Step-by-Step Guide to Filing a DMCA Takedown Notice

1. Identify the Infringement Locate the Infringement: Identify where your work has been used without permission. This could be on a website, a social media platform, or any other online location. Document the Infringement: Take screenshots or save URLs as evidence of where your work is being used unlawfully. 2. Verify Your Rights Confirm Copyright: Ensure you have the rights to the work. If you are the creator, you usually automatically hold the copyright unless you have transferred these rights. Check for Fair Use: Be aware that in some cases, use of your work might fall under 'fair use'. This…

Piracy Toolkit

Unauthorized replication and distribution of copyrighted materials is a widespread challenge that all authors must confront. Nevertheless, there are effective measures and strategies available to our members to safeguard their work from infringement and to proactively combat piracy. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a legislation in the United States that offers a mechanism for copyright holders to request the removal of their work if it's unlawfully published or shared online. Although initiating a DMCA takedown notice is generally straightforward, pinpointing the exact location for submission can be tricky. Securing a copyright enhances the legal protection of an author's…

The Seers’ Table January 2024

Linda D. Addison recommends: Jenny Kiefer is a Kentucky native and an avid rock climber. Together with her mother, she is the owner and manager of Butcher Cabin Books, an all-horror bookstore in Louisville, Kentucky. This Wretched Valley is her debut novel. She has short stories published in Pseudopod, Cosmic Horror Monthly, and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
HWA Members New Releases – 2024

HWA Members New Releases – 2024

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! 2022-2023 Archives
HWA Members New Releases – 2025

HWA Members New Releases – 2025

Welcome to the showcase of new releases! Select a book cover to learn more about it or the author, and of course to buy a copy! You can view the wall of amazing cover art from past years by using the dropdown in the menu above. Writers; please sign into the members-only area to submit upcoming releases using the link on the Promote Yourself page. If your book is already out, it will be arranged by order of release date. Thank you!   2024 Archives

New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year to all our colleagues for 2024!

As we head into 2024, and before the Wellness Committee gets stuck into its work for the coming year, it is appropriate to take a pause to thank everyone who has supported and engaged with the work of the committee over the past twelve months, to celebrate our collective achievements in raising awareness of the mental health initiative, and to reflect again on our mission to promote positive mental health, foster the concept of hope, and challenge the stigma of mental illness in the horror genre. In the main, our work has involved development of programs such as NOTABLE WORKS, facilitating panel events and discussions, curating articles and blogs, providing sensitivity reading services to conferences and festivals, and awareness outreach to the wider horror community. We could not have carried out this work without the engagement and encouragement of HWA members and we are grateful for your enthusiastic support.

Trigger warning: This article discusses mental health.

HWA Winter 2024 Horror University Online Session

The Horror Writers Association is pleased to announce our Winter 2024 Horror University Online session! From January 22 to April 8, 2024, Horror University will present ten live workshops and a special presentation for horror writers everywhere interested in refining their writing, learning new skills and techniques, exploring new writing formats, or better understanding the genre. Full descriptions and registration information are available in the Horror University School on Teachable. REGISTRATION IS OPEN NOW!

NUTS & BOLTS: Interview With Bitter Karella, Creator of The Midnight Pals

In this month’s edition of Nuts & Bolts, Bitter Karella discusses topics including personal branding, dialogue as a story-telling technique, and using humor to address serious issues. The Midnight Pals microfiction series started as a simple but inspired running gag on Twitter. Storytellers gather around a campfire a la Nickelodeon’s Are You Afraid of the Dark?, except they’re real-life horror authors past and present — Stephen King, Clive Barker, Mary Shelley, etc. Its author, Bitter Karella, has managed to find surprising depths in that premise, delivered almost entirely in dialogue. Midnight Pals features complex, interweaving storylines, recurring characters, and trenchant social commentary, all while remaining consistently hilarious. Since 2019, Midnight Pals has picked up nearly 50,000 followers on various social media platforms, attracting fans including Brian Keene, Nick Mamatas, and Neil Gaiman. Bitter Karella has picked up two Hugo Award nominations, and successfully crowd-funded three collections of the series, which is being adapted as an audio podcast.

The Seers’ Table December 2023

Ace Antonio-Hall recommends: Lisa Springer is a writer from Barbados currently living in New York with her family. She loves creating worlds readers can get lost in. Lisa is passionate about writing thriller and horror fiction for young people.

