Veterans in Horror: Interview with Solomon Forse

Solomon Forse is the founder of HOWL Society, the most active online horror book club on the web. He also plays guitar in the Lovecraftian metal band Crafteon and teaches high school English on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Check out his latest fiction appearing in the Howls From Hell anthology, MYTHIC Issue 20, Boneyard Soup Magazine Vol. 1, Issue 4., and Into the Crypt of Rays: A Black Metal Horror Anthology. Follow him on Twitter @SolomonForse. Tell us a bit about your military service. Years? Branch? Specialty? I served as an infantryman for the US Army from 2007-2010. I was stationed in Fort Wainwright, Alaska, and completed one…

Veterans in Horror: Interview with Giles Clarke

Giles Clarke is the founder of Uncharted Wilderness Studios, a production company focused on comics and graphic novels. Uncharted Wilderness Studios was born out of a desire to publish engaging stories told well, and create a catalogue of memorable characters who can save the world from yet another reboot. Their premiere title, Rougarou, a horror / western is currently in stores nationwide. Giles served 9 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. as an infantry officer, with three tours to Iraq. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts graduate film production program. He has worked as a production…

Veterans in Horror: Interview with Michael Arnzen

Michael Arnzen holds four Bram Stoker Awards and an International Horror Guild Award for his disturbing (and often funny) fiction, poetry and literary experiments. His books include Grave Markings, Play Dead, Proverbs for Monsters and 100 Jolts. He has been teaching as a Professor of English in the MFA program in Writing Popular Fiction at Seton Hill University since 1999. See what he's up to now at gorelets.com Tell us a bit about your military service. Years? Branch? Specialty? I joined the US Army shortly after high school, because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to afford college and the…
SALE! Special Ad Rate Extended for the HWA Newsletter

SALE! Special Ad Rate Extended for the HWA Newsletter

The HWA Newsletter is offering a special rate on full-page ads for the rest of 2021! All issues are jam-packed with lots of goodies (columns, special articles, puzzles, photos, artwork, poems), so you don’t want to miss out on advertising in it! Full Page Ad 650px wide by any height – only $25! The ad deadline for this sale is December 31, 2021. Order yours today!
Scary Out There with Dawn Kurtagich

Scary Out There with Dawn Kurtagich

Scary Out There recently interviewed Dawn Kurtagich, author of And the Trees Crept In and The Dead House. In this episode of the podcast, Dawn discusses the importance of horror in the world of children's and YA literature, shares some of her own fears, and she gives us the scoop on her forthcoming book: Teeth in the Mist.  Listen to to the episode HERE! Podcast Music by John Leonard French. Dawn Kurtagich is an award winning author of creepy, spooky, and psychologically sinister YA, where girls may descend into madness, boys may see monsters in men, and grown-ups may have something to hide. Her debut…
Evil Teachers and Beyond: 5 School Scare Sources

Evil Teachers and Beyond: 5 School Scare Sources

The days are getting shorter and cooler, and ravaged store displays are picked-over, having only straggling survivors among the pencils, notebooks, and backpacks. Children and teens have mysteriously vanished from public places on weekdays… It’s Back to School season! In honor of returning yellow school buses, here are five school aspects to be mined for your horror stories. 1) Mind Control From preschool to high school, kids spend a large portion of their day having someone else tell them what to do. Wear this. Eat now. Do this work now. You need the bathroom? The break’s in 15 minutes, so…

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…

2016 Lifetime Achievement Award Winners

2016 Lifetime Achievement Award - Dennis Etchison and Thomas F. Monteleone Long Beach, CA, March 17, 2017 The Horror Writers Association announces two Lifetime Achievement Award winners for 2016. Dennis Etchison and Thomas F. Monteleone will both be on hand to accept their awards at StokerCon 2017 held April 27th-30th on the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. Both recipients have provided many years of dedicated commitment to HWA and the writing and publishing industry. “It’s a great honor to be recognized by my peers,” Mr. Etchison, a former President of HWA, commented when informed he had won the award.…

The Scholarship From Hell taking applications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Horror Writers Association Sponsors Scholarship Study with Celebrity Authors– Horror University   Long Beach, CA, March 3, 2017 The Horror Writers Association announces the 2017 Horror University Scholarship. The Scholarship from Hell is offered by the HWA and puts the recipient through an intensive, hands-on workshop offered through Horror University.   This year’s Horror University will take place during StokerCon2017 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, from April 27-30. The winner of the Scholarship from Hell will receive domestic coach airfare (contiguous 48 states) to and from Long Beach, a four-night stay on the…

2016 Specialty Press Award Winner – Omnium Gatherum

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Horror Writers Association’s 2016 Specialty Press Award Omnium Gatherum – Kate Jonez   Long Beach, CA, March 1, 2017 The Horror Writers Association proudly announces Omnium Gatherum as the recipient of the 2016 Specialty Press Award. Each year the HWA recognizes the accomplishments of a noteworthy small press. The Specialty Press Award brings recognition to an outstanding publisher of horror, dark fantasy, and weird fiction.This year’s Specialty Press award will be presented during StokerCon2017 aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA, from April 27-30. Omnium Gatherum means “this” and “that” in Latin. The publisher released its…
HWA August Membership Drive

