Charles Day Retires as Mentor Program Chair, Replaced by Michael Knost

Charles Day Retires as Mentor Program Chair, Replaced by Michael Knost

As previously announced Charles Day is stepping down as HWA's Mentor Program Chair after three years to concentrate on his roles as Co-Chair of HWA's New York/Long Island Chapter and as a Member of the Library Committee. HWA's President Rocky Wood thanked Charles for his service, "Charles has done a superb job, increasing the number of members being mentored many fold to 35. The work needed to get more mentors and matching mentors and mentees is immense and largely unseen." Members who wish to volunteer as a mentors should email president@horror.org. After a handover period Michael Knost will be the…
Self-Published Works Accepted for Membership Qualification

Self-Published Works Accepted for Membership Qualification

The HWA's referendum on including self-published work in membership qualification for our Active and Affiliate levels closed on July 23. The referendum passed by a significant margin. The changes apply from July 24, 2014. New ByLaws and Membership Qualifications have been issued. Apply for membership here: https://horror.org/joining-the-hwa/ (To qualify for Active as a self published author you must have proven earnings of $2000 from a single work within two years of publication; for Affiliate the requirement is $200). In effect this means a self-published work will qualify an author if the work earns the same as a non self-published work.…
Brad C. Hodson Promoted to Full-Time Admin

Brad C. Hodson Promoted to Full-Time Admin

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce we have appointed our first full-time employee! Brad C. Hodson, currently our part-time Administrator, will commence full-time in the role on August 1. In addition to working part time for the HWA for the past few years, Brad has worked for several years in various areas of project management for Technicolor. Working closely with clients such as Apple iTunes, Sony Pictures, Netflix, and Paramount Pictures, he has developed a key set of both administrative and interpersonal skills. He was also key to developing Technicolor's international facilities. He spent months in India creating…
HWA Poetry Showcase V.1 – Now Available

HWA Poetry Showcase V.1 – Now Available

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce we have published our first book of poetry, HWA Poetry Showcase Volume I. Edited by Peter Adam Salomon, it features the best poems submitted during our inaugural Horror Poetry month, including works by Stephanie Wytovich, Robert Borski, Valerie Grice, and Ann K. Schwader. The selections were judged by Bram Stoker winning poet Marge Simon, Bram Stoker winning novelist Jonathan Maberry, and HWA Poetry Page Editor Peter Adam Salomon. We are proud of our significant support for this form of horror writing, which also includes a dedicated section of our website, horror.org. Purchase…
George R R Martin to be Guest of Honor in 2017

George R R Martin to be Guest of Honor in 2017

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce George R R Martin will be Guest of Honor at our 2017 Conference, to be held from 11-14 May, 2017 at a city yet to be determined. According to our rotation policy the host city is likely to be west of the Rocky Mountains. HWA President Rocky Wood said, “While it is unusual to announce a guest this far in advance we feel George R R Martin’s fame dictated we release this information as soon as possible. We are excited that George will spend time at our Bram Stoker Awards Weekend and…
Public Letter to Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

Public Letter to Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com

A Public Letter to: Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com The Horror Writers Association (HWA) (www.horror.org) is a nonprofit organization of more than 1100 writers and publishing professionals around the world, dedicated to promoting horror literature and the interests of those who write it. We are writing to bring to your attention the fact that Amazon’s customer review policy does not go far enough to protect authors and publishers from bullying, harassment and inappropriate reviews. Currently, the Amazon policy protects authors and publishers from “profanity or spiteful remarks,” though it’s not clear what would be considered “spiteful,” and this rule appears not…
The HWA on Twitter – An Announcement

The HWA on Twitter – An Announcement

For the past several weeks, Jenn Mattern (A.J. Klein), Doug Murano, Angel Leigh McCoy, and JG Faherty, together with President Rocky Wood and Vice President Lisa Morton, have been putting the finishing touches on the HWA's new Twitter goals, posting rules, and usage guidelines. In summary, they are as follows: Jenn Mattern will be managing the Twitter accounts/feeds. Under her supervision, select officers and page coordinators will be able to forward information for posting on the HWA Twitter pages (@HorrorWriters and @StokerAwards) and also create direct and send direct tweets. These tweets will provide updates on the organization, industry news…
HWA Scholarship Awarded to Jim Pyre

HWA Scholarship Awarded to Jim Pyre

Starting from 2014 the Horror Writers Association (HWA) has instituted the Horror Writers Association Scholarship, open to all members of the HWA. The Scholarship is designed to assist in the professional development of writers in the horror/dark fantasy genre. The first Horror Writers Association Scholarship has been awarded to Jim Pyre, a pseudonym for a writer who grew up in Chicago but now lives in a small farming town. Jim lives in Ohio with his wife and many, many cats. A Midwesterner by birth, he grew up in Chicago and graduated from a law school in Columbus, Ohio. He reads,…
Shelley Scholarship goes to Erinn Kemper

Shelley Scholarship goes to Erinn Kemper

Starting from 2014 the Horror Writers Association (HWA) has instituted the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship, open to female writers who are members of the HWA. The Scholarship is designed to address the unseen, but real, barriers limiting the amount of horror fiction being published by women. The first Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Scholarship has been awarded to Erinn Kemper, a Canadian writer who resides in Costa Rica. Erinn Kemper (E. L. Kemper) grew up in an isolated mill town in coastal British Columbia, Canada. From there she moved to the city to study Philosophy at the University of Victoria. Over the…
HWA SUPPORTS WRITER BEWARE

