edited by Michele Brittany and Nicholas Diak, with a Foreword by Lisa Morton, six-time Bram Stoker award-winning author and former President of HWA, and an Afterword by Becky Spratford. From the back…

Welcome New VP: Meghan Arcuri

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Meghan Arcuri as our interim Vice President, effective immediately. Meghan has worked tirelessly for the organization for the past several years. Two notable examples include helping us with our social media outreach and with sponsorships for our StokerCon events. She is generous, proactive, professional, and easy to work with. Meghan is a highly regarded writer, with her work appearing in many anthologies, including Chiral Mad 3, 18 Wheels of Horror, the forthcoming Borderlands 7, and many more to come. Upon accepting the position, Meghan had this to say: "When John asked me…
13 Reasons Horror Should Put On A Happy Face by Nzondi

13 Reasons Horror Should Put On A Happy Face by Nzondi

In Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning performance in his portrayal of Batman's most notorious villain in The Dark Knight, he said, “As you know, madness is like gravity … all it takes is a little push.”

2018 Bram Stoker Award Winners & Nominees

The Horror Writers Association is proud to congratulation the winners and nominees of the 2018 Bram Stoker Awards for superiority. We proudly provide the list of talented nominees who reached the final ballot below for each category.
This Is All of Us by Mark Matthews

This Is All of Us by Mark Matthews

If it’s true that some of the greatest horror fiction comes from the deepest personal pain, that the torment of the writer weaves itself into fiction, then Horror, the way it shines a light on the darkest parts of humanity, is in a unique position to look at mental health.

The HWA Supports Mental Health Awareness Month

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce a new program to show support to those in the horror community and beyond facing mental health issues or helping friends and family members who are. You are not alone. No matter how dark or haunted the house may seem a light is always on in the window. Mental health issues affect people of any age, gender, or ethnicity—and in any profession. Writers are no exception. Spending as much time in isolation while working as writers do, though, it can be easy to feel cut off or alone, especially when struggling with…
Five Great Children’s Poetry Collections for National Poetry Month

Five Great Children’s Poetry Collections for National Poetry Month

I love poetry. Good poetry, like good prose, makes you think and makes you feel. With April being National Poetry Month, I thought I'd take the opportunity to look at some excellent horror poetry collections for young readers. Writing horror for children is a unique balancing act of being scary but not too scary. Add in meter, rhythm, and often rhyme and it can be difficult to pull off. Each of the books below have definite creep factor while still being fun and accessible to the younger reader. So if you are thinking of writing your own young horror poetry,…

The Seers’ Table May 2019

The Seers Table April 25, 2019 by HWAWeb Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community May contains Cinco de Mayo, a celebration of victory; challenge the mundane and check out some new creators! Janet Holden introduces: Amanda Lovelace – Growing up a word-devourer and avid fairy tale lover, it was only natural that Lovelace began writing books of her own, and so she did. When she isn’t reading or writing, she can be found waiting for pumpkin spice coffee to come back into season and binge-watching GILMORE GIRLS. (Before you ask: Team Jess all the way.) The lifelong poet and storyteller currently…

The Seers’ Table April 2019

The Seers Table March 25, 2019 by HWAWeb Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community April contains Earth Day; why not discover some ultra-earthly creators! Ace Antonio Hall introduces:      Akwaeke Emezi was born and raised in Nigeria. They received their MPA from New York University and was awarded a 2015 Miles Morland Writing Scholarship. Emezi also won the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for Africa. Freshwater is their phenomenal debut novel. Recommended work: Freshwater (Grove/Atlanta, Inc., 2018) ISBN: 0802128998, 9780802128997 About the book: Ada has always been unusual. As an infant in southern Nigeria, she is a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents…