“Welcome to Halloween Haunts 2017” By Michele Brittany

The leaves are beginning to turn golden oranges, yellows, and reds, and there is a subtle change to cooler weather as I write, sitting here in Southern California. Appearing in my neighborhood and local stores are banners announcing the arrival of autumn and Halloween decorations. Soon bowls of sweets will sit near front doors and at the end of the month, little ghosts, goblins, superheroes, and such will appear on doorsteps singing out “Trick or Treat!” For aficionados of the horror genre, October is a fantastic month in which to catch broadcasts of classic and contemporary horror films, while for…

HWA’s HAUNTED NIGHTS released October 3rd!

ABOUT HAUNTED NIGHTS Sixteen never-before-published chilling tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, co-edited 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, Dia de los Muertos, and Devil’s Night. “With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfbane…

The Seers’ Table – September 2017

Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community September is Self-Improvement Month, why not add new creative work to your life by exploring the following authors! Janet Holden recommends: Sandra Kasturi is a poet, writer, and editor, and the co-publisher of the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning press, ChiZine Publications. Born in Estonia to an Estonian mother and Sri Lankan father, she now lives in Canada. She is the co-founder (with Helen Marshall) of the Toronto SpecFic Colloquium and the national Chiaroscuro Reading Series. Sandra’s work has appeared in various venues, including ON SPEC, Prairie Fire, several Tesseracts…

An Interview with Poet/Author Peter Adam Salomon

An Interview with Poet/Author Peter Adam Salomon by David E. Cowen, Author of The Madness of Empty Rooms and The Seven Yards of Sorrow By the graces of the HWA (Lisa Morton asking nicely – what I’m supposed to say ‘no’ to her? I think not) and a plea from the prior guardian of this blog I am taking over the task of bringing this blog to the members of the Horror Writer’s Association on a regular monthly basis. Aha, you are likely saying to yourself, this blog entry is late. Yes it is. I reside in Houston and an…

The Seers Table August 2017

The Seers Table Janet Holden, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community We're heading for the dog days of summer! Time to relax with a good book. Here are our suggestions for this month: Janet Holden recommends: Angela Slatter is the author of the urban fantasy novels Vigil (2016) and Corpselight (2017), as well as eight short story collections, including The Girl with No Hands and Other Tales, Sourdough and Other Stories, The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, and A Feast of Sorrows: Stories. She has won a World Fantasy Award, a British Fantasy Award, a Ditmar, and six Aurealis…

An Interview with Angela Yuriko Smith

A former news journalist, Angela Yuriko Smith retired to write fiction. Her prose and poetry have been widely published in both print and online publications. She has nearly 20 books which include dark and speculative fiction for YA and adults, books for children and two collections of poetry. Her first collection of poetry, In Favor of Pain, has been nominated for a 2017 Elgin Award. When not writing, she teaches creative writing at Northwest Florida State College. HWA: What can you share about the inspiration and writing of In Favor Of Pain? In Favor of Pain was an accidental birth.…

The Seers’ Table July 2017

The Seers Table! Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community July is National Anti-Boredom month. How better to add excitement than to check out work by the following creators! Ace Antonio-Hall recommends: Award-winning gospel singer Evie Rhodes is the author of the psychological horror novels Expired, Criss Cross, Out "A" Order. Ms. Rhodes is the recipient of The Esther Award bestowed upon her for her Outstanding Contribution to Literature from the organization Purpose Driven Sisters in New York City, founded by a reporter of the historic Amsterdam Newspaper. Her novel, Expired, is recognized as an important work in…

HWA Mentors

A Letter about the HWA Mentor Program Starting out as a writer can be difficult. You may feel that you’re alone, that no one understands the issues you are going through, and that fulfilling your writing dreams is beyond you. However, none of this is true, and help is just around the corner. Enter the HWA Mentorship Program. For new writers, the Program offers mentees a personal, one-on-one experience with a professional writer, tailor-made to help them grow in their writing and teach them how to better market their work. For experienced writers, the Program allows mentors a chance to…

2017 HWA Poetry Showcase Featured Poems

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to present the three featured poems from the 2017 HWA Poetry Showcase. After four years, the HWA Poetry Showcase has become a vibrant, global poetry competition featuring the best poetry, and the best poets, of the membership of the Horror Writers Association. This year was the second, and final, year of David E. Cowen being Editor for the Showcase. As such, I asked him to write an introduction to this HWA Poetry Page post about his experiences with the Showcase and dark/horror poetry: Poetry is dead. Long live the poetry of the undead! It…

