Interview Spotlight: Ashley Dioses

Happy Wednesday! Today Halloween Haunts features an interview spotlight with poet Ashley Dioses whose poetry has recently been featured in Weirdbook 41 from Wildside Press and The Audient Void: A Journal of Weird Fiction and Dark Fantasy (Issue Six). Halloween Haunts:  Welcome Ashley! Having started writing during your pre-teen years, what drew you to the poetry format? Ashley Dioses:  Thank you!  My dad was a poet and wrote a lot of children’s poetry that he read to me and my brother when we were young.  When I read Poe for the first time when I was twelve, I didn’t realize that…

Interview Spotlight: Rhonda Jackson Joseph

Happy Wednesday! Welcome back to another interview spotlight, a new feature for this year’s Halloween Haunts. Today Halloween Haunts catches up with Dr. Rhonda Jackson Joseph who is a Texas-based HWA academic member. Her poetry is featured in the recently released HWA Poetry Showcase V. Halloween Haunts:  Welcome to Halloween Haunts Rhonda! We met at the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference earlier this year when you co-presented “When We Are the Monsters: Female Monsters and the Subversion of Patriarchy” with Elsa Carruthers. As a professor by trade, I thought we could start with what drew you to become a member of…

Interview Spotlight: Sean Patrick Traver

Happy Friday everyone! Today, Halloween Haunts catches up with horror writer Sean Patrick Traver, author of The Temple Tree & Towerseries and the recent novella, Wraith Ladies Who Lunch. Both are in print and available at Amazon. Halloween Haunts:  As a life-long resident of Los Angeles, Sean you often set your stories, such as your recent Wraith Ladies Who Lunchand Red Witch: The Tales of Ingrid Redstone(The Temple Tree & Towerseries), in LA. Can you discuss why it is important to write what you know? Sean Patrick Traver: Well, I figure it gives me a big advantage over writing things I…

The Seers’ Table September 2018

The Seers Table Linda Addison, Member of the Diverse Works Inclusion Community September is National Preparedness Month, so prepare to read something different! Linda Addison recommends doungjai gam‘s short fiction has appeared in LampLight, Distant Dying Ember, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, Wicked Haunted, and the Necon E-Books Best of Flash Fiction Anthology series. Born in Thailand, she currently resides in southern Connecticut. Her first collection of poetry and short-shorts is currently available: glass slipper dreams, shattered. This book is filled with work that takes our breath away with a turn of a phrase, a dark play on…

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…

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 Word’s the Thing: An Interview with Michael Arnzen

In 2013 a little miffed at a recent rejection I googled the words “bad” and “science fiction poetry” in an effort to see what literature was out there on the art of genre poetry and critical reception of that genre of poetry. I came across an article in Amazing Stories Online by Paul Cook literally entitled “Why Science Fiction Poetry is Embarrassingly Bad.” The title sums up the article. Cook presented a scathing critique of speculative poetry focusing on science fiction. I must have read the article ten times to let it sink in. Cook complains that Science fiction poetry…
In Praise of Poetry and the HWA

In Praise of Poetry and the HWA

As I write this there are lots of exciting happenings in speculative poetry. The Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry has just been announced. I’ve learned that master poets Alessandro Manzetti and Marge Simon have announced a new collaboration on War to be published by Crystal Lake Publishing. I hear rumors that Bruce Boston, never to rest on his already amazing laurels, has another book in the works. Linda Addison was named the recipient of this year’s HWA Lifetime Achievement Award. Also the HWA is continuing with the acclaimed HWA Poetry Showcase. This year…

Members New Releases – 2021

Welcome to the showcase of new releases! Select a book cover to purchase or learn more about it or the author. You can view the wall of amazing cover art from past years by using the dropdown in the menu above. And members, please sign into the members-only area to submit upcoming releases. Thank you!