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Ray Zacek

Ray Zacek is a retired federal officer living in Tampa, Florida, with his wife, artist Theresa Beck. A flaneur and inveterate scribbler, Ray writes horror, dark fiction, and crime/noir. His work has been published by Critical Blast, Denver Horror Collective, Tule Fog, Allegory Online, All Due Respect, Shotgun Honey, among other venues. He is a member of the Horror Writers Association.

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: William R. D. Wood

William R.D. Wood traces his love of science fiction and horror back to a childhood filled with Space: 1999 reruns, frequent visits to the Night Gallery, and a worn-out copy of Dune. A good writing day finds him at any of several overlooks on Virginia's Blue Ridge Parkway deeply immersed in new works of cosmic horror. His work has appeared in NatureDaily Science Fiction, and Cosmic Horror Monthly. Will lives in Virginia's beautiful Shenandoah Valley with his wife, children, and assorted scientific enigmas in an old farmhouse turned backward to the road.

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Charles Wood

Charles Wood is a recent addition to the writing scene and writes horror, dark fantasy, and other light-hearted fabrications. Charles served in the Marine Corps 1988-1996. He also served in the Army Reserve and Air Force National Guard.

Indigenous Heritage in Horror Month: Interview with Nick Medina

Born in Chicago, Illinois, and a member of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, Nick Medina appreciates local and Native folklore, which, along with research into the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) epidemic, inspired his debut novel, Sisters of the Lost Nation

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: C.C. Winchester

C.C. Winchester Biography C.C. Winchester’s love of horror began at the tender age of five, when she started sneaking into the living room late at night to watch zombie movies with her parents. Her mother said that though her infiltration was discovered, and she was promptly removed, she would return in what she thought was stealth mode, only to be removed again. She currently writes in Dallas, Texas. Book Recommendation: Don’t Break the Oath, the fourth Women of Horror anthology published by Kandisha Press The following is part of a blog post I did about my first officially published story:…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Jay Whales

Jay Whales Biography Jay Whales is a US Army Veteran with 25 years of active duty and nine years as a Department of Defense contractor. Jay was a Military Policeman, a CID Special Agent, and an anti-terrorism crime analyst. He owns a small business in Middle Tennessee while submitting his works. Jay grew up in Missouri. Book Recommendation: Marquand Tales Marquand Tales: A Non-Politically Correct Novel of Horror by Jay Whales is the no holds barred, non “woke” novel of horror about growing up in a small town infected with more than its fair share of things that go bump in the…

Indigenous Heritage in Horror Month: Interview with Mathilda Zeller

Mathilda Zeller is a horror and fantasy writer of Inuit descent. She has inhabited 2 continents, 3 countries, 11 of the United States, and 18 towns. Don't ask her where she's from; it's complicated. She endeavors to make you lose sleep with her stories and currently makes her home in the Midwest with her husband, six children, and two cats. What inspired you to start writing? I've never had a specific catalyst moment when I wanted to be a writer. I've been writing stories for as long as I've known how to write, and I've always wanted a career as…

Indigenous Heritage in Horror Month: Interview with Richard Van Camp

A recipient of the Order of the Northwest Territories, Richard Van Camp is a proud Tłı̨chǫ Dene from Fort Smith, NWT. He is the author of 28 books in 28 years. Richard is from Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. He is best known for his 1996 novel The Lesser Blessed, which was adapted into a film by director Anita Doron in 2012. You are welcome to visit Richard on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Soundcloud and YouTube.  What inspired you to start writing? Growing up in Fort Smith, NWT, Canada, I was always a reader but I started to realize that I wasn't…

Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Ashon Ruffins

Ashon Ruffins Biography Ashon Ruffins is a native New Orleanian and a Veteran of the Louisiana Army National Guard. He holds a Master’s in Business Adminstration, while holding certifications for several other professions. He loves the art of story telling in all generes and believes the best lessons in life can be told through fiction. Ashon is a huge mental health advocate. Book Recommendation: The Uncovered Darkness As a service member I understand what it means to take care of your mental health. It was journaling that turned me into the writer I have become today. Mental health is an…

NUTS & BOLTS: INTERVIEW WITH JOEL HODGSON, CREATOR OF MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000

By Tom Joyce Like his friend Jerry Seinfeld, Joel Hodgson was a rising comedy star in the 1980s, with appearances on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman. Then he realized he wasn’t having any fun, and walked away from Hollywood to start a low-budget puppet show in Minneapolis. Mystery Science Theater 3000 began as a local TV oddity, distributed fan-to-fan via mailed VHS tapes. Its fan base has grown steadily over the decades, as the show picked up a Peabody Award, two Emmy nominations, and a place on Time Magazine’s list of “100 Best TV Shows of…