HWA SUPPORTS WRITER BEWARE

As part of our efforts to support our members and ensure the horror publishing industry is conducted in a professional and ethical manner the Horror Writers Association is a supporter of the Writer Beware website and blog. HWA President Rocky Wood said, “We are delighted to formally support Writer Beware, joining the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and Mystery Writers of America (MWA). We encourage our members to bookmark and visit the site regularly, particularly when considering engaging with publishers or editors they do not know.” Like many genre-focused writers’ groups, SFWA, MWA, and HWA are concerned…
HWA Library Partnership Committee

HWA Library Partnership Committee

As part of our ongoing commitment to promoting literacy, horror, and our members, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) has established a formal HWA Library Partnership Committee, which will focus on developing new readers in all age groups for the horror genre as well as working with libraries and library associations to support various literacy-related programs. The new committee will be chaired by JG Faherty, who has been serving as Library Liaison for the past few months while the committee was formalized. JG is proud to announce that the first two committee members, Hillary Dodge and Delia Remington, have signed on.…
World Horror Convention Programming Update

World Horror Convention Programming Update

Check back for more programming updates as we get closer to the World Horror Convention/Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend in New Orleans! Programming Report #2 (PDF)https://horror.org/blog/wp-admin/post-new.php

Jeff Strand to Emcee Bram Stoker Awards Banquet 2013

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is proud to announce Jeff Strand will emcee the 2013 Bram Stoker Awards Banquet and also act as Toastmaster at the World Horror Convention 2013. Both of these events are part of the Bram Stoker Awards Weekend, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013. Jeff has emceed four of the past five Bram Stoker Awards banquets (he couldn’t make it to Brighton, dammit!), and is thrilled to be back for a fifth time. His books include Pressure (which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award but did not win), Dweller (which was…

Ramsey Campbell First Guest of Honor at Bram Stoker Awards Weekend 2013

The Oxford Companion to English Literature describes Ramsey Campbell as “Britain’s most respected living horror writer”. He has been given more awards than any other writer in the field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), the Grand Master Award of the World Horror Convention and the Living Legend Award of the International Horror Guild. The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Ramsey Campbell as our first Guest of Honor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013, to be held in New Orleans from 13-16 June 2013. HWA President said, “Ramsey is a truly a…

First Sponsor for the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend 2013

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) is pleased to announce JournalStone as a Supporting Sponsor for the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend 2013. The Weekend Convention will be held at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans, Louisiana from 13-16 June 2013: http://www.stokers2013.org/ . Christopher C. Payne, President of JournalStone (http://journalstone.com/) said, “It is both an honor and a pleasure to support the HWA. The members and Board have been instrumental in supporting JournalStone‘s fledging endeavor as a new publishing company. I can only hope that we as a publisher continue to live up to the expectations of the HWA and all of…

John Joseph Adams is 2013 World Horror Con’s Editor Guest of Honor

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce prolific anthologist John Joseph Adams as the Editor Guest of Honor for the World Horror Convention (WHC) 2013. In 2013 the HWA is hosting WHC as part of the Bram Stoker Awards™ Weekend in New Orleans from 13-16 June. John Joseph Adams is the bestselling editor of the horror anthologies The Living Dead, The Living Dead 2, By Blood We Live, and Wastelands. He is also the editor of the new horror magazine Nightmare. His other anthologies include Other Worlds Than These, Armored, Under the Moons of Mars: New Adventures on Barsoom,…

Caitlín R. Kiernan named Author Guest of Honor for World Horror Con 2013

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce dark fantasy author Caitlín R. Kiernan as the Author Guest of Honor for the World Horror Convention (WHC) 2013. In 2013 the HWA is hosting WHC as part of the Bram Stoker Awards® Weekend in New Orleans from 13-16 June. The New York Times recently called Caitlín R. Kiernan, “one of our essential writers of dark fiction.” She is the author of various dark-fantasy novels, beginning with Silk and followed by Threshold, Low Red Moon, The Five of Cups, Murder of Angels, Daughter of Hounds, and The Red Tree. Her ninth novel,…

HWA teams up with ‘Curtis’ and Ray Billingsley to promote YA literacy

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce a new literacy partnership focusing on Young Adult (YA) readers. Beginning immediately, the HWA will be working with renowned cartoonist Ray Billingsley, creator of the comic strip CURTIS, to promote reading in general, and horror in particular, at conferences, speaking engagements, and libraries. Ray has graciously created the attached promotional piece for the HWA, for official use at any event where members represent the HWA in some capacity, including booths, panels, library appearances and readings. This piece will be premiered at the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting in January 2012 and will…

Monster Librarian Reviews Vampire Novel of the Century Nominees

We thought you might be interested in looking at this information-rich overview of the nominees for the Horror Writers Association's Vampire Novel of the Century nominees. It begins like this: We at MonsterLibrarian.com are here to help you learn a little about these titles. Below you'll find reviews of each of the nominated books. Some of these are now out of print or difficult to find (The Soft Whisper of the Dead was a limited edition of only 2,800 copies), but if you search your existing collection, you may find these books are already on your shelves. Even if they…

Il Posto Nero — January Links

-Autopsies: Ugo Barbàra analyzes the Judge of Souls by Donato Carrisi in Italian -Ten Knives Interview with Lisa Morton in Italian in English -Ten Knives Interview with Peter Straub in Italian in English -Review by Rocky Wood of Under the Dome by Stephen King in Italian -Rage Against the Night in Italian -Ten Knives Interview with Graham Masterton in Italian in English -Black Pills: Discovering Medusa in Italian -HWA Bram Stokers Award: Preliminary Ballots in Italian -Samuel Marolla: The Janara in Italian -Autopsies: Roberto Costantini analyzes The Alienist by Caleb Carr in Italian -Dark Circle: The Literary Agency of Alessandro…