The Time of the Sorceress — An Interview with Ashley Dioses

Weird. Most dictionaries will include in its definitions of this word the phrase “suggesting something supernatural; uncanny.” H.P. Lovecraft, an imperfect human who strove to perfect his craft, referred to his work as “Weird Fiction” S.T. Joshi’s classic “The Weird Tale” (University of Texas Press 1990) states in the preface that the Weird Tale “does not exist as a genre but as a consequence of a world view.” The Weird Tale has been a stable of horror for many years. Ms. Dioses has emerged as a rising star in a subset of this body of work: Weird Poetry. Ms. Dioses…

An Interview with Juan Manuel Perez, the Texas Chupacabra Poet

Finding Your Inner Chupacabra An Interview with Juan Manuel Perez, the Texas Chupacabra Poet By David E. Cowen. Author of The Madness of Empty Spaces (Weasel Press 2014) and The Seven Yards of Sorrow (Weasel Press September 2016); Editor HWA Horror Poetry Showcase Volumes III (2016) and IV (2017)   Juan Manuel Perez, a Mexican-American/Texas poet of indigenous descent (Purapecha/Otomi), is the author of Another Menudo Sunday (2007), O’ Dark Heaven: A Response To Suzette Haden Elgin’s Definition Of Horror (2009), WUI: Written Under The Influence Of Trinidad Sanchez, Jr. (2011), Live From La Pryor: The Poetry Of Juan Manuel…

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…

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.…

“Road Virus” Interview

Have you ever dreamed of your library or bookstore coming to you? Or of a library that specializes in the kinds of books you want to read, a library filled with genre fiction that you can’t find in your local library or bookstore? Then dream no more. The Road Virus is here, and today we’re talking to the two owners/operators of this innovative concept in reading services. Meet Em and Sade, who in January hit the road in their combination bookmobile and living space, bringing fringe and underrepresented literature to the masses one stop at a time. JGF: Em and…

Interview with Horror University instructor Hank Schwaeble

We're wrapping up our series of interviews with StokerCon 2017's Horror University instructors with Hank Schwaeble, who tells us about his "Saying More With Less" workshop. Thanks for reading, and see you in Long Beach! Hank Schwaeble: Saying More With Less Saying More With Less—how to make your (and your characters’) words be worth a thousand pictures. “Omit needless words” is as close to a Prime Directive as we authors get, but how do you as a writer decide what is and isn’t needed? In this class I’ll focus on tips and techniques for energizing your prose through economy and…

Interview with Horror University instructor James Chambers

Here's the latest interview with one of our StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructors. This time James Chambers tells us about his workshop, "Picturing Fear: Writing Horror Comics and Graphic Novels." James Chambers: Picturing Fear: Writing Horror Comics and Graphic Novels The medium of sequential art offers endless opportunities for great horror stories—but writing comic books and graphic novels is unlike writing for any other medium. Although they share some common ground of visual storytelling with films and television, comics and graphic novels have unique elements of design, characterization, pacing, and creating suspense. Blending words and pictures to tell a story…

Interview with Horror University instructor Michael Arnzen

Here's the latest installment in our series of interviews with our StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructors. This time, Michael Arnzen tells us more about his "Making Readers Squirm" workshop.  Michael Arnzen: Making Readers Squirm This two hour workshop will cover insider tricks and tactics for crafting horror imagery—not just icons of the genre, but direct appeals to the reader’s sensorium— images that really hit readers in the guts. It will include a live writing activity with the aim of improving description of a gory or scary scene. Open to novelists, poets, flash fiction writers … anyone looking to sharpen their writing…

Interview with Horror University instructor Nicole Cushing

In today's interview with a StokerCon 2017 Horror University instructor, Nicole Cushing tells us about her workshop on "How to Give a Great Interview"! Nicole Cushing: How to Give a Great interview Author interviews can be a powerful tool to let readers know about your book, your personality and your unique take on your genre. They can also be difficult to do well. How much energy should you spend on an interview for a blog? How long should you make your answers? How comfortable are you with appearing on recorded interviews (whether they’re done by audio or video)? Would you…