The Seers’ Table August 2018

The Seers Table! Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Hi, this is Kate Maruyama, on deck for the Seers’ Table this month. We’ve come up with some very tasty summer reading for you to round out your August. Michael Gonzalez recommends Rios de La Luz is a queer xicana/chapina sci-fi-loving writer living in El Paso. Her first book, The Pulse between Dimensions and the Desert, is out now via Ladybox Books. Her debut novella, Itzá, is out now from Broken River Books. Her work has been featured in Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Entropy, The Fem Lit Magazine, St.…
Writing Prompt: Ice Cream Truck

Writing Prompt: Ice Cream Truck

Young Horror brings you writing prompts to energize your week with spooky idea inspiration. Are you writing picture books, chapter books, middle grade, or YA? Your next great idea could be sparked right here. Check back every Monday for new writing prompts. Share your ideas and discuss in the comments below. Writing Prompt: The Ice Cream Truck Last week we discussed beating the summer heat of these dog days by eating popsicles. Popsicles with dire consequences! Another source of scorching heat relief is the always creepy Ice Cream Truck. Driven by a stranger. Driving slowly down residential streets. Promising treats to…
Writing Prompt: Dog Days of Summer

Writing Prompt: Dog Days of Summer

Young Horror brings you writing prompts to energize your week with spooky idea inspiration. Are you writing picture books, chapter books, middle grade, or YA? Your next great idea could be sparked right here. Check back every Monday for new writing prompts. Share your ideas and discuss in the comments below. Dog Days of Summer For today's writing prompt, turn on the sprinkler, because we’re in the dog days of summer. These “dog days” point to the rise of Sirius, the Dog Star. Sirius ushers in the hottest 40 days in the Northern Hemisphere. Time to avoid heat stroke and…

A Flash of Fear: Why Write Short-form Horror

For many (if not most), the first introduction to horror doesn’t come from a book or movie, but from a brief scary story told to them, perhaps around a smoky campfire in lonely--or are you alone after all?--woods. Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories collections include many of the selfsame creepy jewels of storytelling’s oral tradition, and have inducted many a child into the ranks of the horror lovers. Sometimes, what readers really need is unfiltered, filler-free horror delivered directly to the brain. Short horror is also popular in amateur circles, via various user-driven websites and podcasts. So, even though word counts…
Writing Prompt: Knock on Wood

Writing Prompt: Knock on Wood

Young Horror brings you writing prompts to energize your week with spooky idea inspiration. Are you writing picture books, chapter books, middle grade, or YA? Your next great idea could be sparked right here. Check back every Monday for new writing prompts. Share your ideas and discuss in the comments below. “Superstition is foolish, childish, primitive and irrational--but how much does it cost you to knock on wood?” -Judith Viorst Your superstitions are much older than you. If you take that moment to knock on wood, you’re joining in on an activity to ward off anger and envy that dates…
Q&A for The Frightful Ride of Michael McMichael

Q&A for The Frightful Ride of Michael McMichael

It's Friday the 13th--the perfect day to reach down into the grave dirt and resurrect the Young Horror (formerly YA Horror) blog and to talk about NEW BOOKS. Hop aboard the Thirteen bus and drive through the brand new spooky picture book The Frightful Ride of Michael McMichael (Candlewick 2018). Author Bonny Becker and Illustrator Mark Fearing give all the gory details to HWA YH blogger Shanna Heath below. Whether you write horror for young people, or want to share more horror stories with the kids in your life, check in every Monday for Young Horror Writing Prompts and every other…

I Know Why the NyteBird Sings: An Interview with Linda D. Addison

I Know Why the NyteBird Sings: An Interview with Linda D. Addison   by David E. Cowen, Author of The Madness of Empty Rooms and The Seven Yards of Sorrow. Follow David at www.decowen.com.   I first experienced the work of Linda D. Addison in a volume of verse I still consider one of the great contemporary works of speculative poetry Four Elements (Bad Moon Books). Linda along with Marge Simon, Charlee Jacob and Rain Graves created what I consider one of the best examples of modern dark poetry. The HWA apparently did as well as it was awarded a…

The Seers’ Table July 2018

The Seers Table! Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community July has Build a Scarecrow Day, so find something scary to read! Michael Paul Gonzalez recommends Mira Grant was born and raised in Northern California, where she has made a lifelong study of horror movies, horrible viruses, and the inevitable threat of the living dead. In her guise as mild-mannered urban fantasy author Seanan McGuire, Mira was the recipient of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Recommended reading: Into the Drowning Deep. The ocean is home to many myths, but some are deadly ……
New Bram Stoker Awards® Category Added

New Bram Stoker Awards® Category Added

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, announces a new Bram Stoker Awards® category. A Short Non-Fiction category will be added to next year’s ballot. HWA President, Lisa Morton welcomes the new addition, stating: “As a writer who has written non-fiction at all lengths, a reader who loves articles and essays, and an admirer of academic study of dark fiction, I am pleased to announce this new awards category.” Ms. Morton is a scholar of dark fiction and she feels the new category will help foster and reward excellence in…