HWA August Membership Drive

Have you been thinking about joining the Horror Writers Association for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it yet? Or maybe you were a member in the past and have been wondering if you should rejoin. The answer is YES, and now's the time! HWA is currently offering Active/Affiliate/Associate/Academic membership (with proof of sales) for $37 (for the remainder of 2016), and Supporting membership for $27 (for 2016). What do you get for that? Well, if you've never seen our excellent monthly newsletter (edited by Kathy Ptacek), we've made a sample issue available for you to take a…
Young Adults “Write Now” Endowment Program

Young Adults “Write Now” Endowment Program

Horror Writers Association (HWA) announces Young Adults Write Now endowment program to fund teen-oriented writing programs at libraries. The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy and home of the iconic Bram Stoker Awards®, will be offering endowments to libraries to fund teen writing programs as part of its ongoing dedication to furthering young adult literacy. The Young Adults Write Now fund will provide up to five endowments of $500 each per year for selected libraries to establish new, or support ongoing, writing programs. The program is currently open to United…
HWA announces HALLOWS’ EVE anthology

HWA announces HALLOWS’ EVE anthology

Hallows’ Eve An Anthology for the HWA Editors: Ellen Datlow & Lisa Morton Submissions open to HWA members only. You can join here, if you like. Hallows’ Eve is an anthology focused on the horror genre’s favorite holiday – Halloween. We’re looking for stories that explore the festival from many different points of view. Tell us something about the emotional meaning of the night. Investigate a historical angle that isn’t often done. Give us a story about a modern element of the holiday – haunted attractions, large-scale festivals, retailing – that we haven’t seen before. Halloween has a two-thousand-year history…
HWA Contribution to Nonprofit Literacy Organization

HWA Contribution to Nonprofit Literacy Organization

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), the premier organization of writers and publishers of horror and dark fantasy, today announced a donation to Literacy, Inc., a Louisiana-based nonprofit dedicated to reducing the illiteracy rate in the United States. The contribution of $5,000 was made possible by funds the HWA receives from the Authors Coalition of America LLC, an association of twenty-two independent authors' organizations that focuses on repatriating foreign non-title specific royalty payments for American works photocopied abroad. In order to receive a share of the funds Authors Coalition collects, the HWA agrees to invest the monies into educational initiatives. “One…
STOKERCON Website Live! Register now.

STOKERCON Website Live! Register now.

HWA is proud to announce that the website for the first annual StokerCon is now live and offering memberships at a special discounted early-bird rate of just $99. http://www.stokercon2016.org StokerCon2016 will take place at the legendary Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 12th through the 15th, 2016, with Guests of Honor Jack Ketchum, Leslie Klinger, Daniel Knauf, R. L. Stine, and more, along with Toastmaster Stephen Jones. Coming soon: Workshops for writers conducted by Bram Stoker Award-winning authors Nancy Holder, Jonathan Maberry, Lucy Snyder, and many more! But don't delay: The special early-bird price is only good until June…
Horror.org Listed Among 101 Best Websites for Authors

Horror.org Listed Among 101 Best Websites for Authors

Our website has been selected as a "101 Best Websites for Writers" by Writer’s Digest magazine for the second year in a row. The list is in their May/June 2015 issue, which you can purchase here. We are deeply honored to have received this for the second year in a row! Our web team consists of the following: Alex Scully - who is the dedicated and efficient force behind updating the new releases on the homepage. Leland Pitts-Gonzales - who takes care of updating our Poetry section. Sunni Brock - who schedules and moderates our "Roundtable" discussions. Lisa Morton -…
Know a Nominee, Part 26: Sydney Leigh

Know a Nominee, Part 26: Sydney Leigh

Welcome back to “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you squarely between the ears of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Our final update for this year features Sydney Leigh, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Short Fiction, for "Baby's Breath." Thanks for reading, everyone--and many thanks to all of the nominees who shared their priceless insights. It's been a pleasure serving as editor for this series.  --Doug Murano, HWA Communications Coordinator DM: Please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work for which you’ve been nominated. In the case of a work…
Know a Nominee, Part 25: Robert Payne Cabeen

Know a Nominee, Part 25: Robert Payne Cabeen

Welcome back to “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you squarely between the ears of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s latest update features Robert Payne Cabeen, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Poetry Collection, for Fearworms: Selected Poems. DM: Please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated. What attracted you most to the project? If nominated in multiple categories, please touch briefly. RC: The genesis of Fearworms was quite unexpected. Last year, I ran across Larry Santoro’s Tales to Terrify podcast and noticed that…
Know a Nominee, Part 24: Jake Bible

Know a Nominee, Part 24: Jake Bible

Welcome back to “Know a Nominee,” the interview series that puts you squarely between the ears of this year’s Bram Stoker Award nominees. Today’s latest update features Jake Bible, nominated in the category of Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel, for Intentional Haunting.  DM: Please describe the genesis for the idea that eventually became the work(s) for which you’ve been nominated. What attracted you most to the project? If nominated in multiple categories, please touch briefly on each. JB: I wanted to dive into my own teen years and the anxiety of growing up in an abusive household. At first…