HWA History

The HWA was formed in the 1980’s with the help of Joe and Karen Lansdale and saw a period of professionalization and growth under the leadership of some of the horror genre’s luminaries including Dean Koontz, Robert McCammon, and Joe Lansdale. Today we have over 2,400 members in countries such as Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Germany, Honduras, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Russia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, United Kingdom and the United States. The HWA is the oldest and most respected professional organization for the much-loved writers who have…

HWA Here and Now 2014

by Rocky Wood (Rocky Wood is HWA's fifteenth President. He took office in 2010. He passed away in office in 2014.) The last few years have been a particularly challenging and interesting period for the publishing industry, for the horror genre and for our members, and have seen the opening of doors that lead to as yet undiscovered countries. The explosion of the eBook has apparently freed authors from the previously limited range of publishing choices—mainstream publishing, small press and magazines—and allowed an almost infinite series of publishing models. Which of these will prove to be a success in terms…

HWA in the 21st Century

by Lisa Morton (Lisa Morton took the mantle of President in 2014. She also served over a decade as HWA's Treasurer through October 2011, and then Vice President until 2014.) To paraphrase (appropriately, perhaps!) the Grateful Dead, the 21st century thus far has been a long, strange trip for HWA, but one which overall has seen the organization continue to grow in size and reputation. Certainly no development has had such an impact on the organization as the growth of the internet and e-mail. At the turn of the millennium, most of HWA's communications with its members—whether it was monthly…

The Quarter-Life Crisis

by Kelly Laymon (Richard Laymon served as HWA's tenth President, from 2000 to 2001. He tragically passed away during his term. His daughter, Kelly, kindly provided this piece.) Unfortunately, I can't say very much about my father's time as President of the HWA. His term ended up being unusually short. Who's to say what would have been. People can complain about the politics and the system for the awards to no end. God knows, I've done it once or twice. But when I think about the HWA, I usually try to focus on the great things. About the people who…

Watt-Evans Quote

(Lawrence Watt-Evans, HWA's sixth President, served from 1994 to 1996) I don't know what effect I had on HWA, in the long run. It had fallen into a somewhat disorganized state when I was elected president, and I did my best to remedy that. I'm proud of creating the Internet Mailer and the first HWA website; some of my other attempts at innovation, though, were less successful, and many ideas that I held dear have been discarded by subsequent administrations. I do know what effect it had on me, though, at least in part. It showed me that yes, I…

Horror in Ancient Times

by Craig Shaw Gardner, HWA's fourth President, served from 1990 to 1992 I spent two years each as president of HWA and president of the HWA board of trustees. Twenty-plus years later, some of these events tend to run together, but I thought I'd give a brief rundown of what we did, and were trying to do, way back then. HWA had been the brainchild of a number of big name horror writers, who then turned the reigns over to Charlie Grant, who really got the organization up and running. The next president was Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, and the folks…

Recollections

The following articles appeared in '25: Celebrating A Quarter-Century Of HWA', edited by Lisa Morton published upon the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of HWA's incorporation and the Bram Stoker Awards®. It was released at the Celebrate HWA Day component of World Horror Convention 2012 held in Salt Lake City, Utah in March 2012. All material is copyright by the individual author. "Some Recollections" by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (Chelsea Quinn Yarbro was HWA's third President, and served from 1988 to 1990) Charlie Grant talked me into it, knowing just how to go about it. "We've discussed what kind of organization…

Shockingly Brief History of the HWA

By Stanley Wiater As with most great ideas, the concept for a horror writers association originated in the fevered imagination of one individual -- in this instance, one Robert R. McCammon. In an interview with Publisher's Weekly in 1984, the author (who had already published six horror novels) first publicly expressed his desire for a professional organization specifically geared to the needs of fellow writers of fear. At that point, however, his decidedly colorful name for the then nonexistent organization was "HOWL" (Horror/Occult Writers League.) Even so, reasoned McCammon, mystery writers had their professional organizations, as did science fiction writers.…

Important Website Update!

Use your WildApricot password to access members-only content. This is the password you use to update your profile or pay your dues on the HWA Wildapricot site. To get there, go to the homepage (https://horror.org) and look for the "Members-Only" button on the right. Click it and then click the login button on that page. Input your WildApricot user id and password, the same one you use to pay dues and update your profile. You control this password, so if you forget it, you can click on the "Forgot Password" link on the WildApricot sign-in page to retrieve or reset…

The Seers’ Table June 2017

The Seers Table Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community June contains the longest day of the year. Happy Summer Solstice! Why not use the extra time to read some new authors. Janet Holden recommends: Kate Moore is the author of more than fifteen books, including The Radium Girls, across the genres of gift, humour, biography, history, and children’s brand publishing. A multiple Sunday Times bestselling author, her work has been published in national newspapers, translated into more than twelve languages, used in national advertising campaigns and performed at the South Bank Centre, London. The Radium Girls. The…