HWA Announces the Top 3 Poems for the Poetry Showcase Volume V

It is with great pride and admiration that I can now share the top 3 poems and two honorable mentions chosen by the jury for the HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V. -- David Cowen* HWA Poetry Showcase Vol. V is edited by multiple Stoker nominee and Stoker winner for poetry Stephanie M. Wytovich, MFA. The top 3 chosen poets are: R J. Joseph is a Texas based writer and professor who must exorcise the demons of her imagination so they don't haunt her being. A life long horror fan and writer of many things, she has recently discovered the joys…

The Seers’ Table June 2018

The Seers Table! Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community June has National Donut Day, why not get a box of your favorite and something to read! Andrew Wolter recommends Michael Rowe was born in Ottawa, and has lived in Beirut, Havana, and Paris. He is the author of the novels Enter, Night (2011), Wild Fell (2013), and October (2017.) A French edition of Wild Fell was published by Editions Bragelonne in Paris in 2016. An award-winning journalist and essayist, Rowe is also the author of the nonfiction books Writing Below the Belt (1995), Looking For Brothers (1999),…

The Seers’ Table May 2018

The Seers Table! Kate Maruyama, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Lauren Salerno recommends Justina Ireland enjoys dark chocolate, dark humor, and is not too proud to admit that she’s still afraid of the dark. She lives with her husband, kid, and dog in Pennsylvania. She is the author of Vengeance Bound and Promise of Shadows. Recommending: Dread Nation. Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a…

2018 Poetry Showcase Accepting Submissions

Before the current form of the novel arose, dark narrative poetry spun the tales of heroes and demons. Carrying that tradition writers of Horror fiction have kept dark poetry close to their hearts. Poe, Carroll, Wilde, Lovecraft and even more recently Neil Gaiman dipped their quills into dark verse. Recognizing the contribution of dark poetry to the field of Horror and to celebrate National Poetry Month, the Horror Writers Association is holding their third annual HWA Horror Poetry Showcase. Open only to HWA members, the Showcase will be accepting submissions in April with four poems chosen by HWA member judges…

The Seers’ Table April 2018

The Seers Table! Janet Holden, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Spring is upon us, the daffodils and crocus are blooming. Here are our reading suggestions for the month of April. Ace Antonio-Hall recommends Michael Forsythe grew up in Harlem, the son of a preacher. He is a graduate of Yale College with a degree in English Literature. He is the author of the critically acclaimed novel, Hour of the Beast, and the children’s book, Brothers. He has written under multiple pseudonyms, including Mike Foster. http://freedomshammer.com/ Suggested reading – The Adventure of the Spook House. The year is 1922.…

The 2017 Bram Stoker Awards Winners

2017 Bram Stoker Awards® Winners Providence, RI, March 3, 2018 The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, announces this year’s Bram Stoker Awards® winners after a ceremony held at the historic Biltmore Hotel in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. “We are excited to announce this year’s winners from another impressive list of finalists. The winners represent a broad spectrum of highly talented writers devoted to horror and dark fantasy,” said Lisa Morton, HWA President and multiple Bram Stoker Award winner. “Our members and awards juries have demonstrated considerable dedication and objectivity…

The Seers’ Table March 2018

Kate Jonez, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community Now that spring has arrived, it’s time to freshen up your reading list with these excellent suggestions. What’s that? It’s not spring where you live? You’ll love these suggestions even more! Linda Addison recommends Wrath James White is a former world-class heavyweight kickboxer, a professional kickboxing and mixed martial arts trainer, distance runner, performance artist, and former street brawler, who is now known for creating some of the most disturbing works of fiction in print. Wrath is the author of such extreme horror classics as The Resurrectionist (now a major motion…

An Interview with New HWA Poetry Showcase V Editor Stephanie M. Wytovich

The Madhouse Comes to the HWA Poetry Showcase: An Interview with New HWA Poetry Showcase V Editor Stephanie M. Wytovich by David E. Cowen, Author of The Madness of Empty Rooms and The Seven Yards of Sorrow. Follow David at www.decowen.com.  On April 1, 2018, coinciding with National Poetry Month, the HWA will open a call for submissions for its fifth volume of the HWA Poetry Showcase. The first editor and brain child of this amazing series was HWA Active member and poet Peter Salomon. He edited the first two volumes which originally were produced only digitally. Peter established the…

HWA announces its next members-only anthology

HWA is proud to announce our next anthology: New Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (final title still to be determined) will be an anthology of all-new stories in tribute to the classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series by Alvin Schwartz. The anthology will be edited by Jonathan Maberry, and published by HarperCollins in 2019. We are looking for original stories told in the vein of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (and if you are not familiar with these books, we urge you to read one before submitting). We are NOT looking for literal…

The 2017 Specialty Press Award Winners

Specialty Press Award (tie) – ERASERHEAD PRESS and INDEPENDENT LEGIONS PUBLISHING The annual Specialty Press Award recognizes a publisher outside the mainstream New York City publishing community that specializes in dark-themed fiction. Winners are typically “small presses” specializing in limited editions, small print runs, or the work of new and relatively unknown authors. The winner of the award is determined by a majority vote of the HWA Board. The Board of Trustees has chosen two winners for the 2017 Specialty Press Award: Eraserhead Press and Independent Legions Publishing. Founded in 1999, Eraserhead Press is an independent publisher of bizarro fiction and cutting-edge…